OT - Tool Identification

"Therefore"

Hi Notso

You beat me buy two minutes - shouldn't have talked to the Dept of War and Finance.

Tony

Not being a "tradesman" I would think that you would "set the saw" before sharpening it. Am I still learning?

If you are tempted to try it out on one of the "modern Saws" with the hardened teeth,all you will do in break off the teeth.

And at around $10 for a new hard tooth hand saw why would you bother trying to sharpen.

Disco

In the days before Bunnings and Mitre 10 and Aldi, long before them, you had to do all the "maintenance" jobs yourself. Saws back then weren't "$10" cheapies. You bought one and looked after it for life. Your life not the saws life. You set and sharpened and oiled it yourself.

That's why you would bother.

I haven't seen one of them for ages. I recognised it but I'll be blowed if I could recall what it was for. They are the type of things you find in the back of the shearing shed lockers.

Phil

Arrrrh those were the days, hard days. Yes I certainly recognised it. I use to use one for setting circular saws way back when, don't think they use them any more, the chain saw has taken over.

I may get deleted for being off topic here, but here goes.

Of all the "nom de plumes" that abound these days I like yours; "dunworkin".

Me also but not by choice (medically). But you know what? I damn well miss it!

Cheers

Phil

Hey Brian,
The steps to sharpen a saw was the 4 S's....Strip, shape, set and sharpen.

You ran a flat file the length of the blade to bring the tops of the teeth in line.

Shaped the teeth back to the required shape and point.

Set the teeth with that tool to push the teeth over slightly (the tool has different settings for different blades)

Sharpened the cutting edge at an angle.

Old chippies never die.

Regards,

Noel K.

I can remember the first few times that I sharpened a saw. Trying to get rid of the cows and calves afterwards was always a challenge. LOL
Cows and calves was the term we used when you would overshatrpen one side of the saw and ending up with one big tooth and one little tooth.
The carpenter who taught me would make me get the flat file out and file down the teeth and start again. At least he taught me properly.
Haven't hand sharpened a saw for many years now but I could if I had too.
I still have my Spear and Jackson panel saw and tenon saw.

Short Answer...No
You could by one for around $10-15 new.

Disco.

I,m still in the trade and use my old Spear & Jackson handsaws regularly.

I prefer them over modern hard tipped saws because they can be resharpened & set unlike the new ones which work great until you hit something hard like a nail or concrete.

PS It would have been hard going cutting a 4x4 hw post with a panel saw.

David

RA I've a similar couple of saws to that one, one 6 point and a 8 point that I have always looked after myself, and my Dad before me.

Like Phil says, these saws were meant to last your lifetime. Always kept in a canvas saw bag. Every so often you would polish the crap off the blade, and coat it with neatsfoot oil. Who remembers what that is I wonder?

It was a bit of an old chippies badge of honour, so to speak, when you saw one these old saws in someones kit, that were only half or less the depth of blade of a new one, after many years and hundreds of sharpening sessions with the file. You new they had done plenty of hard yakka on the good old Aussie hardwoods.

Great post Phantom.

Fred.

David,
yes it was hard going. I couldn't use a power saw as the cuts were less than 25mm from a concrete floor and I used the old panel saw to get a neat straight cut.

This post made me go out to the shed and give the old saw a birthday.

Have a good on,
RA.

My Grandfather was a master carpenter and on weekends he would set and sharpen his saw and I always remember him playing this tune on his large saws. He would tell me that, if it was in tune, it would sound like this.

http://youtu.be/qxUxwiXYUkE

Check the blade and rivets to see if that's a Philadelphia Disston Rockape. Looks like it could be. They are worth some decent money to those who know how to drive them.

We use neatsfoot oil on tack, linseed on timber and boiled off mutton fat on the steel Fred G, and I'd bet I'm closer to half your age.... just brought up right :)

P.S. The rotating dial on the sawset pliers will be marked with a series of numbers which will correspond with the teeth per inch (TPI) of the particular saw you are going to set.

Rockape and GBC
That handle does indicate a Disston saw but it seems to be missing the medallion so that will affect any value it has.
Ther are lots of different medallions check out the Disston website.

Cheers

Bob.

Bantam, those were the days. My "Dad" made all his own tools including a micrometer. The days of a "Fitter, turner & toolmaker" He is long since gone as has his trade. I was only a "pen-pusher" and it had little or no regard for me or my qualifications. I will be 79 before the end of the year and was considered to be pretty good at my job but never made anything of a tool except for a mess. Now there are very few trade apprentices and the world is worse off because most tradesmen replace not fix.

Ya got that right...there are "tradesmen" out there who do not know how to sharpen a chisel.

cheers

well i am 36 and i have learnt how to sharpen chainsaws and hand saws, but it is a skill i rarely use these days. i still prefer pulling out a hand saw rather than my shiny new gmc circular saw. I even use a mitre box on occasion.

Very few proper chippys these days... i do know one, but he was a timber boat builder (shipwright) before the fibre glass and mass production. very very precise...

i can also do splicing. not many people around my age and younger even know how to splice.