As you can see, this saw came to me in rough shape
I've already glued the worst crack in the handle, which is now structurally sound
The plate is very rusted, with some pitting
I wobble it to check the temper - the steel still has some spring left in it.
I'll start by cleaning the handle
For some reason, old tools invariably have white paint spots on them
While the handle dries in the sun, I'll start with the rust removal process
I use a spare sharp plane blade as a scraper to remove the bulk without abrading the steel underneath.
Next, I use the #400 side of this stone to remove the rest of the rust, and the #2000 side to polish the plate.
After some time with the stone it's helpful to switch back to scraping.
The goal of this process is to remove the rust while preserving as much of the etch as possible.
I only want to remove the active rust, and polish the plate to be smooth in use.
Here you can see the etch is starting to show through - using vinegar or citric acid would have removed it.
Because the saw plate is pitted, a scotchbrite pad helps loosen up rust that the flat stone can't reach.
After rust removal - the saw still looks old - I'm not interested in erasing its history.
If the handle was in better condition, I wouldn't usually sand it, just clean and re-oil.
This handle was really dried out and sunbleached though, so I'm giving it a light sand with #220
I'm using my preferred tool handle finish - raw hemp oil.
Sanding with oil will help rehabilitate the wood.
Again, I'm just looking to give this a nice feeling in the hand, not to make it look new.
I don't like a high level of polish on my tool handles. I prefer knife finished, or lightly sanded.
Because the wood was so dried out, it will soak up several coats of oil, and then oil/beeswax to finish.
I won't touch any of the cosmetic flaws - this saw is going straight back into use.
Give the plate a wipe down with singer oil to prevent rust.
Before I reshape the teeth, I will joint them, so they all end up the same size.
This saw was severely out of joint, which means reshaping the teeth will be time consuming.
Joint the teeth until you can see a shiny flat spot on every single tooth.
I'm setting up the filing guide for 8 Degrees of rake.
This is a NOS Wiltshire regular taper saw file.
I file each tooth until the flat spot is ~ just ~  removed.
See the difference between the reshaped teeth and the old teeth?
The shiny spots on the side of the teeth are from stoning during rust removal. The teeth were over set, as most old saws are.
I don't follow any set pattern - just file each individual tooth until just right.
Time to reset the teeth to a consistent amount of set.
I'm using an Eclipse no. 77 Sawset
Start with minimal set and only increase it if you need to
Again, not polishing these, just removing the grime.
I had to thin this screwdriver tip to fit the narrow slots on these brass nuts.
Stone with an oilstone to remove the burr.
Just one pass on each side.
Thankfully, no straightening was needed.
Resawing a southern yellow pine 2x4
The thumb hole handle is great - my first time using one.
Straight through this huge knot with no issues.
