I hate saw kits...

[Chris Griggs]

For whatever reason, I actually like the look of disproportionately large handles on DT saws. No joke, I can't explain why. Every once in a while you see tiny old disston DT saws with closed totes that are over dominating but I think they look cool in a wierd way.

Shaping is nice and crisp (as I'd expect from you) it'll be a good looking saw even if you just slap some finish on it. I'd probably sand and polish the back, but its damn hard to get all the dings and stress fractures out of those things. I didn't get them all out in my two I built.

[David Weaver]

I cut off the brass, hammered it shut and filed a bevel on the front last night and admittedly, it looks a little better now. The dings are all from beating on it after it was a known lost cause. They could be removed, but the stress cracking would take a long time to fix on a saw where it was worth doing. There are a couple of lines on the handle at the top that I don't like, but I'm done fiddling with this one, and done with saws in general unless I find something English that just needs a quick replate.

[David Weaver]

I agree about disston #4s though. They've been tapped with the ugly stick, but I don't think the pattern looks too bad once the saws get to a certain size around 12" or so.

They are definitely durable.

(on a more positive note, I did manage to make a bowsaw and file a set of teeth into it this weekend without any hardware other than a couple of screws and a piece of threaded rod from home depot, and it actually works well despite the 1095 coil that I used being very hard on the file when cutting new teeth)

[Peter Evans]

I agree about disston #4s though. They've been tapped with the ugly stick, but I don't think the pattern looks too bad once the saws get to a certain size around 12" or so.

They are definitely durable.

(on a more positive note, I did manage to make a bowsaw and file a set of teeth into it this weekend without any hardware other than a couple of screws and a piece of threaded rod from home depot, and it actually works well despite the 1095 coil that I used being very hard on the file when cutting new teeth)

Hi David, I have a nice 14" bow saw, but the blades are no longer available, and the old blade is past it, so need to cut some plate. May I please aks a few questions:

What thickness of plate did you use?
How did you cut the plate (I use a 1mm cutting disk in an angle grinder for cutting saw plate, but have not attempted a narrow blade like this)?
How did you set the teeth on the bow saw blade? I am thinking of making a hardwood anvil out of some tough local timber and using a nail punch!

I agree 1095 plate is hard on files when cutting in new teeth, even harder on my old eyes.

[george wilson]

Professional saw sharpeners long ago,back in the 1950's in a shop in England were seen using a very small,flat top steel "Anvil",just large enough to lay under one tooth. They used a narrow faced cross pein hammer. The saw was laid upon the anvil and the workman quickly went down the saw,deftly striking every other tooth. He moved the saw with one hand,and tapped the teeth with the hammer with the other hand. Then,he turned the saw over and did the other teeth. It just took less than a minute. My sculpture teacher had been there in the late 50's and saw it. He did not see them cutting new teeth,but I'll bet it was done freehand,laying the saw plate over a triangular shaped hole,and manually placing the triangular shaped punch over the hole with the saw plate in between. Coopers punched the holes for their iron hoop's rivets like that in Williamsburg. They were real coopers from England. No fancy jigs or machines were involved. The old pros knew how to get along with nearly nothing,heavily relying on personal skills. I doubt any of them remain today.

He saw a large copper kettle being made: A thick,large disc of copper was laid on the large,round cast iron special anvil. Several workmen with heavy hammers knelt on 1 knee around the disc. They would give one whack and shuffle to the next position,whacking the edge of the copper again. So,round and round they went. The edge of the disc began to rise. They kept it up until the kettle was formed. That job would have killed my back!!

[David Weaver]

Hi David, I have a nice 14" bow saw, but the blades are no longer available, and the old blade is past it, so need to cut some plate. May I please aks a few questions:

What thickness of plate did you use?
How did you cut the plate (I use a 1mm cutting disk in an angle grinder for cutting saw plate, but have not attempted a narrow blade like this)?
How did you set the teeth on the bow saw blade? I am thinking of making a hardwood anvil out of some tough local timber and using a nail punch!

I agree 1095 plate is hard on files when cutting in new teeth, even harder on my old eyes.

I used .02" thick 3/4" wide off of a coil and cut it with a hack saw. I know some folks score it and snap it, etc, but I cut so much stuff with a hacksaw that I use it whenever it will work and forgo anything more elegant.

I set the teeth on the blade with a 42x sawset. Reminds me that I still need to make a smaller saw, the one I made has 24" of blade, which is OK, but it's too big and heavy for work in the vise - better for fast crosscutting.