Carcase Saw Refurbish

This is 1 of 2 posts on saw refurbishing I just did. I also cleaned up a nice Disston No. 7 I've had around for a while, and this saw, a reasonably new purchase for me. I was looking for a carcase saw that was a little bigger, and not quite as heavy as the W. Tyzack, Sons & Turner saw I fixed up last summer. This saw has a 14-inch by 3-inch plate, 13 PPI, crosscut.

Looks like a beater, but there's potential there

This Jackson is probably a little older than the Tyzack, but new enough that all of the detail had been designed out of the tote, similar to the Tyzack. It also doesn't have a Disston medallion, so I'm not sure when it was made, but I'm guessing something after 1950.

A little worn, a little rusty, a small chip in the chamfer, and no style

The plate was in good shape and the tote was solid, with just a small amount of play where it was mounted to the plate. And the tote? Its just ugly. All curves and no angles. No balance.

The tote after cleaning with denatured alcohol, with the inspiration tote

So I pulled it apart, and soaked the plate for a short while in white vinegar. I know, folks say that ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is supposed to be better, or some commercial rust remover that I can't afford, but the vinegar worked good for me. After just a day, I pulled the plate out and scrubbed it with hot water and soap to remove the vinegar, the carbon left on the steel, and whatever general crud was left on there. Then it was wire brushing and the scotch bright pad to clean up the metal.

I'm not trying to make the tote look new. I like the age, it tells a story

The tote I repaired by cleaning off the broken chamfer square and gluing in a small piece of beech with the grain aligned. Once that was dry, I shaped it to match the opposite side with a chisel and then re-shaped tote, adding back the V-notch, a double nib ahead of the top horn, and I sharpened up the notch ahead of the bottom horn. The changes are subtle, but the make a difference. I cut the shape with the band saw and some files, and then cleaned it up with some finer files and then sandpaper.

After the vinegar bath, a good wash, and dry scrub with a Scotch Bright pad

Once the re-shaping was done, I gave the tote another light sanding. I'm not trying to remove all of the marks, dings and scars, just most of the dirt, paint drops, and the crud. It tends to build up in the shellac as it gets damp and sticky over the years. Its hard to see, but just before finishing, I added an extra chamfer stop to each cheek. It looks like there might have been a very small one there, so I deepened them.

Click on the picture for a blow-up. The grain in this quarter-sawn beech is nice

When it was clean, I rubbed some raw linseed oil into the tote, to protect it, bring out the grain, and to swell the wood up a little. I think the dried out wood was part of the reason for the loose fit on the plate. If its still loose when I put it back on, I figured I'd file a little bit off of the bolts to keep them from bottoming out in the nuts, but it worked out fine and I didn't have to do that.

The refurbished carcase saw

The next day, while the linseed oil was still uncured, I wiped off the excess and put on a coat of 2# cut shellac and left it to dry overnight. The shellac gets mixed up with the oil on the surface, and the next day the shellac is still a little sticky, and even oily in some places. I sanded off any high points and put another coat of shellac on, which dried up fine. The linseed oil and shellac mix make a kind of varnish (this is what I tell myself anyway) which I think helps to binds the shellac to the wood, and slows the drying of the linseed oil. Time will tell, but I think it may work out to be pretty good.

Before re-assembly, I touched up the saw bolts and medallion with the Scotch Bight pad, but didn't remove all of the color. The bright brass is pretty, but too pretty for a saw that looks its age. I put paste wax on the tote and on the plate to protect them. I used a fine steel wool which takes some of the shine off of the shellac so its a little more matte, which looks good.

I haven't even sharpened this saw. It cuts great. Now it looks great, won't rust anymore and the tote doesn't wiggle. That's worth a few hours, and I did the Disston No. 7 at the same time, so... efficiency, baby.

