I recently refurbished 2 early tenon saws. An open handle G&T Gray, and a closed handle Spear & Jackson.Both had split nut fittings. What seemed obvious at the time was that both the fitted hardbacks were seated high towards the handle end. After knocking down this end of the hardbacks, I was encouraged to find that the blade alignments which were previously a bit wavy, were now perfect. All seemed to be going well. After resharpening ,I found to my disappointment that the split nut holes in both blades were not lining up to receive the handles. The holes were a good 3/8\" too high.(about the same measure the hardbacks were previously knocked down). Unable to work out why this had occurred,the easiest solution at the time was to re drill new holes in the blades. In later consideration I have come up with 2 possibilities to why this may have occured. #the hardbacks were originally fitted with a 3/8\" clearance at the handle end on purpose. This was done as a means of \"canting\" the blade. (old stain marks left by the hardback do support this theory.) #the hardbacks were originally fitted with a 3/8\" clearance along the full length of the blade. (old stain marks left by the hardback don\'t support this theory.) Can anyone assist me with the right answer! planemaker.
I should have mentioned in my previous message that after taking the hardbacks off both handsaws, the tops of the blades were parallel with the line of teeth. I will post photo\'s of both saws shortly. regards planemaker;
Hi Planemaker, Welcome to the forum, I\'m not sure I can answer your question... The issue as to whether a blade was canted originally or not remains a bit of guess work, a rule of thumb is that saws made prior to 1850 are more likely to be canted as originally made, after 1850 less likely. The saws you describe, I would guess that the toe end of the back has been knocked down, but not the handle end. It\'s normal for the back to sit up from the handle a bit 3/8 wouldn\'t be uncommon, check as to where the back is inlet into the handle to get an idea of where it was originally. Also if the holes in the blade have opened up over time the handle can \"rock\" back and forward a bit, which might confuse things a bit. I did a bit of a write up on canted blades, it\'s in the Article section here.. http://www.backsaw.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=77 Regards Ray
Hi Ray. Thank you for your reply. I think your pretty right with comment \" The saws you describe, I would guess that the toe end of the back has been knocked down, but not the handle end.\" The handle inlet to receive the the hardback was a reasonably tight fit on both saws prior to me disassembling them for refurbish. What I did was measure down from the hardback at each end of the saw blade,tapped the hardback down till parallel, then had to re drill new holes so the hardback would properly seat in the handle inlet. Whether this was technically the correct method to follow,I am not sure, but from a personal prospective I am much happier to have the saws in parallel alignment than the way they were canted. I will submit photo\'s of the 2 saws shortly, as they are good examples of a G & T Gray, as well as an early Spear & Jackson. Thanks Ray for your help. regards planemaker.