Vintage saw vices

[Michael Ray Smith]

I was just reading an old E.C. Atkins catalog that describes their saw vices. Interesting gizmos. They were used not only to hold a saw blade for jointing and filing, but they also were used setting the teeth. They could be swung down into a horizontal position, and a hammer mounted to the vice was used to hit each tooth to set it. The degree of set was fixed by adjusting the angle at which the tooth was presented to the hammer, which then hit the tooth to bend it back against some sort of anvil stop. Interesting, but what caught my eye was a note that said the jaws of the vice were lined with rubber to cut down on vibration. Which finally brings me around to my question.

I have an old metal saw vice that I bought on eBay a few years ago. No markings at all, so I don't have a clue who made it. I know there are advantages to making your own vice -- not the least of which is that you can make them long enough to fasten against the entire blade at once so you don't have to move it -- but for some reason I want to stick with the old metal vice. Mine has no rubber, leather, or anything else on the inside of the jaws. After I read about the Atkins vice, I checked mine closely, and it doesn't appear that the jaws ever had anything like a rubber or leather lining. The jaws are actually a bit concave so they pinch the blade only at two points at the outside edge of the jaws.

Question: Is my old vice unusual? Did most metal vices actually have rubber-lined jaws? Or maybe the higher quality vices? And questions no. 2, I suppose, is whether it would be beneficial for me to add, say, strips of leather to the jaws of mine (if I can figure out how to glue leather to metal)?

[Jim Matthews]

When clamped together, the casting will flex some.

I would hazard a SWAG that under inspection
you will find the saw fully engaged by the jaws.

I would line the jaws with old belt leather,
held on with some contact adhesive.

If you want to try rubber instead, drawer liners
are inexpensive and easy to cut with scissors.

[Michael Ray Smith]

Thanks! Which, all by itself, is too short for Sawmill Creek to accept as a post. So thank you very much!

[Mel Miller]

I have seen a lot of saw vises, and none of them had rubber lining. Very much rubber would allow the saw blade to move slightly.
Also think most handsaw setting is done with hand held tool like a Stanley 42 rather than with a hammer.

[bridger berdel]

Adjusting the curve of the jaws so that they grab the blade evenly when engaged is the most important part of fettling a saw vise.

[Michael Ray Smith]

Adjusting the curve of the jaws so that they grab the blade evenly when engaged is the most important part of fettling a saw vise.

Yeah, I checked it out after I read Jim's reply, and his SWAG was right -- the jaws flex so that they engage the blade the full length. I was looking at it with the jaws closed on themselves with no blade between them.

[Michael Ray Smith]

Also think most handsaw setting is done with hand held tool like a Stanley 42 rather than with a hammer.

I'm sure that's right. Here's the page from the 1923 catalog.

[Mel Miller]

I'm sure that's right. Here's the page from the 1923 catalog.
I don't know of anyone that uses a setup like that - do you? Looks like a real pain getting it lined up exactly with each tooth.
Must not have worked well as that style doesn't turn up nowdays.
You also don't see many of the filing attachments that mounted on saw vises, probably for the same reason.

[Michael Ray Smith]

I don't know of anyone that uses a setup like that - do you? Looks like a real pain getting it lined up exactly with each tooth.


No, I don't. And yes, it does. I guess that's why it first caught my eye. Then I picked up on the detail about the jaws having rubber linings, and it got me to thinking about my vice -- not that I've ever had any trouble with excess vibration or anything, but I just started wondering. I don't think there's room to add rubber or leather to the jaws anyway, so I'll leave well enough alone.

Note: Atkins also sold hand held saw sets along the lines of the Stanley 42's but with a different sort of anvil setup.

[Joe Tilson]

Back in the early sixties we used a older style saw set. It was made like a pin through a piece of steel and we had to learn how hard to strike the pin to get the set. The man teaching us could set a saw very quickly with it. He had had years of experience with it.

[george wilson]

My sculpture teacher visited shops in England in the 1950's. One shop was a saw reconditioning shop. There,a man had a small saw setter's anvil(a very small "anvil" driven into a large block of wood) and a freehand held hammer,narrow faced like the one in the picture. He deftly moved the saw blade along-quite rapidly. He struck every other tooth with the hammer. Then,flipped it over and did the other side. The whole thing took only a few minutes. No need for fancy devices. I agree,that saw vise would be cumbersome to use for setting saws.

He was going down an alley one night,and came across a sign that said "Mark Maker". This guy made custom punches. Mr. Reimann got him to make a complex mark 1/16" tall consisting of 3 intertwined initials made of curvy lines. The guy did a remarkably accurate job of it in short order. The cost? about 50 cents.

It was remarkable what really practiced craftsmen could easily and quickly do back then. Probably the tail end of an era.