Handsaw restoration

[AJOE123]

Here are some snaps of the D8 and Tyzack handles post treatment.
They received a dilute wash coat of blonde shellac followed by a brushed coat of normal strength.
I then made up a small french polish rubber and applied shellac with pumice and paraffin.
Then finished with paste Huon pine wax.
The D8 handle lost some of its red tinge with the shellac which was a little disappointing but the end result looks pretty good.
The apple patinates beautifully; one of the many reasons it is such a fine wood for handles. Beech also;but is more dependent on the cut;ie quarter cut is best.
I have added some snaps of my oldest Disston a 78-88 backsaw which has a very nice patina on its apple handle(unfortunately the top horn is damaged)
The Tyzack saw is 12PPI and those teeth are in reasonable shape;a lick with the file should see them ready.
The D8 handle had oxalic acid for some heavy stains.
I am reluctant to try BLO on apple as it may darken too much;but I will try some Walnut oil on a spare handle soon to assess its affect;with shellac and wax on top of the oil after some weeks of drying.
The other option is to try wax straight on to the apple with no intervening layer.
Mr McGee,good idea with hole drilling;I may have a try just to see if I can do it.
Cheers
Tony

[AJOE123]

Comrades
A while back I posted pics of a shabby saw I purchased because of its unusual medallion deployment.
Consulting the Disstonian Institute and with input from Bushmiller Sawdust Maker and P McGee it turned out to be a #76 Centennial from Disston.
These seem to be fairly rare;funny to find them in Australia.
This particular saw has excellent depth of metal;but has been beaten ;like a red headed step child; early in its life.
The blade is straight but cracked and dented;there are 6 missing teeth;the handle was badly broken and some ratbag cut both the horns off(maybe a misguided beef herder).
If it wasnt historically interesting I would have squirrelled the nuts and thrown the rest away.
But I dont have enough to do so I am trying to preserve it.
The blade has cleaned reasonably well but no etch was found.
Epoxy has worked pretty well on the broken handle and oxalic acid has removed heavy stains.
I have a plan for replacing the horns and may use a contrasting wood (?redgum/ironbark) for the tips.
The steel in the blade of a 76 was Disstons lowest grade;shared with the #7 and I was interested to find that the blade of a D8 would fit pretty easily with the curve and hole placement practically identical.
The back segment would need trimming.
I include some snaps of work in progress.
Cheers
Tony

[Pac man]

have you thought about cutting this down to make a shorter saw?

[AJOE123]

If the handle turns out OK I may make a user of it with a D8 blade and retain the original (intact) for historical purposes.
T

[AJOE123]

Another swap meet on the weekend.
Some needy saws rehomed.
D7 with broken blade and broken horn;bought for the nuts.
D8 Panel saw 20inch ;2 replacement nuts.
Sorby 20 inch back saw ;very artistic handle repair.
J Taylor and Son 8 inch back saw heavy rust but beautiful open handle.
These saws are starting to rule my life!
Cheers from Geelong
Tony

[Sawdust Maker]

that D7 is obviously intended for use on short saw benches

nifty repair on the sorby

[pmcgee]

The steel in the blade of a 76 was Disstons lowest grade;shared with the #7

Hey Tony ... you're having quite a time of it there

I wouldn't be down on the quality of the metal.
There's a WkFineTools page ... could have been associated with Simon Barley(?) ... that looked into the metal of a range of Disston saws and found them virtually identical in a metalurgical sense.

In addition ... the #7s are no slouch in the quality department either. You could almost say virtually nothing from back then is/was rubbish.

I have #7s here that sound as toned and tensioned as a #16 or #12. And vice-versa.

I think a good-quality #7 would stand up any comparison with a new LN or Wenzloff 26" saw ... at what? somewhere in the $200-$500 ??

And a #76 would have got more attention that a #7, I would think.

