Hello all, I know that this is closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, but the replies in the "decorated sawnuts" topic about cleaning saws got me thinking. I was particularly interested ( and initially not a little perturbed) in Joe's method of using a Marples chisel to remove the rust. But I think that Joe's criteria for a well honed chisel with no burrs or sharp edges allayed my fears a little. Not that I thought that this method would be suitable for me as none of my chisels are anything like this. Then I thought that the Chinese may come to my aid, they being the largest importer of chocolate which forms the basis of their steel and export tools industry. And I was right. I rushed and got my trusty chisels that I bought at Lidl (7 chisels for GBP 7) and started to remove the rust from the blade of a Crownshaw Chapman that has seen better days. The chisel removed the rust wonderfully without a scratch to the blade. Then, gaining confidence in the quality of the chisel I tried to scratch the saw blade with it. Try as I might, it would not mark the steel at all. So, Joe, forget the well honed Marples. Go for the cheapest Chinese manufactured chisels that you can find. There is no chance whatsoever that they will scratch an old saw blade. And because they won't you can use whatever pressure or force that you like. The rust positively flies off the blade. Just two caveats before I finish. I am not at all keen on cleaning saws, but if I have to, this is the method that I will use in future, finished off with 0000 wire wool as per Joe's recommendations. And secondly I am presuming that my chisels (although branded in English), are Chinese in origin as are most cheap tools nowadays. Apologies to China (in this instance only) if they are not. Fred PS. The images below show the cleaned front of the saw and the uncleaned rear. The saw is interesting in its own right, believe it or not, and I will put it on the site at some stage in the not too distant future.
Hey Fred I'm looking forward to the final results. I don't have any of the newly imported chisels and I think that I probably never will but I'm glad to see someone has found a good use for them. As for the Marples, I sharpen it till there is resistance when applied to the rusty areas and the scraping on the saw brings a red dust. The saw hopefully retains some its aging and this can be mellowed with the steel wool. Wax also evens out the look and slows the never ending oxidation. As an aside, have you noticed that on older saws that the higher quality saws steel always seem to look nicer, with less pitting and stamps/etches seem to be more likely to be visible. I don't know if the original owners took better care because it cost more. Second quality saw steel over many years look like they degrade more and much quicker. I guess there was a reason they cost less. Cheers Joe S
Hello Joe, Once again you got me thinking about this with your comment on quality saws. Now I don't have many of these and I am not going to test my chisel theories on the really nice ones, but I did the chisel test on a less than wonderful Colver that I have. ( The blade is so thin that it bends just looking at it). The results of the test appear in the photo below. My chisel did put a scratch in it relatively (very) easily. So I must amend my comments of the original post in this topic from:- "There is no chance whatsoever that they will scratch an old saw blade". to:- "there is no chance whatsoever that they will scratch a quality old saw blade". However, I think that I may have discovered what I hope will become a new (International) benchmark for saw blade hardness - the "Triple C" (Cheap Chinese Chisel) Standard. On a slightly more serious but very pie-in-the-sky note, it would be interesting to conduct research into the constituents of the steel which makes up saw blades of various ages and makes. I know that each batch of steel will differ as the Victorian's quality control was rather ad hoc, but you may well get trends within the batch variations and across makes and brands. It would certainly lay to rest once and for all the notions of "London", "Spring", "Silver", "extra tempered" etc. It would , of course cost an astronomical amount to do, (and where the funding would come from I have no idea) but I am sure that Sheffield University will have some very good metallurgical labs., and if Simon is looking for a subject for post-Doctoral research, he could do far worse. Fred
I haven't used a chisel, but I have had success using a sharpened putty knife to remove saw blade rust. The corners are dulled to prevent scratching. Its shape is similar to a chisel for control, the relatively long handle reduces the chatter that a hand held razor blade sometimes gives, and its blade flexibility also lessens scratching potential even when applying lots of pressure. 0000 steel wool is great for cleanup, EXCEPT around an etch where it can round off the edges of the etch and make it less clear. Over an etch, I prefer to use a hardwood block and fine sandpaper with WD40, to clean up after the putty knife and/or razor blade treatment.