Over the years, I inherited 9 hand saws. There are both rip saws and crosscut saws. They range in age from early 1900’s to early 1940’s. Every one of them is bent. Some worse than others. A few simply curve left. A couple are wavy. Needless to say, I can’t cut a straight line with any of them, since the saws contantly want to wander.
As it stands now, the saws are useless to me. I hate to see them hanging on the wall, and not be able to do anything with them. Can the sawplates be straightened out?
The one saw I purchased about 40 years ago, is a crosscut saw, and still very straight. Unfortunately the sawplate is getting very dark with age and use. I don’t know what to use to clean up all the metal. Hopefully, someone will have some suggestions for me.
Thanks
Dave
Replies
Bent handsaws can be straightened and sharpened
Dave:
Yes, the saws can be straightened. How successfully depends on how bad the saw is. Here is a web link that walks you through the process. http://www.woodcentral.com/articles/handtools/articles_866.shtml. An internet search will give you additional information. Mark Harrell, owner of Bad Axe http://www.badaxetoolworks.com/ also reconditions saws if you have one or two that are worth something to you.
I've straightened a few, handsaws are easier than backsaws. Dozens of light hammer taps will work wonders. A few hard hits will ruin a saw. Start with the least valuable saw you have and work it until you know what you are doing. I practiced on a $5 rusted up old Disston. It took me a couple of weeks working on it for about an hour a night to get a feel for where to hammer the saw to get the result I needed. I took it slow and deliberate, concentrating on learning where and how hard to hammer. Once I got it straight, I cleaned off all the rust, sharpened the thing and now my oldest son has it in his shop. The saw works fine. After the large learning curve getting the first one straight the others went pretty fast, done in a couple of hours each.
Good luck with yours.
gdblake
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