# Restoring Sandvik Tenon Saw



## Lynch (21 Mar 2009)

Hi everyone,
I don't have much experience with saws, and am interested in restoring this saw need some tips on how to make it better:





I believe it is a good quality saw, the blade reads Sandvik Tradition.

The first problem is that I have tried sharpening the teeth with a saw file, which has made it cut better, although it isn't perfect and the blade has a rough feel to it, I though it was rust, and have tried WD40, wirewool, brushes and oil but nothing happens.

The other problem is that the are that the handle is loose and rattles slightly, which is annoying. I have tried tightening the nuts which made no difference. Other than those it looks like a good quality saw.

Thanks for your help.


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## pedder (22 Mar 2009)

Hi Lynch,

never had a Sandvik but some Spear & Jackson from the same period.

Often the rust is under a coat of varnish. I use acetone to get ride of it. If you want to keep the etching, us a hardwood block and some K1000 paper.

I never found a solution for these handles, but then I've never searched. I made new ones instead. 

Btw, did you get it for 8.51 GBP from Ebay? Guess who was the second bidder. :wink: 

Cheers Pedder


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## Lynch (22 Mar 2009)

That would have been weird, but I actually acquired it from a relative who is a retired carpenter.

I'll see if there is varnish on the blade and try to remove it, hopefully  .


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## dennis (22 Mar 2009)

Lynch,

It sounds as if the bolts are either siezed up or bottoming out. I would use penetrating oil then grip the rounded end with pliers and try unscrewing. If you can get them apart, clean and oil or grease them, Then without replacing, screw them fully home and check against the handle that they are not too long to nip it up. If they are too long just file a bit off them.

Dennis


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## craig-721 (22 Mar 2009)

Lynch":1e92coxl said:


> Hi everyone,
> I don't have much experience with saws, and am interested in restoring this saw need some tips on how to make it better:
> 
> 
> ...



hi Lynch
I have restored this crosscut saw i bought for £1 from the market as you can see it had a bit rust on the blade and the handle had not much varnish left.













I used 180 grit then 220 grit that works well, i had to sharpen it as the teeth where total blunt, and i sanded the handle with 80 grit and polished the bolts with the dremel, and yes just file the bolts down a bit to tighten them up, this is what me saw looks like now. \/ 












hope this helps you.
craig


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## DaveL (23 Mar 2009)

Hi Craig,

Welcome to the forum. 

Your pictures have been caught by our spam trap, this will stop, once you have a few more posts to your name.
Here is your post:


craig-721":360pmemo said:


> hi Lynch
> I have restored this crosscut saw i bought for £1 from the market as you can see it had a bit rust on the blade and the handle had not much varnish left.
> 
> 
> ...


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## bugbear (24 Mar 2009)

Lynch":1pyp7qko said:


> Hi everyone,
> I don't have much experience with saws, and am interested in restoring this saw need some tips on how to make it better:
> 
> 
> ...



Hmm. Looks mid 70's to me, or a hair later. Not super quality (the accountants had started to bite by then), but easily convertible into a good saw.

I would remove the handle. This allows the blade to be cleaned far more easily; I would clean the blade with 400 grit SiC on a flat block. This will remove the paint (that doesn't look like an etch to me).

I would check the screws/bolts as others have described, to make sure their travel isn't limited. When re-tightening such screws, I always CLAMP the handle closed, then just run up the screws. Asking the screws to provide clamping pressure may be optimistic.

I would probably (since this saw isn't collectible) rasp off the arrises on the handle to make it more comfortable.

And I would certainly sharpen it to the best of my abiity.

Sadly, cross cut back saws are probably the hardest (common) saw to sharpen, since the teeth are small enough to be troublesome, AND you have to deal with fleam, which is one more thing to think about, and the tooth tips are very small (they become points, unlike the lines of a rip-tooth-tip)

Sharpening info here:

http://www.geocities.com/plybench/saw_sharpen.html

BugBear


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## Lynch (24 Mar 2009)

Last night I removed the handle and tried fine wet and dry paper on the blade, which removed quite a bit of rust, and made the blade smooth, although it didn't remove any of the discolouration, and couldn't get much off near the teeth because it would just wear the teeth down. I was reluctant to remove the etching/paint on the blade, so I tried really rubbing hard on the back of the blade, but it still didn't get rid of the discolouration, so I suppose I'll have to live with it unless there is better way to remove it.

I also touched up the worn bits of the handle with some woodstain, although it could do with a new coat of varnish.

I also gave it another sharpen, and it actually works better than I thought it would.

* @bugbear*
Thanks for the link about saw sharpening, I sharpened the saw before I read your post, although I'll look into it for future reference.





Does anyone know if it is possible to remove the discolouration of the blade, and exactly what products would be best?

P.S. does anyone know what the best brands of saws are to look out for? Thanks.


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## pedder (25 Mar 2009)

Lynch":1meai7a7 said:


> Does anyone know if it is possible to remove the discolouration of the blade, and exactly what products would be best?



Hi Lynch, 

nice work on the saw! IMHO it is not possible to remove the discolouration without heavy sanding. Discoloration is a kind of etching. 

Cheers Pedder


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## bugbear (25 Mar 2009)

Lynch":d0zzzy3b said:


> Last night I removed the handle and tried fine wet and dry paper on the blade, which removed quite a bit of rust, and made the blade smooth, although it didn't remove any of the discolouration, and couldn't get much off near the teeth because it would just wear the teeth down.



Take a small piece of wood, say 6" x 1" x 1/2" and cut a tiny rebate in it (say 1/8"). If you cover the teeth with the rebate, you can sand right up to the wood - indeed, the wood can be used a fence/guide for your sanding block.

