Replacing the Handle on a
Knew Concepts Fret Saw

P. Michael Henderson

The Knew Concepts 5" Fret Saw is an excellent tool but some people do not like the standard handle that it comes with.  I really did not have anything against the handle but wanted to see how difficult it would be to replace since many people seem to be doing it.

Here's the saw, as shipped.  This is a stock photo - I forgot to take a picture of mine before I started doing the handle replacement.

The standard handle is attached with a 1/8" rolled pin (also known as a "spring pin") that is driven into the handle and through a tang on the aluminum portion of the saw.  If you look closely, you will probably see a bulge on the opposite side of the ferrule where the pin was driven in.

I went to my grinder and ground away the metal of the ferrule where the bulge is.

That allowed me to be able to drive the pin out of the handle.

After you drive the pin out, this is what things look like.  There's a hole in the tang where the pin went through.

Looking into the end of the old handle, you can see that a 1/4" hole was drilled in the center of the handle and two 1/8" wings were cut into the handle to allow the tang to slip into the handle.

I made a replacement handle out of lignum vitae and used a 3/4" ferrule I had purchased from Lee Valley.  I don't show how to turn a handle here - if you can't turn, you probably won't replace your handle.

I began by drilling a 1/4" hole in the end of the replacement handle. I did this on the lathe with a drill bit on the tail stock.  I aligned the handle with the headstock but just turned the handle by hand to drill the hole.

Then I used a 1/8" chisel to cut the space for the tang to fit into.

After I drove the handle on to the tang as tight as I could, I took the saw to the drill press and drilled a 1/8" hole through the handle and tang, stopping just short of the other side.  It's impossible to drill a hole that will align with the existing hole in the tang.

Then I drove the rolled pin into the handle and through the tang.  A small amount was sticking out (couldn't drive it all the way) so I ground off the rolled pin flush with the ferrule.

And that's it - here are two pictures of the saw, from the left and right.

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