Coupl'a Garage Sale Gents' Saws

**Durdge39** · 16th March 2011, 08:38 PM

Over the long weekend I found myself at a garage sale held by an old time joiner who has unfortunately gone out of business due to a combination of undervalued imports and old age. Among the array of things on offer, I found these two small saws very similar to the Pax Gents' Saw that I have on back order at Carbatec.

The top saw is in the condition that I received them, while the lower has had a wee bit of de-rusting applied to the plate as well as new teeth.
The lower saw in the picture had obviously been sharpened by the previous owner (presumably with a woodsman's axe) and there was teeth from the proverbial to breakfast time. I figured now was as good a time as any to have a crack at cutting fresh teeth on a saw. My previous experience consisted of giving one of my other small backsaws a lick with a file.
So I set about filing off the old teeth, jointing the edge flat and filing these teeth into shape. Using a Somax saw set, I applied light set and viola; the saw had life again.
Below is a comparison of old and new. Previous teeth were 12ppi, I bumped it up to 16ppi for finer cuts.

I spent about an hour from start to finish with the teeth. They aren't perfect - there is a few teeth I can see that are a few thou different to their neighbors. However, the little saw cuts delightfully in thinner stock, but will begin to bog down on stock thicker than 3/4". The kerf is about 0.6mm wide - just perfect for veneer miter keys.
I find these saws interesting - they reek of low quality; the folded mild steel spine is pop riveted to the plate and the handles aren't as solidly bound to the rest of the saw as one would like, but I enjoy using them greatly. They have character.
I would like to file the teeth on the second saw to cut on the pull stroke for a bit of comparison; in due time though.

...And to think: I was persuaded into parting with two dollars for each saw!

Cheers for reading.

**IanW** · 17th March 2011, 09:41 AM

Durdge - if that's your first ever attempt at making teeth, it's a damn fine effort! My first go looked more like a broken-mouthed old ewe....

Just eyeballing your teeth, they are nice & even, but it looks like you have a very high rake angle, not far off zero, in fact (though it is very hard to judge from a picture, and I could be way off). With finer teeth (16 & higher), you can get away with close to zero, and it will make them very aggressive cutters, but you might find they have a very rough action in hard woods. I would recommend at least 5-8 degrees negative rake on ripsaws, and 8-12 on crosscuts, to handle the range of woods we have here. Not everyone agrees with those figures, some prefer aggressive cutting over smoothness. And of course, other parameters like weight, plate thickness & amount of set also influence the cutting qualities, so rake is just one factor.

Anyway - here you stand poised on the edge of the slippery slope - you've done the hard part, now maybe one of those little saws would like a nice brass spine & a new handle? That's just how I got started in sawmaking, with a little nudge or two from RayG.......

Cheers,

**Durdge39** · 19th March 2011, 02:13 PM

Cheers for the comments Ian, much appreciated. The rake on those teeth should be about 0 degrees, or at least as close to it as my eye could judge. I've noticed that it is a reasonably bitey saw, and because of the handle position it will catch closer to the heel of the plate. Next time I will most certainly be putting some negative rake on the teeth.

It's true what you say about the slippery slope, I had pondered the possibilities of adding some meat to the saws around the handle area to make them stronger. Now that you mention it though, a brass spine would look nice and I think I have a piece that would do it; if only I bought one of those 0.5mm slitting saws from eBay for the work mill.

Tom.

**IanW** · 19th March 2011, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by Durdge39

....... Now that you mention it though, a brass spine would look nice and I think I have a piece that would do it; if only I bought one of those 0.5mm slitting saws from eBay for the work mill.

Tom - McJing's has 0.5mm slitting saws for around $10, so if you already have an arbor, you could be in the sawmaking business very easily. NOT that I'm trying to push you down the slope, or anything....

The saws are not the greatest quality (one of mine is slightly eccentric, which matches the owner, I suppose), however, they do a good job on brass if you take it slowly enough.

It's all good, clean fun!

Cheers,

**Christos** · 19th March 2011, 05:56 PM

I think you have done well. Just another skill to develope

or you have already developed.

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