Making a (Very) Small Dovetail Saw

I recently restored this 1840-ish British 10” dovetail saw made by Richard Groves & Sons. I like the saw so much that I decided to make a copy of it.

I’ve made quite a few saws, but I’ve never made one like this before. My newly made saw is a 0.60 scale copy of the Groves saw, with only minor differences.

Why, you may ask, would I spend the time to make a saw like this? With a blade that is a mere 6” long and a handle you can only fit one finger in, the thing isn’t even useable, you might think. Well, my reasons for making this saw are simple. First, I thought it would be a fun project, and now that it’s finished, I can say that it definitely was enjoyable. Second, I made this saw to challenge my skills. It is generally a lot harder to make a miniature version of an item than it is to make the item itself. That was true in this case, particularly the cutting and sharpening of such small teeth. Overall, though, the saw was not tremendously more difficult to make than a full-sized saw. It took about the same about of time, but it certainly took less materials!

The brass spine for my little saw is made from a piece of ½” brass angle. The legs of the angle were bent together in my bench vise and then shaped on a large belt sander and with files. Finally, it was polished with sandpaper down to 600 grit and then buffed with 0000 steel wool.

The plate is 0.015” thick 1095 alloy spring steel, the same thickness I use for making 8” gent’s saws. It also is polished to 600 grit. Cutting the 20 ppi teeth was probably the hardest part of making this saw. I’ve sharpened teeth that fine before, and that alone is a challenge, but cutting new teeth this small takes the challenge to another level. With the aid of magnification and a needle file, though, I’m happy with the results achieved.

The handle shape is an exact copy of the English beech handled Groves, but Brazilian rosewood was used instead. This wood is no longer available in the U.S. due to import restrictions. I have a small pre-ban stash rescued from my Dad’s musical instrument shop after his passing.

The split-nut style screws are re-made from antique screws salvaged from an old non-repairable saw. The 1/2” heads were turned down to 3/8” and thinned. The screw shafts were cut down from 7/8” long to fit the ½” thick handle, and re-threaded to 8-32. I made new 3/8” diameter split nuts to secure the screws.

I’ve seen miniature saws before. In fact, I have a little backsaw that is under 3” in total length. But these saws are novelties, not intended for actual use. My new little backsaw is a real saw in every sense of the word, it’s just small. Is it too small to use, though? I’ll admit that grasping the tiny handle is a bit awkward, but if you can manage it, the saw cuts every bit as well as a larger one. Tiny dovetails anyone?

This saw won’t be among my primary users. Rather, it will be displayed as a conversation piece. Whatever its fate, I’m glad that saws come in all sizes.

This is the third in a series of articles on making two matching sets of heirloom saws. The first article was on making gent’s saws and table saws. It can be found here:
http://lumberjocks.com/summerfi/blog/46985.
The second was on making 10” dovetail saws, and it can be found here:
http://lumberjocks.com/summerfi/blog/78490.
If you’re wondering what these sets are all about, please see the first article in the series where that is explained in detail.

It has been two full years since I made the last saws in these matching sets. I didn’t anticipate this delay, but there are good reasons for it. I began accepting orders for custom made saws, as well as a lot of saw restoration and sharpening jobs. I never would have thought the demand for good saws would be so great. I’ve sent my custom saws throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, England, and Australia. Restoration and sharpening work also included Canada and literally every corner of the U.S. What began as a hobby turned into a full time job, leaving no time for anything else. Since I’m supposed to be retired, I decided to cut back. I’m no longer taking on custom saw orders, but I still offer saw restoration and sharpening. This gives me a little more time, and finally I’m able to proceed with these sets of heirloom saws.

12” Carcase Saws
A carcase saw is a backsaw with a plate of about 12 inches in length that is traditionally used for making the joinery in the interior framework or body of a piece of furniture. The first thing we should establish is whether this type of saw should accurately be called a carcase saw or a carcass saw. The fact is, the terms are used interchangeably, and either one is fine to use. Carcase is an older form of the word, originating in England and used in the King James Bible. Carcass is probably the more common form today, especially in the U.S. I personally prefer carcase because, first of all, I am a traditionalist, and secondly, I prefer to think of the saw being used on the case of a piece of furniture rather than on the dead body of an animal. If you prefer carcass, however, I will not object.

Within the family of saws, the carcase saw is a sort of transitional tool. The shorter dovetail saw almost always has an open handle. The longer sash saw almost always has a closed handle. The carcase saw, intermediate between the two, can have either, but it is most often a closed handle for added strength. The carcase saw is usually 12 inches in length and usually filed 13 ppi crosscut. I am throwing a lot of “almosts” and “usuallies” out because when it comes to saws, there are always (usually?) exceptions.

