Simmons Keen Kutter 88 rehab

[Paul Saffold]

I picked this up from a Craig'slist seller. Its 26" at the tooth line with 3 1/2 ppi rip, not sure about the wood but it has a nice curl.
I haven't been able to find out much about it.

This is my first horn repair. I tried dying the curly maple to match but didn't come close. The BLO & wax darkened the handle more than I expected. Cherry would have been a closer match. 20-20 hind sight. Used epoxy as recommended by Bob Smalser.
After jointing, sharpening and setting, it cuts straight but is "grabby". I'm not sure if it's my sharpening or the tooth count. I gave it 4 deg of rake.
Any info about this saw appreciated.
Comments & suggestions welcome.
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[David Weaver]

It's probably just grabby because of the fresh file work. It'll come off that pretty quickly.

if it's the thickness of the wood, then cut some 8/4 medium hardwood with it and see what it feels like. It should feel pretty good on something like that, but still have enough bite to rip aggressively.

Looks like a nice saw.

[george wilson]

Looks like curly apple wood.

[Jeff L Miller]

Good job on the horn repair. I'm fairly new at it as well and I use epoxy and a similar donor piece of wood, apple, beech, rosewood, etc. Its acceptable for a repair to show, its part of the history of the saw and can show off your work as well.

Finishing can can sometimes be a bit of a trick if you're trying to closely match the original finish. I've used shellac, both amber and clear, and some dye's as well as an oil rubbed finish. If its a user saw I think were doing the right thing. If its a valuable artifact, I would defer to the experts for both opinions and techniques.


Nice job


Jeff

[Tony Shea]

That is a very curly handle, more than I;ve ever seen on Keen Kutter's. And the tooth count is awesome, have been searching high and low for something in that range for a year or more. They don't seem to be very abundant, especially around here. 3 1/2 ppi is bound to be a bit grabby when freshly filed. As David said it will feel nice in no time. Now if only I could find it's cousin.

[Paul Saffold]

Thanks for the kind comments and advice. I'll leave it as-is for now and see how it goes. I don't expect to use it too much.

[seth lowden]

I like the curly figure in the handle. I have a similar saw in 5 1/2 ppi, plain apple handle. Mine is a good saw, definite keeper. I bought it a long time ago with a cross cut KK in an online auction. Some guy on Oldtools was trying to launch a hand tool competitor to eBay in the early days. It fell through, but I got a couple nice saws for a good price...

[george wilson]

I have a curly apple 19th.C. hollowing plane. It is very nice to see curly apple. Takes on a beautiful dark brown patina over many years.