Some beginner questions

[AndyT]

Thanks for quoting that Ed. To the OP, I think the best thing you can do with that nice stone is to put it away until you are ready for it.
It is certainly not necessary for a sharpening stone to be flat but for a beginner it's easier.
Sharpening is a much discussed topic as a browse around this forum will show.

 

[mrbadexample]

Is this some kind of drill? :?:

 

[mrbadexample]

Thanks for quoting that Ed. To the OP, I think the best thing you can do with that nice stone is to put it away until you are ready for it.

Sound advice, I feel.

 

[AndyT]

Is this some kind of drill? :?:

Yes, an Archimedean drill. One like yours would have been used by anyone doing fretwork, who needed to make fine holes to thread the blade through. I sometimes use one for pilot holes for screws.

 

[mrbadexample]

Thanks.

The box has cleaned up quite nicely. It's obviously made from two completely unrelated bits of wood - it might have been nice if it was all the top wood but it appeals to me because I'd have used whatever I could forage too.

 

[mrbadexample]

Any suggestions for getting the handle off a tenon saw? I've taken the screws out but although it'll wobble I can't withdraw the blade. :?

 

[AndyT]

You are about to learn why it's really not a good idea to remove a tenon saw handle unless it's really necessary. What you probably have is a thin sawplate that was drilled after insertion in the handle. As the drill burst through it bent the steel into a sort of rim around the hole. This fits tightly into the hole in the wood, possibly helped by a bit of rust. If you wobble it and pull it, you might be able to break the rim off and extract the saw plate, or force it through the sawcut in the handle. Or you could try drilling from the back of the handle using a bit very slightly larger than the present hole, so as to remove the bent over metal. Before you do so, ponder on how the rough rim actually helped make a firm grip, what size holes you need for your replacement screws and whether the cost of the new screws exceeds the value of the saw.

 

[mrbadexample]

Thanks, I'll work round it then.

 

[D_W]

Ditto to what andy T says, there's a chance that you could clean the saw and get it back together. There's a GREAT chance that you'll break it getting it apart. I have made a few saws, and don't know about historical methods, but I have done as andy says - seat the plate, drill it. The plate stretches and the grip of the heated and then stretched steel is permanent. Mistaking it for sticking dirt will lead to a broken or torn up handle.

 

[ED65]

The case cleaned up nicely! Shame about that little paint spot; you can get that later on when you know better how it might be accomplished but for now I'd leave it.

I think this might be a perfect little example of the extreme frugality of some previous makers. Why waste a second piece of hardwood when you'll only really see the lid?

Either that or he just didn't have any beech (?) spare at the needed thickness

 

[mrbadexample]

I left the paint spot deliberately because I don't think it was accidental. I think it's been marked to show ownership or grade of stone. Something like that, anyway.

I've had a go at sharpening the tenon saw with reasonable success, but it still doesn't seem that sharp. However, I've been quite gentle to start with - I think that it'll improve with successive sharpenings.

There are a couple of little kinks in the blade which don't help. Not that much but enough to make things a bit sticky sometimes. Can this be addressed?

 

[Bm101]

Is the back of the saw removable? The spine so to speak if it is, then yes. And maybe not how you think.
:wink:
http://www.badaxetoolworks.com/retension-a-backsaw.php

 

[ED65]

I left the paint spot deliberately because I don't think it was accidental. I think it's been marked to show ownership or grade of stone. Something like that, anyway.

Hadn't thought of that. Could be, it does look very centred now that I look at it.

...I think that it'll improve with successive sharpenings.

Might well do. The tips of the teeth really do all the cutting and if every one hasn't had its sharp edge restored the saw will cut better but not as well as it could.

When you watch someone who really knows how to sharpen a saw well (like Paul Sellers) using a saw they've sharpened you appreciate just how well these saws can cut. But like the saying goes, even a poorly sharpened saw is better than a blunt saw.

There are a couple of little kinks in the blade which don't help. Not that much but enough to make things a bit sticky sometimes. Can this be addressed?

If the blade is just slightly wavy you might be able to sort it out by hitting the back of the spine smartly on the workbench. Paul Sellers again has a video where he demonstrates this but I couldn't tell you which one, sorry. I tried this out on one old saw I had which had a slight wave and it worked a treat, completely straight or nearly so in one fell swoop.

If you have identifiable kinks then taking the back off and sorting them independently by hammering, as shown in the Bad Axe PDF, may be needed. But then we're back to removing the plate from the handle really. I suppose you might be able to keep it on but it may not be possible.