Dovetail saw with copper back, children's size

Sunday I had the opportunity to spend some time in the workshop, and I managed to finish the handle, mount the back on the plate, produce some saw nuts and assemble the saw.
After the test assembly I disassembled it again to varnish the handle.

At some point I decided that the back was too tall for a child's saw, due to the weight of it that is. The raw back weighed 385 gram, so I was afraid that the saw might feel to heavy to be comfortable.
Therefore I removed roughly 1/4" from the lower part of the back. Making the new height of it approximately 9/16". In addition to removing weight, it also made the proportions a bit prettier in my opinion given that the saw plate itself is 2.25" high.

The handle was shaped using mostly a round file, and after I was pleased with the overall shape, I used sand paper starting with a grit 60 and ending with a grit 280.
I had never expected the handle to turn out as well as it did. But a lot of time with sandpaper really helps. also I am not used to making things that are this highly figured, but once I overcame my reluctance to start it, it was quite liberating not having to worry about square corners and parallel surfaces. It just had to be comfortable to grip.

The saw nuts were tuned on the lathe from some brass stock. The thread is M5, in order to make them fit a small handle.
I am fairly skilled at using a metal lathe, so turning something like this doesn't take very long. I didn't time myself, but I estimate that it took maximum 10 minutes for a screw and a bit less for a nut.
I filed a square on the screws and sawed a slot in the head of the screws. The slot is a bit too narrow to fit a usual screwdriver that wide, but since it is made using a hacksaw, the back side of a hacksaw blade is a perfect size.

Since I had removed the lower part of the back it did  no longer grip the blade sufficiently tight, so I took it back to the press to compress it a bit again. I figured that it was the most clever thing to do before I started removing the tool marks.
Those were removed by using a couple of files and some emery cloth / sand paper. To be able to work on the sides of the back, I made a small arrangement similar to that used for planing mouldings.
Two flat sticks were mounted horizontally in the vice, with the aft stick protruding 1/4" above the front stick. I then screwed in a small screw to act as a "planing stop". So the back could now lie on its side supported by the aft stick and the planing stop screw at the end.

Finally I found found some old varnish, very nearly dried up. I removed the dry layer and added some paint thinner. I used a piece of an old rag to apply the varnish.
The handle was sanded lightly between each coat, and I think I gave it 5 coats in total.

Now it just need to be used by some child in the workshop.

Children's dovetail saw with copper back.

Plywood handle.

Sawing the handle.

Workholding for the back.

Homemade brass saw nuts.