Hand Tools

Hand Tools: Their Ways and Workings is a beautiful soft cover book written and illustrated by Aldren A. Watson in 1982. This is now my go-to guide for hand tools. Watson is clearly a lifelong user and fan of hand tools and in this book he has poured out all of what he knows, illustrated clearly and concisely with beautiful hand-drawn illustrations of the tools, their parts, their use, and even care and sharpening. The appendixes even include measured drawings and instructions for building your own jigs, wooden hand tools, a work bench (including a version that folds up in a closet for the apartment dwellers) and patterns for replacement handles.

Exploded view of a smoothing plane

The book is organized by tool types. Each tool is described in detail, with cut away drawings of the innards, and its workings so the tool owner fully understands the tool and how it functions. Watson explains, and often illustrates the variations found in the tool, what the different options and adjustments are good for and then goes on to describe how the tool is used. These descriptions are full of examples, and advice ton the best ways to work, often with illustrated techniques, tips, and time savers along the way. For example, in the discussion about a spirit level there is a great tip for leveling a wooden table that doesn't include cutting the legs or using a matchbook. Fantastic!

Do you know this is called an adze-eye hammer?

If you are just starting out with woodworking tools, or if you've been using them for years, like I have, this book has something (many things!) for you. If you've been outfitting your shop with the latest power tools you see on The New Yankee Workshop and shows like it, you may want to take look at this book and see what hand tools can do, often times with less effort, less set-up time, less sawdust, and better results.

Knowing what's inside informs its proper use

Aldren Watson was a professional illustrator, woodworker, print maker and book binder. He died just a little while ago, in 2013 at 95.

Read this book. And then set it in your workshop for reference.


I also posted this book review on my other blog.

Stick Barrette Development

I've started developing a stick barrette, and if I can get the basics worked out so that they function well, and I can make them in a reasonable amount of time (so I can keep them affordable!) I'm going to sell them over at my Etsy store. If you happen to check in here, and have anything you'd like me to know, please post a comment below.

Stick barrette with leaf design hair stick

My mom and my sister wore these hair accessories when I was a kid, and I've always liked the simplicity of them. Even simpler, its the stick by itself, so I think I'm going to be offering both if I can get them worked out. What really got me think about them is a couple of big knots in a piece of walnut I have in the shop; knots are typically a pain to deal with, especially loose knot, and even more so when using hand tools. And its not just the knot, buy the wood around the knot, because the grain gets all screwy as the tree grows around the branch. This crazy graining can be really beautiful, but tough to deal with, so I started to think: what can I make to take advantage of the grain? Something curved would take advantage of the grain and give it strength if the grain lines follow the curved piece.

Three nested barrettes tucked back in where they grew

These first few photos show how I traced the curving grain lines around the knot, which I think will really improve the barrette. Normally wooden barrettes came in two types: flat-ish ones that don't really work well with a through stick, and are typically glued to a metal clip-type barrette, and the curved type of wooden barrette, which is susceptible to breaking where the straight grain of the wood runs through the thing curves of the barrette.

The three sizes will work for different volumes of hair

Both the curves of the barrettes and the sticks that I'm working on to go through them will follow the wood grain to strengthen them. The sticks are a little easier to do like that, simply by splitting the wood to size rather than cutting it. Splitting the wood naturally follows the grain lines, and the hair sticks that result can sometimes have softly undulating curves in them that come from the tree's growth. I'm betting that these curves will be both good-looking and help to secure them better in your hair.

My first hair stick test. I'll let you know how it goes.

I took a shot at a hand-split maple hair stick, and the first tester thought it was a little too thick. I wonder if it would be better for someone with thicker hair. This one is a little thicker than a pencil and the straight part of it, at 8-inches, is about a half-inch longer than a new wooden pencil. Overall this hair stick is about 9 1/2-inches.

