Help identifying type of saw

[Adam Grund]

I have a handsaw that I bought from the neighbors estate sale when he passed years ago (couple, actually, but only one in question today) that up until recently I’ve had little interest in.
It had a really heavy combo of rust and oil on it which I have started to remove. There are no markings on it that I can find other than the ‘9’ (or 6?)pictured.
It doesn’t cut that great, and since it’s not a show winner by any means I thought I’d try to clean it up and throw a file on it just to try my hand at it, but I don’t know where to start. I figure I can’t really make it worse than it is in its current condition.
The blade measures 13 3/4” long, saw is 17 3/4 total. It’s 3/78 tall and tapers down to 1 1/2. I assume it’s nothing special, Most everything he had was all run of the mill quality, lots of general repair tools for farm equipment, machining, and odds and ends tinkering.

Any help is appreciated!

470293 470294 470295

[Jason Buresh]

Generally there is a saw nut with a medallion that sometimes indicates maker. Otherwise there is usually an etch on the plate, but depending on the life of the saw many etches are lost.

Are you able to post any pictures? It sounds like a fairly short saw. Is the handle wood? Plastic?

[Adam Grund]

I just edited to add the pictures. I had to switch to the full web page from mobile to add pictures
The nuts and screws are just plain brass. Wooden handle. I’m less interested in the brand of the saw, and really just what type of saw it is. I was on my way to edit the title for that.

[Jason Buresh]

It appears to be sharpened cross cut. In the middle of the plate in the first picture appears to be what's left of the etch. Interesting handle design too

[Jason Buresh]

Sharpening a cross cut saw is harder than a rip saw. Essentially crosscut saws are sharpened at an angle to the plate where as a rip saw is sharpened square. You will also need to set the teeth so the plate doesn't bind in the cut. Some people claim you can set teeth by twisting a screwdriver in-between the teeth, or you will need a saw set.

Paul sellers has a decent article explaining the process of you Google how to sharpen a cross cut saw

[Scott Winners]

I agree filed crosscut. I can't find a way to measure either of 6 or 9 teeth or points per inch.

This would be a really handy saw to take with you away from the shop for small chores. Like making a rough stock gate for the small paddock on the back forty, on site, to fit.

I would probably sharpen that with about 14 degrees of rake and +/- 23 degrees of fleam with no gullet slope to be a decent all around utility crosscut saw. More agressive edges than that would be leaning towards softwood only.

You might wait for Pete Taran to check in. I don't think you are going to trade that saw for a beach house in Costa Rica; but I can't make sense of the - probably a 9- stamped on the plate. On all of mine with legible number stamps the numbers are right side up when holding the saw right handed in cutting position, and then tipping the plate so you can read the number. I count it as 8 points or 7 teeth per inch.

[Stew Denton]

Adam,

I think the "6" is actually a "9." The American producers often stamp a number below the handle on the saw plate at the heel of the saw that represents the tooth count in the "point" system, which means points per inch. The points per inch system counts the point on the starting point as "point #1." However, counting the teeth, beginning at the 2" point on the photo I get "8" instead of "9," so the saw may have been repointed at some point to an 8 point. Repointing a saw is not unusual, and I have some that have been repointed, and I even had one repointed myself, years ago.

I don't know if that type of saw has a particular name, but I have only seen one carpenters type saw in the past with that type of handle. Other than that, I would call it a panel saw with an open type of handle.

I am hoping one of our saw gurus will clear up the question.

Just to verify that the number is a "9," I just went out to look at several of my saws. In all of them, the base of the number was either toward the teeth, or toward the heel. In no case did a saw have the base of the stamped number toward the toe of the saw.

Ops, I just saw that Scott hit the save button a bit before I did, and that he made much the same points.

Regards,

Stew

[Adam Grund]

I certainly am not expecting to trade it for a beach house, much less a Hershey bar.
I have used the saw in the past- and probably will continue- as my “closest and handiest thing I have to cut this 1x2, pvc pipe, or whatever else I’m doing that a handsaw is handy for, so I’m not under any illusion that I’m going to turn it in to a real looker/performer. Just tinkering, trying to learn something along the way

[Rafael Herrera]

Yes, it's now 8 points per inch and filed for cross cut. Some of the Disston panel saws listed in the Disstonian Institute site are as short as 14", so this saw is not an odd size. I imagine it would be best used on the bench for small cross cuts using a bench hook.

[Jim Koepke]

Adam, you might want to check > http://www.vintagesaws.com < That is Pete Taran's site. Over on the left of the home page is a saw labeled Library. There is a tutorial on saws and sharpening in the Library.

jtk

[Jason Buresh]

I certainly am not expecting to trade it for a beach house, much less a Hershey bar.
I have used the saw in the past- and probably will continue- as my “closest and handiest thing I have to cut this 1x2, pvc pipe, or whatever else I’m doing that a handsaw is handy for, so I’m not under any illusion that I’m going to turn it in to a real looker/performer. Just tinkering, trying to learn something along the way

If your only objective is to have something close at hand to make a small cut my honest opinion would be to hang this saw up on the wall as decoration and go to home Depot and buy a cheap Stanley hand saw. The hardened teeth of new saws will stay sharper longer and will probably handle materials such as PVC much better.

[Ben Ellenberger]

Adam, you might want to check > http://www.vintagesaws.com < That is Pete Taran's site. Over on the right of the home page is a saw labeled Library. There is a tutorial on saws and sharpening in the Library.

jtk

And the icons on that site look exactly Adam’s saw! I recall seeing some modern saw maker selling something very similar to this style as a general purpose saw for working at a bench. I can’t recall which company it was.

It does seem like that size and design is nice for a general purpose saw you can toss in a tool box for odd jobs.

[Adam Grund]

Thanks for all the help, guys! I‘ll probably clean this thing up as best as possible- not really looking for anything spectacular, just a learning experience. I’ll check out Pete Tarans site, and see what I need for a file

[Jim Koepke]

Oops! Got my right and left mixed up.


Over on the right (should have said left) of the home page is a saw labeled Library. There is a tutorial on saws and sharpening in the Library.

Surely it happens to us dyslexics all the time.

Adam, if you are going to file crosscut you might want to make a fleam guide > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?180440 < Otherwise laying a ruler on the bench under where you are filing the saw works.

Good luck with you saw filing effort.

jtk

[Michael Bulatowicz]

And the icons on that site look exactly Adam’s saw! I recall seeing some modern saw maker selling something very similar to this style as a general purpose saw for working at a bench. I can’t recall which company it was.

It does seem like that size and design is nice for a general purpose saw you can toss in a tool box for odd jobs.

I expect you’re thinking of Florip Toolworks (https://floriptoolworks.com/ready-saws). They do indeed make a saw similar to the OP’s.