Tightening handle on Sash saw

[Larry Fox]

I have a Wenzloff sash saw - absolutely love, love, love the saw - but the handle is loosening up a bit. It does not move side to side but up and down (of that makes sense). To describe it more accurately, if I were to pick it up with the plate perpendicular to the ground the tip would droop down a bit. There is only about 1/8" of movement so it is more of an annoyance than anything but I would still like to fix it. Problem is that they appear to have ground the nuts down flush with the handle which removed all but a very little bit of the original slots - too little to get a screw driver into and be able to get any bite. Does anyone have any tips on how I would go about tightening these? There are 2 of them.

Thanks in advance for your time

[David Weaver]

Take the nuts off, deepen the slots and then put them back on.

[george wilson]

You need to grind a forked screw driver that fits the grooves WELL. Then,try to remove the nuts. Screw them by hand onto studs sticking up out of a vise. I made special split blocks with grooves in them to hold the ends of the screws vertical without the vise crushing the delicate corners of the heads of the screws. 10/32 thread??? Some common screw will fit. When you have them screwed down to the top surface of a vise,with the temporary screws sticking about 3/4 of the way through the nuts,take a hack saw and carefully deepen the slots. Re attach the nuts to the saw and properly tighten them.

When you re tighten the nuts,no doubt the screws in the handle will project a bit. If your handle has a finish on it that you don't want to scratch,you'll have to take careful note how much each screw sticks up above the nut. Then,take the screws out and file them a bit shorter by degrees,re inserting them into the slotted nuts and tightening them until they sit flush properly when tightened.

BE SURE to file the screws in the same direction as their original grinding marks so the file marks will be in alignment with the nuts when tightened down. Really,the only way to make their finishes perfect,is to sand them down IN PLACE when they are re attached to the saw.But,that would damage or remove the finish he applied to the handle. Perhaps you could re finish the handle's side where you had to sand?

Be careful.You may well end up having to sand down the whole handle and refinish the whole thing to get all the surfaces to match. Do you know what he used for a finish?

[Larry Fox]

Thanks guys.

George - I will give this a shot. I don't know what he used as a finish but it doesn't look like all that complicated a finish so I should be able to reproduce it. It is a user saw so it already has some scratches. I will try grinding a forked screw driver. I might also just put a small wedge between the handle side of the brass spine and the handle for the time being. Posted more to see if there was one of those "just do this" type of tricks for doing this - you know, the kind you only discover exists after you invest 3 hours doing something. :)

[Jim Matthews]

I use a card scraper to tighten mine.

It's square, but not sharpened.

[Mike Allen1010]

You can get a split nut driver from Tools for Working Wood that fits on a standard 1/4" shank screwdriver with replaceable bits. It will fit the Wentzloff splt nuts.

Mike

http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com//Merchant/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=toolshop&Product_Code=GT-SNSD&Category_Code=&Search=saw%20nuts

[george wilson]

His slots are too shallow. They should have been more careful to not grind the nuts too deep.

[Pedder Petersen]

Problem is that they appear to have ground the nuts down flush with the handle which removed all but a very little bit of the original slots - too little to get a screw driver into and be able to get any bite. Does anyone have any tips on how I would go about tightening these? There are 2 of them.

That can be seen on every second vintage saw. I would glue a hex nut on the split nut with a drop of loctite 270. Remove with heat and deepen the slots in the split nut with the hack saw.

Cheers Pedder