Tool Restoration and Maintenance

Sloped Gullets: The Finer Points of Sharpening

Submitted by Leif on Wed, 02/17/2010 - 7:35pm

Click to enlarge

 I find it hard, even after many years, to carry on a conversation about "sloping gullets" with at least a little chuckle.   Not at how it refers to a certain method of sharpening a hand saw mind you - its more that every time I hear the phrase "sloping gullet", I can't help but think of some sort of deformed fish...

That, and when researching the origins of this icthyological pursuit, I ran across a reference to a photo of a WWII era front-line French infantry "installation" (actually a shack the infantrymen had set up as a bar) called "L'Auberge des Gosiers en Pente" - or "The Inn of the Sloping Gullets" - that is to say, always thirsty... (from "The French in love and war: popular culture in the era of the World Wars" By Charles Rearick)

When sharpening a saw, there are several angles you are concerned with. The terms associated with these angles which are most important to this conversation include rake, fleam, and of course - slope (as shown in the graphic above -you can click on any of the images to see a larger, clearer version).  I'll try not to go into too heavy technical detail on saw sharpening as that's another subject, and it's been well covered by others... as well as myself.

Foley Retoother

Submitted by Leif on Wed, 01/14/2009 - 8:57pm

A hand-driven Foley retoother (model 332) in action...

 

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Recommendations on Sawmakers, Restorers, and Sharpeners

Submitted by Leif on Mon, 10/13/2008 - 6:37pm

Every once in a while I'm asked if I could restore or make a saw for a fellow woodworker. Unfortunately, my current employment situation allows me little time for personal endeavors (like finishing my shop!), much less that for others - so I've had to severely cut back work I do for others.

Gladly, I'm certainly not the only game in town, and my response is invariably to recommend one of the others I know that are in the business. It seems that just a few years ago when I first posted the article about making your own saws, there were only three premium sawmakers with product on the market(perhaps more, it depends on your definition of "premium"). Now - it seems - there are many, many more to choose from. When asked, I usually steer someone towards what I believe would fit them best, and wanted to compile that list in a single location - here, obviously. If I don't mention everyone that's out there, please forgive me - these are only the ones I've had some direct experience with.

Rehabbing an 8" Disston backsaw

Submitted by Leif on Tue, 08/26/2008 - 7:06pm

The smaller Disston 8" backsaws don't show up at an affordable price too often (at least for me they don't!) and when I saw this mis-labeled saw (it was advertised as a 10" saw, the seller had measured it's total length rather than blade length) on ebay some time ago I placed a lowball bid, fully not expecting to get the saw. Yet, I won - I think I got it for around $18 including shipping. Here's the saw as it arrived:

The saw: bought for under $20 - though the price turned out too good to be true.|

The saw: bought for under $20 - though the price turned out too good to be true.|

Upon closer inspection, my elation was short-lived. The saw had some serious flaws. What I though was simply dirt or discoloration turned out to be pitting, and quite severe, as you can see in the next photo.

Really the pits.: You can see the extent of the pitting better in this photo

Lily Whites are Long Gone

Submitted by Leif on Tue, 08/19/2008 - 12:03pm

Any reader of this site knows I am a fan of oil stones... One of the finest quality oil stones out there are by the Norton company are known as "Lily White Washita" stones.  These are the type of stones I learned how to sharpen on - I had one of these stones for many years, and lost it through a mishap 10 or 12 years ago now - and I have missed it. They had gone out of production many years ago and were no longer available, but still command a hefty price for a vintage one on ebay and the like when you found a used one. 

Then, a couple years ago, Joel Moskowitz at Tools for Working Wood worked his magic with the Norton company (the manufacturer and owner of the quarry where they are mined) and got them to resurrect their Lily White Washita line of oil stones. 

When I heard they were available again I was ecstatic.  But of course I didn't buy any right away - I always had something else that was more important to get first, as I now have a hard translucent arkansas that's been serving me quite well.  However - I nearly waited too long...

Restoring a Lost Cause - Part 3

Submitted by Leif on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 6:08pm

I finished the handle with a some amber shellac, the color of which (along with the witch's brew of stain) helps hide the differences between the woods. 

Well - the final fix shows, but at least it's not painfully obvious:

As a whole, the handle didn't come out too bad:

A closer look at the filled holes, shows some flaws:

A closer view - there are some pits in the fill, but not too bad:

Finally, a couple before and after shots:

Restoring a Lost Cause - Part 2

Submitted by Leif on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 6:07pm

To work on the back, it seemed right to clean it up first so I could see just what I had. A little time at the grinder with a deburring wheel to clean off the grunge was in order...

Once I got the back down to bare metal, it was over to the press to straighten it out. Here I'm using an arbor plate underneath and a thick chunk of steel on top to sandwich the back and allow me to close it up evenly:

The chunk of steel doesn't flatten the back uniformly across it's width - there's always a little bending involved, so one has to work the entire length of the back to get it straight. After about a half hour of messing around with it, I had the back straightened out:

Restoring a Lost Cause - Part 1

Submitted by Leif on Mon, 06/02/2008 - 6:07pm

This was a small project I did a couple of years ago... A recent conversation I had reminded me of it, and I thought some might find it interesting so figured I would post the story here. It's one of my favorite stories to tell, and it was a fun little project...

I was reading a post in a woodworking forum asking a question about straightening a saw - a backsaw in particular. Seems a fellow had picked up an old backsaw on Ebay and was hoping to restore it to use for himself, but was having a bit of difficulty. It seems it was bent, and he just couldn't seem to get it straight. Several helpful suggestions were given - and followed - to no avail. A further description (I don't remember if the exact conversation, or the photos), the general consensus was that it wasn't worth fixing. That's when I stepped in... I was looking for a bit of a challenge, and this was right down that alley. I got the original owner to either give or sell me (I honestly don't remember if I paid for it) the old saw to see what I could do with it.

When it arrived I got a chance to take a good look at it:

Pretty rough, to say the least - it would take a lot of work..  But if I'm anything - its a champion of lost causes... 

Cleaning an Old Oil Stone

Submitted by Leif on Sat, 09/08/2007 - 8:13pm

A fellow woodworker (Jeff Ranck) reported the following experiences to me that might be helpful on cleaning some very badly clogged oil stones:

Sharpening a Gouge

Submitted by Leif on Thu, 08/30/2007 - 7:56pm

Sharpening a Gouge

Re-shaping the bevel

The victim is a 1/2" Stiletto brand cabinetmaker's gouge recently acquired in a lot of vintage chisels.  It looks like it's been well taken care of, as the blade is full length, and the edge is perpendicular to the axis of the blade:

The right side of the photo above show a bit of rounding over on the right side corner, but it's not excessive - most likely its from normal wear.

Turning it over reveals a little more of it's history - it appears as if the previous user used a grinder or a coarse stone, but didn't take it past that to get his edges. You can see the striations left by the previous sharpening:

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