Help choosing a Tenon Saw please.

[bugbear]

What size Tenon saw with what TPI do people have?

The current S&J I use is 12" @ 15tpi crosscut. Haven't got a rip or dovetail yet.

12" long (IIRC), Tyzack No. 13 back saw, rip filed, graduated from 11 TPI at the toe to 9 TPI at the heel.

BugBear

 

[Racers]

Hi, BB

Filled yourself?

Just wondering if you have graduated templates? isn't that a disease :shock: :wink:

Pete

 

[Jacob]

What size Tenon saw with what TPI do people have?

The current S&J I use is 12" @ 15tpi crosscut. Haven't got a rip or dovetail yet.

12" long (IIRC), Tyzack No. 13 back saw, rip filed, graduated from 11 TPI at the toe to 9 TPI at the heel.

BugBear

Oooh very fashionable! :lol:
I wonder if any real woodworkers would ever have used that sort of set up or is it just another bit of fantasy woodwork from the "circus"?

 

[thick_mike]

I recently re-cut the teeth and sharpened an old back saw for the first time. It goes from 12 tpi at the toe to 9 at the heel through 14 and 10 tpi in the middle (I think there are a couple of teeth at 13 tpi in there somewhere too)...Still cuts well though!

So to answer Jacobs question above, I'm sure that there are plenty of old saws with variable tpi, but not all by design.

 

[Jacob]

I recently re-cut the teeth and sharpened an old back saw for the first time. It goes from 12 tpi at the toe to 9 at the heel through 14 and 10 tpi in the middle (I think there are a couple of teeth at 13 tpi in there somewhere too)...Still cuts well though!

So to answer Jacobs question above, I'm sure that there are plenty of old saws with variable tpi, but not all by design.

:lol:
I've got saws like that.

 

[jimi43]

Pulled old Robert (Sorby) out yesterday to make a few more tools...and I still get a wry smile and pleasure from the fact that this gem from a master toolmaker...sharpened by a modern-day Meister...Herr Pedder....and lovingly tested by Smurfs...performs as good as anything out there.....

All that was needed was a quick trip to the DENTIST.....

Not a single variable tooth there! :mrgreen:

Mind you....what do you expect from master craftsmen that make these little babies...

:shock:

Jim

 

[Modernist]

Averting my gaze from the beauties below that Sorby is perfectly sharpened. Did he do that by hand?

 

[jimi43]

Averting my gaze from the beauties below that Sorby is perfectly sharpened. Did he do that by hand?

Indeed he did.....wonderful isn't it!?

Perfect in every way.....a genius. :shock:

Jim

 

[Modernist]

Inspired by the above and needing a rip tenon of suitable size and pitch I won this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/220963966162?ss ... 500wt_1378

At 14" and 11 tip it just needs filing to rip

A little research revealed the likely saw maker

STRAW, William LONDON
2 (3,4) Wellington place, Greenwich road 1870-1878
34 Greenwich Road 1882

which dates it rather nicely.

No doubt he was in business to supply the local ship building industry which flourished there at the time. It looks a quality saw and it is very satisfying to know a bit of the history. At £11.78 it seems a bargain. It looks like Derbyshire may be it farthest trip North (so far).

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Inspired by the above and needing a rip tenon of suitable size and pitch I won this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/220963966162?ss ... 500wt_1378

At 14" and 11 tip it just needs filing to rip

A little research revealed the likely saw maker

STRAW, William LONDON
2 (3,4) Wellington place, Greenwich road 1870-1878
34 Greenwich Road 1882

which dates it rather nicely.

No doubt he was in business to supply the local ship building industry which flourished there at the time. It looks a quality saw and it is very satisfying to know a bit of the history. At £11.78 it seems a bargain. It looks like Derbyshire may be it farthest trip North (so far).

Modernist - you little tinker! You beat me by 50p!

Never mind. There'll be another one along next week, or the week after - and it's not as if I need it immediately, anyway. I hope it makes a really good saw for you - certainly looks the part in the picture. (You never know - I might even drop on a brass-backed one!)

 

[Modernist]

Inspired by the above and needing a rip tenon of suitable size and pitch I won this

http://www.ebay.com/itm/220963966162?ss ... 500wt_1378

At 14" and 11 tip it just needs filing to rip

A little research revealed the likely saw maker

STRAW, William LONDON
2 (3,4) Wellington place, Greenwich road 1870-1878
34 Greenwich Road 1882

which dates it rather nicely.

No doubt he was in business to supply the local ship building industry which flourished there at the time. It looks a quality saw and it is very satisfying to know a bit of the history. At £11.78 it seems a bargain. It looks like Derbyshire may be it farthest trip North (so far).

Modernist - you little tinker! You beat me by 50p!

Never mind. There'll be another one along next week, or the week after - and it's not as if I need it immediately, anyway. I hope it makes a really good saw for you - certainly looks the part in the picture. (You never know - I might even drop on a brass-backed one!)

Sorry about that, I got RSI in the final seconds. Good luck with the next one.
I nearly went for the very deep Tyzack but it is 12" and I wanted longer for ripping. `Still 2 days to go if you're interested.