W. Tyzack, Sons & Turner Carcase Saw

I picked up this nice carcase saw at a yard sale a few weeks ago. I'm not sure of the vintage on this saw but it looks like its 20 or 30 years old. There was some minor discoloration on the plate, no pitting or hard rust. The teeth were pretty sharp and the set seemed pretty even along the length of the cutting edge, just a little gummed up with sap or something. The tote is in fine shape but the finish was just falling off. Looks like it was kept in a damp place or something, I'm not sure but it seemed to have been alligatoring right off. I'm sorry I don't have a nice before photo, I thought I did. I think you can see in this first picture how the finish that's left, is a little funky. The worst of it was in the larger, flat expanses on the cheeks of the tote; the edges were actually holding pretty well. What I didn't like about this tote, other than the finish, is the vestigial signs of the tote design of yesteryear.

After sanding, I penciled in the lamb's tongue and other adjustments

Take a look at the design of this tote. You can see the lamb's tongue right there! Its just... mushed in with the rest of the handle. Its like a tease. So I decided that if I was going to strip this tote anyways I might as well bring a little life back to my new saw, and to myself, because, as you can see, a little part of me died inside when I looked at this thing.

Here it is after a quick trip to the band saw. Hello V-groove.

I'm not trying to recreate an older version W. Tyzack, Sons & Turner saw, so the design I chose is just something I like. Other than restoring the carved lamb's tongue complete with a clip and a real V-groove, I also adjusted the upper and lower curves of the lower horn to accentuate that Western design. The upper curve of the lower horn also rubbed against the bottom of my hand when I held the saw, so I wanted to open it up a little. I also wanted to cut in a double nib at the front of the upper horn.

From below, the reshaped lower horn, lamb's tongue and clip

After the rough cutting it was over to the bench vice with a rasp and a few files. This tote is beech, so it works pretty easily with the grain but shreds across the grain, so I couldn't cut very deep with the rasp without making a mess for myself, so it was easy going and I ended up swapping back and forth from my whittling knife to a small file as I got closer to where I wanted to be. I ended up finishing the shaping with my Dremmel to save my shoulder, which has been bothering me. If I had to do it again, I'd cut the clip in by hand, so its not so deep; seems like a weak spot.

There, doesn't that feel better?

Once it was shaped out nice, then it was only a matter of sanding it down, cleaning off the rest of the old finish and putting a new finish on. I don't have any ruby shellac, and frankly I'm not wild about the original color, and I thought the beech was a little pale, so I rubbed in a little oil stain and set it to dry on my shop made pin board. A guy I worked with years ago described this finishing aid to me. Mine is a piece of fir with box nails driven through it. The piece sits on the nail points to dry and the blemishes are tiny and sand out easily between coats. Thanks Phil!

After the staining, I added a few coats of 2# cut shellac, with a little sanding between coats. While the finish coats were drying I turned to the plate and the sex bolts, which I cleaned up and coated with paste wax. I thought about stripping the plate with abrasives to remove the discolorations, but the plate isn't etched, its just screened, so it would have come right off. I decided that a little cleaning with a scotch bright pad was enough.

All set to go

 
I finished up with a coat of dark Bri-wax rubbed in with 000 steel wool, and reassembled the saw. No re-sharpening right now, I've decided to use it a bit and see if it really needs it. A few tests cuts have confirmed that its good to go for now. Not only does this pretty little saw look better, but it feels better in my hand. Not bad for a few bucks at a yard sale a few hours at the bench.

A last glamour shot

Atkins Saw Restoration

After falling in love with old timey wooden saw totes after building my own, I went out and bought an old timey hand saw with some of the money I made selling buttons over at my etsy store. That's right, I'm putting the money right back into the wood shop.

This is how the E. C. Atkins looked when I got it

This was almost unavoidable I'm afraid; that's what I'm telling my wife in any case. After all of the research I did studying up on saw totes, restoring an old saw was the logical next step for me. Most of the information I found on designing and fabricating wooden totes is from the folks who do that while either making new saws in the old way, or restoring saws. And trust me, I thought about making a saw from scratch too! Maybe not this year though.

The tote is beautifully carved with a flower pattern

The fun part is, you can pick up an old saw for a pretty good price in some cases. And really, all that's missing is a little time and effort to clean the plate (the blade), clean and repair the tote, sharpen and maybe set the teeth, and then put it all back together. Here's how I did mine.

