Wilson Burnham is a luthier, handcrafting spectacular Spanish guitars from his shop in Colorado’s beautiful mountains. He wrote recently that hs is selling off some of his tools.
Coincidentally, I went looking for a crosscut saw on eBay and unwittingly bought one of Wilson’s saws. I have a few rip saws, but no crosscuts unless that recent vintage big-box, hardened tooth, plastic handled Stanley can be considered crosscut. That Stanley has been my saw for rough cutting for many years and is getting “old in the tooth.” It’s time for a good crosscut, especially since Paul Sellers has added a video about sharpening crosscut saws.
I suspect this saw wasn’t one of Wilson’s favorites, and that the handle probably arrived in rough condition from a previous owner. It looks like the saw was not a top-line brand, but one of the second lines, often called “Warranted Superior.” The plate itself was in good shape: no kinks, no bends, no obvious rust, no pitting, and a tooth line that doesn’t need a lot of work. The handle was the main focus of my rehabilitation work. I reshaped a chipped horn and some pretty rough edges on one side. I left the original leaf carving, and then scraped off the old red finish and added my own shellac. A bent saw bolt needed replacing, and “in for a dime – in for a dollar” I replaced all three with Isaac Smith’s excellent parts. (Blackburn Tools)
Some of the “patina” spots on the plate showed some redness when I irritated them with sandpaper, so I irritated them some more until the underlying rust was gone. I’m not a big fan of restoring tools to full-shiny, just to smooth enough to work well and this one is there.
About 8 minutes touch up sharpening brought the saw to a level where it easily out cuts the box-store Stanley.
I’m quite pleased with the results and the plastic handled Stanley gets demoted to “utility saw” that I carry in the truck.
Wilson wrapped the saw for shipping in several sheets of blank newsprint. The stuff was the perfect size for making a carpenter’s hat. So, I took Wilson’s challenge and made one (from these plans). Not that I need a hat, but….
Thank you, Bob! I was hoping that you would post about how you made the saw useable! I purchased the saw from a well known online antique tool dealer that gave a glowing description of the saw and I was a little disappointed with its condition when I received it. I never was able to make the time to “rehab” the saw, I am glad that you were the one who won it on eBay!
The hat looks great on you, I hope more woodworkers accept my challenge to make their own paper hats and post photos of themselves wearing their handmade hats!
Great job, Bob! And again, thanks!
Thanks for confirming what I suspected Wilson. I judged from the beauty of what you create that you probably treat your tools very well. I guessed that you were not the one who dragged that saw for a couple of miles behind a pickup truck on a gravel road. 🙂
I had looked at that saw on eBay also. Wilson’s had a number of really nice tools on eBay. Too bad I have no patience for eBay. Congrats on getting a nice saw. Oh, yeah – the hat looks great. Really.
Thanks for stopping by Matthew.
A suggestion for your wandering saw handles … You can get the saw nuts to tighten more if you use a “star” washer under the head of the bolt. That’s a toothed, grippy metal washer that makes it harder for the head to spin when you want to tighten the nuts more. Isaac at Blackburn Tools always includes star washers with his saw bolts and nuts.
Hey Bob, can you point me to plans/thoughts/inspiration for your saw vise?
Thanks.
Oh, and the hat looks great.
Hi Shawn,
The saw vise / clamp was inspired by a Paul Sellers blog posting.
I wrote about it here: https://www.bob-easton.com/blog/2013/2594/
Paul wrote about it at: https://paulsellers.com/2012/06/solid-saw-chocks-simply-made/
Since my original post, I added a short strip of wood on the back (bench side) that keeps it aligned with the bench top so it doesn’t wander as I work. … and I’ve also rebuilt the vise chop for a better grip. 🙂
Paul also, at times, simply uses two strips of wood bolted together at one end. A washer between the strips sets space for the saw plate. Then hs simply clams that in the vise. OK, if you don’t mind bending over to the lower height.
Enjoy!
That saw, particularly the sway back and the curve at the rear below the handle, looks like it came from Atkins.
https://wesleyworkswithwood.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/e-c-atkins-26-inch-crosscut/