 

[jimi43]

That's a lovely saw guys....and less than £12.....assuming it is relatively pit free (and it looks ok) then a quick trip to a decent saw doctor and you have a gem which will last another 150 years.

I don't understand why anyone can have an issue buying old saws...the older ones from great makers are simply wonderful.

I wouldn't swap mine for two from across the Pond...maybe one from Germany.... :mrgreen: :wink:

Jim

 

[Modernist]

That's a lovely saw guys....and less than £12.....assuming it is relatively pit free (and it looks ok) then a quick trip to a decent saw doctor and you have a gem which will last another 150 years.

I don't understand why anyone can have an issue buying old saws...the older ones from great makers are simply wonderful.

I wouldn't swap mine for two from across the Pond...maybe one from Germany.... :mrgreen: :wink:

Jim

I tried one from across the pond and couldn't get on with it so put it back on ebay. Too light and fragile by half for me.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Brian - no worries. I'm glad it's going to someone who will appreciate it and use it, and not end up stuffed and mounted in a glass case. The best way to preserve classic tools is for someone who has a bit of feeling for them to use them.

Jimi - I hear what you say about classic saws, and to a point I agree. However, as has been discussed further up the thread, for a newcomer a good quality new tool is no bad investment. If you are not too sure about your technique, a tool that may not be in best condition won't help - especially if you haven't yet gained the know-how to diagnose and remedy the fault.

For myself, after twenty-something years of on-and-off woodworking, and with a couple of decent (bought new) backsaws in the toolchest, it's time to dip my toe in the saw restoration pond to complete the kit. A first for me - maybe I'll discover the joys of classic saws, maybe I'll be sent muttering and cursing back to the arms of the modern manufacturers! We shall see!

 

[Mr Ed]

This may be of interest to some;

http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthread ... ed&sb=5&o=

Ed

 

[Modernist]

This is getting ridiculous. No one was bidding for 14" Disston so I paid the starting price of £9.99 and it arrives on Tuesday. It will make a matched pair with my dovetail saw although it needs a bit of tlc. The Tyzack I mentioned above went unbid.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140711997085?ss ... 129wt_1378

Plenty of meat left and, potentially a nice handle. It makes the prices of the new ones hard to justify.

 

[The Wood Butcher]

I've had a bit of an ebay saw buying frenzy this last few weeks after teaching myself how to sharpen. Let's see now:

Disston D8 Skew back panel saw 20"
Disston D8 thumb hole rip saw 28"
Disston D8 crosscut saw 26"

All above from 1900-1940

2 late-era Disston D8s, 25" and 29", probably post-war, currently rip but I'll file these crosscut

Fitzwilliam 12" sash saw, open handled, probably 1850s
Drabble and Sanderson 8" dovetail saw
Garlick and Sons 12" tenon saw

2 Eclipse saw sets, one brass and lovely, one much more recent and still in it's packaging.

Total expenditure less than £100... All of them in great condition apart from the Garlick tenon saw which has a kink the seller forgot to mention so I'll have to find someone to planish it or learn myself. It's such a nice saw that I don't want to send it back.

All built as well as or better than any modern high-end saw I've come across. The thumb-hole rip is extraordinary, 5pt, 8 degree rake, fast as a circular saw... almost... far less noisy and more accurate. It's both a shame and a goldmine that nobody wants these, I've given all of my hardpoints to my father-in-law.

Brian, I looked at that Disston you bought, but I've now got fussy about handles and I'm after only the nicest, there's so much choice on ebay that you can do that easily.

 

[Jacob]

Didn't I say it only a few posts back? Have a punt on ebay you can hardly go wrong.
There's a glut of top quality tools cropping up 2nd hand. It can't last forever.
In the meantime things like this hardly make half price, the bottom's dropped; bound to really. This has been listed twice as far as I know.

 

[Modernist]

I think it is the fear of a deepening recession. In all the years I have been looking at tools on ebay I have never seen a Disston go un-bid. As you say Jacob there is a glut and we may as well make hay while the sun shines. As for the BU smoother, probably the best smoother in the history of mass planemaking, Maybe the seller is just expecting too much.

One problem is that much of the rest of the world is not experiencing our difficulties.

The really worrying thing is that our politicians are falling apart at the seams with internal squabbling and ar*e covering taking precedence over a policy to move us out of the current mess (not a surprise perhaps but damaging nevertheless). I don't give a toss which horse DC rode but I do object to his policy vacuum and his support of lunatics like Gove. (At least he is not in charge of health and killing us all off)

 

[James C]

This is getting ridiculous. No one was bidding for 14" Disston so I paid the starting price of £9.99 and it arrives on Tuesday. It will make a matched pair with my dovetail saw although it needs a bit of tlc. The Tyzack I mentioned above went unbid.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/140711997085?ss ... 129wt_1378

Plenty of meat left and, potentially a nice handle. It makes the prices of the new ones hard to justify.

I actually almost bid on this but didn't because I wanted a saw with a brass back and was sure it would go for more than I'd pay for a steel backed saw as Disston usually go way higher.

Good bargain there.

P.S. slightly regretting that move now