Thread: Roll up roll up free vintage handsaws

Originally Posted by poundy

pretty awesome news! Has there been any update on the tracking site for it?

It was scanned in NSW on the 14th November, the next entry on the tracking was in Mackay on the 2nd December. No indication of what happened between that time.
Just glad it got here in the end.

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Agreed Matt

Looks like about 5ppi and a D8 from the first world war era (1896 to 1917). Actually I could more accurately describe it as Boer War to WW1. I would consider a new handle in, say, Ironwood.

While the shaping will be a little bit of a challenge I think it would be very worthwhile, very aesthetic and entirely appropriate.

Regards
Paul

So old no.8 is actually a D8
Any new handles will come later, and some Ironwood is definitely on the table, I have a few spare bits somewhere

Brad

When you come to clean up the saw plate, use a small block of hardwood and wrap the W & D around it particularly when you are treating the area of the etch. Go gently with no coarser than 240g at this stage and you may find the etch is there underneath the black patina. Typically the Disston etches survive quite well. You will need to use the abrasive with a lubricant or it will clog after the first couple of passes.

People have different thoughts on what is a suitable lubricant. Turps (white spirit) or WD40 are quite popular, but I find them messy, a bit stinky and a little expensive. Consequently I use water. Cheap and very efficient, but you must not leave water on the blade unless you are actively working it. When the blade is cleaned to your required level make very certain it is thoroughly dried. I wipe it partially dry with a cloth first and then either put it in the oven (providing the handle has been removed) at a low setting (about 50 - 60 dges C) or leave it out in the full summer sun, which achieves the same result as the blade will be too hot to handle in no time at all. This indicates the temp is above 60 degs C, which is all the human hand can stand for more than about four seconds. However this latter technique is not practical in the depths of winter or if you are working at night.

Also make sure that the bare blade will fit in your oven (before it is covered in water). I am fortunate in that we have a slightly larger oven than standard and it is never an issue for me.

Regards
Paul

Thanks for that post Paul, it came at just the right time. I am loitering around the house waiting for a phone call, so can’t go too far or start any noise making activities for fear of not hearing the phone ringing.
I just opened the forum to search for how to start cleaning the saw plates, and saw your post first.

I have noticed that there are a couple of faintly visible etches on a couple of the saws, so will definitely go easy on them. I have a hundred or so sheets of 400 w&d, and a few of 240, so will see how far I get there before I need to get any more. I get CRC spray cans for a pretty good price, so was thinking I would start with that, but like the sound of less mess with water, so will probably test both ways. Plenty of sunshine here at the moment, so drying shouldn’t be a problem.
I will have to make a tool to undo the split nuts, shouldn’t be too hard, hopefully they undo easily.

I was in Rockhampton yesterday for a job interview, and dropped into the Mans Toyshop to see if they had any files, not much on the shelf, but they had a Nicholson 6” extra slim taper with a plastic handle, so I paid the 15 bucks, that will get me started anyway.

Will probably pick a saw that will give me a quick win to start off with. Once I start, I will start a new thread.

Brad

Even the water is messy, but to my mind not quite as messy as the oils, but use whatever you find the easiest and most practical. Sounds like you have the CRC to hand.

Old (or new) rubbish wood chisels can be ground to shape and make good split nut screwdrivers. Ian Wilkie, I know, has used off cuts of saw plate. Although thin the blade does not have to be long so it retains a sufficient degree of strength.

Regards
Paul

I have a few tins of CRC in the shed, I use it for lube/coolant when turning aluminium on the lathe, so will probably start with that.
I laid the saws out on the veranda, and went through them, checking what needs to be done to each of them. I noticed quite a few have curved/warped blades . I remember reading an old post by IanW, he mentioned they could be straightened by tapping with a hammer, I am assuming you would lay the saw on an anvil or thick plate and gently tap with a ball pein (?) . Could you or someone else shed a bit of light on the process please.

I have pretty much settled on a Slack Sellars saw to start off with. It has a straight blade, the handle is sound, and the teeth are about the right size for my only file. I have to finish building a set of stairs on my veranda today, but will hopefully get some time late this afternoon or in the morning to make a start.

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Old (or new) rubbish wood chisels can be ground to shape and make good split nut screwdrivers. Ian Wilkie, I know, has used off cuts of saw plate. Although thin the blade does not have to be long so it retains a sufficient degree of strength.