I’ve pretty much covered the process of making a saw in the previous blog entries, so there’s no need to repeat that here. There was nothing out of the ordinary about making these two saws. The backs are folded brass and the handles are figured walnut like the other saws in the sets. The plates on these saws are 0.020” spring steel. So now I’ll just jump right to the pictures of these two completed 12” carcase saws that will go in my two sets of heirloom saws.

Thanks for reading my blog. The next saws to be built will be the 14” sash saws. I’m hoping that won’t take another two years.

A Historically Interesting Handsaw

I usually don’t give Warranted Superior saws a second look. It’s not that many of them aren’t good saws, but because their value is comparatively lower than vintage brand name saws. When this saw recently popped up on an online auction, though, I couldn’t pass it by. It’s not every day that you see a saw from Montana, much less one with an etch that includes the name of my home town, Missoula.

History
This saw was sold in the Kalispell branch store of Missoula Mercantile. Missoula Mercantile, a store that sold just about everything, began at the corner of Higgins Avenue and Front Street in Missoula, Montana in about 1880. That was nine years before Montana became a State, and only 20 years after the first European settlement was established in the Missoula Valley. The area was truly wild in those days.

“The Merc”, as it came to be called, served homesteaders, miners, railroaders, loggers, and other widely dispersed citizens within a 300 mile radius. Travel was difficult in those days. There were scant few roads, and railroads were just coming into the region. You couldn’t easily go to the store when you needed something. So, you ordered it from The Merc by mail or word of mouth, and they delivered it to you. If you were near a railroad, you got it by train. If you were off the beaten path, you got it by pack string. The Merc quickly grew to become the largest general merchandise distributor between Seattle and Minneapolis. Business was so good that they began opening branch stores in many surrounding communities.

Kalispell lies 115 miles north of Missoula in the Flathead Valley. The Kalispell branch of Missoula Mercantile began in a tent in Demersville, a community on the southern outskirts of Kalispell, in the late 1880s. By 1892, a large new store was under construction on First Avenue in Kalispell proper. The store’s name was changed from Missoula Mercantile Kalispell Branch to Kalispell Mercantile in 1911. My saw was sold in that store sometime before 1911, since the etch displays the name of Missoula Mercantile and the location of Kalispell. Here are pictures of the saw in the condition I received it.

The Kalispell Mercantile building still stands today, though it is no longer called by that name. It now contains several businesses, including a restaurant. The historic Missoula Mercantile building in Missoula was demolished just last year following a long and controversial discussion about its future. It was truly a landmark in Missoula and surrounding areas. A new large building containing a hotel and several other businesses is currently being erected on the site. It will incorporate some design features and some of the historic building materials from the old building.

Here is a picture of Missoula Mercantile Kalispell Branch taken in the early 1900s. This is where my saw was sold.

Restoration
When received, my saw was actually in pretty good condition for being over 100 years old. The plate had some rust and needed to be cleaned and polished. The handle needed a couple of minor repairs. And, of course, it needed to be sharpened. After the cleanup and sharpening, this is what the saw looks like.

Origin
This saw is a very typical “hardware store” saw. That is, a saw made by a major saw manufacturer for resale by a secondary retailer, usually a hardware store. Such saws are often marked with a special etch of the store’s own design. The etch on my saw depicts a Phoenix bird and a ribbon containing the words Missoula Mercantile Co., Kalispell, Mont. It also shows the model, No. 30.

The natural question with this saw is who made it? That is sometimes hard to determine for hardware store saws, but often there are clues. The first clue on this saw is the handle. Having worked on a few hundred saws made by various manufacturers, I can say that this handle looks to me like it could have been made by Simonds. Compare the similarity between my saw’s handle and this handle from the 1912 Simonds catalog. Don’t get hung up on the style of the wheat carving, since manufacturers often changed the carving pattern on hardware store saws. Simonds did offer saws with wheat carving nearly identical to my saw’s.

The next clue is the etch. Note the image of the ribbon in my saw’s etch near the beginning of this article, and compare it to the ribbon on the Simonds etch below. They are not identical, but they certainly have similarities.

Another clue in the etch is the image of the Phoenix bird. The Phoenix was prominently displayed on a secondary line of saws made by the E.C. Atkins Co., the Phoenix Warranted saws. However, compare the image of the Phoenix on my saw to the Atkins image below. The birds are looking in opposite directions.

Finally, clues to the maker of a saw can sometimes lie underneath the handle. There can be markings stamped into the heel of the plate that indicate who the maker might have been. My saw has no such markings, so that is no help. The shape of the heel itself can also be a clue. The heel of my saw closely resembles both Simonds and Atkins saws that I own, but it is not exactly like either one. Based on the heel shape, though, I can say confidently that it was not made by Disston.

Given these clues, I am leaning towards my saw being made by Simonds. However, it is inconclusive, and my saw could have been made by any number of manufacturers. I will probably never know for sure. In the end, it doesn’t really matter. The value in this saw lies in knowing where it was sold, not in who made it.

