tis the season for rehabbing saws

[mike v flaim]

WIth all these rehab saw threads I decided I'd post one of my own. Just completed a rehab of a E C Atkins 6TPI rip saw. New handle is made from cherry and closely resembles the old handle which I believe was beech. The blade was pitted so this is the best I could do sanding the plate clean. I resharpened the teeth to 6 TPI which is what is was to begin with. Took about 30 minutes to sharpen and cuts really well.

Handle is finished with two coats of tung oil, one coat of blonde shellac and a few rubbings of beeswax.

Honestly I don't know if it'll see much use since all ripping I do is either on the table saw or band saw but this was a fun little project to do over the Thanksgiving break. Maybe I'll make a sawbench to go with it.

[Gary Hodgin]

Nice! Great job!

[Andrew Recher]

Looks great. I really like the look of those big straight-backed saws. The bees wax looks like it's a little lower gloss than the paste wax I've been using. Does that sound right? I like it in either case.

[mike v flaim]

Looks great. I really like the look of those big straight-backed saws. The bees wax looks like it's a little lower gloss than the paste wax I've been using. Does that sound right? I like it in either case.


I'd have to agree with you on that. The beeswax just gives the wood a rich luster and not a high gloss shine. Plus the beeswax I use smells awesome. Picked it up at a home and garden show in Cincy. It's called Lustre Products Beeswax made with pure orange oil.

[Terry Beadle]

That's puuuuurrrrrdeee ! Great job!

You don't have to use perfection to pursue it but I'll bet it will be really nice to have around.

[Marv Werner]

Very nice work Mike. I like how you did full radiuses on the hand grip. What rake angle did you file the rip teeth. Looks like about 8 degrees in the picture. I find that 4 degrees works quite well for most all rip saws. Seems to be just enough grab but not too much.

[mike v flaim]

Yeah I used 8 degree rake. I didn't want to change the angle too much so I kept it the way it was. It didn't take too long to do either. Probbaly 10 to 15 minutes per side filing every other tooth.

[Jonathan McCullough]

Nice job Mike. That's pretty much what I do with my saw handles now. As saws go, the Atkinses are second to none. If you're like me, the opportunity to use it will present itself soon, and once you've got it down you'll wonder how you ever did without it. It's often easier, safer, and takes less time to use a rip hand saw than to set up and use a table saw.

[mike v flaim]

hmm, I'll have to build a saw bench then. I just used the saw by kneeing on the board on my shaving horse.

[Jim Koepke]

very nice handle.

I have an aversion to noise so I hand rip a lot of things.

A good saw bench makes a world of difference.

jtk

[Tom Hartranft]

+1 on what the others said. Elegant-looking handle with nice wood grain popping out due to your finishing. I like it.

Tom