Thread: Simonds Back Saws

Did the 3 come from the same source? Have you cleaned them up any?

This is probably my bias showing, but especially the first photo is what I think of as the 'electrolysis look'.
... a certain dull grayness to most of the blade?

Am I talking out a non-standard opening?

Cheers,
Paul

Actually I had saved some pics from ebay recently to illustrate what I thought was probably electrolysis ...

#7 1i.jpg #7 1h.jpg #7 1g.jpg #7 1f.jpg #7 1e.jpg#7 1d.jpg #7 1c.jpg #7 1b.jpg #7 1a.JPG

and

$_57 (5).jpg $_57 (2).jpg $_57.jpg $_57 (9).jpg

Originally Posted by pmcgee

Did the 3 come from the same source? Have you cleaned them up any?

This is probably my bias showing, but especially the first photo is what I think of as the 'electrolysis look'.
... a certain dull grayness to most of the blade?

Am I talking out a non-standard opening?

Cheers,
Paul

Paul

No, as I said, no attention given yet and they are all from different sources. I do understand what you mean about electrolysis and the "grey" look and for the moment I am only cleaning the plates by mechanical methods.

I did purchase some carbon gouging rods for some experimenting on the electrolysis, but the results on the test I did were inconclusive. This may have been because the rods had a copper coating to them. I ground off part of the copper to present a carbon surface to the sawplate, but need to do more work on this.

I suppose I will have to give these back saws a mechanical polish to determine their status . It's looking like another late night .

Regards
Paul

The handle of that lil back saw looks interesting

Originally Posted by Sawdust Maker

The handle of that lil back saw looks interesting

Nick

That was the standard Simonds backsaw handle and they used it on their No.96 and No.97 models. The only difference I can see was that they used apple for the 96 and Beech for the 97.

In 1919 a 12" No.96 would have cost you US$1.33 and US$1.16 would have bought you the same in a No.97! Having said that, the prices quoted were per dozen so it may have been from the wholesalers catalogue. If that were the case the price may have been, with a mark up of 50% say, US$2.00 and US$1.75 respectively.

Please somebody correct me if the quoted prices were indeed retail. I cringe when I think of how much more I paid .

One other thing on the handle. My catalogue fom 1919 shows a tote that had an extra piece before the top horn.

Regards
Paul

Ok, Paul shamed me into doing a little investigative work on the three back saws. Firstly the 12" No.97. Perhaps I should have referred to this a the toothless wonder as you can see in pics 3 & 4.

Simonds Back and Mitre saws 001.jpgSimonds Back and Mitre saws 003.jpgSimonds Back and Mitre saws 002.jpgSimonds Back and Mitre saws 006.jpgSimonds Back and Mitre saws 005.jpg

This next pic is especially for Nick as he said such complimentary things about the little beast. I did polish the sawnuts, but still have to refinish the timber.

Simonds Back and Mitre saws 004.jpg

The "middle" sized saw is a bit inconclusive. It is slightly better than the pic would have you believe, but only a little. Something went wrong with my picture taking and I only got one shot of this saw. It was the poorest finish of the three.

Simonds Back and Mitre saws 012.jpg

The largest saw came up a treat. In fact it is one of the best finishes I have ever been able to achieve from a restoration. I have only restored the etch side as these saws are not a high priority right now. However I took another shot of the RHS just for comparison in a similar light. You can also clearly see the etch for the Stanley company.

Simonds Back and Mitre saws 007.jpgSimonds Back and Mitre saws 008.jpgSimonds Back and Mitre saws 009.jpgSimonds Back and Mitre saws 010.jpg

I spent between 15 minutes and 20 minutes on each saw. As I said, they were not a high priority, although I would like to refinish the 12' saw ready for it's dental work.

Regards
Paul

Sweetheart by Simonds ... niiice.

Originally Posted by pmcgee

Sweetheart by Simonds ... niiice.

All Simonds are sweet .

Regards
Paul

I mentioned in one of the other threads that I was looking at the possibility of colouring Van Dyke Crystals. I put red food colouring into some ready made mixture and this was the result on the No.97 with the beech handle.

Simonds No.97 004.jpgSimonds No.97 005.jpg

Simonds No.97 002.jpgSimonds No.97 006.jpg

Initially I thought the colour was too artificially red, but it toned down once the finish was applied.

Any thoughts?

Regards
Paul

Like you say, it's hard to translate photos to real-life appearance sometimes ...
but that looks pretty damn fine to me. A really good colour.

How does it feel in the hand?
The handle I put carnauba wax on (which I understand is "harder" than "paste wax") felt initially a bit resistive rather than wickedly smooth ... but sitting for a couple months now feels much smoother ... and in use I think it would work out very nicely.

It would be interesting to see yours in a month from now.

Cheers,
Paul

Paul

I finished the handle with Ubeaut's hard shellac and then Gilly Stephenson's carnuba wax over the top.

Initially that technique feels slightly sticky, but even overnight it has gone to a hard dry feel. I tested the stain on some scrap pieces first and felt thay had come up slightly better than the handle itself. Then I twigged that the test pieces were apple whereas this handle was beech.

Regards
Paul