(NB Ray - if this topic is in the wrong part of these forums, please feel free to move it) Many backsaw-rebuilds are less forbidding than they at first appear; a 15 ½" sash-saw made by William Hasler of Old Street, London arrived with a loose saw-plate, distorted back, & with its handle split through both cheeks at the top fastening: Both of the original 9/16" flat saw-screws had been replaced by 9/16" boatbuilders' copper roves each side - fitting well in the original head-recesses - through & between which ran cut lengths of 6-gauge (approx 3/16") square boatbuilders' copper nail, peened as rivets. Once these soft rivets had been cautiously drilled out, the handle could be removed for repair. After lateral straightening; hand-sanding the saw-plate revealed these ragged fastening-holes: Beyond its scarcity; this backsaw is of interest as a late example of the saw-smithing/saw-plating skills understood to have been developed in the White Cross Street/Old Street area of London . . . . there is a plausible narrative of transfer of skills from the very early C18th (White family), through to the Powell family, then to the Moorman family, lastly to William Hasler - apprenticed to John Moorman in 1789. So preservation of this backsaw's pleasingly little-worn saw-plate was a priority. Happily, Isaac Smith of Blackburn Tools makes high-quality 9/16" flat saw-screws . . . . these, once sleeved with short lengths of 4.35mm/6.35mm ID/OD 304 stainless tube, were appropriately stout-shafted: It was straightforward, using lastly a taper pin reamer, to cautiously reform the ragged & ovalised holes in the saw-plate to a zero tolerance fit to 6.35mm 304 s/steel tube: The completed rebuild is pictured here - awaiting its first sharpen & set for a considerable number of years.
A machining tip I read somewhere... Never back screw a reamer. Apparently it changes the diameter. Split saw bolts are the invention of the devil.
Two pairs of sleeved flat saw-screws (from restorations/rebuilds within the past few years) - both are from 14" HILL LATE HOWEL sash-saws, distorted & cut into by the historical stresses of use & misuse, & (most likely) by on-the-workbench rough-&-ready saw-plate re-tensioning/straightening . . . . . . both of these pairs were sleeved in "yellow brass" (roughly 55 Rockwell B hardness) tube; which is very roughly equivalent in hardness to saw-plate; I now prefer to use 304 stainless (around 70 Rockwell B). NB: restoring complete straightness is not generally desirable, even if possible; since old saw-screws will have re-seated over time.