how to remove the handle from a tenon saw

[Yorkshire Sam]

Bought a very cheap, no name, rusty dovetail saw at a boot sale. While it is fairly old, it is not anything special and I wanted a cheapy to practice renovating and restoring tools and hopefully later to try my hand at saw sharpening. I have taken the nuts off the handle but cannot get the handle off. It moves a little but I cannot get it off and I dont want to force it in case I damage the handle beyond repair. Is there some other fastening on the handle that I am not aware of? or is it just rust holding it on..
Would be grateful for any help

 

[Richard T]

Hello Sam

The most likely thing is that when the holes were punched in the plate a burr was left and this has been pushed into the inside of the handle by the pressure of the nuts. Although .... it could be something else.

How about a picture?

 

[Billy Flitch]

I`m with Richard T on this if the screws are removed and you cant see any thing holding the handle place the plate in a soft jawed vice and then with a piece of wood held against the handle hit it with a hammer and it should come lose.using the same method you can remove the spline of the back good luck.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

The nuts usually unscrew quite easily, but the screw part sometimes takes a bit of persuading. Setting the handle over a piece of wood with a hole in it and drifting the screw out has always worked for me; probably wise to use something softer than the screw material as a drift, but in the heat of the moment one tends to use whatever comes to hand - a nail with the point flattened won't do much harm as long as the screw moves fairly easily.

Way back in the 1980s, I bought (at huge expense) a brand new Robert Sorby 26" ripsaw. This had a super filing and set, and cut beautifully, but had a horrible handle designed for someone with mitts about twice the size of mine. When I tried to remove it with a view to making something a bit closer to a decent size, the screws came out easily, but no amount of pulling, wangling or heaving would shift the handle. Not even a little bit. Careful examination revealed a gungy black substance between handle and blade - the bu**ers have glued it on! Don't ask me why - it's the only saw I've ever seen that done on. The only way to remove that handle will be to destroy it. (I solved the problem by buying another saw and replacing the handle on that, eventually - I might go back to the Sorby at some point, and have another go. Can't harm to have two 26" rip saws....)

So - for 99.9% of saws, the advice from Richard and Billy is sound. However, just have a quick check that you haven't got a 0.1% saw like mine before doing too much assault and battery - look for black gunge between handle and blade, after giving it a good clean. That said, they are often quite reluctant to move at first even when not glued on. Once it's shifted a bit, it's as good as off. If it won't shift at all, destroying and replacing the handle is probably the only way!

 

[Yorkshire Sam]

Hello Sam

The most likely thing is that when the holes were punched in the plate a burr was left and this has been pushed into the inside of the handle by the pressure of the nuts. Although .... it could be something else.

How about a picture?

I suspect that your right. I have tried hitting it with a mallet and wedge of wood but no amount of hitting will shift it. The sound of it gives the impression of a screw still left on, when no obvious fastening can be seen. dont want to destroy the handle or else I will have nothing left to do on the saw so I will clean it up best I can and continue with my restoration and possibly sharpening practise. Thanks for all your help. I will try to put some shots on when ( and if) I am successful in my restoration. Again thanks for all your help

 

[carlb40]

Sam i had the same issue. I ended up putting it in a vice and wiggling the handle up/down until it came off the plate. It took a good few hours though.

 

[pedder]

Hi,

you can try to remove the burr witrh a Dremel kind of tool.

Cheers Pedder

 

[finnberg]

A picture of the saw would certainly help. I recently worked on a cheap saw where the holes in the plate had been punched, not drilled. I'm not sure how it was done but the extraneous steel had not been removed but was left on the saw plate as a kind of integrated ferrule pointing out from (the right side, I think) of the saw plate. The handle had then been fitted to the saw plate by bending the kerf open and seating the handle holes over the protruding ferrule (or hosel) of the saw plate. The idea behind this must have been to create a solid seating for the handle.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/finnberg68 ... 105083983/

My handle was not glued on. I through it might have been stuck with rust, but after banging the handle about for some time I realized there was something else preventing me from removing the handle. So I made a couple of thin wedges and knocked them in between the saw plate and handle sides. Not fool proof by any means, but since my saw was also a practice saw, I didn't feel too bothered about splitting the handle in halves.

