Yup, looks like it’s been sharpened or retoothed a few times. I’ve seen these before. Sometimes the etching is touching the teeth. They work great as panel saws. Just cut the length back and rework the handle.
Printable View
Yup, looks like it’s been sharpened or retoothed a few times. I’ve seen these before. Sometimes the etching is touching the teeth. They work great as panel saws. Just cut the length back and rework the handle.
Some swear by using AutoSol and a wadded up ball of Foil...others will use the Auto Body Rubbing Compound and a cloth rag.....Once it is bright and shiny, again....wipe it down with a light coat of oil...to keep it from rusting again...
A saw insight I think is often under appreciated is the only reason a saw has been sharpened so many time that the plate is much narrower than factory width is multiple generations of crafts people made a living using it! I’m personally a big fan of these saws, especially for finer pitch finish saws. Don’t neglect these saws as they are often great users.
May be it is time for grand dads saw to become a 10 or 12 TPI. I could do away with the broken and weird teeth if I started from scratch?
$1 RUSTY saw, today...
Attachment 479193
Disston & Sons, pre-1928 D-8
Attachment 479194
Have to learn to look beneath the grime, and a bent plate...because..
Attachment 479195
15 minutes in the shop later...bends are gone, rust is gone...handle has been given a wipe down with oil...
Attachment 479196
And now I have a very fine cross cut saw....looks like maybe a 10ppi?
Will count the teeth later...26" length...
I'll offer a contrary view to Mike's. I did what he suggested my first time filing. The saw was not all that bad but there were several places that needed the teeth resized/reshaped. The first round of that went OK, but eventually it ended up at least as bad as it started. Doing this takes some finesse that I lack. As an alternative, I will suggest downloading the appropriate template from Blackburn Tools. Tape it to the saw plate so that it does not move. Then take a Dremel type tool with a very thin cutoff wheel and score grooves about a 1/16" or less where the gullet is to go. That will guide the file and keep things even.
Chuck Hill, Thanks for the link to Blackburn Tools. I have that bookmarked and will be reading through while I get my plate cleaned up and thoroughly inspected.
A couple other pieces of advice from someone who is extremely not experienced in saw sharpening. One, it is much easier to get a good result that it seems like it will be. Saw sharpening is pretty forgiving. If one tooth is off, there is another to do its work. Even a poorly sharpened saw cuts much, much better than a dull saw. I was shocked at how well my first try cut. The set was a little uneven but I used Paul Sellers technique of using one hammer as an anvil and gently tapping out some of the set. Then it tracked nearly perfectly.
Second, start with some guides. These can be as simple as a piece of wood to show the rake and fleam angles or as fancy as the Veritas Saw File Holder. I have the Veritas one and I have found it very helpful.
Here are the results of my first attempt at a horn repair, on a 12" Disston backsaw. Tip of the hat to Jim Koepke for his thread and advice. Comments welcome. I was a little concerned with how the epoxy bonded the repair to the rest of the handle, in terms of the seam thickness, but I think I was being overly worried. Let me know what you all think.
1. The broken upper horn
Attachment 479268
2. Rube Goldberg glue up
Attachment 479269
3.After shaping, next to my 10" Disston backsaw
Attachment 479270
4. Back view after shaping
Attachment 479271
5. Top view after shaping
Attachment 479272
6. After Early American stain, to bring the colors closer together, and Antique oil finish
Attachment 479273
Nice job Matt Hunstiger! There is not a shortage of rust on any of my saws. Here is another one I look forward to cleaning up. I found it in a crawlspace under a big old church. It is a spooky spot, very dark and inaccessible, dirty, cobwebs, lonely. I spent a good deal of time in there. Finding this saw is a bit of a reward. My collector friend thinks it must be a child's saw. He made no bones about wanting to have it.
Attachment 479324
No longer rusty..
Attachment 479375
Brass has a shine to it...
Attachment 479376
That top bolt is a smaller diameter than the other 4 bolts...
Attachment 479377
And, seems to have been made that way, by Disston...
I did count the teeth....11 ppi. Appears to have been from before 1927....D8, 26" Fine Cross cut saw...
Not too bad, for just a $1?
Nice looking repair Matt.
Glad to hear my input helped.
jtk