Disston ACME 120 question

[Bill Baethke]

What I thought was a very rusty old 28" D8 thumb hole rip saw turned out to be fairly nice ACME 120. The problem is that the original teeth have been modified in a peculiar way, and I am not sure which way to take it. It is not a useful filing as it stands now. At first glance, it appears to be a rip tooth, but after I cleaned it up I noticed that someone had filed it to be a crosscut. The problem is they left the rake angle near 0, and the fleam is really shallow at around 10-15 degrees or so ( I have not actually measured that yet). It is graduated from 5.5 PPI at the toe to 4.5 in the middle toward the heel. I want to restore some value to the saw, both for possible future resale , and just to use in the shop. I am thinking that keeping the 0 degree rake and putting it back to a rip file would be the easiest. I don't think a 4.5 PPI crosscut would have much use in my shop. It has also had a small degree of set introduced to it. It is really a remarkable saw. You can feel the taper with your fingers very easily. It might even be worth sending it off to a pro for a really nice restore. any thoughts on what I should do? The etch is faint, but present, and the handle is in wonderful condition.20170709_231512.jpg20170709_231518.jpg20170709_231714.jpg20170709_231641.jpg

[Pete Taran]

It definitely started as a 4.5 point rip. You've taken it this far, why not get the proper file, 8" regular taper would work, and refile those teeth to be rip teeth? I'd attack it in two stages, joint first, then start removing the fleam in the first pass while at the same time relaxing the 0 degree rake a few degrees. Then joint again, and get the angle where you want it. I like 4 degrees for generally ripping, more aggressive than the 8 degrees Disston later moved to on their rip saws, and not as "grabby" in the cut as 0 degrees.

Quick identification tip. If it has ANY wheat carving on the handle, it's either an Acme 120 or a D100. The D100 has wheat carving forward of the thumb hole, while the Acme only had it on the handle. The D100 was a pimped out D8, not much difference other than the carving.

Pete

[Bill Baethke]

Thanks, Pete. I think that sounds like a good plan for this saw.