Ryoba question

[Bruce Haugen]

Pam suggested I post this question here. Sorry to those who read WC, too.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I was given a ryoba. How do I tell the quality of this saw and whether it is resharpenable. I received it from a relative who I'm quite sure can't tell me.

It's probably too much to ask, but is there anyone who can translate the script on the holder?

Any hints?

Thanks

Bruce, in cold, drizzly MN

[Jerome Hanby]

No direct knowledge, but in articles I've read about Japanese saws one of "features" is that the blade is easy to replace. I always interpreted that as meaning you replace not sharpen. On mine, I'd hate to try to work on those teeth :eek:

[Chris Vandiver]

You need to post photos of the whole saw concentrating on the Kanji(Japanese script) near the handle, front and back.

[David Wong]

I asked my wife to read the characters on the saw cover. She could not make out everything, but the manufacturer might be "tamakitsune". Doing a google search on the characters, the "Silky (http://www.silky.jp/)" web page comes up. The saw may be an older Silky model. Silky now appears mainly to manufacture replaceable blade models. The other characters on the saw cover say words to the effect of "highest quality metal" and highest quality manufacturing". If I were to guess, I would say this is a tradesman's or consumer level saw.

[Bruce Haugen]

Chris, I'll post a pic of the blade closer to the handle. Until I read your post, I hadn't realized there was kanji there.

David, I thank you and your wife for the history and translation. I've learned that it's worth putting some effort into getting this saw in top condition. Mine pre-dates the machine made models, and so is likely to be a good one.

I'm going to send it to Mark Grable to have it sharpened by someone who knows his business.

And thanks very much to Pam N for suggesting to post here.

Thanks again, guys.

Bruce

[Bruce Haugen]

Here's the pic from the blade. I hope this is revelatory in some way. Thanks.

Bruce