Old Hand saws

[tinspark]

Ok now the wife has her minions bringing me saws.
One of her friends found more.
The lady at the estate sale wanted $5 dollars each (US) and she talked her down to $2 each.
Looks like I need to start cutting saws. LOL!!
I begged my Mrs..... "PLEASE NO MORE"!!....
At least until I get rid of some of these..

Cheap projects though- 13 saws total and I am only out $26!!
7 of them here in this picture were the ones that I picked up in the OP (original picture) haha!

[plasmanewbie]

Nice! There should be some decent profit in those. Good score!

[Joe Jones]

Hell! I'd take a thousand at that price!

Joe

[tinspark]

I really like the borders in the cutouts in the attached picture that match the saws shape, especially around the handles (attached picture below is from the internet, not my saws).
To me it is a super clean look. And I think that it can be easily accomplished by taking a picture of each one and then do a quick auto trace (for me inkscape). Then drop the dxf into designedge and then scale it up to the original saw size. Then I could Make a copy of the DXF and shrink it some, and lay it over the scaled model, which should be the same general shape but smaller and there it is.... A super clean border that matches the individual saw.

Notice each saw in the picture has a little different shape and contour around the handle, as well as the general saw shapes are slightly different. My $2 el' cheapo's saws are all different too...
I am thinking of doing something like this. fast and easy, but very clean.

I might spend an afternoon and do this to all of the saws at one time. rinse and repeat, etc. I think the extra touch would really add to the appeal factor.
Rustic but awesome!
Then I could physically label the backs of each saw to match the corresponding DXF file for future use. #1, 2, 3 etc.. One and done!
Hang them on a peg like David mentioned that he does with his saws in his post above. I could then pull a saw from the peg on the wall, open the file that matches that particular saw and add the desired design as needed.
All of the heavy lifting would be done at one time, and the gingerbread (artwork etc.) could be added into the DXF later as needed, and done very easily.. That's my plan anyway!
"Plan the work and work the plan", so they say!
So hopefully my next post here will not be a year from now showing off a completed saw.. HAHA

I figured that if someone here could make a buck or so too doing something similar, have at it, and hopefully have fun doing it!
The saws are definitely out there. At least in my neck of the woods Maybe yours too

[plasmanewbie]

Those saws look awesome, always been a fan of those but never have made one. Looking forward to seeing what you do with these Doug.

[tinspark]

I was out in the shop burning some stuff today and decided to try tracing a saw to see what I came up with.
Here is the border that I was talking about. I was pretty happy with the trace, copy, and shrink.

I will position one of the saws edges to line up with the torch head to the outside of the saw. and only cut the inside border (the white line) that matches saw #1 profile, along with whatever design that I want to put in there.
The picture in a previous post a few days back (above) had mushrooms cut in their saws, but the border is what I thought was clean. I will do something different as far as adding a design. But this is the general border idea that I borrowed from the mushroom saws above. Now I need a design.

Also, the handle will be removed while cutting for sure, and reattached after I remove the dross. Might need to hit it with something to rust it back up if need be before reassembly.

[plasmanewbie]

Looks great Doug. I suppose these could be more work than I thought since the borders will be different for each different saw. Kind of a pain but I guess depending on what you wanted to cut into the blade you may not need a border for each of them. Interested to see some of your finished saws.

[Russ K]

Hardest part ive found is fitting the design onto the saw. I find it best to measure the saw, and make a template on inkscape etc the same size, then create my text on to that.

I have cut scenes into a lot of hand saws and logging saws. I find your technique is the best way to accomplish this. You have to actually draw the saw to scale and make your scene within the outline. This is harder with hand saws than logging saws. The smaller the saw and scene the more difficult it is and less margin for error. Then comes matching precisely your drawing on your screen to the actual saws position on the table. And your cutter position offsets have to be exact. The buck saw below has the scene cut out and fastened to the backside of the frame. Easiest of the bunch!

[tinspark]

Very Cool Russ K!
I like how you have a scene of a character using a bucksaw in a bucksaw..
But they all look great!

[plasmanewbie]

Russ K those look amazing!!!!

[Russ K]

Great find, i often cut into these old saws. Find them for £2 each over here, and sell for £20 to £30 depending on size. Always best to remove the handles ive found.

How well does the high tensile saw blades cut?

Thanks for the previous positive comments. I have found that the hand saws can warp a bit unless you move your torch fast and move your cuts around to avoid a lot of heat in one area. Large modern circular saws like the same treatment but aren't quite so fussy because they are normally thicker. I had several 48" circular saws that were very old and the high carbon steel was not very homogeneous. The torch would hit areas that I assume had a lot more carbon in them. It would slobber up and not cut completely through, requiring recuts and a lot of cleanup. If you cut any large blades and have sizable drop outs, draw up some Knife blanks and include them in the cutting. Knife making can be another branch of metalwork that is fun to get into!

[tinspark]

Great find, i often cut into these old saws. Find them for £2 each over here, and sell for £20 to £30 depending on size. Always best to remove the handles ive found.

How well does the high tensile saw blades cut?

Thanks for the previous positive comments. I have found that the hand saws can warp a bit unless you move your torch fast and move your cuts around to avoid a lot of heat in one area. Large modern circular saws like the same treatment but aren't quite so fussy because they are normally thicker. I had several 48" circular saws that were very old and the high carbon steel was not very homogeneous. The torch would hit areas that I assume had a lot more carbon in them. It would slobber up and not cut completely through, requiring recuts and a lot of cleanup. If you cut any large blades and have sizable drop outs, draw up some Knife blanks and include them in the cutting. Knife making can be another branch of metalwork that is fun to get into!

Man, Don't get me started about knife making.
I have watched every forged in fire episode in the past on Hulu during the pandemic, I think.
But have not taken on that venture since I have so many other metal working hobbies and projects on the back burner that I am trying to get to!!
Doh!!! I might have to cut one out when I find a thick blade!!.
Most of my old 18" -20" cut-off saw blades are like maybe 14 gauge, which seem a little thin. But I am saving them for something, even though I do not know what yet..

[Russ K]

You can make some nifty throwing stars from cast off 7.25" Skill saw blades (if legal in your state). Cut them, clean up the dross and start throwing! Making a knife by the stock removal method is simple compared to forging. Plenty of YT videos out there. Try making a bush knife or light belt axe. Either another time suck or a fun new diversion depending on whether you are retired or still working. Don't forget concrete cutting saws blades. If you know a Concrete Cutter you may be able to get them for cheap or free and some are quite large and thicker. Cheers!

[Joe Jones]

You can make some nifty throwing stars from cast off 7.25" Skill saw blades (if legal in your state). Cut them, clean up the dross and start throwing! Making a knife by the stock removal method is simple compared to forging. Plenty of YT videos out there. Try making a bush knife or light belt axe. Either another time suck or a fun new diversion depending on whether you are retired or still working. Don't forget concrete cutting saws blades. If you know a Concrete Cutter you may be able to get them for cheap or free and some are quite large and thicker. Cheers!

Tell me about this word "legal" that you use so freely.

Joe

[tinspark]

You can make some nifty throwing stars from cast off 7.25" Skill saw blades (if legal in your state). Cut them, clean up the dross and start throwing! Making a knife by the stock removal method is simple compared to forging. Plenty of YT videos out there. Try making a bush knife or light belt axe. Either another time suck or a fun new diversion depending on whether you are retired or still working. Don't forget concrete cutting saws blades. If you know a Concrete Cutter you may be able to get them for cheap or free and some are quite large and thicker. Cheers!