Thread: Disston Dovetail Saw.

She's a beauty! What finish did you use?

All spruced up & ready for another 100 years, Stewie. The saw, that is.....

Cheers,

A number of years ago I made this set of wooden spoke shaves. A totally different type of finishing technique was used compared to that seen on the #70 backsaw.

Stewie;

A beautiful restoration, well done sir!
I too am interested in the finish of the handle, products used and how you got that nice finish.

Thanks for sharing

Alan

Wow stewie
Ye Ye Ye you did another great saw
Yes it is nice. Very nice
But those spoke shaves look amazing
Would love to hear(everything)
About them
Cheers Matt

Email from Erik von Sneidern; Disstonian Institute.com -- Online Reference of Disston Saws

Stewie,

That looks better than any other No. 70 I've seen. Nice work.

thought i would try and do a pic, can not remember if i have so before, its been so long.

not very good at it, cripes (nice job and saw stewie) you guys make a saw look great in photo.

my saw looks much better in person although i admit now that i took the pic it shows saw dust and finger prints all over, what a mess!. thought i would give it a little wipe of polish to show the brass in comparison to Stewie's (brass coated steel on these distons), i generally don't bother to touch the brass backs on the saws, not because of any principles per say, i just don't bother (which might read as lazy lol) as it doesn't affect the saw when i use it. so on many of back saws you can not always tell they have brass because its so dark.

on the odd saw when i pull it apart, to refurbish loose nuts or reset blade tension it may get a clean but inevitably the brass goes dark again after a while. i try and keep the blade waxed and or oiled or wrapped, or enclosed in something to prevent rust, the back not so much of importance (to me) except to clamp the edge to keep tension on the blade, doesn't matter so much further into the back if its not tight. thats one thing i like about older back saws (though i have never touched this one in that way) is you can dismantle them, tension the blade if ness, put the back on and only needs a tight grip at the edge of the back. glueing in, whilst i fully understand the reasons people do it kinda make them a disposable saw imo and i often wonder if tension is as good on the blade (probably is, just a thought), your views may vary, but each to our own. if i didn't already have saws i might consider a disposable saw because if price and how much i get out if it suits then ok, but if i have the choice...then a saw that dismantles with ease is my preference. but i hope do not i rub anyone up the wrong way with my perspective.

the specs say it should have 1 1/2 inch under plate but this has 1 5/8 (so 1/8 more). 17-18 tip, the handle you can see is how it came in contrast to Stewie #70 upgrade. the etch i think is showing in the pic, pure luck on my part. its clear on the saw but the pic diminishes it a little. anyways first try at putting a pic afaik and should have done better to saw and method of picture taking

cheers
chippy

Stewie

What an exquisite little saw. Understated elegance if ever there was. Nice restoration.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by planemaker

A number of years ago I made this set of wooden spoke shaves. A totally different type of finishing technique was used compared to that seen on the #70 backsaw.

Stewie;

What sort of timber are the spoke shaves? Ebony? They look beautiful!

Did you make the blades as well?

drum maker

Bunya. The spoke shave bodies are made from European Beech; some of the blades are Nos; the depth adjuster parts were purchased 2nd hand; the brass face and bottom wear plates were made from new stock material.

Stewie;

Stewie

Did you ebonise the Beech?

Regards
Paul

Paul

how do you ebonise wood? Can you do it to any wood?

Cheers
Stewart

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Stewie

Did you ebonise the Beech?

Regards
Paul

Hi Paul. If your referring to the use of an iron oxide solution to ebonise the appearance of the timber; that process was not used on these spoke shaves.

The attached photo is of a Coffin Shaped Toothing Plane I made a few years ago, that's been treated with an iron oxide solution.

Stewie;

Originally Posted by bunya pine

...how do you ebonise wood? Can you do it to any wood?

Practically any, Stewart, but some woods respond much better than others, and obviously, a fine-grained wood gives the most convincing results. Do google on it & you'll see there are numerous methods for 'ebonising'...

Cheers,