This Saw I Bought
This saw popped up, popped out and I paid too much for it, bought it on eBay but when I saw the teeth, how bad they were, I thought, ‘That’s a good saw, maybe.’
The teeth were as rugged as the Himalayas, the largest peaks and troughs I ever saw in a handsaw, probably supposed to be 10 points per inch. Someone thought they could fix the problem of dullness by just using a big, flat file. He failed! Probably drove a road grader for his day job! He succeeded in filing out each tooth between each one. Some people are like that. The handle and plate were in decent restorable condition for reclamation of the whole saw though, so cutting in and filing new teeth is no big deal. I will grind them off, file the new line straight and then cut in new teeth at 10 teeth per inch or so. I have the simplest system for this.
Did I need another saw?
No, not at all. Not really, anyway!
So why did I buy it?
I will add it to my collection of short, vintage, user-saws from an era when the best saws were made and there was nothing prissy about them. Saws, where a man’s hands refined them in the working of them for five decades, are so worth owning and using in the continuum of those who work wood by hand using hand tools. All the more is this so in the every day of life where I work. This saw size works well at the bench where room may be a little more restricted or if you are traveling in work. Not altogether good reasons for owning a few saws really but these saws are punchy, totally functional and they work great once you get used to the shorter length.
For new woodworkers not owning a decent hand or tenon saw I have posted on sharpening them and made a YT video to compare so-called premium saw maker versions with one of my favourite modern makes of saws which just happens to be a particular Spear & Jackson one. I use these S&J saws alongside my vintage ones and have done so for a decade to date with absolutely no issues. The thickness of the plate is just right, the steel takes and holds a good edge, and with minimal effort of about four minutes, the teeth can be settled to the perfection of the best of the best of today’s handsaws. I still advocate for the Spear & Jackson saws (replete with the usual ampersand in the maker’s name) even though they are nothing to do with the original S&J when saws made were indeed amongst the best of the best of British and America. Currently, for some strange reason, this saw is available on Amazon UK for £11.78 before VAT but with free shipping in the UK. That’s half the usual Amazon price. It’s comes sharpened for a crosscut but can be sharpened afresh for a ripcut in a few minutes quite simply. Buy two as I just did and have a rip- and cross-cut. Even at twice or three times the price they are well worth the money. I also refined the handles on one I own from earlier days and even though they are quite comfortable enough anyway, they can be improved for feel and looks. I rarely do this but here is the link to buy them at that price.
My next blog will show you how I made the changes to this vintage model to make it work.
What do you use if anything to get the corrosion resistant coating off the blade of the S&J? Mine seems to drag in the cut and acetone didn’t make a dent in it.
Perhaps a paint stripper like Nitromors applied with steel wool and then wiped off.
Methylated spirits (Rødsprit here in Norway) on a rag, and it comes right off. The logo too, but I can live with that. 🙂
I’ll be interested to see what you achieve with that old saw.
If it’s an Abraham Ashton saw with the date stamped on the blade, I think that I spotted it…. and initially thought the same as you….. the creative shape of the edges requires a complete cut-back. to new metal!
One point that always concerns me with very old saws is the state of the handle-bolts; if it’s been used with a rocking handle action, they sometimes have the bolt partially worn through in contact with the edge of the plate.
It’ll be a bit of work but I’ll be interested to see as complete a restoration as you can get with a venerable saw.
All best!
Good morning Paul,
I too have way too many handsaws and hand planes! I enjoy restoring them and bringing them back to life.
I have worked on some saws that would rival your saw’s condition. But there was always something about those particular saws that made me want to restore them.
I look forward to your restoration video. As always Paul, best wishes to you.
Tim
I recently rescued a couple of short saws from my in-laws shed at their cottage.
No one else wanted them as they are more power tool users.
One was a cross cut the other a rip saw, a light touch up with a file got the crosscut saw working just fine. I like using the short saws at first I thought they might be “boys saws” but I’m not sure if that’s correct.
I also have an old back saw with teeth misshapen like yours, the teeth were filed backwards so you would have to cut on the pull stroke. Looks like a lot of work if I’m going to repair it.