Surface rust and some slight pitting near the tote

First I took lots of photos for record, and so I could get the thing back together properly. I set the tote and the saw bolts aside and focused on the plate. The teeth are in good shape, and the are still pretty sharp and have a nice set to them so I leave them alone and go for the rust. It isn't too bad and the pitting is pretty limited. I start in the sink with really hot water and a scouring pad with some cleaning powder. It gets rid of a lot of the dirt and loose rust which made the next step easier. The hot water heats up the plate so when I dried it, the small amount of water that was left evaporated off pretty quick.

Next I sanded the plate. I set the plate on some newspapers and using glass cleaner as a lubricant, I sanded the plate in long straight strokes with 220 and then 300 grit paper. When I was done, I gave it another good scrubbing in the sink with hot water, dried it and polished it with some paste wax.

The etching on the plate shows pretty well

 The tote was tricky because of the raised flower figures. There was still some finish on it, especially along the edges and in the depressions so I tried some denatured alcohol to it with a rag, and that helped dissolve away what I think was some of the old shellac that had become embedded with dirt and grit. I worried off some paint splatter with a wooden stick to reduce the chances of marring the wood, and then did some very light sanding here and there with 300 grit paper.

Grimy finish, left, and discolored and chipped finish, right

After cleaning it up, i rubbed it with a little raw linseed oil and set it aside to work on the saw bolts. I don't know a lot about saw bolts, but these were heavy, nicely made, and no stripping or damage when I took them out. They look like they might be nickle plated brass. I made a custom screw driver with a wide, thin blade from an old putty knife by grinding it down on the bench grinder. I didn't want to strip out the slots in the saw bolts by using a screw driver that didn't really fit. I cleaned the bolts with a tooth brush and some scouring powder. Once they were set I went back to the tote and added a few coats of shellac to protect the wood.

The cleaned bolts and refinished tote

I tried to be careful not to clean anything so much that it looked like new. I love the age and the history you can see in an old tool and all I'm trying to do is clean off the stuff that causing damage, and add a little protection so the tool can keep on working. So if you look closely (click on any of the pictures to see a larger version) you can still see the old finish in places under the new shellac, dents, nicks and wear, and that's just how a saw this old should look.

The cleaned plate. I haven't touched the teeth.

I don't know a lot about this saw. What I do know is that its an E.C. Atkins & Co., Inc. of Indianapolis, Indiana, 26-inch 6 ppi, and it may be one of the Silver-Steel Perfection line, but I'm not sure. I also think the etch says that this is a no. 65. I may know more if I end up darkening up the etch so I can read it better. If anyone knows anything more about this saw, put it in a comment, I'd love to hear it.

This got me excited about cleaning up old tools, and I was especially interested in some of the techniques I learned for removing rust. This has made a huge difference in the performance (and appearance!) of some of my old tools. In fact, I have some tools that were in such bad shape that I replaced them over the years. So I pulled some of these rusty things out and cleaned them, and wow! I think I may sell some of the surplus over at the etsy store.

Beeswax Wood Polish

So when I make things at the shop, I try to use natural materials whenever I can, and when I sell things, I always use natural materials unless I have a custom request to something different. One of the go-to finishes I use, especially for the smaller items I make, is a beeswax polish. Its really easy to make, and I've seen various of it on the web and elsewhere. Most often I see versions of this polish made with linseed oil or boiled linseed oil, other versions include a little paint thinner, or some other vehicle to make it spread faster (or something.)

 Here's the Moonlight and Snowfall version: 

Beeswax and Walnut oil. That's it.

Small batches work best for me. I grate the beeswax to aid melting.

