Four new saws (hmm 60+ yo maybe)

[Sawdust Maker]

What do you chaps use to drill the recesses for your saw bolts?

The disstons I picked up last wednesday have saw bolts with 37/64" or 9/16" diameters at the head

I don't have any forstners or bradpoints at these sizes nor do they seem to be available - a search of colt forstners in the US only have 1/2" and then 5/8"
5/8 is too big - tried it yesterday

As I was planning on using these nuts on the little backsaw I need to drill out the recesses

I see that colt make a 14mm and a 15mm forstner (slightly too small and slightly too big) would need to import from europe.
and I can probably pick up a 15 mm forstner from Carbatec

Can't really use a normal twist bit as it will only tear the wood

[IanW]

What do you chaps use to drill the recesses for your saw bolts?

The disstons I picked up last wednesday have saw bolts with 37/64" or 9/16" diameters at the head

I don't have any forstners or bradpoints at these sizes nor do they seem to be available - a search of colt forstners in the US only have 1/2" and then 5/8"
5/8 is too big - tried it yesterday

As I was planning on using these nuts on the little backsaw I need to drill out the recesses

I see that colt make a 14mm and a 15mm forstner (slightly too small and slightly too big) would need to import from europe.
and I can probably pick up a 15 mm forstner from Carbatec

Can't really use a normal twist bit as it will only tear the wood

I use Forstners & brad points on my handles. There are various gadgets to drill the bolt hole & countersink in one, but I haven't seen the need for those for my low-volume output.

There are definitely 9/16 Forstners made, but you will have to go off shore to get one. Carbatec used to have that size, but their individual Forstner selection looks a bit lean atm. I checked, & Lee Valley have them at a reasonable price (but postage will quadruple that!).

Cheers,

[Bushmiller]

Nick

Fence Furniture may have something hanging around from his Colt GBs. You never know. It may be worth a call.

Regards
Paul

[Bushmiller]

Nick

Another possibility is to get hold of an oversize spade bit and grind or file it down to size if all else fails.

Regards
Paul

[Sawdust Maker]

Amazon is my friend
Lee valley seems to be out of stock

[Heavansabove]

Amazon is my friend
Lee valley seems to be out of stock

Available here http://www.woodcraft.com/product/202...stner-bit.aspx, don't know the quality of these though

Cheers
Peter

[Sawdust Maker]

Thanks

have ordered and will have them in a couple of weeks
freight is estimated to be a cup of coffee and a piece of cake, or maybe a muffin

[Heavansabove]

Thanks

have ordered and will have them in a couple of weeks
freight is estimated to be a cup of coffee and a piece of cake, or maybe a muffin

Sounds good Nick, now I know where to go to borrow a 9/16" Forstner when I need one

Cheers
Peter

[Sawdust Maker]

Sounds good Nick, now I know where to go to borrow a 9/16" Forstner when I need one

Cheers
Peter

Rental will be coffee and a donut! or maybe a piece of christmas cake

[hiroller]

Hopefully they should arrive before Xmas!
If not you can borrow mine.

[Heavansabove]

Hopefully they should arrive before Xmas!
If not you can borrow mine.

Thanks Gavin, I will be in US visiting my sons and imminent latest grandson before Xmas, so with a bit of purchasing, that will make three in Sydney at least!

Cheers
Peter

[Christos]

.....have ordered and will have them in a couple of weeks.......

......If not you can borrow mine.

Thanks Gavin, I will be in US visiting my sons and imminent latest grandson before Xmas, so with a bit of purchasing, that will make three in Sydney at least!....

That's fantastic news, I have three sources that I would be able to borrow the bit from.
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O and congrats on your pending grandson Heavansabove.

[Sawdust Maker]

Assembled the Francis Wood and Sons backsaw today

the saw nuts courtesy of a (surplus to requirements) Disston
the original nuts would have probably been 1/2 inch but because of the use of regular nuts at some stage and the damage they caused I had to rebore the recesses for the nuts and bolts to 9/16

The handle was given a bit of a clean, lightly sanded and finished with a homemade wipe on poly

Now to learn to sharpen. It has already been retoothed by Pagies Saw Service at 12 ppi
I'm thinking crosscut but a big ask for a first sharpening exercise

Saw_9049_9052.jpg

[IanW]

Looks good so far, Nick. If it has been re-toothed accurately, sharpening shouldn't be too tough.

I'm a set-first sharpener, so if you need to set, decide when you want that to happen. If you're not sure how much set to give it, go a bit light rather than over-set, because it's much easier to add a little more than take some off.

Next step - shut the phone off, & put up a "Buzz-off, I'm concentrating" sign - nothing worse than being interrupted when hallway along one side of a saw!
My advice would be to use some sort of assistance to establish the fleam angle. It can be as simple as lines drawn on your saw vise (which is what I use), or a couple of sticks with a hole for the file at the right angle (you need a complementary pair), or go highly sophisticated with something like the Veritas filing guide. I have a Veritas guide, but I tend to use it only for tooth-forming, and don't bother with it for the sharpening step. Try to be very consistent with your strokes, so that you take off the same amount of metal from each tooth. Use just a couple of strokes per tooth, and keep up a steady rhythm along the whole side.

You may not get a perfect result first time, but there's every chance you'll get a useable saw, if you take care. And if the worst happens & you make a mess of it, just joint it off, re-form the teeth & try again. You'll benefit from the extra practice...

Cheers,

[hiroller]

I highly recommend a headband magnifier!