Thread: Refurbished Handsaws.

Nice clean-up jobs, PM! The Atkins has come up a treat with the "spit and polish" treatment. The backsaw looks very bulky to me - I don't think I'd find it a good user, but some prefer them that way, it seems.

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

Nice clean-up jobs, PM! The Atkins has come up a treat with the "spit and polish" treatment. The backsaw looks very bulky to me - I don't think I'd find it a good user, but some prefer them that way, it seems.

Cheers,

Thanks Ian. The depth of blade is what I like about the backsaw. It was the primary reason I chose to sharpen it with a rip tooth. What else can be said about the atkins saw. They just dont make saw handles with such appeal nowadays. Pity.

Ian, how do you clean up the saw? I've often wondered whether you could quickly clean then up with a belt sander and a fine grit belt (having removed the set first).

Hi Planemaker,

Beautiful job on both those saws, making the panel saw 18" seems like a very practical thing to do, it would be the ideal tool-box saw.

It looks a bit like an Atkins 52, which came in lengths from 16" to 30", the ones under 26 inches having 3 screws + Medallion, rather than 4 screws + Medallion.

I can't identify the backsaw, off hand, but I will comment on the blade depth, it is a 14" sash tenon saw. A bit of extra depth is handy for cutting cheeks on deep tenons, while it looks a bit unwieldy, I think you will find it nice to use, the high center of gravity, makes it easier to "read" vertical, a bit hard to describe, as it's a feel more than anything else, you feel it balanced when it's perfectly vertical.

Nice restoration work.

Regards
Ray

Originally Posted by planemaker

Thanks Ian. The depth of blade is what I like about the backsaw. It was the primary reason I chose to sharpen it with a rip tooth. What else can be said about the atkins saw. They just dont make saw handles with such appeal nowadays. Pity.

PM - true - a bit of depth on a tenon saw is handy. On a second look, it's not as wide as I first thought - the high 'sit' of the handle makes it look deeper to me.

Originally Posted by Groggy

Ian, how do you clean up the saw? I've often wondered whether you could quickly clean then up with a belt sander and a fine grit belt (having removed the set first).

Groggy - I think you meant to address that Q to Planemaker - haven't resurrected any really manky saws myself. Those that I have had to clean up yielded to hand-sanding with various grades of grit, starting at about 180 & going up to 600, which leaves a fine enough polish for all practical purposes.

I would like to figure out a way of safely using a belt sander on the blades of a couple of the saws I've made, to taper-grind them a bit. The only way I can think of to hold them securely while attacking with a BS would be to embed some rare-earth magnets in a chunk of carefully flattened hardwood. Be interested to hear any ideas from the Forum.

Ray? Have you considered trying a taper grind on any of your manufactures?? How was it done in the factories?

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

<snip>
Ray? Have you considered trying a taper grind on any of your manufactures?? How was it done in the factories?

Cheers,

I've tried a couple of different methods, the first one was using a flap disk on an angle grinder and taking different number of passes as you work across the blade, I was getting close when I overdid it and overheated the blade... which then warped like a banana...

Traditionally I believe it was done on large water cooled (and often water powered) grinding wheels. A bit like a 3 ft diameter tormek ...

So the short answer is no, I've never successfully taper ground saw plate. It's a non-trivial exercise without the 3ft tormek at least..

Regards
Ray

Originally Posted by RayG

I've .......the short answer is no, I've never successfully taper ground saw plate. It's a non-trivial exercise without the 3ft tormek at least..

Yairs, I have come to that conclusion without actually trying it!

A 3 ft Tormek, eh? Now, let's see........

Thanks Ray,

Originally Posted by RayG

Hi Planemaker,

Beautiful job on both those saws, making the panel saw 18" seems like a very practical thing to do, it would be the ideal tool-box saw.

It looks a bit like an Atkins 52, which came in lengths from 16" to 30", the ones under 26 inches having 3 screws + Medallion, rather than 4 screws + Medallion.

I can't identify the backsaw, off hand, but I will comment on the blade depth, it is a 14" sash tenon saw. A bit of extra depth is handy for cutting cheeks on deep tenons, while it looks a bit unwieldy, I think you will find it nice to use, the high center of gravity, makes it easier to "read" vertical, a bit hard to describe, as it's a feel more than anything else, you feel it balanced when it's perfectly vertical.

Nice restoration work.

Regards
Ray

Hi Ray. Appreciate your feedback. Sounds like the backsaw was sharpened with the correct saw pattern. I have started work on shaping the 1st handle for the saw plate you sent me. Decided on an open handle with a dovetail saw in mind. Once I get the basic shape right I intend to trace out a template for future reference.

Do you have any links available that show tpi lines which can be then affixed to the saw plate.

Thanks again.

planemaker.

