Disston rip saw refurb

[Karl]

Hi all

After a bit of advice really.

I bought a Disston rip saw off e-bay a couple of years back, and have always been quite pleased with its performance. The handle was quite uncomfortable, and there was a curvature to the blade from years of poor sharpening practise, but it seemed to work quite well. 26" long, 3/4 tpi.

Unfortunately I dropped it and damaged the horn, meaning that it became really uncomfortable to use.

Lots of pics first

These two pics show the curvature to the blade - it's about 5mm at the end.

Finally, saw dismantled

So, to the questions.

First off, what's the best way of dealing with the curved blade? If I completely straighten it, the teeth will have to be re-cut?

Second, i've decided to make a new handle. The old one was too large for my weedy hands, so it'll be replaced with a suitably attractive piece of timber. But the original nuts have been chewed up a bit in the past - where is the best place to get replacements? I would like to keep the original Disston logo.

Cheers

Karl

 

[Alf]

Well I'd say that "curve" there is what the saw fraternity refer to as a "breasted saw". An explanation.

Second, the saw nuts look okay to me too. If you want to keep the original Disston logo, the easiest way is to, um, keep the original... You can make them look like new, if that's what you're after. Failing that, someone asked about buying saw nuts just the other day, so it should be on the first or second page of threads on this board.

 

[bosshogg]

+1 to the breasted saw, this was meant to give more power to the cutting stroke and may have been synonymous to Disston only, I have only ever seen in on a Disston 26" myself.

Talk of replacing the handle and nuts etc. looking at the pics you posted, and in particular the one with the Disston medallion, it looks like you have got a early 1870's or there about's Disston's son saw, so named because it was the son of Henry Disston who run the factory then, whatever it is you might want to look at this http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/...alue to what you've managed to get...bosshogg

 

[DTR]

Failing that, someone asked about buying saw nuts just the other day, so it should be on the first or second page of threads on this board.

That would be me :wink:

saw-nuts-t50355.html

 

[Karl]

Thanks for the replies folks.

I did see Jimi's thread on handle repair. But considering that I found the original handle to be very uncomfortable in use, I don't see the point of repairing it. A new handle which fits the hand seems to be more appropriate.

Alf - I hadn't heard of a "breasted" saw before. The blade is distinctly curved in length and I think the thing which threw me a bit is that the sharpening along the length of the curvature is a bit wonky to say the least. So there isn't a nice curvature to the blade.

I'll probably keep the original nuts - they aren't a major issue, but the slots have been a bit chewed. Probably easier to see in the flesh than on the pic.

Cheers

Karl

 

[bosshogg]

Try raising the grain where the nuts go through the handle with some water, then when it's absolutely dry (next day preferably) paint some PVA glue around the hole, making sure you get it down the square key indents, this stiffens the whole area up. Next when you assemble the saw, the screw/bolt holes are quite stiff for the split nuts too seat themselves in...bosshogg

 

[bugbear]

+1 to the breasted saw, this was meant to give more power to the cutting stroke and may have been synonymous to Disston only

No, it's generic.

BugBear

 

[Henry Disston]

I've never heard anyone say a #7's handle was uncomfortable until now. I've always thought it was Disston's best handle shape and most British inspired.

 

[dickm]

I can sympathise with the OP - when "I were a lad", we had a saw (no idea what make or anything) with exactly that handle, and if used for any length of time it would wear the skin off the flat between thumb and first finger. In my ignorance, I butchered the horn off to make it useable - probably took several shillings off its value

 

[Henry Disston]

I have a WWII era Disston D-7 panel saw that raises blisters on my hand but that is a small blocky handle. None of my full size saws bother me although the D-23's don't feel nearly as nice as the older ones.