Cheers,
Paul

[surfdabbler]

I'm in the process of restoring an old saw at the moment... Does anyone have a trick for removing the split nuts? I've managed to remove one, but the other two are being stubborn, and I don't want to totally mutilate the nuts getting them off. I have considered cutting down an old wide-blade flat screwdriver, sharpening it a little, and and drilling out the centre of the blade, leaving the outside edges. One problem - I don't have an old screwdriver. If anyone has some other handy tricks, they would be appreciated. Otherwise I'll have to pay a visit to a junk store to buy a screwdriver.

[burraboy]

I'm in the process of restoring an old saw at the moment... Does anyone have a trick for removing the split nuts? I've managed to remove one, but the other two are being stubborn, and I don't want to totally mutilate the nuts getting them off. I have considered cutting down an old wide-blade flat screwdriver, sharpening it a little, and and drilling out the centre of the blade, leaving the outside edges. One problem - I don't have an old screwdriver. If anyone has some other handy tricks, they would be appreciated. Otherwise I'll have to pay a visit to a junk store to buy a screwdriver.

What about grinding the end off an old hacksaw blade down to the hole? Worked for me. Must get around to putting a flash handle on it.

[IanW]

SD, just buy any old cheap screwdriver with a blade as wide as the diameter of the nuts. Grind or file the blade to the right thickness for the slots, then file a notch in the middle wide enough for the bolt (which is usually only about 3.5mm diameter on old saws). The only 'trick' is to make sure you have a good fit, with the blade well-seated in the slot for maximum purchase. A good dose of WD40 or whatever your favourite brew is, a few hours before the next attempt at removal can't hurt.

An old hacksaw blade is ok, but they are much harder material to deal with, & being brittle, the lugs are likely to snap if you get too enthusiastic with them. I use old steel circular-saw blade for my split-nut drivers, which, like screwdriver material, is soft enough to file, but more than tough enough for brass. The advantage of using a screwdriver is it comes with a nice, plastic handle already fitted for you.

Cheers,

[Heavansabove]

a 1/2" spade bit works well for this. Grind off the point and shape for screws. Then cut slot and file to width. Any flea market will usually produce a number of candidates. I found a hacksaw blade hard work, and cannot find the one I did. You may need more than one because the screws are not all the same.
saw screw driver.jpg

Cheers
Peter

[Bushmiller]

An angle grinder with a cutting disc (the old thicker discs are best) can be used to form the slot in the centre of whatever blade you use. Probably best to support the blade in a vice or at least clamp it to the bench.

Regards
Paul

[Bushmiller]

I had a delivery of saw plates the other day and really haven't got to do any work on them other than sort them into three groups.

The first group are those I won't do much with. They may become my test beds for electrolysis. I propose to destructive test the plates to determine once and for all if the process is detrimental to the steel.

Handsaw resto plates 001.jpg

The second group looks fine, but there is nothing particularly that stands out amongst them. The second saw from the top looks like a Disston and that is about all I can tell at this stage.

Handsaw resto plates 002.jpg

Now for the interesting part. This next group of four all have nibs indicating they are late 19th century or very early 20th century models.

Handsaw resto plates 003.jpg

The bottom saw seems to be almost full depth and is the only one that is 28" long. Most of these eleven saws are 26" with a couple being a tad shorter. I am not sure why some of them have been painted in grey primer, which is only on one side. Whether the intention was to sell them for painting () I don't know. Some have been treated with a shellac type substance. Almost none have crusted rust on them.

All the plates are straight and they came from the same deceased estate as my ancient #8 (https://www.woodworkforums.com/f152/boy-toys-182912)

It may be it is as simple as the handles were too far gone and discarded. I say this as the same estate had a bucket of sawnuts for sale also, but I missed out on those.

I will have to see if there is anything hiding under the paint and the grime. I plan to make up new handles to suit in due course.

Happy to hear if there are any thoughts on what I've got (constructive thoughts preferred, but anything considered .)

Regards
Paul

[Pac man]

Happy to hear if there are any thoughts on what I've got (constructive thoughts preferred, but anything considered .)

Regards
Paul

I would say you have a lot of work ahead of you

[NCArcher]

Happy to hear if there are any thoughts on what I've got (constructive thoughts preferred, but anything considered .)

Regards
Paul

Paul, I'd say you have a serious problem and should see someone about it. (that was pretty constructive )