Originally Posted by Groggy

Ian, how do you clean up the saw? I've often wondered whether you could quickly clean then up with a belt sander and a fine grit belt (having removed the set first).

Hi Groggy. I prefer to use a 4 inch grinder fitted with a brass wire wheel . I spray CRC on the saw plate before hand and leave for 30 minutes. After that its pre soaked 400 grade wet & dry to finish. Then its back to the CRC to inhibit the water from the wet & dry work.. Resharpen & set the saw teeth . Give it a test drive. Then seal the blade surface with a soft wax thats then buffed.

Hope this helps.

planemaker.

Thanks for the info!

Originally Posted by planemaker

<snip>

Do you have any links available that show tpi lines which can be then affixed to the saw plate.

planemaker.

Hi Planemaker,

I never had much success with paper templates, I prefer to tape a hacksaw blade of the right tpi to the blade and file the starting notches.

If you want to try the paper templates...

I would put a bit of layout blue on the saw plate, and file the starter notches direct from the paper stuck on with masking tape.

Here is a set of paper templates from 6 tpi to 20 tpi.
http://www.oocities.com/plybench/saw_teeth.pdf

Regards
Ray

Originally Posted by RayG

Hi Planemaker,

I never had much success with paper templates, I prefer to tape a hacksaw blade of the right tpi to the blade and file the starting notches.

If you want to try the paper templates...

I would put a bit of layout blue on the saw plate, and file the starter notches direct from the paper stuck on with masking tape.

Here is a set of paper templates from 6 tpi to 20 tpi.
http://www.oocities.com/plybench/saw_teeth.pdf

Regards
Ray

Thanks Ray. I like the idea of using a hacksaw blade. Very clever of you.
Will try that first.

Thanks again.

planemaker.

Pre-cut saws as templates is good - you can use any saw that has the right number of tpi. However, I do find hacksaw blades are a bit limiting, they tend to be on the fine side, unless you have an industrial blade or two. They are also very hard & very tough on files, so use an old file when laying out the notches by this method.

I'm quite happy with lined paper to lay out my teeth (now that I've figured out NOT to use water-based glues to stick it on the saw-plate!). It does take a little bit of practice to get comfortable with this method, but the great advantage is, you can do any tpi you choose, and progressive pitches are no big problem, if you can make an appropriate template for yourself.

Even if you use another saw for a layout guide to make the initial notches, you still need to be very careful when filing to depth. As Ray says, use some layout dye on the top (aka blue felt-pen ) and watch the flats on top as you go - these are a good guide to the even-ness of the teeth you are forming. You will soon learn to lean on the file to the left or right if the flats start to become uneven. I like to go back & forth, taking one, or at the most, two strokes on each tooth. As you start to get close, the flats get harder to see & judge, so I then squint at the teeth from the side, to make sure they are even.

I also stick the file into a short piece of wood, which acts as my guide to keep the rake angle constant.

An odd tooth or two will often be a bit out of whack on the first forming - you can either joint the saw & reform, or, if only a little off, just live with them until the next sharpening. I seem to be able to tidy them up better after a light jointing.

Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

Pre-cut saws as templates is good - you can use any saw that has the right number of tpi. However, I do find hacksaw blades are a bit limiting, they tend to be on the fine side, unless you have an industrial blade or two. They are also very hard & very tough on files, so use an old file when laying out the notches by this method.

I'm quite happy with lined paper to lay out my teeth (now that I've figured out NOT to use water-based glues to stick it on the saw-plate!). It does take a little bit of practice to get comfortable with this method, but the great advantage is, you can do any tpi you choose, and progressive pitches are no big problem, if you can make an appropriate template for yourself.

Even if you use another saw for a layout guide to make the initial notches, you still need to be very careful when filing to depth. As Ray says, use some layout dye on the top (aka blue felt-pen ) and watch the flats on top as you go - these are a good guide to the even-ness of the teeth you are forming. You will soon learn to lean on the file to the left or right if the flats start to become uneven. I like to go back & forth, taking one, or at the most, two strokes on each tooth. As you start to get close, the flats get harder to see & judge, so I then squint at the teeth from the side, to make sure they are even.

I also stick the file into a short piece of wood, which acts as my guide to keep the rake angle constant.

An odd tooth or two will often be a bit out of whack on the first forming - you can either joint the saw & reform, or, if only a little off, just live with them until the next sharpening. I seem to be able to tidy them up better after a light jointing.

Cheers,

Hi IanW. Good sound advise and very similar to the way I approach saw sharpening.
Will order a blue (fine) Somax saw-set from Tools for Working Wood shortly as my Stanley 24x has too wide a plunger. With the paper tpi templates, did you have any problem with the paper lifting from the edge of the saw plate as you filed. What glue did you end up using to adhere the templates.

planemaker.