D8 panel saw refurbishment.

[swagman]

Hi all. I purchased this panel saw around 10 years ago. Its a Disston D8 Panel Saw; 20" saw plate; 10 ppi; crosscut tooth. Its been wrapped in storage during that time period awaiting the day I could get around to refurbishing it.



That day had finally arrived.

The 1st job was to remove the ugly finish that the previous owner had hastily applied. Its rather bulky original handle shape was typical of its circa. I felt the need to include some reshaping to improve its general appearance.

http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/d8page.html



Before;


After;


Next thing to do was darken the etching so it stood out more clearly.



Before;


After;


With the hyphenated etching, I was able to determine the age of the saw as being post 1928. The H Disston & Sons medallion that's has been fitted to the saw is clearly not original, as its use stopped in 1917. Not of great concern.

http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/etch.html

The saw teeth are in excellent condition, and will only require a light sharpen when time permits to allow this saw to be in excellent user condition.

I would appreciate your thoughts to the changes I made to the saw handle's shape.

regards Stewie;

 

[Self Taught]

Stewie,

I will say that either handle would work for me. I do how ever like the detail on the new shape, it's a bit more pleasing, and graceful. Overall a very nice job on the rehab. Jamey

 

[swagman]

Hi Jamey. Thank you for the feedback. I am also very pleased with the new look of the handle. As you have mentioned; it has a much more graceful shape to it.

regards; Stewie;

 

[lurcher]

a very nice job period saws do have the edge over more recent models i have a couple of disstons and alot of spear and jackson all in a1 condition i am in the process of teaching a few guys how to sharpen a handsaw we owe it to the old tools
pete

 

[bugbear]

You new handle shape is elegant, although this obviously makes the horns more fragile.

I think most people would consider your starting point in this case as not needing a refurb!

BugBear

 

[swagman]

Hi Pete. Its great to hear that your giving up your time to teach others how to sharpen a handsaw. Kudos for the support you are giving towards promoting traditional skills. =D>

regards Stewie;

 

[swagman]

You new handle shape is elegant, although this obviously makes the horns more fragile.

I think most people would consider your starting point in this case as not needing a refurb!

BugBear

Hi bugbear. Your a gentleman and a scholar.

regards Stewie;

 

[swagman]

Update. I have gone back and reviewed the information within http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/etch.html . After 1928 the model no. would be etched as D - 8. This saw has the 8 etched inside the D. That translates to this saw being pre 1928, and the medallion is most likely correct for this saw.

regards Stewie

 

[swagman]

Refiling the teeth from round to V shaped gullets.

Stewie;

 

[swagman]

Hi all. This is the final presentation of the Disston D8 panel saw refurbishment.

The handle has had 3 coats of garnet shellac. Later buffed to a nice shine.

The saw teeth have been sharpened with a crosscut profile of 10 degree's side fleam.

I also completed some test cuts with the panel saw on both hardwood & softwood to insure the work completed on resharpening the saw teeth was of an acceptable standard.

regards Stewie.

Testing the saw on Oregon.

 

[Bod]

WOW
Better than new!
Well done.

Bod

 

[swagman]

Thank you Bod. I prefer your response to that of BB who made the claim that most would consider this refurbishment unnecessary.

regards Stewie;

 

[swagman]

Zen Rules for Woodwork

http://www.woodreview.com.au/news/zen-r ... 20Woodwork

 

[Bod]

Thank you Bod. I prefer your response to that of BB who made the claim that most would consider this refurbishment unnecessary.

regards Stewie;

That level of refurbishment, is what I aspire to.
I can get a blunt, rusty object, into a saw which cuts straight, without leaving rust streaks, or splinters in your hand.
But to get a shine like that is going to mean more practice for me. (just means getting more carboot items passed Mrs Bod!!)

Bod

 

[Trafalgar]

Hi all. I purchased this panel saw around 10 years ago. Its a Disston D8 Panel Saw; 20" saw plate; 10 ppi; crosscut tooth. Its been wrapped in storage during that time period awaiting the day I could get around to refurbishing it.



That day had finally arrived.

The 1st job was to remove the ugly finish that the previous owner had hastily applied. Its rather bulky original handle shape was typical of its circa. I felt the need to include some reshaping to improve its general appearance.

http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/d8page.html



Before;


After;


Next thing to do was darken the etching so it stood out more clearly.



Before;


After;


With the hyphenated etching, I was able to determine the age of the saw as being post 1928. The H Disston & Sons medallion that's has been fitted to the saw is clearly not original, as its use stopped in 1917. Not of great concern.

http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/etch.html

The saw teeth are in excellent condition, and will only require a light sharpen when time permits to allow this saw to be in excellent user condition.

I would appreciate your thoughts to the changes I made to the saw handle's shape.

regards Stewie;

Hopefully just my eye, but the saw teeth look as if they'd been set too close to their root (or with a set with too large an anvil) by a previous owner. It's hard to find a saw that old that has not been so treated by somebody in the chain of ownership. It's a shame, because it does affect the cut, sometimes drastically.

Your work is breathtaking.

 

[swagman]

Thanks for the feedback CS. What you have described with the previous set on the saw teeth was no illusion. Before I could commence reshaping of the saw teeth, this set had to be compressed out using a smooth jawed machinist vice.

regards Stewie;

 

[Trafalgar]

Clearly you know what you're doing. A lot of people wouldn't recognize this as the terrible flaw it is -worse than practically all others. It's almost impossible to find a used saw that doesn't have this problem. It only takes one idjit who doesn't know how to set a saw to practically ruin it for all that use it afterwards.

 

[deema]

I would appreciate knowing exactly what the decried problem is with the anvil and the set of the teeth, how it incurs and how it can be recognised. Equalky what effect it has when your sawing.

Thanks

 

[Trafalgar]

Setting too low where the tooth is wide punches a convex dimple in the tooth/tooth line generally deforming the toothline, fails to actually set the tooth which can make the saw drag, cut poorly, rattle, lead to one side, require much more effort than required, etc. etc.

Name practically any sawing problem you can think of and setting the tooth too low will produce it. A saw will tolerate a pretty wide range of levels of expertise in its filing. Setting is another matter.

 

[bugbear]

This setting fault is nigh impossible with the Eclipse 77 discussed recently, regardless of the user's skill or knowledge.

The tool embodies the knowledge.

BugBear