My customer grabbed this not so nice Disston backsaw off of eBay. For a nominal investment Winsor Saw acid washed the plade sanding to 600 grit straightened the plate, set, sharpened, tuned the plate and epoxy bedded the plate to the tote. Now the saw is a finely tuned beast ready to make some serious sawdust. Blade was filed 13ppi crosscut.
On the bench today is a pair of custom saws out of highly figured walnut. Larry ordered a slightly smaller handle for his 10″ dovetail and 11″ carcass.
Many thanks to Mark at Woodcraft who turned this beautiful 16 oz. Cocobolo mallet for me. Totally Awesome!
Craftsman BigBen builds a Winsor Saw Dovetail Saw Kit
Winsor Saw offers a variety of saw parts including blades, brass backs and bolts. Have a look at our website for details and feel free to contact us for custom parts and pricing at info@winsorsaw.com
I few months ago I acquired a very rare Disston Reagan No.9. The saw is in great shape and made a perfect model for me to prototype my version of the saw. I found a nice piece of fiddleback walnut and shaped a near identical tote from the antique version. I made a few modifications to fit the modern person’s hand. The blade is .025″ thick 1095 spring steel. Filed 12 ppi crosscut. the blade is slotted into a .25″ x .75″ brass spine and complimented with engraving. I’ll be test marketing the saw on Ebay in the next few weeks plus I’ll be offering the original Disston Reagan No.9 on Ebay. Both saws are sharpened and tuned to perfection.
Winsor Saw Reproduces a classic.
Upclose engraving
Tote closeup
Sweet! I landed this Disston Reagan No. 9 off eBay for a pretty price. Now I can get right to making a prototype to offer you folks. Stay tunes1
Just when I thought I made really cools saws I was introduced to Knew Concepts bionic fret saw. The frame is aircraft grade titanium, adjustable cam blade tensioner, the blade swivels and the frame has no flex!
First try? The saw is amazing. the really two key elements are a super stiff frame and the cam blade tensioner. No more wobbly fret saw blades. Stiff=accurate cuts.
Now I just need the exotic wood handle from Elkhead Tools
Knew Concepts 5″ Titanium Jeweler’s Fret Saw
Quilted Maple Tote for a Custom 16″ Tenon Saw
16″ quilted maple tenon saw
After shot of a Disston No. 4
There is about a 100 year gap in great saws. Disston and Atkins put out some of their best saws before the turn of the 20th century. By the 40’s everything went to hell when saw makers started mass producing saws. This is why the saw you bought at the big box store is worthless for cutting dovetails or doing precision work. Don’t throw it away use if for cutting PVC pipe, or letting your kids hack on some old tree, or chop’n up a deer carcass.
But your Grandpa’s old handsaw is worth keeping and restoring.
I recently purchased this late 19th century Disston No.4 off of ebay for around $20. I wanted to take a template off the handle for my own Tenon Saw. The No. 4 had a straight back and blade, was in needed of a good sharpening but the handles had some cracks and was missing one of the horns.
Before shot of the busted horn on a Disston No. 4
I used an epoxy sawdust recipe for filling cracks. The missing horn was cut smooth and glued on a piece of cherry and reshaped the horn. A complete sanding, some dark walnut stain, and a hand rubbed Qualasole finish gave the old saw a second life. The brass split nut and medallion can be polished up with a Dremel tool and cotton rotary tool.
As for sharpening we offer a complete kit to sharpen dovetail, carcass, and tenon saws.
For a small investment you can have a piece of history and a fabulous cutting saw.
Cheers,
Robert
WinsorSaw.com
Winsor Saw Flame Maple Dovetail
Hello! Winsor Saw will be blogging about everything saws and specialized woodworking. I hope to post about:
Sincerely,
Robert
WinsorSaw.com
Winsor Saw 