(brief pause to extend web site...)

http://geocities.com/plybench/saw_sharp ... eeth_guard

BugBear


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## PeterBassett (25 Mar 2009)

Hi.

Nice work on your saw there, it's looking very nice.

I have a related question. I found a similar saw at a car boot last week but didn't buy it because the blade was slightly bent along its length.

Is there a way to straighten the blade again? I assumed not.

Thanks

Pete


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## craig-721 (25 Mar 2009)

Lynch":2mi3mg62 said:


> Last night I removed the handle and tried fine wet and dry paper on the blade, which removed quite a bit of rust, and made the blade smooth, although it didn't remove any of the discolouration, and couldn't get much off near the teeth because it would just wear the teeth down. I was reluctant to remove the etching/paint on the blade, so I tried really rubbing hard on the back of the blade, but it still didn't get rid of the discolouration, so I suppose I'll have to live with it unless there is better way to remove it.
> 
> I also touched up the worn bits of the handle with some woodstain, although it could do with a new coat of varnish.
> 
> ...



hi Lynch,
the saw looks great good work, the best saws are, disston, spear & jackson, sorby, tyzack.
craig


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## bugbear (25 Mar 2009)

PeterBassett":1g8gbq6x said:


> Hi.
> 
> Nice work on your saw there, it's looking very nice.
> 
> ...



I believe it to be very difficult. And there are enough good, cheap, straight saws out there that I've never been motivated to make the experiment.

BugBear


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## PeterBassett (25 Mar 2009)

Thanks, I figured that would be the case...

Pete


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## Racers (25 Mar 2009)

Hi,

I have straightened one by bending the back it was a slight curve not a kink.


If it was cheap use it for scrapers :wink: 

Pete


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## PeterBassett (25 Mar 2009)

Gah! I walked away and I could have fixed it. ](*,) 

:wink: An opportunity missed but I'll know in future.
Thanks

Pete


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## andy king (26 Mar 2009)

Bends in back saws are often down to the blade slipping slightly in the back, altering the tension the back provides and can lead to bends or waves.
The beauty of a folded brass (or steel) backed saw is that any waves or bends in the blade can be sorted pretty easily. Turn the saw over and tap the tip of the back (not the handle end) onto the bench and it will re-seat the blade and should get the blade back to perfectly straight once again.
I've done it many times, and recently restored an ancient Tyzack tenon saw that my grandfather used for meat butchery and the blood and water had rotted the steel around the handle.
I remove the back, trimmed the rot away with a Dremel, cleaned it all up and reset the blade in the back as described, redrilled the blade for the handle, then gave it a crosscut filed sharpen and set. 
It cuts beautifully now.

Andy


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## woodbloke (26 Mar 2009)

Slightly off topic, but related, I've been having a look at a dovetail saw recently with 20tpi (rip) but I'm puzzled as to how you would set the teeth at re-sharpening time...will any of the current crop of saw sets go down that small? - Rob


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## joiner_sim (27 Mar 2009)

You've done an excellent restoration there! :wink: 

I'm considering buying proper handsaws and tennon saws, instead of the disposable ones, mainly down the the fact that they will last forever, and only need to be re-sharpened, however at the same time the prices of the new ones really do put me off at the moment, especially when I am still able to get a fast, but rough cut with a "disposable" handsaw I've had for five years!


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## andy king (28 Mar 2009)

Considering the work they do, ripping and crosscutting, I think the disposable handsaws are hard to beat when it comes down to it. You don't do really fine woodworking with them, simply take stock to a stage for further working with planes etc, or for basic carpentry and joinery so an alternative, fast solution will always win, especially with sheet materials.
On the other hand, for finer woodworking, I have to say that a traditional resharpenable saw (tenon, dovetail) will always have the upper hand on a hardpoint for fineness of cut, ability to get a fit, and control.
Incidentally, going back to the Sandvik, I remember this saw, but can't recall if it was part of the same range that came up with the Sandvik Disston handsaws. (they had a steel plate etched with a serpent on a plastic handle)
If its the same steel, then it will likely be harder than normal. I remember sorting a couple of the Sandvik disstons for people and they would kill a file in a single sharpen.

Andy


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## Lynch (28 Mar 2009)

Thanks for the feedback everyone 8).

I enjoy cleaning up old tools, my only problem now is the wall's starting to get full - in a bad kind of way:




It's probably messy compared to most workshops, so I need to build some sort of cabinet to store my growing collection of tools and stop them going rusty, but I'm not particularly good at designing things. I've seen some cabinets that members here have posted, and they're amazing, like this one:

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=28039&

Obviously, I will end up with something much less spectacular, but then woodwork is just a hobby for me.

Anyone have any ideas or tips for this sort of thing?

Thanks for your help - Matt


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## bugbear (30 Mar 2009)

woodbloke":78ojxe0d said:


> Slightly off topic, but related, I've been having a look at a dovetail saw recently with 20tpi (rip) but I'm puzzled as to how you would set the teeth at re-sharpening time...will any of the current crop of saw sets go down that small? - Rob



IIRC the smaller of the two Somax will. But I've never sharpened teeth smaller than 18 tpi, and I found even that very difficult. I wouldn't fancy 20 tpi teeth much. Further, the consensus amongst the current "gold standard" saw makers (Wenzloff, Adria, LN, LV, et all) seems to be that somewhere between 14-16 is the "best" for a dovetail saw (I'm too lazy to do a detauiled search on each brand right now)

BugBear


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