Saw restoration pics

[Mike Allen1010]

Now that I've finished a project, I'm doing a little R&R with some hand saw restoration. Most of the grunt work of cleaning, polishing the plates and Repairing/restoring the totes is done.
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Left to right here are: 3 Disston #7 totes all right around 1900, 2 Disston D-8 totes pre-1928, 3 Disston #16, and on the far right as Simonds #10 and a Disston #12. I think this is a pretty fair representation of Golden era tote design and I'm wondering which, if any my fellow neanders prefer?
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Now it's on to the fun stuff of sharpening and tuning. My back is only good for a couple of these a day so it's going to take a while. If Anybody is interested in sharpening/tuning pics, let me know and I can post some. I know there are plenty of other threads/pictures of saw stuff so won't post here if it's not of interest.

All the best, Mike

[Andrew Pitonyak]

I vote for "please post"... Include a picture of your setup as well as your saw vice.... and anything else that might be interesting :D

[Dave Beauchesne]

+ 1 on additional pics! - Thanks for doing this Mike - - - -

Dave B

[Stew Denton]

Mike,

Cool, cool, cool.....great saws. Wish I had a Disston #12, but such is life. I can't complain though, I have plenty of hand saws, including D-8s that I really like.

It looks like you are making great progress.

One more vote for pictures, especially the 12 and 16s.

Good job!

Stew

[Nola Templemire]

Mike,

Make that four "please post" votes! :D

Nola

[Chris Hachet]

Again, please post!

[Chuck Hart]

Pictures please. Mike where do you find all the time?

[Joe Tilson]

Here's another YES for posting pic.
Thanks, keep it coming,
Joe

[Mike Allen1010]

Message received –I will make an effort to post some pictures of saw sharpening/tuning stuff. The plate/tote restoration is pretty straightforward and mostly just a matter of sweat. I'm not sure there's a whole lot of original/insightful contributions I can make but I'll do my best. Fair warning; full "saw geek mode" can be pretty boring, unless you like geometry.



Pictures please. Mike where do you find all the time?

I'm old, don't sleep a lot, the kids are out of the house and one thing the LOML and I have learned in 29 years of marriage is I'm waaaay more fun to be around after I've had a little time in the shop to decompress:).

Cheers, Mike

[Doug Bowman]

Fair warning; full "saw geek mode" can be pretty boring, unless you like geometry

Given the amount of time and energy spent on saw plate hardness - I cannot imagine anyone being tuned off by geometry:D

[David Turner]

Mike:

Are the "totes" completely refinished or did you just clean and recoat?

If recoated, what did you use?

I have 8 handsaws hanging awaiting restoration (for about 10 years now)

David Turner
Plymouth, MI.

[Mike Allen1010]

Most of the totes I see are pretty dried out and the original varnish long gone (not surprising given they've been around for +100 years) and pretty common to need to repair a broken horn. May be heresy to some but I sand out the gross surface blemishes, soak them in oil\varnish to rehydrate (big zip lock baggies are good, you can pour the leftover back in the can), pad a couple coats of amber shellac and then paste wax.

I know some like to talk about retaining the "patina" of the original finish. The saws they see must be in much better condition that those in my shop. IMHO, it's just a lot less work to give a quick brush with BOLO and steel wool and call it good. I like solid, smooth totes that feel good in your hand and the old apple, beech, walnut and rosewood of vintage saws looks beautiful to my eye when rehydrated and shellacked. Just what I like, YMMV.

All the best, Mike

[Andrew Pitonyak]

So you soak the handles in an oil/varnish blend? Can you provide an example of what that is, and, how long do you soak them? Sorry for being so poorly informed.

[Mike Allen1010]

Andrew, no need to ever be sorry for asking a question here! In my book that's the beauty of the Cave.

As I mentioned in earlier post, I'm the fArthest thing from an expert on finishes. You should ask Dave or Brett R. - they actually know from whence they speak (unlike me).

I use Watco "fruitwood" which is widely available. I believe this is a blend of oil and varnish. I also think this is similar to Minwax, but I'm really the wrong guy to ask.

All I know is the Watco absorbs into the dry fibers of old totes and hardens in the wood, vs. on the surface. This helps solidify the tote and especially fragile details (horns), and pops the grain(which canbe beautiful is the ray fleck beech , apple etc.)

I'm sure others here can give you a much better description of the chemistry . Good chance I'm totally full of crap.

Best, Mike