The First Tool

Mike Z and I had an instant message exchange the other day and outlined the early tasks we want to get done for the challenge. He is coming to my house in a little over an hour. Impatience got the best of me and I built this saw today.
I started with a deer skull I found out in some hunting grounds a few months ago. I smashed it on a rock to split it in half. I then used the tooth section of half-skull to saw through a small branch on one of my basswood trees. I stripped the bark off and braided it to use as twine. I cut a slightly larger branch for the handle. I used the braided bark twine to bind the tooth section to the handle. I tested it out - it was bound pretty tight but it had some up-and-down movement. I used some more strips of bark to loop over the top and secure it better.

The cutting stroke is too wide to saw directly through branches, but you can make a good wedge-shaped score around a branch and then snap it off. I feel like a cave-man when I hold it.

When Mike comes over we'll make the other half into another saw, along with some other small bone tools.