Walnut oil is an edible oil, that is often sold as a salad oil, or for cooking. Its got a mild walnut odor, and thin consistency, and and soft honey-yellow color. But the important thing to know, is that unlike olive oil, and most other vegetable oils, walnut oil dries. This is a trait that it shares with linseed oil, and some others like tung oil and poppy seed oil. Linseed oil and poppy seed oil are also edible, but obviously need to be labeled as such. Tung oil is not edible and is used mainly as a base for wood sealants and finishes. Boiled linseed oil is another story: unless you boil food grade linseed oil yourself, its not edible, most boiled linseed oil products have added chemicals like petroleum based solvents and metallic driers.

Equal parts oil and wax. Heat together just until the wax melts.

Drying oils go through a process called polymerization. They actually aren't drying as much as curing as they autoxidate when exposed to air. That is, nothing is evaporating, the oil chemically reacts with the air and takes on oxygen, creating long polymer strands and creating a film. The oil actually gets slightly heavier as it takes on oxygen and forms a film. Olive oil, by contrast, won't cure, so if you rub it on your cutting boards and wooden spoons, it may turn rancid.

Let the mixture sit a few minutes until it starts to set.

Beeswax by itself is just too hard to work into the wood. I've tried. I've even finished a table by heating it, pouring it on hot, and then going over it with an old clothes iron to allow it to penetrate the wood surface and then polished it up afterwards. It wasn't worth the effort. Mixing the beeswax with the oil gives the wax a soft-butter consistency, and keep the oils from running all over everything. It works out great.

Stir before stiffens up to keep it soft and spreadable. Note the color change.

I like to measure out the oil in and then add the grated wax directly to the oil so I can see the oil level rise. When it gets to double, I know I'm 50/50 oil and wax. I'm only making about 1/4 cup of polish here, so I microwave the mixture for 30 seconds and watch it. As soon as the wax melts, I stop it and take it out to cool at room temperature.

Move it to container that isn't too big, and seal to keep it soft.

I apply this polish with my fingers, and work it into the wood, and then let it dry. The polish sets up enough to buff it up and add another coat in a few hours. The oil takes longer to dry completely, but the polished items can be handled and even used except for contact with delicate items that may stain or darken if oil were to soak out, so I'd be careful with things like silk or even important papers until the finish is completely dry.

This polish is fun, simple, works great, smells good, and is safe enough to make and use with kids. I get my beeswax from the beekeepers barn at the Topsfield Fairgrounds, here in Massachusetts. You want real, natural beeswax, which also smells great. When I'm done polishing, I rub the excess into my hands. Its great in the winter time, I've even rubbed it on chapped lips. Don't try that with a wood polish you buy in the store!


UPDATE: I made a pretty big batch for this post in April of 2014, and it is now almost December. I've never tried to keep this polish for this long, and its been sitting at room temperature. It doesn't smell as much like fresh roasted walnuts and beeswax anymore, the scent seems to have faded, and it is getting tacky where its in contact with the air inside the jar. If you're planning to make more than what you can use in a few months, it may make sense to keep this polish in the fridge; the walnut oil is perishable. I would recommend smaller batches, made as needed. That's what I'm going to go back to.

New Saw Tote

I got it into my head to try and make a new saw tote for a cheap rip saw I've had for 20 years or so. Not because the handle that came with it was damaged, but because it was so ugly and uncomfortable to use. It was also missing one of the three saw bolts, and was loose. Frankly, the saw is probably not worth the effort, but the process looked intriguing so I gave it a go. This saw, by the way, is a Stanley 26-inch, 7ppi rip saw with what appears to be hardened teeth. I was able to sharpen this saw however, so I'm not sure.

