Saw Nut Removal? old Disston Back Saw

[Mike Allen1010]

Stew,

I read your post and can't understand what the reservation is. If it's a split nut type fastener, don't remove it. They were not designed to remove.

If it is a regular, domed saw nut, you can remove them with some caveats. Before the standard Glover Style nut came into vogue, Disston patented a nut that looked like it from the outside, but was different on the inside. The Glover nut made saw hardware by swaging and had the modern sized thick shafts. They were almost impossible to break and were very durable. The Disston patent, however, was cast and had slender shanks like a split nut screw. While it's typically no problem in removing them, they are very fragile and can not take a lot of torque. When tightening, you need to be VERY careful. The force that you can apply easily exceeds the strength of that shaft and it will shear off with almost no effort. These sorts of nuts are very hard to find by way of replacement. So, if your saw has these thinner shanked screws, exercise extreme caution when reassembling.

+1 FWIW, I strongly encourage anyone to follow Pete's advice. Likely he's forgotten more about hand saws than most of us will ever know. IMHO, our current culture uses the term "expert" far too loosely. In Pete's case it's entirely appropriate.


Disclaimer: I'm certainly no "expert" myself, just a longtime satisfied customer of vintage saws.com.


Best, Mike

[maximillian arango]

The few times I have had to pull them out I use an exacto knife to cut around the nuts so the wood isn't stuck in there and have a thick old craftsman screwdriver that I ground down to fit and filed a void in the middle. I have had issues with the screws being stuck in so I use a C-Clamp that has a needle point to push the threaded end and a socket over head so there is room for the screw to exit. I'm cheap so I've had this problem often since I buy tools in the worst shape.

[steven c newman]

One can make a split nut driver......by regrinding a spade drill bit to fit. Grind it back to the hole, grind it for thickness. Square the hole. Install in a hex driver of your choice.