Acquiring Hand Saws Game Plan

[Steve Mathews]

After taking an inventory of the old saws I have on hand and balancing that with what I would like to accomplish moving toward more hand tool work I've come up with this game plan. Since my existing saws range from almost junk to middle of the road quality I'm thinking of purchasing one Bad Axe crosscut saw. I would use this to compare the work I plan to do on the old saws, i.e sharpening, etc. This should give me plenty of practice and a better understanding about hand saws. Any comments or suggestions?

I already have a couple of saw vises. One is an old Disston. Bad Axe apparently has saw files for sale. Is this a good source for them? There are plenty of tutorials about saw sharpening on YouTube but I usually respond better by reading printed material. Are there any recommended books on the subject?

[Monte Milanuk]

While I do have a Bad Axe saw (or two) and like them a lot... if you're wanting something to compare your efforts to as you learn how to sharpen... you might be better off (money-wise) to just get one of your existing cheap saws sharpened. Even if you don't have anyone local, and have to ship it off to get the job done, it's still going to be way cheaper (and faster) than getting a saw from Bad Axe.

That said, if you *want* a Bad Axe, they are very, very nice saws and there's nothing wrong with wanting - or getting one, despite some of the bass-ackwards 'shaming' that goes on here and other online venues when people just want to buy nice tools rather than develop a tertiary hobby of rehabbing old rust.

[Steve Mathews]

Are there any new saws equal in quality to a Bad Axe?

[Jim Koepke]

There are plenty of tutorials about saw sharpening on YouTube but I usually respond better by reading printed material. Are there any recommended books on the subject?

Check out Pete Taran's site > http://www.vintagesaws.com < He used to make saws, he may be making or selling them again.

The library on his site has a good tutorial that you can print out on sharpening saws.

jtk

[Rob Luter]

I'd suggest you find an old Disston D8 or similar and sharpen it up. One of your existing saws may be a good candidate. A 26" crosscut saw is used for breaking down stock, not joinery. Save your money for good quality joinery saws. Bad Axe makes some good ones, as do a few others.

[Steve Mathews]

I'd suggest you find an old Disston D8 or similar and sharpen it up. One of your existing saws may be a good candidate. A 26" crosscut saw is used for breaking down stock, not joinery. Save your money for good quality joinery saws. Bad Axe makes some good ones, as do a few others.

Sounds like a good idea but I'm a little skeptical about using one of my existing saws. I would have more confidence sending a good condition Disston or something similar to Vintage Saws for sharpening. Otherwise it might be a waste of time and money. The other obvious benefit to an old saw is the long lead time for a Bad Axe saw. I just may send in an order to Bad Axe anyway to satisfy my itch. BTW, I already have a good selection of joinery saws from LN, Cosman, etc.

[Tom M King]

Are we talking handsaws. or backsaws?

If you're going to use a handsaw or backsaw to amount to anything, you might as well learn to sharpen it. It's not really hard, but all of us screw something up the first couple of tries, so I'd suggest getting a cheap saw that the tooth spacing hasn't been screwed up too badly on, and practice on that.

Many saws have been sharpened on those Disston vises, and I had one that I've used a number of times too. I gave it to someone after I found one I liked better than any I've seen before, but the vise never held me back from getting a saw sharp.

[steven c newman]

Careful.....old saws are like Mice....
More saws, stacked up .JPG
Both are D8s ( no hyphen era) one is an 8ppi, the other is an 11ppi....26" long, made before 1928...
Leftovers, ready for work .JPG
One one the right is a 28" long D8 ( no hypen) 5-1/2ppi Rip....the one on the left is a D-112, 26" , 7ppi cross cut....

[Tom M King]

Yeah. These are my newest ones. The other box has the old ones.

[steven c newman]

Anybody we know in this group
Carpenters.jpg

Take a good look at the saws they had in their tool chests....

[Tom M King]

Those are the guys that I work to please every day. Not that the average person, or even today’s experts can’t tell the difference, but the guys who built it couldn’t tell the difference.

[Jim Koepke]

Sounds like a good idea but I'm a little skeptical about using one of my existing saws.

Steve, if you mentioned where you are located, I've forgotten.

Are their estate, garage, yard sales or second hand stores in your area?

If so you should be able to find a saw for a few bucks. Buy a junk saw. Look for one with 6 to 8 ppi. That range is most likely what most hardware store files can handle.

Don't worry if it is rusty, just make sure it isn't all bent up. It is likely any second hand saw you buy will have been over set. Many people who do not know about saws thing setting the teeth wider is sharpening the saw.

Give it a few test cuts on some scrap wood. Then take a shot at improving it with a triangular file. One of those can be bought in almost any hardware store.

If you do not have a saw vise, it can be clamped between two pieces of wood.

Most saws you buy at a yard sale are not going to be precious collector's items.

That will be your cost to learn how to sharpen a saw, an old saw or two, a few files and what ever other equipment you purchase to work on your saws.

In the long run you will be happy you did.

I have made a mess of a saw or two. Then i learned how to bring them back from the mess whether it was made by me or someone else.

jtk

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Where is that thread about removing the farm scene acrylic painting from a flea market saw and putting it back to work?. I inherited a collection of mostly not great saws that a gentleman collected just to keep people from painting farm scenes on them.

[Steve Mathews]

I'll make the rounds to the flea markets, garage sales, etc. again but I was told during my last trek that all were picked up by like minded buyers.

[Steve Mathews]

Where is that thread about removing the farm scene acrylic painting from a flea market saw and putting it back to work?. I inherited a collection of mostly not great saws that a gentleman collected just to keep people from painting farm scenes on them.

Well, at least they didn't rust away, on one side anyway.