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Thread: Handsaws at work
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17th February 2021, 02:07 PM #1GOLD MEMBER
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Handsaws at work
Hi all. Thanks to the generosity of another forum member, I have been busy restoring plenty of handsaws. I recently found myself renovating a deck for a client and wished I had a rip saw to cut a lap join in a stump. To avoid future frustration (and remind me what a pleasure using good tools can be) I have brought this "pair" back to life. The S + J is a 9 TPI cross-cut (medallion may not be chronologically correct but very close) and the Disston is 7 TPI rip saw.
20210217_093616.jpg
These are going to live in the Ute from now on and I am looking for ideas on how to protect my just sharpened teeth. Also does anyone know the history of the "double" Disston medallion? I read somewhere that these were made in Australia. Is this true?
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17th February 2021, 03:51 PM #2
Hi Julian,
Last things first, a piece of electrical conduit split down the centre,would be an idea, or even a piece of garden hose to protect the teeth of a saw while in the back of the Ute.
But saying that maybe I’m too precious on my real saws but there’s no way I would take a real saw to work, I use new hand saws as cheap insurance, if I hit a nail, I only cry $20/30 bucks.
Cheers Matt.
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17th February 2021, 04:51 PM #3GOLD MEMBER
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Hey Matt. Taking the compost up to the compost bin, I saw the same piece of inspiration lying in the grass. Each saw now has a piece of hose and 2 elastic bands to hold it in place. Great minds think alike. And the more I sharpen, the better I will get
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17th February 2021, 05:49 PM #4
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17th February 2021, 06:36 PM #5
Onya, MA. Why not use the best saw you have for the job!? No point in struggling with an inferior, too-short hard-point when you can cruise through the job with a "real' saw (unless you fear hitting hardware... ) May as well make your work as enjoyable as you can, I say.
Y'know, you're starting to build up a pretty decent set of hand tools & finding more & more uses for them onsite, it would do your image a power of good to make a nice portable chest to carry around a selection of the "good" tools you are likely to need for certain jobs. This style seems to be very popular - you'd size it so that there is enough room in the drop-front to fit both saws comfortably, and overall width & depth to fit a choice of other tools you want to have on hand.
I made this for dragging a selection of tools around back when the club I belonged to did demos at wood shows: Box open 2 red.jpg
Mine was made to carry a very specific set of tools, & sized & fitted out accordingly, but a quick google will find an almost infinite variety of styles for inspiration....
Cheers,IW
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17th February 2021, 06:37 PM #6
That’s what I use; rigid PVC 20mm conduit. Saw or cut as narrow a strip as you can, the PVC grips the thicker saw plate rather tightly and the set prevents it from being easily torn off so you don’t need the elastic bands. Cut a taper on the slit ends so you can easily slide the toe in and just keep pulling the conduit down the saw.
Nothing succeeds like a budgie without a beak.
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17th February 2021, 09:51 PM #7GOLD MEMBER
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Thanks Ian. The solution I came up with on site was to use my multi tool to make series of cuts, then chisel away waste, then make another series of cuts, more chiselling....it would have been much quicker to have used a rip saw (I have tried with the hardpoints and it is tedious). I am always conscious of being efficient but that doesn't mean hand tools take second place. One other tool I could really use would be a proper framing slick, perfect for cleaning up check outs. I love the tool chest idea but would struggle to fit it in my ute
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17th February 2021, 10:04 PM #8GOLD MEMBER
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17th February 2021, 11:13 PM #9
MA
I am not sure I understand the reference to a double medallion. Would you like to give some more information? Disston's No.99 had three medallions but I think that was the only model that had more than one. Canadian Disstons were certainly sold here in Oz. I think there was some importing benefit coming from a colony.
The S & J clue is in the "non-break" handle. It was introduced around 1939 I think, but had gone by 1960 in a straight back saw. It was utilised only in the higher end models. However I don't know enough about S & J to offer a closer timeline.
Regards
PaulBushmiller;
"Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"
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18th February 2021, 07:02 AM #10GOLD MEMBER
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Hi Paul. By double Disston I mean that the medallion has •Disston•Disston• written on it, above and below the symbol. As opposed to •Disston•USA• or •Disston•Philada• etc. Looking on the Disstonian website, he doesn't list this type of medallion.
The S&J saw came with no medallion and the one I put on it celebrates 180 years of saw making, which would make the medallion from the 1940's (I read recently that they started in 1760). Serendipitous huh! The S&J saw also has evidence of a nib, would this mean that the blade is older than the handle? If it helps, Matt (Simplicity) told me that these saws came from you originally
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18th February 2021, 09:24 AM #11
MA
Now I understand. "Disston Disston" was used during the ownership of Disston by HK Porter, which began in 1955. They moved the business from Philadelphia to Danville in 1956 so references on the saw to Danville place the timeline from 1956, although it is quite possible they would have used up old "Disston USA" medallions for a while too. HK Porter sold the Disston brand to Sandvik in 1978.
Is there a nib on the S & J saw or are you talking about the "bead," which is the cut away portion at the toe? Often the nib has broken off, if it was once there, and the evidence for that is a very slightly jagged section of steel just before the blade increases to its full width. This is from a 1939 catalogue and, surprisingly, it shows the saws with a nib which you can just see when enlarged (and if you are looking for it). the "non-break handle has a dowel inserted through the grip.
S and J 1939 starightback.jpg
From this pic your saw would have been the No.82P I think. Something I have not previously noticed is the reference to a "light beech" handle. Is that the colour or the weight? I don't know.
Matt's comment on the saw being mine is both correct and incorrect! He collected a bunch of saws on my behalf from down near Melbourne. Sally then meticulously photographed them and I selected what I wanted at that point from the pix and Matt posted them to me. Matt also chose a few saws as his share of the arrangement and the rest, as you now know, Matt offered through the Forum for just the postage cost. Consequently, I have never had your saw in my hands.
Regards
PaulBushmiller;
"Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"
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18th February 2021, 10:44 AM #12GOLD MEMBER
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Ah hah! I thought they had been closer to saw greatness than it turns out . My S&J does have the dowel with a little cap on the top of the handle (reminds me of the flat end of a bullet) and the beaded blade. Even cleaned up, linseeded and paste waxed, the beech doesn't look light but it is definitely the nicer handle to hold. Used the Disston to rip in 42mm thick Merbau only half an hour ago.....and it works!! Any truth to the theory that these Disstons came from a Sydney factory?
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18th February 2021, 12:10 PM #13Bushmiller;
"Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely!"
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15th March 2021, 11:53 AM #14Intermediate Member
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Going to resurrect this to say that I've been spending a lot of time looking at old joiners/carpenters tool boxes and chests. There are definitely a few designs which would fit your needs and within your constraints. Happy to chat about them with you if you're curious. Otherwise, you can find out the same way I did - obsessively watching youtube videos, google and buying old woodworking books from antique stores!
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15th March 2021, 12:51 PM #15GOLD MEMBER
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Hi there SW. I have just used up, maybe, the last of the steel you gave me. Another pair of H and R #14. Blades are cut and profiled but yet to be tempered (waiting for the fire to be lit again). Plane bodies rebated and throats cut, hoping to get through mortises finished soon. Always keen to share info but I think the Ute is already chockers
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