handsaw repair


Chewie17

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okay so if I buy an older handsaw I believe there was a lot of about 5 saws at a shop not too far from home that have been not well looked after from what I can tell, some have missing teeth some are bowed slightly and other are just very rough looking. this is somewhat 2 fold, is it worth buying these saws knowing that I would have to start from scratch and file the teeth flat and reset them, also this would be my first attempt at doing any of it. 

 

I didn't even take a good look at the handles however the other important info would be that they are panel saws from the look, they are a range of lengths to guess the average would be 26"?

 

is the effort on a unknown brand saw worth it to do all this? even at some point re make the handle.

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How cheap are they?

How much is your time worth?

Do you want to learn the skill of saw sharpening and repair?

I think they were around 10 bucks? my time is worth something but is that skill not an important one to know if you own hand saws? id rather learn on a 10 buck saw than a $200 one

 

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There are always a bunch on Ebay, with wildly varying quality.  The prices are all over the map and often don't match the quality of the saw.  It pays to check the auctions enough that learn how to decipher the Ebay saw seller lingo.  (Like a realtor's "cozy cottage" == "falling down garden shed").

I've bought a couple different lots of saws where every saw had all its teeth and the blades for the most part have been straight and free of pitting.  I paid $20 for 9 back saws and $30 for 7 old Disston hand saws (the 26" ones (a panel saw is a particular kind of saw, "hand saw" is the more generic term)).  They have all required cleaning, dealing with rust and sharpening.  (I've got a thread here about my first time sharpening them, which shows some of the steps I took cleaning them).

Out of that I expect I'll get 5-6 usable back saws (I'll likely give away a couple of those) and it looks like 6 out of 7 of the hand saws are in good shape.  I'll wind up with a few crosscut saws in different pitches and two rip saws.

I don't think I'd go for the 5 near you given the missing teeth.

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There are always a bunch on Ebay, with wildly varying quality.  The prices are all over the map and often don't match the quality of the saw.  It pays to check the auctions enough that learn how to decipher the Ebay saw seller lingo.  (Like a realtor's "cozy cottage" == "falling down garden shed").

I've bought a couple different lots of saws where every saw had all its teeth and the blades for the most part have been straight and free of pitting.  I paid $20 for 9 back saws and $30 for 7 old Disston hand saws (the 26" ones (a panel saw is a particular kind of saw, "hand saw" is the more generic term)).  They have all required cleaning, dealing with rust and sharpening.  (I've got a thread here about my first time sharpening them, which shows some of the steps I took cleaning them).

Out of that I expect I'll get 5-6 usable back saws (I'll likely give away a couple of those) and it looks like 6 out of 7 of the hand saws are in good shape.  I'll wind up with a few crosscut saws in different pitches and two rip saws.

I don't think I'd go for the 5 near you given the missing teeth.

thanks for the advice, I prefer to buy locally or in person. ive never purchased on ebay because I absolutely cannot stand online shopping and wait times for delivery... personal problem I have with it. haha but if buying a saw with a missing tooth or teeth is the wrong way to go than I will avoid it.

 

on the other hand if a saw looses a tooth here and there is it a throw away saw at that point? im talking like mid sharpen the tooth snaps off for some reason.

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Check out Paul Sellers saw sharpening videos on youtube to get a feel if this is something you want to get into.  He has some good ones.

already watched the one where he filed it right down and started from scratch, the video was something like 30 minutes and it cut in and out kind of like a time lapse where it showed the steps but as a highlight. so I would hazard to guess the first saw would be a good 3 hour project to get the saw filed the guide wood notched properly and so on, but after that any saw with that TPI is going to be less time, however if im only going to have a handful of saws and im in no rush to get them than maybe ill wait for something that requires less time for now. maybe in the future I will have the patience to do it?

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I did a tenon saw based on his videos, although I didn't have any missing teeth.  It took well under an hour, although starting from scratch sounds like it would take a while.  I have some panel saws that my dad sheered off the giant teeth on that I someday plan to refile.  They were free and of unknown quality but I figure they are good to learn on. 

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