Thread: Junk pile saws

They all look like Disston saws which I believe to be reasonable quality, looks like a crosscut and a couple of rip saws, I have only just done a thread on a panel saw revival, I am far from an expert but I think my restore came up OK, I know I will use it more now I have cleaned it up and I now know a little more re sharpening a saw as a result of the exercise....I read up on it and just had a try as your saws were free you have nothing to lose really

Pete

One potential problem will be the depth of the rust. If the steel is quite badly pitted, grinding down through one pit puts the edge right into another. I have a couple of ancient axe heads like that = they're good only as splitting wedges and sort of slim for that, too.

They're rusty but they'll be fine. Careful with using electrolysis for cleaning though. Though I've not experienced it myself (having not used it for saws) I've been told at various saw sharpening workshops I've attended that electrolysis can leave spring steel brittle. Not a good thing for a saw blade. Those with more metallurgical experience may be able to shed more light on this this.

I clean a saw plate using wet and dry and either WD40 or more recently Simple Green All Purpose Cleaner. (Cleaning a saw plate by Matthew Cianci)

They do all look like Disstons except for the one with the snakey handle. That might be an old Sandvik. Good steel.

Great find!

Cheers,
Virg.

Do post after photos.

Originally Posted by Virgil

They're rusty but they'll be fine. Careful with using electrolysis for cleaning though. Though I've not experienced it myself (having not used it for saws) I've been told at various saw sharpening workshops I've attended that electrolysis can leave spring steel brittle. Not a good thing for a saw blade. Those with more metallurgical experience may be able to shed more light on this this.

I clean a saw plate using wet and dry and either WD40 or more recently Simple Green All Purpose Cleaner. (Cleaning a saw plate by Matthew Cianci)

They do all look like Disstons except for the one with the snakey handle. That might be an old Sandvik. Good steel.

Great find!

Cheers,
Virg.

Hi Virgil,
I had a look at some of my other saws, one had what look liked a pair of dragons similliar to one of steve's saw, I take it then that Sandvik used the two dragons as their logo?

Pete

Thanks for the info guys.

I wasn't aware of the problems with electrolysis and saws so the back saw ended up copping an overnight in the bath. Not sure how to test if it's done any damage but it still seems ok. I'll go for the abrasive restoration on the other ones to avoid any problems. On a brighter note, the carbon rod worked great for the electrolysis electrode.

Definitely nothing to lose with these ones so I will be trying my hand at some sharpening. Just need to get hold of some files and a saw set.

Too many projects.

Pete,

I found this pic of a Sandvik saw on ebay with the two dragons. They are different to my ones though so I could be holding an early chinese knockoff...

Attachment 178447

Not necessarily. Just a different period, price range, model type etc. Look at the way Disstons changed over the year.

Going to the TTTG Saw Sharpening workshop in September?
The Traditional Tools Group (Inc.) -- Coming Events

Cheers,
Virg.

Hi Stevemc32,
Most of those Saws could be OK, but if not you could cut them up with the 2mm. Wheel in an Angle Grinder, & make your self some very fine Wood Scrapers. Mine work really well. So a couple of 4 x 3in./ 100mm x 75mm.
A couple of say 6 x 1 1/2in. 150 x 35mm. & so on. After a bit of a File Up, I just use a good strong Screwdriver to Burnish the Edge.

Great find!. I'm sure you'll have them singing in no time. I got a couple in similar condition back to life - soaked the blades in a citric acid bath for an hour, dried it off and then started working the sandpaper grits (40 through to 1200) until I got it clean. Before and after attached for inspiration (I hope!), it took about 3 hours work to get it to this state. I could get it cleaner, but then the other tools get jealous of it

Thanks for the ideas and inspiration guys, much appreciated.

Looks like I've got quite a bit of work in front of me in getting these back into condition.

I did see the saw sharpening workshop Virgil but didn't have any saws at the time and disregarded it. Will have to see how the roster turns out but I'm certainly more interested in it now.

Today the junk piles yielded a great old Western Red Cedar outdoor table and bench seats that I've spent the day dismantling and trying to decided how to use the wood...

Whilst on saws:

The Last Sheffield Sawmaker | Popular Woodworking Magazine

Cheerio,
Virg.

Thanks for the link , Virg, great article.