Crosscut Saw Question

[Dragon63005]

As many of you may have seen in prior threads, I had a real Missouri Woodsman's Christmas and was gifted with many things woodsy. One of them was a two man crosscut saw in a champion tooth pattern, shown on an earlier thread. As I had some time today, I decided to start cleaning it up. Using WD40 and 100 grit sand paper, I began working on the main blade in order to remove the rust patina. This is a very slow process to be sure.

Treeline had advised me to spray WD 40 or likewise down the handles in order to remove them as they are Eastern loop handles. That worked just fine. Handles are in great shape. I was hoping to find an acid etched logo on the blade, but was unable to find one. I then started to sand with fine paper the handles that I had removed. The previous owner(s) had kept these very well oiled as it seemed all I was removing was dirt and BLO.

So here is my questions:

1) There is a round Atkins logo and an Atkins No. 8 on each of the handles. My question is does this refer to the saw, or to the handles (i.e., are they No. 8 handles or is this a No. 8 saw)

2) As I remove all the years of oil, sweat, and dirt the underlying wood is beautiful. However, I am concerned about sanding out the logos and don't want to necessarily do that. Any ideas on how to get down to bare wood without removing the logos that are etched on the handles?

Thanks in advance fellas and ladies.

Lorenzo

[Bax 40]

Lorenzo you might try oven cleaner, it strips furniture great, spray on ,let it work and hose off.

Larry

[RavenLoon]

Need Pictures. Atkins made saws and handles. I use 0000 steel wool on wood until the dirt is off.

[Double Ott]

"So here is my questions:

1) There is a round Atkins logo and an Atkins No. 8 on each of the handles. My question is does this refer to the saw, or to the handles (i.e., are they No. 8 handles or is this a No. 8 saw)"

The handle model numbering system did not match a number on the saw. While there is a good chance that they are original to the saw, it was common that handles did get moved from saw to saw.

What Larry said to clean them up.

Hope this helps, Tom

[Dragon63005]

Larry,

You are the bomb sir. I will give it whirl. Thanks brother..

Lorenzo

Lorenzo you might try oven cleaner, it strips furniture great, spray on ,let it work and hose off.

Larry

[Dragon63005]

While you guys were busy responding to my question above, I somehow came upon a link for an 1894 E.C. Atkins Catalog. Man was this thing cool. It does show the saws and the handles from Atkins. Looking at their pics, it looks like my handles should be a No. 1 handle. Further, there is no No. 8 saw at least from what I can see.

Here is the link to this catalog. I will try Larry and Tom's suggestion on the oven cleaner and get some pics up.

http://roseantiquetools.com/sitebuil...fopt9.93mb.pdf

[Treeline]

... Using WD40 and 100 grit sand paper, I began working on the main blade in order to remove the rust patina. This is a very slow process to be sure...

100 grit would have removed any etching as well, too course. I use finer emory paper and go at the etch area really carefully first to see if there is any evidence of the etch. Make sure you're sanding along the length of the saw as well, not up and down. There's sort of a "grain" to these, and sanding up and down will leave a lot of scratches in the metal.

So here is my questions:

1) There is a round Atkins logo and an Atkins No. 8 on each of the handles. My question is does this refer to the saw, or to the handles (i.e., are they No. 8 handles or is this a No. 8 saw)

The handles and saws rarely match brand and I've never seen them match by number. The difference in the catalog vs model you have is probably just because of difference in year of catalog vs year of manufacture of the part.

2) As I remove all the years of oil, sweat, and dirt the underlying wood is beautiful. However, I am concerned about sanding out the logos and don't want to necessarily do that. Any ideas on how to get down to bare wood without removing the logos that are etched on the handles?

Why not just sand enough to clean them up and re-oil them. Leave some of the patina. They are antiques after all. One of the benefits of using oil in the first place is that you don't need to sand it all off (like varnish or urethane). You can just keep recoating.

How about some pics!!

[ATsawyer]

I was hoping to find an acid etched logo on the blade, but was unable to find one. I then started to sand with fine paper the handles that I had removed.

Shine a light on the center of the saw and get your head down low on the blade. Pivot the saw to catch the light at different angles. This will often reveal some part of an etching that can be compared with those of other saws. Atkins saws had a soft etch that wore off faster than Simonds and Disstons. Look for circles and ovals like the one below:

Atkins 550.jpg

[Dragon63005]

ATSawyer,

Beautiful saw. Thanks.

[Dragon63005]

Treeline,

Sounds like the course of action I was thinking...

thanks.

100 grit would have removed any etching as well, too course. I use finer emory paper and go at the etch area really carefully first to see if there is any evidence of the etch. Make sure you're sanding along the length of the saw as well, not up and down. There's sort of a "grain" to these, and sanding up and down will leave a lot of scratches in the metal.



The handles and saws rarely match brand and I've never seen them match by number. The difference in the catalog vs model you have is probably just because of difference in year of catalog vs year of manufacture of the part.



Why not just sand enough to clean them up and re-oil them. Leave some of the patina. They are antiques after all. One of the benefits of using oil in the first place is that you don't need to sand it all off (like varnish or urethane). You can just keep recoating.

How about some pics!!