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Thread: Picked up 4 handsaws today. Have a question or two

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
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    Picked up 4 handsaws today. Have a question or two

    Bit of a gloat, just moved over to ol blighty for work and having not brought any tools with me I've started putting together a kit to get me rolling... Went to a car boot sale the other day and picked up 3 Disstons, I've always heard certain disstons are the ducks guts when it comes to saws so I grabbed them. I had no real idea as to what i was buying but was going to need a couple saws anyways so handed over the dosh. On closer inspection it looks like three D8; two cross cuts and a thumb hole rip; and a Spear ands Jackson rip. At least 2 of the D8s are pre 1940 and the other and the S&P I haven't been looking at too hard yet. The two rippers and one cross cut look like they haven't had much if any sharpening done to them.

    Was wondering if it's possible to bring back what appears to be a completely gone etching in the saw plate. I've looked at the plates under magnification and can't see much of anything. Was thinking of using a scouring pad on the back of a dish washing sponge and some oil to see if I could tease anything out... Anyone got any suggestions.

    I don't know much about western saws, always used Japanese pull saws from the very beginning. What drew my attention to these was, the handles were very well shaped and fit the hand well, they all have 4 or more brass screws mounting them to the blade and appear to not be beech so am wondering. It appears to me that, possibly, an easy way to gauge a saws quality in the field, without carrying the saw identification bible with you everywhere, is to pay attention to the handles. I.e. the better the saw the better shaped and the more detail the handle has, as well as more screws and wood that's not beech... Is this a reasonably correct assumption?

    Also, been looking but seems to be pretty rare so can anyone point me to any Spear & Jackson reference material so I can date it?

    Oh ya, I picked up all 4 for £6, about $10USD. I also picked up a solid brass saw set and 4 double ended files for another £3. Then at another stall, not sure it was a bargain, but picked up a paramo saw vice in really good condition for £24 ($40USD), so over all it was a pretty good haul, and will give me something to do at night while I settling into life somewhere in the south west of England.
    Last edited by Brian Ashton; 08-03-2014 at 4:46 PM.
    Sent from the bathtub on my Samsung Galaxy(C)S5 with waterproof Lifeproof Case(C), and spell check turned off!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
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    Edmond, Oklahoma
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    Hi Brian,

    If the saws are in good shape, after you get through sprucing them up, then it sounds like you did great to me. Same with the files and set. It has been about 40 years since I bought a saw vise, so I don't know how you did on it, but if the relative price was anything like what you paid for the rest then you did super. I have several old D-8s and really like them.

    I would give $10 for TWO (or even 1) Disston D-8 all day long.....I keep having to remind myself though.....I don't need any more saws.

    At that price, though, I would REALLY try to figure out that I needed them. Maybe clean them up, sharpen them, and give them to my son in law.

    Stew

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2014
    Location
    Edmond, Oklahoma
    Posts
    1,749
    Hi Brian,

    Look down the page. I had exactly the same question on restoring the saws without loosing the etch. The post was "Advise Needed, Disston Handsaw Restoration."

    Jim put in a link that covered that exact problem. They also advised using a metal polish and aluminum foil. I tried polish and aluminum foil, and it cleaned up the blade but wasn't too aggressive. I haven't got the stuff to try to restore the etch yet, but that is the next thing.

    At any rate, I tried the advise, and have been very pleased. The next step for me is to get the stuff to restore the etch.

    Regards,

    Stew

  4. #4
    Join Date
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    No pictures? WElll! It's a rule, out with which the objects do not exist. People can tell you more if you post pictures.

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