The old chisel sounds like a good idea. I made mine from saw plate a while back, and while it had worked well, I bent it trying to undo the split nuts on some of my Maatsuyker saws which were very tough to undo. It still works, but looks like it has seen better days.

Just on the subject of split nuts, I forgot to mention that it is advisable to go very slowly with their removal. The split nuts style of saw hardware was fragile as it had a thin shaft and a nut that permitted only a couple of threads to engage.

Consequently it is easy to strip the thread or, even worse, shear off the shaft. As soon as some movement is noticed as you unscrew, you should stop and reverse the operation. A little touch of CRC or WD40 or similar (there are much better penetrants on the market, but the two mentioned are commonplace) at this point will assist greatly and the nut should be worked back and forwards frequently until it becomes free. This takes longer to explain than it does in reality as I mentioned before, it is not held by much.

When the Glover patent was introduced in 1887, the split nut hardware was obsolete almost overnight. Brad's D8 will have the Glover style hardware. The move to Glover pattern saw screws does help in rough dating of saws also except that the British saws may have continued with the split nuts for longer than the American cousins.

Frequently we see handsaws advertised as made in 1887 as that patent often appears on the medallion. However the patent relates specifically to the medallion and the Glover patent, not the date of the saw.

Regards
Paul

Ps: I should add that some of the modern saw makers, including our own Rob Streeper and Ian Wilkie utilise split nuts. However their split nuts are quite different to the original 19th century offering. The modern shaft is around 5mm thick and the nuts themselves are thicker resulting in the engagement of many more threads onto the shaft. They are a very nice product.

Originally Posted by Ironwood

I have a few tins of CRC in the shed, I use it for lube/coolant when turning aluminium on the lathe, so will probably start with that.
I laid the saws out on the veranda, and went through them, checking what needs to be done to each of them. I noticed quite a few have curved/warped blades . I remember reading an old post by IanW, he mentioned they could be straightened by tapping with a hammer, I am assuming you would lay the saw on an anvil or thick plate and gently tap with a ball pein (?) . Could you or someone else shed a bit of light on the process please.

I have pretty much settled on a Slack Sellars saw to start off with. It has a straight blade, the handle is sound, and the teeth are about the right size for my only file. I have to finish building a set of stairs on my veranda today, but will hopefully get some time late this afternoon or in the morning to make a start.

Brad

I think it will be a good move to "cut your teeth" on an easy one. While the straightening of a saw blade is not super difficult, unless it is extreme, it does represent a whole new aspect of saws and is probably nearly as involved as the saw filing. I will see if I can dig up some old threads for reference. Rob Streeper and Ian Wilkie have both posted on this subject and probably others too. Somebody may also be able to reference some material so please go ahead.

I would comment that:

You need a hammer with a well rounded face.
If the saw needs restoration, clean off the worst first including surface rust, now hammer the saw to correct a bend and then continue the saw plate cleaning. If there is contamination (rust etc) on the plate, hammering will embed that material and leave marks so it should be removed first.
It is difficult not to leave hammer marks. Go very gently. 100 light blows is much more successful than 10 heavy blows if you wish to avoid marking the plate.
If you have left the final plate restoration to after the hammering, you stand a chance of removing any minor marks.

Regards
Paul

I’m not meant to be here ,because there is a skip that needs filling [emoji33][emoji33][emoji33][emoji33] so don’t dob,



That was just an old demo saw blade!

A Ball pein hammer is definitely the wrong hammer for saw smithing.

A very light crowned hammer is better.
I will write more later.

Cheers Matt.

I just finished the veranda stairs, a swim and a beer first, then I am going to check out that saw.

I spotted a few old mower blades near the shed door, they might make good drivers for a split nut tool, as long as they aren’t too thick, I have a few other options if they don’t work out.
Theres a few of those hammers in the shed somewhere , will have a poke around for those too.

Matt, that must be some thick saw plate with such a long shank that resists twisting!

Here's mine. It's from a saw with a plate thickness of 0.73 mm, and has very little rigidity, hence the tiny shank.

Originally Posted by LanceC

Matt, that must be some thick saw plate with such a long shank that resists twisting!

Here's mine. It's from a saw with a plate thickness of 0.73 mm, and has very little rigidity, hence the tiny shank.

I was wrong, Lance was right,
I feel ashamed of my self[emoji45][emoji45][emoji45]

Steel unknown [emoji55]

Cheers Matt.

Originally Posted by Simplicity

I was wrong, Lance was right...

Must ... stay ... humble ...