I admit that I find saw trivia interesting. This saw may not be as interesting to most people as it is to me because of where I live. Whether you find it interesting or not, I hope you still enjoyed reading this blog. Until next time….

An Unusual Harvey W. Peace Handsaw

I knew there was something different about this saw the moment I found it listed in the “Art” section of eBay. But it isn’t different because of the brightly colored farm scene painted on it; I’ve seen a lot of those. I could tell it was an old saw by its general shape, by the lamb’s tongue on the handle, and by the nib located near the end of the blade. The real oddity of this saw, though, is the fasteners that attach the handle to the blade. They are six brass raised-head screws commonly known among saw enthusiasts as “cone nuts”. Cone nuts were used by various American and British saw makers in and around the 1870s, so they are not all that uncommon. I’ve seen many saws with four, or even five, cone nut fasteners. But this is the one and only saw I’ve ever seen with six. There is a rule of thumb in the saw world that the more fasteners a saw has, the higher the quality of the saw. Based on the number and type of fasteners, I figured this saw would be a good acquisition, even though I had no clue who the maker of the saw was. I negotiated a “Make Offer” price with the seller, and the saw was soon on its way to my home.

Photos: The saw as it was purchased, showing details of the six cone nuts.

Initial Impressions
Once the saw arrived, I gave it a good inspection. Buying a painted saw is somewhat risky because it is difficult to assess the condition of the metal underneath the paint. On this saw I could see no signs of serious pitting under the paint or the black primer on the back side of the saw. The blade was pretty straight, and the teeth were in reasonable shape for an old saw.

The handle was partially covered by yellow varnish, and where the varnish was worn away the underlying wood was a dark brown. From the pictures I thought perhaps the handle was mahogany, a wood sometimes used on high quality saws. But once in hand I could see the wood was not mahogany, but more likely a fruitwood of some sort. There was a chip out of the upper horn and the tip of the lamb’s tongue was broken. There were no cracks or other defects in the handle.

The brass cone nut fasteners were worn from age, and someone had cut a slot in one of the screw heads. Presumably this was because the screw was turning in the handle when they tried to remove it.

The Restoration
It was my intention to return this saw to a respectable condition as a vintage tool rather than a questionable piece of folk art. The first step in this process was to remove the handle. In doing so, I discovered that not only were the shafts of the cone nut screws of thin diameter (9/64”—an indication of an old saw), but one was broken inside the saw handle. I would have to make a replacement for that one, and also decided to replace the one that had a slot cut in it.

After the handle was removed, it was reassuring to see there were no extra screw holes in the blade. That would have been an indication that the handle was a replacement. I am confident that the handle and fasteners are original to the saw. However, I was not the first to remove them from the blade. Under the handle was a layer of black primer put there by the saw-painting artist.

Photo: Saw plate with handle removed, showing six original screw holes. Broken screw shown on bottom right with an intact screw shown center right. Note that the four screws shown above may appear broken, but are just passing through the piece of paper to keep them in order.

The next step in the restoration was to remove the paint and try to reveal a name stamp or etch to discover who made the saw. This was accomplished by applying a liberal coat of paint stripper. After the paint was gone, I could see the blade was covered in a light layer of brown oxide, i.e. rust. Seeing no name stamp, I lightly sanded the center area of the saw to see if there was an etch. Gradually, an etch appeared bearing the name Harvey W. Peace. I now knew the maker of my saw! Also revealed in the etch was the number 48. Now I also knew the saw’s model number.

Photo: Saw plate with paint removed and etch area lightly sanded.

Knowing the saw’s maker and model number, I hit the Internet looking for other examples of saws like mine. What I found was interesting to say the least. First, I found an 1869 Harvey Peace catalog. It contained models No. 45 and 50, but no No. 48. This told me that my saw probably dated later than 1869. Next, I went to Joshua Clark’s Hyperkitten Tool Co website. Josh is a collector of Harvey Peace saws, and his website is the Internet’s best information source on the history of Peace’s Vulcan Saw Works of Brooklyn, NY and the many saw models they produced. There I found information on the No. 48, including a drawing of the saw from Peace’s 1884 catalog and pictures of one actual example of the No. 48. That example saw is the only actual No. 48 Josh has been able to track down, and it appears to be identical to the one in the catalog drawing.

Photo: Drawing of the Harvey W. Peace No. 48 handsaw from Peace’s 1884 catalog.

So, I had found my saw model, but it was obvious that my saw didn’t look like the one in the catalog or the real-life example. The most significant difference is the handle. The catalog and example saws have 3-lobed handles similar to the Disston No. 12, while my saw has a traditional handle shape with a lamb’s tongue. Also, the other saws have four normal saw screws plus a medallion, while my saw has the six raised brass cone nuts and no medallion. The catalog says the No. 48 has an apple handle, which is exactly what mine turned out to be, so no difference there.

