My saw's head is loose

[Hilton Ralphs]

I have a nice (brass) back saw and the handle is loose. I read somewhere that there is nothing I can do about this. I removed the handle and two of the three holes are actually elongated. Is this normal?

Could I use these Chicago (http://www.leevalley.com/US/hardware/page.aspx?cat=3,41306,41311&p=40051)bolts instead?

I probably don't want to mess with the Disston medallion though.

The teeth have quite a heavy set and the tooth count is 14PPI.

Thanks.

[george wilson]

Just tighten the screws in the handle. If necessary,make a screwdriver with a slot in the center to adjust split type saw screws. This is no problem at all.

Too heavy a set will ruin the performance of the saw. I had a saw with a heavy set many years ago. It cut horribly rough till I lightly hammered the set down. Put some paper in a steel jawed vise with smooth jaws. Squeeze the saw in it. THe tips of the teeth will cut through the paper,and the vise will reduce the set just right. If you have no smooth jawed steel vise,rig up some steel plates in your wooden vise to do the squeezing in. You could saw off a few lengths of angle iron and lay them on top of your wooden vise,with 1 leg of each iron hanging down into the vise.

[Hilton Ralphs]

I have George but granted I haven't used brute force though. It only wiggles a bit though. I was thinking of jamming something in the gap between the end of the brass back and where the top of the handle starts.

It's not loose laterally but more vertically.

Am I being paranoid?

[george wilson]

The problem likely is you need to tighten the screws more. Don't worry about the brass back.

[Isaac Smith]

You should be able to fix it by tightening the bolts up a little bit. If they are split nuts, you will need a split nut driver.

If the hardware is not split nuts, it is possible that the bolts are bottoming out and cannot be tightened further. If that is happening, then you will need to shorten the bolts enough to tighten them fully.

It usually does not take a lot to tighten them up enough so that the handle does not move, but you may need to do it every once in a while.

The holes may have been redrilled or punched for a replacement handle, or for some other reason we may never know. It doesn't matter one bit, since there should be some room in there to allow the handle to expand and contract with changes in humidity. Since the blade is properly held in place entirely by friction, it doesn't really matter how big those holes are.

While those Chicago bolts would work, there is no need for them unless the original hardware is ruined. Even then, I would search for something else that would look a little more original.

[Hilton Ralphs]

Thanks guys, I will tighten them up some more and check the overall length in case they need to be shortened.

Shot!