E. C. Atkins Backsaw

Recently at a tool show put on by my local tool collectors group, PAST, there was an auction and I came home with a couple boxes of tools.  One of them was a box of old, rusty saws, but I saw an Atkins backsaw in there so I bid on and won that lot.

As found: looks neglected, but at least the plate was straight

Other side - there was no etch or identifying marks on either side

The medallion

This saw has 14" of tooth line, 11 tpi (12ppi), and was filed crosscut.

The saw came apart easily

I took a long time sanding the plate and spine with 220 grit, then 320

The plate measured about 0.035" thick, which is far thicker than I like, and it makes the saw fairly heavy.  Does anybody know what a 14" crosscut backsaw would be used for?

The handle was in pretty good shape, except that the top horn had been broken off.

The handle as found

Scraped and sanded - there was some film finish remaining

Clamped a straight piece of wood to pare away the uneven surface of the top horn

Then glued on a piece of cherry (closest match I could find) and sketched a new horn

When the glue was dry, the horn was shaped

I cleaned up the saw bolts with light sanding, but what really made them shine was rubbing the heads on my strop!  Holy mackerel, what a shine!  I had a bit more trouble with the medallion, as it is recessed.  It soaked in Brasso for a while, then I used a toothbrush to clean it up.  This worked pretty well - not perfect, but good enough.

These look great

The handle got three coats of BLO over three days and it looks and feels great.  The cherry upper horn doesn't match so well, but give it a few decades and maybe it will blend right in.

Handle reinstalled with shiny bolts and medallion

I sharpened it to the same tpi and tooth profile as I found it, 11 tpi crosscut, approx. 14° rake and 20° fleam.

Glamour shot #1

Glamour shot #2

I'm happy with how this saw turned out, but the upper horn still doesn't look quite right to me.  It's a little too bulbous.  Maybe I'll reshape it later.

All for now - got more tools to fix up.