"Standard" saw

[Brent Cutshall]

Joe, do you think Monhagen might have filtered saws through Disston because in the Disston flyer in 1912 or 1918 they advertised a three screw "Standard" saw.

[Patrick Chase]

It wouldn't surprise my one bit. Many people have no knowledge of how a hand saw works yet they know a saw set is a saw sharpening tool. Some fool likely put all the set he could on the improperly filed teeth and figured he'd done good.

jtk

Yeah, my apologies. 1/8" just seemed so far out of the realm of the possible that I was hoping it was a typo or measurement error. Even a cheap OEM saw like the 085 doesn't deserve that sort of treatment.

The sawplates on full-sized Disstons are typically 40 mils at the teeth, so to get to 125 mils you'd need 42 mils/side of set. If all teeth are set then this implies that there is a 45 mil section down the center that's cut entirely by the inner tooth sides. If that's happening it should be very, very obvious if you make a cut and carefully examine the bottom of the kerf. OTOH I've seen some ridiculously overset saws in which every 3rd tooth was left unset as a "raker" specifically to prevent that. If that's the case with this one then that will make fixing it much harder as you'll have to reverse the set on some teeth.

[Don McConnell]

Erwin L. Schaffer's _Hand-Saw Makers of North America_ contains an extensive list of Disston saw models and numbers. Among them is the Standard, number 085, with known dates of manufacture between 1914 and 1923. The model is described as a straight-back handsaw. It may well be a continuation of the Wheeler, Madden & Clemson model, as that firm was absorbed by Disston in 1893. According to Erv, it was one of a number of smaller saw makers absorbed by Disston that year, all of which they continued to operate as a new enterprise, the National Saw Company, of Newark, NJ.

Don McConnell
Eureka Springs, AR

[Jim Davis]

I recommend the teeth be flattened before any re filing takes place. If even ONE tooth breaks off,it means that you will have to re file all the teeth to below the cracking point of the broken off tooth(S). ...

Disston, at least, instructed to just leave a single low tooth and use the saw. After several use sessions and subsequent filings the low tooth would not be low anymore. The point was that filing a whole saw down to reach a low/broken tooth was a huge waste of saw plate.

[Stew Denton]

Hi George,

Good comment on the teeth and cutting, and a good sharpening reminder. I chuckled when I read it, and thought I bet George is meaning "it cuts equally POORLY in either direction.

Stew

[george wilson]

Correct about cutting poorly in either direction. If you can stand having a saw with a few missing teeth,yes,it will still saw. Bothers me,though.

[bridger berdel]

you're going to have to file quite a bit off of the tops to get the teeth back in a useful configuration anyway, so I think I'd start with jointing off the tops. then squeeze out the overset, then start shaping the teeth. if you have to stone off a little set at the end to even up the cut it's not the end of the world, but don't rely on that too much. personally, if I had a saw like that and broke a tooth setting it up, I think I'd probably live with it as long as it wasn't where I needed to start a cut.

[lowell holmes]

I would file the tooth line smooth and re-tooth the saw. The Ron Herman video on saw sharpening will show you how. I have re-toothed two panel saws after watching the video.

Also, in Houston, Circle Saw will re-tooth saws. IIRC, the last time I had a saw re-toothed it cost $2. I think they charged $4 to sharpen a saw.

[Pat Barry]

IIRC, the last time I had a saw re-toothed it cost $2. I think they charged $4 to sharpen a saw.

This must have been in the 60's

[george wilson]

We had a very old man in Richmond who would charge about 4.00 to sharpen a saw. I don't know how he made any money. Funny thing was,his business was called "The Automatic Saw Sharpening Co." Nothing automatic about it! He did everything by hand. He knew what he was doing,too.


P.S.: I just googled it. The company apparently still exists,but I am sure that the old man is dead.

[lowell holmes]

Actually, it was in 2010-2012. I don't remember exactly. I've had several saws sharpened there and charges are always nominal.
Their prices are still nominal . See below


http://www.circlesaw.com/saw-blade-s...blade-and-more

[Mel Fulks]

George, he is gone,can't remember how far back. But he lasted a long time. Good guy. I bought a NEW rip saw from him and he insisted on sharpening it at no extra charge as it was not up to his standards. The shop is now on downtown Hull St. since VCU took over everything in the former location. Still run by the guy he taught years ago.

[mark kosse]

That's funny, I've been dealing with them for so long and I never thought of a web sight for them. The sharpening shop is right behind the counter sales but is behind a wall so it cant be seen. I live just 2 miles away from them. 10.00 sounds temping but I'll probably do it myself.

Actually, as I think about it, i'll probably use at least one file retoothing the saw and all my files are American made Nicholsons, so it may be worth 10.00.

[lowell holmes]

You live 2 miles from them and I live about 20 miles from them. It's easy to get me up for the trip, because I will have sub from Antone's when I go.

They have a tooth cutting machine and the saw will be sharp when you get it back. If I weren't playing with combinations of tooth count, shape, and sharpness, it wouldn't be worth the effort. They will not polish the saw plate, but it will be clean and smooth. There will be some luster on the saw plate.

I took a #4 Disston tenon saw to them and they did a good job on it.

It's also fun to browse through the toys on display.

[Mike Holbrook]

I am wondering about some of the comments about jointing, filling the sides of teeth... I believe Herman does suggest hitting the side of sharpened teeth with a file when tuning it. I think I have read a Daryl Wary post where he mentions doing it too.

I think George is cautioning against actually reducing the width of the teeth, which I think is different than doing a swipe or two to remove excess steel, essentially a wire edge? I can certainly see the wisdom in not trying to reduce tooth set by filling the sides of the teeth. Some of the old saws I have that were "sharpened" by someone of questionable skills seem to have been sharpened with dull files that left a good deal of "wire' hanging off the sides of teeth. I have found that this wire is often worse on one side of the saw causing it to not want to cut straight. Certainly setting the teeth more on one side than the other can cause a similar problem. I often look down the tooth line to see if there is a tooth or a few teeth that stick out.

I like Atkins saws. The handle positioning seems to work better for me. I like the feel of the blades which may relate to the fact that I sort of learned to saw with Japanese "pruning" saws. The Japanese saws "feel" a little more like the Atkins saws to me. Atkins seems to make more narrow blades, ship points are more common. I am trying to preserve the lesser blade widths so I am trying to practice conservative sharpening.