This one is not a refurbish project. It’s simpler, a rehab, if you please. As can be seen by the handle, this is not a priceless antique. It is one that I purchased new at some big orange home center, maybe in the 1980s. It clearly dates to the era when handles sank to their ugliest just before Buck Rogers style plastic handles. The saw has a 26 inch plate and is filed rip, 7 TPI. … and the hang hole in the tip was drilled by the manufacturer, not me.
I once picked this saw up during my earlier boat building days, and just as quickly set it aside. It didn’t cut well and had a noticeable kink about midway along the tooth line. If memory serves, the most previous abuse was cutting sheetrock or some other kind of rock.
Removing the kink
Read enough around the Internet and you’ll think you need a blacksmith’s anvil and planishing hammers to take the kink out of a saw blade. TRY THIS FIRST: I removed the handle, just to make it easier to mount the handle end of the plate in a vise. Once about an inch of the plate was tightly clamped, I curled the saw first one way, then the other. Don’t be bashful. FIRMLY grab the toe end, pull it around toward the handle end. Once you reach a “U” shape, keep on going, running the curl up and down the length of the plate. Repeat a few times to both sides. Like magic, the kink was relieved and smoothed away.
Sharpening
No magic. The teeth were not really in bad shape, just dull. Sighting along the line, I saw that all were even enough to not even warrant a flattening filing. I simple hit each tooth with a couple of swipes of the file and then tested. Tops: 20 minutes.
The first job for this “new again” saw (OK. it really needs to have the plate cleaned) was resawing a length of 1×4 poplar. I was very pleased to find the saw working straight and true, and running easily.
OK, that’s an ugly saw. I have it’s twin in a Ace Hardware backsaw with stamped teeth. Maybe I should try properly sharpening it. I don’t *need* another saw, but maybe my brother-in-law could put it to use.
Glad to see someone else doing some good saw work! Just one word of caution. The bending process you describe will remove the tension from the old saws making them somewhat whippy. So they will need retensioning after all that bending. Not an issue with these modern saws but it is with the old ones. Just something to keep in mind.