12 inch Tenon Saw.

[Stewie Simpson]

Nearly complete. Will have to wait another 5 days for the shellac to harden before I can buff the handle to a nice shine.

I have commissioned Chalco Stamp & Die Co.in the U.K to make me a couple of makers hand stamps; 1 for brass backs on backsaws, and the other for doing wooden hand planes. Both will read TOTE TOOL CO.

Some details on this Tenon Saw. 0.025 gauge saw plate; 12 inch length; 3 5/8 inch below the spine; filed and sharpened 12 tpi; rip tooth; 10 degrees negative rake.

The handle wood is Tasmanian Blackwood.

regards; Stewie.

[Hilton Ralphs]

She looks a real beauty Stewie!

Good on you.

[Mike Allen1010]

Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing. I love both your design and execution. Well done!

[Stewie Simpson]

Appreciate the feedback Hilton and Mike.

regards Stewie;

[Ollie Olson]

Beautiful workmanship and materials!

[Stewie Simpson]

Thanks Ollie. Appreciate your very generous feedback.

regards Stewie;

[Frederick Skelly]

Beautiful work Stewie!

Im curious about the name on your hand stamp. Want to share the story behind "Tote Tool Company"? (I often wonder how company names come to be.)

Fred

[Kees Heiden]

Looks good Stewie, very good!

I wonder how you will fair with the name punch. I wasn't very happy with mine. The imprint in brass wasn't great and it put quite a bow in the spine.

[Stewie Simpson]

Hi Kees. Thank you for your nice appraisal of my work. I am hopeful I wont experience any problems using the hand stamp on brass backs. I have chosen a 1/8" font size to keep the total length as short as practical. The lettering is also being cut Incuse (with no external raised bordering) to maximise the makers imprint. I will be using a wide solid cast iron base to support the brass back when applying the stamping to avoid any potential distortion of the brass back. Any other teething problems will be looked at when I can test out the hand stamp.

regards Stewie;

[Stewie Simpson]

Hi Fred. I started out making traditional wooden planes prior to backsaws, Tote as you would be aware is a common term used for the rear handle or front knob on hand planes. The name Tote Tool Co. originated from that earlier time period.

regards Stewie;

[george wilson]

VERY neat work,Stewie! As skillfully made as any other fine maker!!! The only thing I can possibly advise is to get those 2 top screws parallel with the saw's back. The right hand one is higher than the left hand one. I like the wood,too! Lay the saw back on some unyielding surface,like a thick piece of steel or a SMOOTH anvil. Get someone to hold the back flat upon the surface before you stamp it. If the surface isn't very smooth,put a piece of spare saw steel on top of the surface to protect the brass back,or you will be doing a lot of re polishing. Some re polishing will no doubt have to be made in any case.

Nice little "Turn back" in the wood just at the end of the brass back. I use that,too. I think I saw that on a saw in Duncan Phyfe's tool chest,but can't recall. I think he must have made some of his saw handles. Not a fan of his furniture,though. It looks too machine made.

If you're folding the backs,stamp the name deeply into the back before folding,using the steel backing.

[Stewie Simpson]

Thanks George. Appreciate your thoughts on the position of the 2 top saw screws. The idea of using a spare sheet of saw plate to prevent the underside of the brass back being marred during the stamping process is an excellent idea.

regards Stewie;

[Chris Hachet]

Very beautiful and inspiring work. Your making me think about this sort of project for myself in the (slightly distant) future.

Chris

[paul cottingham]

Holy cow, what a beautiful piece of kit!

[Isaac Smith]

Very nice work, Stewie. That is probably my favorite one that I've seen you post.

Without looking back at previous saws, it seems that you've been slowly moving towards more traditional designs. If so, did you make a conscious decision to move in that direction? One thing that hasn't changed is the great job of finishing that you do on the handles. Very well done.

I'd second what George says about using a smooth backer. The force on the backside of the spine is about the same as what is applied to the stamp, so just about any imperfections get pressed into the brass.

If you have access to a press, and the geometry of the stamp allows it, you might want to try that. I use a hydraulic press, and it takes about 5 tons of force to make a good imprint with my stamp. My stamp probably has more length of lines than yours will, but it is a V-shaped engraving. If your text has a flat bottom, that will increase the force you need.