Swedish Viking Saw

**johnnyrsa** · 24th May 2013, 06:13 PM

Just thought I'd share some pictures of my little Swedish Viking backsaw I found at a pawnshop.

The poor thing was covered in a black tar like substance. I scraped most of it off and started lightly sanding some of the surface rust off until I noticed an etching starting to emerge from underneath the rust.

So I thought I'd try my hand at building my own electrolysis tank, something I've been wanting to try for a while now.

Used some welded mesh to make the anode:

Saw before going inside the tank:

Blade inside tank before I connected the wiring:

Blade starting to bubble after I connected the wires and switched on the power:

I used an old pc's power supply, my car battery charger didn't want to work..

After about 3 hours:

Here's what the blade looked like after 3 hours inside the tank:

Close up of etching on blade:

Handle after a bit of sanding:

2 Brass screws/nuts:

It's still far from finished, I should probably have left it inside the tank overnight.. I'm gonna put it in for a few more hours this weekend and see if it cleans up the etching a little bit more.

It was made by a company called Lidkopings Sagbladsfabrik in Sweden, I couldn't find much info about them on the net except that they were acquired by Bahco tools in 1922.

**orraloon** · 24th May 2013, 08:51 PM

That looks like a good find. As for the electrolysis it will not work all that well on the metal covered with the tar. You need to clean that off with solvent first. I an not inclined to use electrolysis on saw blades as they are so thin so be careful not to over do it. Keep posting as you go.
Regards
John

**johnnyrsa** · 24th May 2013, 10:47 PM

Nah all the black tar like stuff is gone, it's just surface rust that's left. I tried a bunch of stuff, fine grit wet sanding paper, metal polish with crumpled aluminium foil but the etching seemed to fade a bit so I stopped. Anyone have any other ideas to get it a bit cleaner and hopefully preserve the etching?

**pmcgee** · 25th May 2013, 07:33 AM

Take this for inspiration ... A Cresson Saw with a Class… by Matthew Cianci (*PS .. I have never made anything that clean

)

That is 'easier' in that it is stamped, not etched.

Thanks for your posts - I have wondered what effect electrolysis has on an etch.
BTW I have put up some pictures before of saws I have that look a dead dull even matte grey that I suspect are the result of electrolysis - but I must have been a lot longer or higher amps I guess.

You can use sandpaper relatively vigorously away from the etched section ... lubricate with WD40 or similar.
P120, P180 ... use some used paper first ... proceed with caution ... get a feel for how hard each one is on the (black) rust.
P2000 can be good for over the etch itself, but other used paper works too.

Personally I like to use two finger-tips with the paper so I can feel the pressure I am putting on it, but you will also read that you need a sanding block not to take away the etch. You could make a smallish block 1"x2" and glue some paper to it(???)

Cheers,
Paul

**Clinton1** · 25th May 2013, 07:14 PM

Nice work. Using the weld mesh was a good idea.

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