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Hi Stewie,

I like the 15 thou plate, but, I'm thinking small joinery (dovetail) saws, I know this has been discussed many times before, but as long as the depth of plate under the back...

At the risk of having my membership of the "Secrets of the Nib Society" revoked, I can offer some additional clues as to the secret purpose of the nib.....

Clue number 1.. A Dutch Saw from...

Grind it back past the cracks and try again, if it keeps happening, it's most likely because the steel is too hard, seeing as the blade is around 100 years old, I'm pretty confidant it will be...

Hi Rob,

Stick with it, and keep an open mind, listen carefully to the advice being offered, eventually the data will make sense.
I have a few old Disstons and an Avery 6402 hardness tester,...

Hi Christian,

Interesting saw, the mismatch between the George Washington medallion and the struck mark makes for a bit of a mystery.
Could I have your permission to repost those pictures...

Nice saws Derek, I'm sure I've said that before, but never hurts to say it again.


As a general rule the hang angle is a function of length (and depth) of the saw plate, (ok there are some...

Following on from previous post, here are some links

The bible on machine tool reconditioning http://www.machinetoolpublications.com/
Michael Morgan's dvd and book...

Hi Seth,

Are you sure you understand exactly what it is you are suggesting?

I just did a scraping course a few weeks back, and over 2 days, managed to scrape 4 sides of a 2-4-6 block, a...

Just to add another perspective, I have been doing a lot of surface grinding lately, mostly M2 chisels and plane blades, I have seen rust spots form within 5 minutes on freshly ground surfaces, ...

Hi Johnathan,

So the picture of the finished saw you posted is a Simmonds 71? and the unfinished one in pieces, is the one you are trying to identify?

You've got to make it easier for us...

Hi Johnathan,

Now I'm completely confused, you are showing two different saws, the top one (with the handle removed) has the medallion in the center, and the finished one has the medallion on...

Hi Mark,

Looking again at the angle of the heel of the sawplate, I am thinking it's more like the Disston 16 than the Atkins, and I assume the rest of the plate is a straight back with nib?
...

Hi Mark,

The handle shape, screw locations, medallion at the bottom, and carving are very similar to Atkins, maybe a 56, ...Disston 16 is another possibility? they did customize their etching...

Hi Michael,

I think Bob has nailed it... I've personally never heard of them before, but google has...

This is one from Bolton Surgical, it's a veterinary implement. ...

Hi David,

Really, do you use the ruler trick on chisels... ?

Regards
Ray

Hi David,

If you are going to junk it anyway, there's nothing to lose by trying the heat gun...
Last time I tried something similar (although I was using a map torch, not a hot air gun) I...

Hi Johnathan,

Thanks for the reply.

The tests on Disstons you refer to I assume are these http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/steel.html The "outlier" you refer to was the earliest backsaw...

Hi David...

Outch.... no no no.... if anything is going to warp the plate it's differential heating.. you need to heat the whole thing slowly and evenly. (preferably with clamping and large...

Hi Johnathan,

Blue Spring Temper 1095 is supplied as 48-51 Rockwell C, this is the preferred stock for good quality saw plate. I'm aware that there are other (lower quality makers) using 1080...

Hi Mark,

Here is the data on 1095 for future reference, I assume your Penn State saw is a similar steel,
http://www.backsaw.net/pics/Tempering1095.jpg

You should be targetting about 52 Rc, ...

Hi Jamie,

Nice work, hard to believe that's just your second saw, I like the blend of classic style and a little bit of innovation.. I look forward to seeing more of your work. Once you...

Hi John,

This is the Hay Nicholson...

http://anthonyhaycabinetmaker.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/hello-world/

Regards
Ray

PS, I notice some of George's work here......

Hi George,

Don't sell yourself short, there are probably people who would pay MORE, to have a #1 repaired by you, sometimes it's the story and background of the tool that carries the value...

I don't wish to divert the main subject of this thread, making chisels from 01 is well within the scope of an average home workshop, it's easy, and you can make exactly what you want, skews and...

Hi Mike,
Excellent summary, and it's not easy to write "the history of steel" in a few sentences. I would have perhaps put "pig iron" and "cast iron" in there as pre-cursors to "wrought iron" but...