Thread: $1.00 saw

I threw away a few of these hand saws at the council clean up last month. I was a bit sick of lot of old tools sitting under the house.

nice score, orraloon.

Is it a rip or a cross cut?

Will you please keep us abreast of progress?

Originally Posted by Wongo

I threw away a few of these hand saws at the council clean up last month. I was a bit sick of lot of old tools sitting under the house.

philistine
and why not offer a good home with a hand tool tragic to those poor old saws that never did anyone any harm,,,,

Wongo, next time you're having a clean up, let me know, OK?

They belonged to the wife’s grandfather. When we bought the house from my inlaws they left a lot of rubbish (no I mean treasure) behind.

My MIL is one of those who will never throw anything away. Yes that includes old spray bottles and container lids. “Wongo, you don’t know mate. We were growing up when there was a war on, blah, blah, blah…”

I must say she wasn’t impressed that day. FIL said “You don’t have to do it in front of her you stupid bastard”

I honest thought I would never even look at them again. Who needs an old rusty handsaw when you have JET anyway.

Don’t worry silent, they were gone an hour after I put them out. They are now sitting under someone’s house for the next 50 years. I must go next to next door (MIL’s house) to have a look tonight.

PS after 3 years since we bought the house, we have finally cleaned up all the rubbish left behind from the previous owners. So much stuff so much memory.

Originally Posted by Wongo

PS after 3 years since we bought the house, we have finally cleaned up all the rubbish left behind from the previous owners. So much stuff so much memory.

So do you want to come round here and clean out some of SWMBO's parents' junk? I'm bloody sure I can't get her to!

Congratulations John, that looks like a nice clean hand saw.

One thing I have been doing to similar saws I have purchased from garage sales, at similar prices, is to coat them with u Beaut Traditional Wax, especially the steel.

I first used this wax on a restoration about 2 years ago, best thing about the job.

Previously I had been sealing the metal part with an old bottle of something I had in the shed from about 20 years ago, it worked, but using the saw would take the hardened covering off in places and the saw was open to rust.

With the wax I just give it a quick wipe at the end of the day and it's perfect until the next time.

Mick.

OK John,

You have given us a peek at the 'treasure'. We are now waiting for the good oil on the chisels you picked up. The large one looks quite wide. We all want to know what you got, Titans perhaps. Then we can reply and say, 'you lucky bug*er'.

So, some more photos are expected when you get the restoration done. And don't worry, I blame the forum, OCD, old age, anything really, for my inability to walk past old tools at the markets. Have fun.

Cheers
Pops

I'd be taking the rust off using Molasses as per the description here it's a bit more gentle and gets all of the rust off and doesn't muck up the tempering. It does take at least a week to work though. a bit of wire brushing brings up the finish afterwards.

You can use other things instead of Molasses but it is extremely cheap.

Cheers


Dave

Hi,
I got a bit more done on the saw. The rust on the blade took a few hours of sanding and scrubbing with wd40 and a pot scourer. I then gave it some phosphoric acid to stop the rust in the pitting that I could not get at. The acid gets washed off after an hour. Same sort of thing as blueing a gun barrel.
There was a kink in the blade I hammered out and it is near enough strait.
The handle is a bit sorry but i decided to keep it for its old look. A new made one would look out of place. I planed flat where a bit was broken off in order to glue on a new bit of wood. The handle is beech and I have none so the repair a bit of meranti being the closest i had. This is not a restoration to original condition as it is too far gone for that but it will make a good working saw. I will post again when I get more done.

Regards
John

Answers to other questions
Pops
The chisels are a mystery bunch. The large one is 1 1/2" and has no marking. From the tang I think it would have had a plastic handle so I will make a wood one for it on the lathe. Looks like it was misused a bit but will clean up ok.
There is a bevel edge 1/4'' but it is a bit twisted. I will regrind it for some turning application as the need arises. The other is a 3/16'' mortise chisel and is not in bad shape. A rub down to clean and a sharpen and it is a goer. It has 2 stamped marks on the blade but I can't make then out. The nail puller is perfect so i just hung it up on the tool rack. The 2 engineers squares are reasonably true or as good as any of my other squares, just need a clean. I will take some pics in a few days.
Dave
The molasses trick is a new one on me but as I gave the saw about 3 hours of elbow grease it has merit. I was considering the electrolysis method but decided to just clean it up as it was mostly surface rust. I did not forsee it being so hard to scrub up. I will be wiser next time.

More updates as things progress.

Regards
John

Hi John,

Nice job on the saw. More work in restoration than meets the eye I have found out.

Thanks for the update on the chisel info. Bargain at the price. Do keep us posted.

Cheers
Pops

OK, I'll say it this time:

'You didn't get the cord with the saw.'

CP

Hi there,
Well the $1.00 saw is a goer (even without the cord).
The handle was fixed up a bit sanded and oiled. Sharpened ,set and that is it .
Cuts like a saw too. Bits of test off cuts in last picture.
It took a bit of time but I enjoyed the project. It is feels good to have saved it from the tip. Think I feel the dark side calling.

Regards
John