Shopsmith Forums

nuhobby wrote:This old saw was begging me for an overhaul and sharpening. It's really a sweet cutter now!

Good job! I've already found out that making a nice tote is much more difficult than one would think.

I've got a pair of those sitting on my shelf, waiting for a new life. Both had plates that were slightly tweeked; I was surprised when they straightened out after removing the handle (and equally surprised by the re-tweeking when the handle was reinstalled). Dunno what that's all about, but it was frustrating and I finally put them back on the shelf before I broke something.

[quote="Cavediver"]Good job! I've already found out that making a nice tote is much more difficult than one would think.

I've got a pair of those sitting on my shelf, waiting for a new life. Both had plates that were slightly tweeked]

Tweeked??????? Plates???

Handle/blade hole alignment????

They can be a devil! The backsaw "spine" can introduce a wave in the blade if it's a little bit seized or canted. Then the tote may cause some offset also.

I cheated on my tote and laminated a thin veneer between 2 solid resawn halves, so I could get a nice true blade-slot located in the assembly.

Reading thru here has got me wondering about a couple of saws that I have that belonged to my dad. He was strick on keeping his tools in good shape. There are several hand saws that he bought new I would guess in the early 50's but there is one that he was given by an older man and I remember this was the first saw that he owned. I have never seen one like it. It is the same length as a regular saw but the tip of the blade is only about an inch wide and tapers back to a full width blade by the handle. I think this saw may have been made in the early 1900's. I will have to dig them out of his toolbox and take a look and see if I can find any marking on it. I don't use them so I put them away and forgot them until now

JPG40504 wrote:Tweeked??????? Plates???
Handle/blade hole alignment????

nuhobby wrote:They can be a devil! The backsaw "spine" can introduce a wave in the blade if it's a little bit seized or canted. Then the tote may cause some offset also.

I cheated on my tote and laminated a thin veneer between 2 solid resawn halves, so I could get a nice true blade-slot located in the assembly.

Yeah, the saw plate itself is dead flat when it's out of the tote, no spine. There's a very slight twist to it when I put the spine on. When I fasten it in the tote, WHAM! Instant curve!

nuhobby wrote:They can be a devil! The backsaw "spine" can introduce a wave in the blade if it's a little bit seized or canted. Then the tote may cause some offset also.

I cheated on my tote and laminated a thin veneer between 2 solid resawn halves, so I could get a nice true blade-slot located in the assembly.

Here is an article that just came out, sheds some interesting light on how these backsaws function, and how they can be methodically straightened:

http://www.badaxetoolworks.com/retension-a-backsaw.html

I've come into an old 14" E.C. Atkins backsaw, made in Indianapolis -- I love finding local stuff. One cheek of the original applewood tote is cracked off, plus other problems. Here goes a repair:

I have double-side-taped the Tote to a fore/aft sled I had made for my Overarm Router table a few years ago. With the piece aligned and a stop-point established, I milled out a slot to my desired depth successively:

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In the upper-left corner of the picture above you could also see a small wedge of applewood cut to the proper angles, with a 1/4"-radius on the vertex. That piece fits right into the slot I milled, gluing with a few faces under pressure, to be cut to flushness later on:

[ATTACH]22225[/ATTACH]


More to follow as my shop does what it does best -- let glue dry!

Just to complete that thought.... more work on finishing at another time. The left inlay was the result of a 1/2" router bit, and the right side inlay was from a 1/8" router bit. This is a lot easier than making a new tote!

[ATTACH]22247[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH]22248[/ATTACH]

I added some finish oil and sharpened this baby. It works pretty nice! It's spoken for:

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