I just received 4 old handsaws from my brother in Nova Scotia. They are all well known brands and really only need some replacement screws and a good cleaning. Maybe refinish the handles and scrub the blades with 400gr and oil and burnish them with 0000 steel wool. I have a saw vise and all the correct files so aside from sharpening there is not much to do to them. I may just return them to full function and move them on to good homes as the hardware store saws are mostly junk unless you go to Veritas but they are VERY expensive for a beginner. They are all 26in saws and look to be mostly 8point or so. In Eastern Canada there are lots of old hand tools lying in old long closed shops in barns. These came out of a shop that had an old go/no go motor driving an axle down the center beam of the shop to run a 24in planer, 12in jointer, tablesaw etc like something out of a museum. Must have been 100yrs old but out there where money is hard to come by you see these shops, some still running.
Great find
My finest is 8 TPI crosscut, and my rip are 5 and 8 TPI. I do my resaw with the 5 TPI, and rarely use the 8 TPI rip.
I’m wondering why 10 TPI?
My first impression is that it sounds a little too fine for a hand saw – surprised to hear that is how it came.
Do you think you could post some guidance on where different TPI handsaws would be useful?
Thanks Paul. Looking forward to the saw restoration update. I followed your advice last year and reshaped a S&J handle. Was quite easy to do. All I did was look at your photos, look at some of the vintage saws I had, penciled in the desired shape, and then got to reshaping it. Came our very nice and was an easy weekend project. So much so that if I ever need to make a new saw handle by scratch, I won’t feel intimidated by it.
Seeing the bad state of that saw, which is the worst I’ve seen, reminds me of a saying an old co-worker often used. “A blind man would be pleased to see it.” But I think in this case the blind may well be glad they can’t see it, with just the feel enough to realise it’s in a very sad state.
The saw is certainly not beyond repair and I look forward to seeing you restore it back to useable condition.
Those S&J saws you speak about in your post are no longer available on Amazon . The seller is unsure if they will be available in the future . I suspect the seller has seen your post and the next time we hear from him the price will have doubled .
Put the Amazon url in Camel Camel (Google search this term) and get it to email you when the price gets down to what you want to pay. Hand tool prices, and I suspect a lot of other prices, do go up and down by pretty large amounts on Amazon.
The 24″ version on the same page comes from the UK so the page is a mixture from different sources just to confuse people.
No longer available on Amazon but a search for ‘Spear & Jackson 9500R Traditional Skew Back Saw, 22″‘ will show sources -the cheapest is about £14.14 inc VAT . Not too sure it is the same saw though despite the description
Paul
I have thought about creating a gents/boys panel saw (like you use, but hard to find) by cutting down a Spear & Jackson. Any thoughts on whether this would work, and how would it best be done?
Cheers
Duncan
Hi Paul, I use to drive a grader, or the proper terminology is ‘operate’, before computers came in and I could skim off 5 to 10 mm off the surface on a regular bases, felt a tad disgruntled with your analogy, obviously with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek, cheers, love your work you have done wonders for my hand work, take care, Tom Lawton.
I did think about that when I wrote it and realised that it is not just a bulldozer piling up rocks and such so I do apologise for my analogous intentions there but it kind of says what I wanted in my ignorant way.
March 29th, 2022
Paul, I really enjoy your woodworking expertise and style of writing.
Couple of points here: Have you in Britain a “Docking saw”?
I acquired one some years back, it was sitting in dust disassembled whereby one day I restored it. Jointed, reset and filed in it’s crosscut configuration. This saw performs beautifully; tested it by sawing off several wafers from a 6 x 6 nominal timber (140mm) , the cuts were parallel to within a sixty fourth (.4mm).
It is a Henry Disston, applewood handle with the 15/16″ Keystone medallion, the handle is fixed with five screws. 5 Point “breasted” blade for sawing heavy timbers, hence the name.
Second point: Somehow my muse has given me a kiss while asleep.
I have started drawing and drawing! I have been progressing famously.
I have always drawn, largely technical illustration connected with my woodworking and design work. Even as an industrial modelmaker and patternmaker this has served me well. I let my drawing lag for many years and became quite rusty. Not like riding a bicycle~drawing requires much practice.
I know you draw as well-and well, from what I’ve seen.
I would like to let your readers to know that drawing requires much work but pays off in fairly short order. I thank you for your inspiration, Paul Sellers.
Thank you so much for your clear insight on the state of craft today.
Christopher J. Thomas