1940-47 d7

[lowell holmes]

This D-7 10 TPI crosscut saw is my next project. The only thing required is a bit of polishing and I'd like to give the handle Stewie's treatment.
It has not been sharpened since I got it a few years ago and has been languishing in the saw till. It is the best 10 point crosscut saw I have, but I haven't been using it that much for some reason.

I admire the saw handles Stewie has been posting. I plan on rounding the edges like his recent saws. I went back and found Stewie's treatment on the D-8 saw. He pretty much shows the recipe.
I reshape the handle a bit, and I might even put brass saw nuts on it since I'm not going to protect the historical features. This saw will be a user.
D7-1 RESIZED(1024x768).jpgD7-2 RESIZED(1024x768).jpgD7ETCH RESIZED(1024x768).jpg

[Thomas Schneider]

Can't wait to see the finished saw, good luck!

Tom.

[Stewie Simpson]

Hi Lowell. I'm looking forward to seeing what you end up with.


regards Stewie;

[george wilson]

There is plenty of wood there that you can rasp,carve and file away to make a more artistic handle.

[lowell holmes]

The handle on this saw is interesting. On back saws, the blade slot is cut all the way through the handle from top to bottom. This cut is easy to make with a handsaw. I made the last one with a tenon saw.

On this 1940's-1952 vintage crosscut saw, the blade slot is open on the front and bottom of the handle, but is closed on the top of the handle. It is also a circular cut. The saw plate also has a partial circular component. On the panel saw the slot is cut straight through.

George, maybe you know how to make this cut, but I don't have the foggiest idea. The only way I have figured how to do it is to make the handle from two pieces of wood, make the blade recess while the pieces are open and then glue them together. I'm not making a new handle, but curious how to approach it if I did.

[Jim Koepke]

I'm not making a new handle, but curious how to approach it if I did.

Could this be done with a circular saw blade?

jtk

[lowell holmes]

I haven't figured how to do it.

The radius of the 90 degree curve on the saw plate is 3". The sawplate is .04" thick. I could visualize a saw blade in a drill press, but I can't visualize making the cut.
I value my hands too much.
The 6" saw blades are at least 1/16" thick.

I'm not making a new handle, but I am modifying the old one. So it's not important, but I wonder how they made the cut at the factory during the middle part of the twentieth century.

[Jim Koepke]

I wonder how they made the cut at the factory during the middle part of the twentieth century.

May have been a specially made piece of equipment. May have been done in the early stage of making a handle to allow for safety.

jtk

[John Vernier]

In older books about machine woodworking* you will see setups for running circular saw blades on shaper spindles - not an uncommon way to cut tenons, for instance, using two blades spaced apart. I have little doubt Disston had a setup something like this for slotting blades. Their D-8 saws also had these closed-top handles, right from the beginning of that model in the 1880s. They claimed it was stronger and kept water out of the slot.

* I recommend George Ellis, Modern Practical Joinery, 1903 (reprint by Linden) for a lot of good shop information and some interesting and occasionally sketchy machine practice.

[steven c newman]

Afraid the #7 I have won't be much help as a model...
IMAG0201.jpg
But it does have a Lamb's Tongue feature
IMAG0202.jpg
I'd have to go and look it up in the till, about whether it is open or closed top.

[lowell holmes]

John,
I don't have to cut any saw slots, but I was thinking that if I ruined the handle, I could always make a new one. I was brought up a bit short when I realized the saw slot is not a simple saw slot.
The thickness of 7 1/4" and 6" skil saw blades is thicker than the saw slot. I will not need to since I am past that point, but I made my mind that if faced with the issue, I would cut the blade slot with my tenon saw like it was a normal slot and then glue a filler strip into the slot to close it up.

Steven,
Mine has a lamb's tongue now and the old handle has been scraped and sanded. I'll probably be putting finish on tomorrow. I have some brass saw nuts that are going to replace the steel ones that were on the saw.
I have come up with something I will share. I cut an old card scraper into narrow strips to facilitate scraping the old finish off of the handle.

That is a nice saw that you have.

Thanks for your interest guys.

[lowell holmes]

Here is the saw with a new handle. I tried Stewie's formula and it worked, but I messed the old handle up.
I decided to make a new handle with new saw nuts. Here is the result. The wood is quartersawn sapele.
The finish is one coat of blo and three coats of amber shellac, and Renaissance wax.
It is interesting that Disston started using closed top handles somewhere in the middle of the 20th century.
I had to cut the blade slot and then fill the crack left on top with a strip of sepele.


DSCN5721 (1024x768).jpg

[Jim Davis]

That closed handle top was a selling point for Disston. They called it a "cover-top" handle.

When we start out to make an artistic handle, it's worth remembering that the "horns," the "lambs tongue" and the lower loop are the places the original handles broke. It seems wise to not make those parts too thin. That's why Disston eliminated the lamb's tongue about 1928. I've never seen one of the later handles broken in the loop and there is no lamb's tongue. I've seen lots of the older prettier handles broken.

[Stewie Simpson]

Very nice Lowell. Kudos

Stewie;

[lowell holmes]

That closed handle top was a selling point for Disston. They called it a "cover-top" handle.

When we start out to make an artistic handle, it's worth remembering that the "horns," the "lambs tongue" and the lower loop are the places the original handles broke. It seems wise to not make those parts too thin. That's why Disston eliminated the lamb's tongue about 1928. I've never seen one of the later handles broken in the loop and there is no lamb's tongue. I've seen lots of the older prettier handles broken.

Jim,
I appreciate the information. I knew about the closed top, but didn't know the term "cover-top".

I didn't know the history of broken lamb's tongue on handsaws. Hopefully that will not happen, but if it does, another handle will be required.

I am concerned about the sapele because it is not a hard non-porous wood. The figure is so pronounced that I decided that if it fails, I'll have to make one from another specie.