Last weekend while up in North Carolina visiting family, my dad gave me one of his old hand saws. I can remember this saw being around all of my life. Dad thinks that it is a Sandvik and is not sure if it is one he bought or was passed down from my grandfather. Either way the saw is old and has a lot of history in its teeth.
The blade is in great shape with no pitting or broken teeth. I was cautious as I didn’t want to remove any watermark that might still remain on the blade to identify the maker but I quickly realized that any sign was long gone. I wet sanded the blade with 400 grit paper and then oiled it down for protection.
Next came the handle, it was still functional but looked pretty rough and I am pretty sure that it had been replaced somewhere down the road. It was made plywood and had made it for many years but was now spitting and cracking. I decided to make a new one out of some Cherry scraps I had laying around the shop. I removed the old handle, copied it onto the Cherry and then made a few of adjustments in the design that I liked.
I cut the new handle out with the bandsaw, rasped the hand grip to a comfortable shape, then sanded everything smooth. two coats of wipe on poly later and its finished.
I can’t wait to get the saw sharpened and start making saw dust.
Greetings from Finland. The saw in question does appear to be a Sandvik saw indeed. By the look of the original handle, I think the model number is 277. The saw does not look very old to me, possibly made somewhere in the 1950s. I happen to own a much later version of the same saw. Not sure if your saw still has it, but the saw was made with a breasted tooth line and very high and pointy teeth. This was trademark Sandvik. The link below wild demonstrate my saw.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77333663@N07/sets/72157629888418453/
Thanks Kim, for the info and the pictures. And I would say that the age assessment is probably about right from talking to my dad.
Way to go Chris i am Proud to read your post and the work you are achieving Terry
Thanks Terry.
Chris nice job on the handle. That really came out looking good, congrats!
Tools with a bit of history are the best to get out and use. I can remeber where I got each one of my main toolbox tools from.
I Love the new handle but I prefer to finish all of mine with a coat of linseed oil as it just feels and smells nicer.
Thank you and you are right about the finish I do like to use linseed oil and have used it on other tools such a wooden hand planes I have made.
Very nice! I know you will get lots of enjoyment with this tool.
Thanks Kenny. Just need to get it sharpened now and will get to using it. I still need to trim the ends of my Roubo top slabs and think this is going to be the best tool for the job.
Cool! Several of the tools in my shop came from my Dad – my hammer, most of my pipe clamps, etc. I’ll bet that was a little work to get it looking so good.
Thanks Jeff. I like working with old tools and it is nice to see them fixed up and ready to be used for many more years.