I started by making a pattern for the new tote. The existing handle was plastic, so no help there. I wanted an old timey look and feel, so I did a little online research and found this huge community of saw lovers, and an amazing amount of great information available about fixing, restoring, and making hand saws. This convinced me of two things: I can definitely do this, and this is definitely a worthless saw to try this with. I figured my efforts were never going to improve the saw itself, but what I would learn would be worth it, and I was going to have some fun. click on the pictures to enlarge

Drawing the tote pattern in CAD

I pulled the old handle off and scanned the blade. Then I imported the scanned blade, along with the tote patterns and images I liked best for this saw. You can see in the picture above that I used a tote pattern from Two Guys in a Garage Tool Works thanks guys! and a great photo of a late 18th century panel saw posted in an article by Matthew Cianci over at WK Fine Tools. thanks to Matthew Cianti I also got some great advise on sizing the tote to fit my hand over at Blackburn Tools. and thanks to Isaac Smith There were some other resources I used for inspiration as well, but these were the main ones.

The tote after roughing

Most totes are just about 1-inch thick or a little thinner, down to 7/8-inch. I had some 5/4 black walnut and decided to make my tote a little thicker, and not plane off too much stock. I figured that chunky feel would make holding the saw easier on the hands. So I scoffed at a few hundred years of tote making and I guess I'll find out. The finished tote is just about 1 1/8-inch.

The new tote and the plastic one its replacing

Lamb's tongue detail

I used a small round over bit in the router to hit the hard edges, and then took it to the vice and did the rough shaping with a rasp, and then cleaned it up with a small file. You can just see it beyond the totes in the picture above. I don't have a handle for this file, as I normally don't use it for hours at a time. You can see that I added a wire nut to the tang to keep it from digging a hole in my hand. Worked like a charm!

Countersinking for saw nuts

I drilled out the holes for the saw nuts with a pilot hole first to make sure I was aligned with the holes in the blade, and then used the pilot hole to guide the spade bit I used to countersink for the saw bolts. I then went back and enlarged the holes, larger on the right side for the female portion of the sex bolts.

Slot cutting rig. Blocks hold the tote from wiggling around.

To cut the slot for the blade, I hunted around for the right-sized saw and they were all too wide until I ran across this old Disston panel saw I have that I haven't used because its so dull, and its also missing a saw bolt, as you can see in the photo. So I sharpened the saw up a little and then tapped out the set on the teeth. This rig I set up to cut the slot is a piece of plywood that the saw bade rides on to get it to the center of the tote. It wasn't exact so I used a few sheets of paper to bring the tote into alignment and then clamped everything to my drill press table. Its at the perfect height.

Cutting the slot with my no-set Disston panel saw

Once the slot was cut and checked, it was only a matter of sanding, finishing with some shellac I mixed up and attaching the bolts. I had a heck of a time finding saw bolts! No one carries them, I even went to Stanley tools on-line, they have three kinds, which are all listed as 'not available.' There are some folks offering beautiful brass bolts for way more money than my crummy saw is worth, so I finally found some by Great Neck and bought two packages of ten from Amazon. A package of ten is less than a single custom brass unit from some of the saw manufacturer's out there. They're nickle plated steel, so they may rust, but I've got spares! Throw in a few books, including "Hand Tools: Their Ways and Workings", by Aldren A. Watson, which I'll tell you all about later, and the shipping is free. Now, free, I can afford.

Shellacking the tote

I mixed up a 2# cut of shellac so I could lay on multiple thin coats. I've had these shellac flakes in my shop for something like 25 or 30 years, maybe longer than I've had this saw, and this is the first time I've used them. After the first coat dried and the grain raised, I sanded it out with 320 grit paper and added a few more coats, then touched it up with the sandpaper again, before finishing it with a few more coats. I though about adding the traditional wheat pattern to the handle, or even my initials to the cheeks, but was undecided, so I figured I could add them later. That's what I did on my mallet.

The finished tote attached to the cleaned and sharpened saw

I cleaned the rust off the blade using scouring powder, a scotch brite pad and really hot water. Yes, water. Especially when its really hot, as soon as you dry the blade the heat evaporates off any remaining water. Then I sanded off what was left with 220, then 320 paper and tried my hand at sharpening. The teeth are hardened, but not too much, so I was able to get a nice edge on the teeth. All that was left was putting it all together. With the teeth nice and sharp and the rust taken off the blade, it cuts a lot better than it used to, and boy is it better looking.