Thread: And while I was at it....

Nice handle
seems to be fairly low slung?

Originally Posted by IanW

....
I've made several saws from disposable Irwin back saw blades and they were perfectly acceptable saws. You need to cut off the impulse-hardened teeth, of course, which you can do with a 1mm cutoff wheel in an angle grinder. The hardening doesn't extend more than about half a mm beyond the gullets, so you lose very little metal. The remaining plate is just ordinary spring steel of a suitable temper for saws.

....
and small scrapers made from scraps of saw plate. A decent quality rasp or two make a world of difference, too!

I suppose I should finish with a warning: "Caution, making saws is highly addictive - you may find yourself obsessed by the desire to create the perfect saw....."


Cheers,

Ian I found it interesting you can recycle saws as you mention. Whatbelae do you use as saw plate?

Also does saw plate make a good cabinet scraper. A cabinet scraper is something i e been wanting to make with a small wooded handle but undure how to pin it in place?


Dave TTC
Turning Wood Into Art

I guess you could show us the saws & black out the brand stamp to avoid litigation! As long as your criticisms are factual, you should be safe from the lawyers...

I can think of a brand that is sold here & made in England. It sells (here) for a good deal more than a Veritas, and since I haven't used one, I can't comment on its cutting abilities, but the handles are about as crude as you can get! You either love or hate the look of the Veritas, and I don't find their fat grips comfortable in my smallish hand, but those I've used at least cut well enough.

As I like to say, all saws become equal after the first sharpening. A handle that feels good in your hand and is angled to suit the main purpose of the saw makes a huge difference, imo. Not only does it make positioning more intuitive, it just adds to the pleasure of using a good tool - you can't help but do better work with a tool that feels right, I reckon.

Go for it Pete. I think re-handling an old blade is an excellent way to begin. You'll soon see it's not all that difficult to end up with a very decent handle if you take a bit of trouble over it. An open 'pistol grip' style is a good starter project, much easier to shape without that extra little tongue of wood getting in the way of the rasp....

Questions always welcomed here.
Cheers,

Originally Posted by DaveTTC

Ian I found it interesting you can recycle saws as you mention. What blade do you use as saw plate......

Dave - someone (kevjed) gave me a bunch of old Irwin 'disposable' backsaw blades. They were used at the school where he was teaching, and they replaced them on a fairly regular basis. From the look of a couple of them, the little dears had been cutting bolts with them, but after removing the flimsy folded steel backs & impulse-hardened teeth, I had some very useful bits of 25 thou plate, roughly 300mm by 75mm. The only drawback to using them was the large holes for mounting in their plastic handles, but I managed to get rid of those in the design. I still have at least one of the saws I made, and it's no different from any other saw in my kit in terms of durability.

To remove the teeth, clamp 'good' side between a couple of bits of straight steel & use a 1mm cutoff wheel in an angle grinder. VZZZT, and they're gone. Before re-toothing, file the cut edge, both to straighten it and to remove any hard spots caused by the cutoff wheel. Best to use an old file getting near the end of its life for that job.

Originally Posted by DaveTTC

...Also does saw plate make a good cabinet scraper. A cabinet scraper is something i e been wanting to make with a small wooded handle but undure how to pin it in place?

Yup, perfect for the job, if you mean hand-held cabinet scrapers. Old saws about 0.030 (~0.8mm) thick are good for general-purpose work, but I use scraps both thicker & thinner, and they all work fine. Cut em out the same way as above, file, hone, burr edges, and away you go.

But maybe you mean something like the Stanley 82? It shouldn't be too difficult to make a similar body using brass plate, & it would be about as strong as the cast iron model Patrick illustrates.

One of the things I've long meant to make myself is a small scraping plane. For that I'll use an old blade out of a small block plane, or something similar (when I finally get a round tuit)..

Cheers,

Originally Posted by Pittwater Pete

Thanks Ian.

Couple of weeks ago I ordered two new saws from my saw sharpening guy. He gets them from another supplier. Who imports them from England. They arrived today and I was very disappointed. I was expecting soooo much more. The saw blade was full of scratches from machining, the handle was poorly made, loose, and full of sanding scratch marks, not to mention a really bad staining job and a awful colour. Just terrible. And I thought I was getting a half decent saw. I like my 'chuck away' Sandvik much more that this Shefield made saw. I was so disgusted that I didn't even cut anything with it. I will tomorrow. You never know, it may cut really well. Here's hoping.

Now I'm even more determined to make myself something decent. I think I will do as you suggest and refurb one of my old Sandviks. I'll get a start and then get back to you. I'll have questions.

Best regards

Pete.

Pete, you might be interested in the TTTG saw sharpening workshop, https://www.macquarie.nsw.edu.au/course/HSSH. Forum members will note that TTTG workshops are conducted through Macquarie Community College. Saws are typically for sale at the Workshop.

If you need saw plate, I do have a supply of 0.020" thick x 3" wide saw plate suitable for dovetail saws. There are a few of us on here who hope to conduct saw making workshops, the main holdup being suitable workshop facilities. I am also planning to offer NOS saw files when I get organised.

Note that Sandvik saws are hard steel, and chew through files - and need careful setting - so not perhaps the ideal starting point for learning rehabbing/sharpening. Perhaps ok at the TTTG Workshop

Cheers
Peter

Originally Posted by Sawdust Maker

....seems to be fairly low slung?..

Not sure what you mean by that, Nick. Are you referring to the amount of blade below the handle?

The hang angle of the grip is high because this is a carcase saw, which will be used mostly for cutting at bench height & his angle ensures that my wrist is in a 'neutral' position when cutting at that height, i.e. neither twisted up nor down.

The handle also needs to be high so it can clear the piece being sawn in a wide, deep cut. The aim here is not to get it too high, or it makes the saw awkward to push. It's less noticeable with small saws, but you may have noted that big ripsaws have their grips quite low down, so that you are pushing directly along the tooth line & only just above it. I've got my grip angles & handle positions pretty well figured out to what suits me, but not necessarily what suits everyone!

Cheers,

Hi Stew.

Here are the photos as promised. The timber cut was American Walnut.
Your comments are welcome.
Regards
Pete.
image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg
image.jpgimage.jpg

Thanks for that Pete.

Stewie;

Originally Posted by Heavansabove

Pete, you might be interested in the TTTG saw sharpening workshop, https://www.macquarie.nsw.edu.au/course/HSSH. Forum members will note that TTTG workshops are conducted through Macquarie Community College. Saws are typically for sale at the Workshop.

If you need saw plate, I do have a supply of 0.020" thick x 3" wide saw plate suitable for dovetail saws. There are a few of us on here who hope to conduct saw making workshops, the main holdup being suitable workshop facilities. I am also planning to offer NOS saw files when I get organised.

Note that Sandvik saws are hard steel, and chew through files - and need careful setting - so not perhaps the ideal starting point for learning rehabbing/sharpening. Perhaps ok at the TTTG Workshop

Cheers
Peter

Hi Heavansabove

We should talk because I have a suitable facility.

Pete.

Originally Posted by planemaker

Thanks for that Pete.

Stewie;

I have purposely said nothing, but I am interested in other member responses

Pete.

Interesting, seems Carb-i-tool has branched out into merchanting tools from ... wherever, as well as making router bits - I assume they still make router bits.

The teeth on those saws are sad.

They remind me a bit of Soviet or DDR type aesthetics. How do they work?

If I keep sawing it hits bottom sooner or later.

Pete.

I would have been bitterly disappointed if I had purchased these.
Cheers, Ian