Miter Box Saw -> Tenon Saw?

[Jared McMahon]

I have two miter box saws that I've managed to pick up cheap on my various antique store trips, an Atkins and a Disston. I have a Nobex Champion that I'm perfectly happy with, and I need a rip cut tenon saw. I'm trying to be less precious about my tools since they're all well-loved users, so I wanted to ask for opinions about lopping 8 or 10"off the front end of one of the above saws.

[lowell holmes]

I have a miter box saw I bought with the same thought in mind. The saw plate is thicker than my hand saws and my panel saw. The saw is heavy and is 25" long. The saw plate is .03" thick and is not at all taper ground, but then, none of my back saws are taper ground.

If I can cut it in half, I may still try to make the conversion, but I'm skeptical. I don't think it will have the balance I'm looking for.

How would you lop off the end of one of your saws?

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I've had decent luck cutting vintage sawplate steel with a sharp hacksaw blade, as long as it's well supported. (I've both transplanted a good plate with a bad handle to a saw with a good handle and bad plate, and lopped a couple inches of a saw that was both kinked and jointed until it was almost a point)

I clamped it in place over a piece of scrap MDF, (for a guy that doesn't use the stuff, I still seem to have a lot of scraps of it) with my cut line just overhanging the edge of the MDF. Worked well enough. I'd just plough a groove to accept the spine so the plate lies flush against a piece of scrap, and have at it with a nice hacksaw blade.

Just my two cents - I'm sure there's a better way to do it.

[Jeff Schmidt]

I think that they are a viable alternative if you want a big 18" tenon saw as ala Adam Cherubini. As noted, the saw will be a bit thicker than what some are using to make these saws, but I don't think it is a significant difference for a big saw. I would not use one to make a 14" or 16" saw since that size backsaw is readily available used at reasonable prices.

The back will be soft enough for a hacksaw. You can cut the saw plate by scoring it with a dremel tool (thin circular blade) and making a clean fatigue break. You may have to re-establish some "pinch" to the back near the end that was cut.

[Chris Vandiver]

You can cut saw plate easily with a carbide or diamond coated wire blade for a hack saw. They are readily attainable at any hardware store.

[David Weaver]

I would buy a different saw. I wouldn't want a 28" miter saw with 10" cut off of it. They have monstrous backs and handles.

16" saws can be found without too much trouble. Last year (without really looking), I ran into a spear and jackson saw with little crosscut teeth, 16" long with 4" under the plate for $25 or so shipped on ebay. It's not a miter box saw, so I have no idea why someone put tiny teeth on it, but that's the kind of thing you'd want for a 16" saw if you wanted to start with something close - all you'd have to do is file teeth.

Just set up a search on ebay, save it, and have ebay show you new backsaws each morning, and then put the bid you want to bid for them on esnipe (that way you can bid on 10 things at once, and take all of your bids off once you win one). You'll likely have something within a few weeks. I don't know how much stuff will show up there after Christmas, but i typically have gotten the least money for things after Christmas (like january / february) when I'm dumping old tools that I thought I needed but don't end up using. That seems to mean to me that it's a good time to bid.