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TTTG Saw Sharpening Workshop 17 March 2013
For those who want to learn how to sharpen saws, have a look at:
The Traditional Tools Group (Inc.) -- Coming Events
Now if you want to see a real saw vise, check out my prototype (I also have a few Disston 3D vises for smaller saws). The old Oregon door jams are rock solid - no vibration in this even filing a very hard old Sandvick 26" xcut, gently breasted. Don't you just love that plastic handle.
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Cheers
Peter
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More saw restoration......
I was given this old girl last week - a 28 inch D8 ripsaw, with lots of blade left, thumb-hole Apple handle, & progressive pitch (approx 4.5 tpi decreasingto 3.5. It didn't look too promising, at first blush, though; the rust seemed to be several mm thick, the handle was bleached almost white, with a few cracks in it, and it has an amputated horn.
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First thing to establish was whether or not the blade was worth the trouble to clean it up. Surprisingly, it has only superficial pitting under all that oxide. You can even make out the etch pretty well - about 2/3rds of the cartouche in which the "D" is clearly visible, and most of the blurb to the right (Henry's signature is quite distinct!). Promising!
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After a lot of dry & wet sanding, I had the blade usably clean. There were a few minor dings and one semi-major one, but all responded to (a lot of) gentle hammering and much checking. The blade is now straight, re-tensioned as well as I know how, which is probably not very well, by factory standards, but it feels appropriately 'springy' when flexed, & returns to straight.
So let's see what can be done about that mising horn. There are a few cracks in the body of the handle, but not too serious & they should not be a problem, I think. Under that pale oxidised wood is sound material, so it seemed worth spending time on, too. The only bit of Apple wood I had on hand was an old chisel handle I'd turned up years ago, & since replaced. A bit of creative re-shaping & making a flat surface on the splintered top of the handle, and it looks like I can get a new horn out of it:
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It was ok & I was just able to squeeze the necessary shape out of it. So some rasping & sanding & light cleaning up of the rest of the handle (I didn't try to make it pristine, just got rid of the oxidised wood), & I was most pleasewd with myself. I forgot to take a pic at this stage, which is a pest, because you will see why shortly.....
While the epoxy was curing (I used expoxy because it's not a precious antique, & I can't imagine anyone wanting to remove it in the future, but if they do, it would be easy to saw off with minimal loss of original wood), I turned my attention to the brass bolts & nuts. One nut was missing (good old Murphy!):
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At first I thought, 'no sweat, I'll just whip up a newie', until I checked the size & thread pitch. The bolt diameter is 7/64ths in old money, and the thread pitch is 20 tpi. A quick scan of the catlogues I have, turned up no taps or dies remotely like that, so I decided to metrify the damn thing. Five mm is within a bull's roar of the original bolt diameter, but a very much finer pitch, of course, but that's the best I could do. It amuses me to think of someone scratching their head over a nut that won't fit any of the other bolts, sometime years from now... :U
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OK, so now to oil the handle. It was a very thirsty bit of wood & schlurped up half a tin of the stuff! And just look at that new horn! I swear you wouldn't have picked it when dry (which is why I wish I'd taken another picture), but the second the oil hit the old wood it went dark, while the new stuff stayed much the same. P'raps in time it will mellow down a bit & look less like a sore thumb. At least the bolts look ok -I defy you to pick which is the replacement on the etch side, but you should spot the ring-in on the obverse by its shiny slot...
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Before re-assembling, a good jointing, tooth re-form, & set, was called for. Strewth, some of those old Disstons are hard! I used up a fairly new file in the process, but finally ended up with a nice, sharp saw. A quick test on some 50mm wood showed it is cutting true. I may have given it a bit much rake (7*) for soft wood, but I cut a fair bit of harder stuff, so I think it will be ok with the more relaxed angle. It has a wonderul action, & just feels good in the hand - even better than my 'Spearior', which is also a 28" progressive pitch. The Disston plate is a little lighter gauge & more springy. The handles are almost identical, but the Dissston feels nicer beause it is more worn & doesn't have the thick lacquer of the S&J handle. After the oil dries, a good wax & buff & lots of use will make it very tactile, I hope.
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All in all, a fun job, though it used up a good 9 or 10 hours spread over 4 days. The saw had been headed for the tip before my friend intervened & saved its life. My only problem is, I have this 'one in, one out' policy, so which will I keep? :U
Cheers,