Old hand tools

[phantom of the offcut]

Hi
Have these 2 saws, smaller dovetail / tenon saw has 'Bowden & Co' on it and the larger is a 'PAX'

Wondering if they are any good, worth restoring? The PAX is in pretty good condition just a little rusty and in need of sharpening, the dovetail saw is in a more sorry state, the blade is straight but when placed on a straight edge the teeth have worn or been sharpened more in the middle so it shows as a concave and the handle has a missing rivet (split nut maybe) and of course needs sharpening.

Any advice much appreciated.

Jason.[/img]

 

[Benchwayze]

Hi Jason,

Short answer:

Yes.

Provisio:

As long as they aren't bent.
That can be cured but it's not easy. The steel should be ok, so if you can sharpen them, the rest will be elbow grease.

HTH

 

[phantom of the offcut]

Yes thanks Benchwayze
I have sharpened a couple of saws in the past but a while ago and i was no expert then so i think the Pax, as its had fairly light use won't be too much of a problem, but the dovetail saw (is it a dovetail saw? ) is a little trickier in particular
- Do i need to flatten the teeth
- How do you set the teeth
- Which file
- How to replace missing rivet
And its the dovetail saw i'm really interested in!
Jason.

 

[Racers]

Hi,

You need to have read up saw sharpening on line, try http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/glossary.html and and our very own Bugbear http://www.geocities.com/plybench/saw_sharpen.html I did a 12 tpi back saw using one of BB templates.


Pete

 

[matthewwh]

- Do i need to flatten the teeth

Yes, it will cut with a concave toothed edge but you will be working against the natural movement of your body rather than with it. The DT should be flat and if you examine the pax you may well find that it has been made with slightly convex edge for the same reason (one of the signs of a good quality handmade saw). Clamp the blade between two accurately flattened battens and file the tops back to flat, don't go past the gullets though as these provide the references for cutting the new teeth.

- How do you set the teeth

Gently, with a saw set, there are so many good ones on ebay that have seen very little use and go for pennies so we don't even bother stocking them.

- Which file

Bahco were recommended to us by a (ex)member on here, I was so impressed that I switched to them from Nicholson without a second thought. Have a look here and pick the appropriate one. To make things easier, they are all listed with the number of teeth per inch that they are designed for use on. We have had to take all of the ones with handles out of stock for a couple of days but they are still available, just drop me a line.


- How to replace missing rivet

Sorted
You might want to replace both for a neat finish.

If you want something to sort out the rust on the Pax we are now stocking Restore in 250ml bottles (makes 5 litres) at £13.99 each. if you give it a good soak it should bring the etch back up nicely as well.

Best of luck with the saws, you've picked out some beauties to start with so you should get excellent results, please do keep us posted on your progress. If you get stuck feel free to drop me a PM or give me a call on 01295 780003.

All the best


Matthew