£2 Carboot Diston Refurb

[Richard T]

All I bought yesterday morning was this sorry looking modern Diston crosscut for £2.



The blade is as straight as I could hope for so that is a good start.



It looks like it was file sharpened last time ... could be good, could be bad.



The handle has most of its horrible, original varnish.



A lot of which was flaky enough to pare off easily.



I scrubbed the blade with a brillo in warm water as it was quite gungy as well as surface rusty. Bet to do this before it has nice sharp teeth to dull with wire wool.



This is my effort of a saw vice. It is hollowed slightly, tapering in from the middle to the ends so that in compression it grips all the way along. That's the theory anyway - I could have made a better job of it but it's not bad.



This is how it sits in the vice hanging on its brackets. If it had no brackets I would need four hands to line it up every time.



The first thing to do is to joint the blade. This involves a long, flat, smooth, handleless file stoked along the length, kept very level on top, until every tooth has some flat on its tip. This shows up how far out it has become either by wear or previous 'enthusiastic' and also gives a clear reference of how far I can go with each tooth to bring it back to straight.
Sometimes this can be an alarming and depressing exercise.



This saw's hidden horror was at the back where it soon became obvious how far out the left and right teeth had been filed.



Nil desperandum - there were not too many like that. So on to the setting up. I decide on a wide fleam of 24 degrees. This is about as much as is practical - a cross cut saw's cross cut.



Alternate teeth are pretty clear at the start as the ones I am leaving are black.



Coming up the other side I marked the bright teeth blue so as not to mix up bright with bright.





I had nice even teeth but there were still flats visible in places.



So a touch - up before setting. Better.



I took this picture of the set before I had adjusted it to what Eclipse reckon is suitable for seven tpi.



Having set and looking good.



More tomorrow when hopefully the handle linseed will have dried enough to give it a test cut. Who would want to put an opaque varnish on that?



Oil's the stuff.

 

[TobyC]

Very nice job Richard!

Looks like you smoothed the handle a bit, looks better and I'm sure it will feel better.

What year range is it, 40s?

Toby

 

[Vann]

Hey Richard, that workbench is as tidy as mine.... :wink:

Cheers, Vann.

 

[cambournepete]

I've bookmarked this as I've got two similar saws in the garage.

Thanks!

 

[bugbear]

Very nice work! (Oh, and a very nice looking protractor)

That handle is curvy enough to be earlier than the seventies, I think.

I note your comment on cleaning the plate before it has sharp teeth to snag things. May I suggest taking this excellent principle a little further, and cleaning the plate after jointing?

On setting, I wouldn't trust Eclipse's idea of suitable amounts of set at all. My (two) saw sets live in a drawer with a small piece of cardboard with the settings for various TPI (found empirically) written on it.

BugBear

 

[Racers]

I agree with BB here are two Eclipse anvils with measurements.



Very different.

Pete

 

[Richard T]

Thanks for the kind words folks.

Not sure about the age Toby and BB - if you look at the first picture ... I'd say 70s. Those curves and sharp lines are straight from the machine and I have done a lot of blending if not reshaping between the fourth picture and the last.

Vann = if you start putting things away all over the place you can never find anything. Pictured you see several planes, the saw and a coffee table in progress.

The set - we shall see. I used to put too much, now it creeps toward too little. This might well be down to which saw set I used; can't remember so I try to stick to the same one. Only trial and error will show what's right but it looks good at the moment.
When I held it up in the sunshine yesterday there were still some tiny glints of flats on some tips. So it needs going over again anyway. Now it is set, this will mean changing all the surfaces slightly. What will this do to the set I wonder?
Saw sharpening is certainly fun and games. Cambournepete - be sure to stock up on elbow grease.

 

[Racers]

Hi Richard

I blacken all my teeth with a felt pen before filling :shock:

Easier to see if you have filled them correctly.


Pete

 

[Corneel]

You could always look on the disstonian institute website if you are curious what age it is: http://www.disstonianinstitute.com It looks just like any other D8 to me, so could very well be prewar.

If the teeth have just very small shiny spots on the tops, I would leave it alone. It looks pretty sharp from here behind the computer screen.

 

[Richard T]

That's interesting Corneel, -

"The handles were apple until about 1947, when they were changed to beech"

It certainly isn't Beech, could well be Apple.

Yes it is sharp in most places but those last spots are definitely coming off.

 

[TobyC]

Show us the label screw.

My guess is between 1917 and 1940.

Toby

 

[marcros]

which is the easier to learn sharpening on- cross cut or rip- I have one of each on the wall that I need to do one of these days. Is removing the handle SOP, or is it "avoid if it is tight"?

 

[Richard T]

What may help to nail it is the button that reads "Disston *USA* , 'D S' stamped on the plate underneath the handle, the handle is Apple and has just three studs apart from the button.

I don't know how often people try to photograph saws - it's not easy. Here it is with its handle back on.





To test - a lump of seasoned Elm.





It cuts very well and with no correction needed so I guess I got it even. Very easy to follow the line. It's pretty aggressive but that is how I like it. The rake angles are very steep.

Amazing to think it could be an old'un - they look so modern.

 

[Richard T]

Marcros - definitely easier to sharpen a rip. Where I used a 24 degree fleam angle, for rip it is 0. Straight across both sides. Also the rake angle is 0 which is easier to check as you can see it easier.

 

[custard]

which is the easier to learn sharpening on- cross cut or rip- I have one of each on the wall that I need to do one of these days. Is removing the handle SOP, or is it "avoid if it is tight"?

Rip's easier, no need to remove the handle.

 

[marcros]

nicely done Richard. Amazing the transformation with a bit of oil instead of varnish, and cleaning the plate.

 

[MIGNAL]

Use a coarse stone on each side to take some of the set off. Depends on how much set you need to remove though. If it's too far gone for the stone you might have to resort to gentle tapping with a hammer, saw between two hardwood lengths.
Saws a good 'un though!

 

[G S Haydon]

Love the work, and the handle has a lovely warm tone. £2.00 well spent.

 

[TobyC]

Started using "USA" on the label screw in 1940.

Toby

 

[TobyC]

So....USA makes it '40 or later.
And apple makes it '47 or earlier.
'40-'47....much better than '70s.
It's actually a Disston, and not an HK Porter, which it would have been if it was '70s.

Toby