The saws have other differences as well. The catalog and example saw’s blades have a rounded heel profile, while my saw’s is straight. In my experience, a straight heel profile usually means an older saw. All three saws have a similar etch that is a little fancier than the etches found on any other Peace saw model. But my saw’s etch has additional words compared to the saw in the catalog drawing or compared to a picture Josh posted of the etch of the example saw. I am posting a picture of that saw’s etch here because it is a much stronger etch than found on my saw, which is only partially readable.

Photo: Etch from the Peace No. 48 saw found on the hyperkitten website. My etch is identical except with additional wording below.

The additional words on my etch are directly beneath the words “Patent Ground”. They are hard to read because they are so faint. As best as I can decipher them, they say something like this:

This statement is very similar to language some other tool makers of that period either placed on their tools or stated in their literature, such as Sargent, Richardson Brothers, and C.E. Jennings.

The differences between my No. 48 and the No. 48 shown in the 1884 catalog, as well as the one known example that is identical to the catalog, make me wonder just what is the story behind my saw. I’ll discuss that more in the Conclusion, but first let me finish the restoration story.

I’ll not go into detail on the restoration procedures because I’ve talked about the techniques of saw restoration in other articles and forum posts. Briefly, though, the blade was cleaned up with appropriate abrasives while carefully protecting the etch as much as possible. The etch is weak on this saw, and though I would have liked to clean it further, doing so would have risked losing the etch entirely. The saw was then sharpened crosscut at 10 ppi which is the original pitch as stamped on the saw’s heel. The residual varnish was scraped from the handle, the wood was cleaned, and repairs were made to the upper horn and lamb’s tongue with scraps of apple wood. The handle was then sanded and multiple coats of finish were applied. Two new cone nut screws were made from brass rod, but the original nuts for those screws were saved. The remaining screws were straightened as needed and made ready for reuse. The saw was reassembled and now appears as shown in these photos.

Photo: I would have liked to clean up the etch a little more, but I could see I would lose it if I went further.

Conclusion

What, exactly, my saw is remains somewhat of a mystery to me. I’ve searched the internet extensively for other examples like mine and come up empty. I do believe my saw is original; nevertheless, it is different than the one known example of a Harvey W. Peace No. 48 and the drawing of that saw in the 1884 catalog. I’ve considered these possibilities for my saw:

- It could be a one-off saw made for some special purpose by Vulcan Saw Works.
- It could be an early prototype of the model No. 48.
- It could be the way the No. 48 was made during the early days of its production, and production was so limited that no other known survivors exist.

Production of the No. 48 must never have been great to begin with, since there are so few known examples.

If anyone reading this has additional information that may be helpful to solving this mystery, please leave a comment to that effect. I’ll update this article if more information becomes known.

Thanks for reading.

A Method for Repairing Broken Handsaw Medallions

The brass split-nut screws on 19th century handsaws and backsaws are somewhat fragile and notorious for breaking when removing them from a saw. The regular screws are not so bad because they can be replaced. But when you break the medallion screw on an antique saw, you know you’re having a bad day, for they can be impossible to replace. I guess I’ve been lucky so far. After restoring dozens of saws with split-nuts, I finally broke the first medallion. My options were limited. I could replace the medallion with one not correct for the saw; I could replace it by making a new blank medallion; or I could try to repair the original medallion. I chose the latter course.

There are few instructions on how to repair a saw medallion. An Australian saw doctor described his method on backsaw.net (click for link), and the results were good. I was hesitant to use that method, however, for fear of drilling through the face of the medallion. I decided to try a different method, which I will describe below.

This is a picture of the broken medallion. There is roughly 3/8” of the screw still attached to the medallion. I trimmed the end of the broken screw flat and then threaded it with an 8-32 die.

Next I ordered some brass binding posts (also called Chicago screws or sex bolts) that were threaded 8-32.

I cut off a ½” segment of the female threaded part of the binding post and threaded one end onto the medallion. I inserted an 8-32 brass threaded rod into the other end. The result looked like this.

After cutting off most of the threaded rod, I then soldered the three components together.

The medallion was a little too long for the saw handle, so I trimmed it back, cleaned it up, and the final repaired medallion looked like this.

Obviously, the diameter of the new screw is bigger than the diameter of the old screw. The outside diameter of the binding post is just a hair over 3/16”. This will require enlarging the hole in the handle and the saw plate. I would be cautious about doing this to a truly rare or valuable saw. For a user quality saw, I don’t think it is an issue, given the other options.

The split-nuts on vintage saws usually do not have 8-32 threads. This means the original nut may not fit the modified medallion. In this case I was able to re-tap the original nut to 8-32. If you try this method, you may have to make a new nut, but that is fairly easy to do.