‘Twas a rainy day. They called it “atmospheric rivers” (or maybe that was last week’s rain). Rain is rain.
Collectors tend to avoid going to salvage in the rain. That makes it the perfect time to go if you’re looking for a user to rehab.
Waltzed over to the saw bin and saw a couple new additions (no pun intended). Wouldn’t you know it, the second saw I pulled out was a very decent looking Disston D-7 with 5-1/2 ppi at 26” long. No kinks and plate was straight. Only $5 for a saw — cleaned up — is worth $85 on eBay right now.
Good thing I brought a towel and umbrella. They also had a bunch of plastic bags to offer at checkout. I only live 2 blocks from the salvage yard, so not far to go in the rain.
Here is the pick.
That medallion is brass, believe it or not. Now that’s a lot of tarnish!
You can barely make out the Disston & Sons etch on the plate.
I picked up that saw and some other things. I have been working on restoring the saw over the past couple days.
Got yerself a nice rip saw there, Devin. I’m not sure who the good saw sharpener is in the Bay Area, but I strongly suggest getting the saw professionally sharpened once before you start sharpening it yourself. You have a good baseline that way, and get an idea for just how well a sharp saw will cut. And your first couple sharpenings can just be “once on each tooth” to take it from “a little dull” to “cuts through oak like butter again.”
I strongly suggest getting the saw professionally sharpened once before you start sharpening it yourself.
Holy moly is it already lethally sharp. I wasn’t quite sure how to define “sharp” on a saw (I could already tell you that to define sharp on a knife or chisel or straight edge you just run your finger perpendicular to the bevel and see how it grabs).
I watched this video by Rex and he said, I quote:
By the end, the teeth don’t just feel sharp on the hand, they’re also “grabby.” They tug on your skin like cat’s claws. That’s how I tell when my saws are really sharp.
Source (above quote at 7m38s in):
That’s how this saw feels already. So I think we are ready to go …
… and I am kind of sad about that because I was kind of looking forward to it. But I am sure that if I use this new (to me) Disston that it will eventually need sharpening. So eventually I will get my chance to try it.
Well, it looked pretty good, so it may be quite usable. I just know my little dovetail saws were so much nicer after sending them off to Bob for sharpening. About a third as many strokes to do the same cuts as before the sharpening, and I had a few dovetails where I sawed well past the line because the saw was cutting so well.
In my uneducated opinion, a pistol grip-style handle creates a more accurate cut. For me, my hand on a gent’s saw allows too much rotation which can take cut out of alignment. The pistol grip-style keeps my wrist comfortably in proper alignment with my forearm and I can lock my wrist in place. Keeping my wrist and forearm in alignment means I’m cutting with action from my shoulder…and that, for me, makes for straighter, more true cuts.
Again, just my 2 cents, and probably worth less!
Ryan/// ~sigh~ I blew up another bowl. Moke told me "I made the inside bigger than the outside".
Like Larry, I'm a fan of the pull type razor saws. The extremely thin kerf is a blessing not only in wood that isn't turned into dust but in faster, easier cuts. My pruning saws are of similar design with a thicker blade and most are folding. I don't think these razor saws or pruning saws can be easily sharpened which is a detractor over a saw that can be sharpened with a file.
Pistol grip for saws over an inch or two from spine to tooth line. For smaller saws, a gent saw handle, but that’s mostly because a pistol grip would be banging on the bench / vise working that small (which I do, pretty frequently).
I have a Japanese saw or two I use almost exclusively for trimming things flush, as I’ve filed the set off the sides of the blade. Can’t cut dovetails with them to save my life, but it’s possible that’s due to having filed off the set and the saw having no back.
for me the pull cut of a japanese style saw just makes more sense and more accuracy ? when your pushing rather than pulling it puts a lot of stress on the blade causing it to flesh in ways you dont want. where as a pull cut will follow the path it's pulled ! just makes sense to me as it did to the japanese woodworkers many years ago !
working with my hands is a joy,it gives me a sense of fulfillment,somthing so many seek and so few find.-SAM MALOOF.
That barrel full of handsaws has me thinking of Ron Herman. He used to show up everywhere with up to a dozen old pickle barrels absolutely full of saws.
I have had trouble with even the XXL grips of most Western saws being too small for my hand, so the straight grab me where it feels best of the Japanese style pull saws was a welcome find for me, but I do like the grinds of the Western blades over the machined edges of most pull saws, so I have gravitated to what most call Gent Saws.
I morphed one UP that I am fond of. Ron Bontz built it for me, It is a true Frankensaw. I'll try to grab it for a few pics. He also sized me up a Western saw, and it has a funky DT blade on it, For me it works fine, but most don't like it.
I have a hand saw that I've just recovered from.... however, I have a feeling it'll last me the rest of my life without sharpening. NO push or pull debate... just poke!
If your first cut is too short... Take the second cut from the longer end... LBD
George, I have big hands, too. I still can’t convince Mark Harrell at Bad Axe (even though we’ve met in person) that I need his biggest handle and maybe even a bit bigger. There are two brands of motorcycle gloves I’ll buy, one in a 3XL, and the other in a 4XL. At least they offer ones that are big enough. For yard work, I order my leather gloves online, because none of the stores here in Santa Fe even stock the one-size-too-small size that I can use if I cut open the fingertips and let my fingers stick out the ends. So I find my saved purchase from previous years on Amazon and reorder the exact same gloves.
Anyway, I’ve found I can work with too small of a handle on a saw for a while. It’s just not especially comfortable. But if my push saws are flexing, I’m doing something wrong. The back should be keeping the saw plate straight and well-tensioned, and if it’s not, the saw goes off to Bob for tweaking if I can’t get it working myself. Sharp fixes darned near everything.
Dave, I took the handle of the Disston D-7 and held it up to my kerfing plane. My initial thoughts were, “gee, I sure made it big. I wonder if I made it too big.”
After reading what you just wrote above about your big mits, I am now thinking I did good by making the handle on my kerfing plane accommodating of the larger hand.
As I said, Devin, I can work with smaller handles. I typically have my index finger pointing down the blade when I’m sawing, and if it’s a too-small-handle, my pinky is outside the handle somehow too. But a two-finger grip like that isn’t comfortable for an extended session, and if it’s my saw, I’ll either replace the handle or file off the pinky-end of it so it’s more accommodating to big hands.
Looks like a little filler (and maybe steaming it out) will take care of most of that. And the “little darling” has started personalizing tools already.
