I recently
bought a Disston #4 backsaw of 1896-1917 vintage, it is 10"
and has 14 tpi. The handle on this saw was in pretty bad shape
having the top horn badly broken and a chip off the bottom horn.
This is the saw almost as found, I have already removed the bolt
and washer that was substituted for the medallion.
This
is a close-up of the handle, you can easily see the damage to
the upper horn but the damage to the bottom is smaller and less
evident.
The saw also didn't have a medallion having
instead a washer with some tacks thru it and a regular bolt and
nut. For these reasons I wasn't hesitant about replacing the
handle on this saw. It just so happened that I had received a
handle blank from Scott Grandstaff in a surprise package
exchange. I decided to put it on this little Disston...
Okay, back to the repair; I
decided to use a couple of pieces from a Disston handle from the
same period. The handle was from a large Disston D8 that had
been purchased with the intention of being a sacrificial saw;
donating it's saw nuts to other saws, it's blade to be scraper
stock, and it's handle for just this purpose. First I would
repair the upper horn by cutting it off and gluing on a piece
large enough to be shaped.
When this glue-up had dried
sufficiently I shaped the top horn as close to original as I was
capable of, although I did leave it a little thicker than normal
intentionally.
With the top horn shaped I turned to the
bottom horn; it only needed a small piece removed and a filler
piece added and shaped.
I know you can't really see
much from this view but the piece is very small. In case you are
curious the piece of saw blade in the saw is there simply to
insure that when I clamp the handle in the vice I do not break
one of the cheeks off. Here is the bottom horn with it's new
piece shaped to match.
This handle is now repaired
but as yet I have not finish sanded it or tried to clean-up the
entire handle. I don't have a blade for it and it will hang on
the wall till I find a use for it. Here is what it looks like
repaired.
Hope you enjoyed...