I should have taken pictures of my saw plate as it was, but was too annoyed to think of it. I sawed and filed the hosels off and replaced the nuts with stronger ones. But on a saw like mine I can certainly understand why this was done. The two screws didn't provide sufficient pressure to the handle to keep it steady on the saw plate. Only by changing to deeper and stronger screws was I able to secure the handle without the help of this ferrule.

 

[carlb40]

A picture of the saw would certainly help. I recently worked on a cheap saw where the holes in the plate had been punched, not drilled. I'm not sure how it was done but the extraneous steel had not been removed but was left on the saw plate as a kind of integrated ferrule pointing out from (the right side, I think) of the saw plate. The handle had then been fitted to the saw plate by bending the kerf open and seating the handle holes over the protruding ferrule (or hosel) of the saw plate. The idea behind this must have been to create a solid seating for the handle.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/finnberg68 ... 105083983/

My handle was not glued on. I through it might have been stuck with rust, but after banging the handle about for some time I realized there was something else preventing me from removing the handle. So I made a couple of thin wedges and knocked them in between the saw plate and handle sides. Not fool proof by any means, but since my saw was also a practice saw, I didn't feel too bothered about splitting the handle in halves.

I should have taken pictures of my saw plate as it was, but was too annoyed to think of it. I sawed and filed the hosels off and replaced the nuts with stronger ones. But on a saw like mine I can certainly understand why this was done. The two screws didn't provide sufficient pressure to the handle to keep it steady on the saw plate. Only by changing to deeper and stronger screws was I able to secure the handle without the help of this ferrule.

Your saw looks just like mine used to.
dovetail-saw-restoration-wip-t76516.html

 

[Yorkshire Sam]

I finally managed to get the handle off, as suspected it had a big burr on the holes! Will need to be ground off but I wonder how this will effect the handle going back on? I will post a picture as soon as I learn how to do it .... at the moment they are too big and I have no idea how to compress or make them smaller.. But I continue to clean up the blade and the handle. I will keep you posted on the progress. Once again thanks for all the help

 

[carlb40]

A file or or a block of wood and some 120 grit sand paper will sort the burrs etc out.

 

[AndyT]

Sam, if you are only going to put the old handle back on, was there really any need to take it off? Removing saw handles is likely to mess up the handle, the holes or the screws, as you have found. That's ok if you plan to replace them, but not necessary for derusting or sharpening.

 

[Yorkshire Sam]

This is the blade after the handle was removed. notice the size of the burr. The other two holes had burrs too
but they broke off inside the handle

 

[Yorkshire Sam]

Sam, if you are only going to put the old handle back on, was there really any need to take it off? Removing saw handles is likely to mess up the handle, the holes or the screws, as you have found. That's ok if you plan to replace them, but not necessary for derusting or sharpening.

as I said at the outset that I bought this for the purpose of learning how to not only renovate and clean up but hopefully to later sharpen. It was only a no name cheapy and if | made a mess of it there was not much lost. You are perfectly right and had it been something with a little age or value I would have not been so cavalier in my methods but I am using it to learn as much as I can about doing up saws. If that makes sense!

 

[finnberg]

Sam, if you are only going to put the old handle back on, was there really any need to take it off? Removing saw handles is likely to mess up the handle, the holes or the screws, as you have found. That's ok if you plan to replace them, but not necessary for derusting or sharpening.

I can understand that there are situations where you just don't want to remove the handle, for example when you have split nuts or a very old and valuable saw. But in most cases removing the handle is the only way of cleaning the whole saw plate without staining the handle from the muck produced by the cleaning.