In this week's restoration video, I repair and restore a rusty, broken 90 year old handsaw that I found in a junkyard a few months ago. There is no telling how long this tool has been sitting outside but the blade is thoroughly rusted and the original handle is falling apart as I touch it. Follow along as I completely repair and restore this antique tool and put it back in service.

I began the project by disassembling the pieces which was not very difficult given that the handle was falling apart the more I touched it. The medallion nut was stuck closed but it was no problem to manipulate it off. I scraped and brushed the loose rust off before using my own blend of rust dissolving solution to remove the remaining corrosion.

I very much wanted to see if the original manufacturer's etching was still under the rust so I used fine grit sandpaper lubed with oil to slowly remove any oxidation and was excited to find it although it was very hard to see. At this point I also noticed that the bottom half of it was missing which indicated that half of the saw had been ground away after 90 years of sharpening.

I hammered the saw blade straight and sharpened and tensioned it before testing it to make sure it cut straight.

The handle was in terrible shape and required a ton of gluing to piece it back together. I used filler to fill cracks that could not be glued shut, bleached the wood, and stained it to give it an antique wellused look.

I cleaned, polished, and nickel plated the brass medallion and nuts. A few of them needed minor repairs to fill cracks and holes.

After assembly, I gave it all one last test and it cuts perfectly straight.

Timecodes:

00:00 Disassembly
00:46 Rust removal
02:14 Cleaning oxidation from the blade
03:08 Straightening the blade
03:36 Adjusting the set of the teeth
04:15 Sharpening the saw teeth
05:00 Tensioning the blade
05:12 Gluing the handle pieces together
07:10 Sanding the handle
07:40 Bleaching the wood
07:55 Filling and sanding cracks
08:35 Preconditioning the wood
08:53 Staining
09:51 Repairing the brass nuts
11:26 Nickel plating
11:42 Assembly
12:06 Testing
12:12 Final reveal

Here are links to the products I used in this video. If you purchase from these links, the channel will get a small commission.

Wire brushes https://amzn.to/3Ok8wqy
Sandpaper https://amzn.to/3OJPLNa
PB Blaster https://amzn.to/3njcS5t
Wood conditioner https://amzn.to/3bioL8T
Wood bleach https://amzn.to/3nfE0lU
Stain https://amzn.to/3HTH68w
Vinegar https://amzn.to/3ynqkvB
Metal working solder https://amzn.to/3ygdLRx
Butane torch https://amzn.to/3A6u8me
Nickel Plating Kit https://amzn.to/38PxtLf
Mini Filing Set https://amzn.to/3s3IAGt
Punches https://amzn.to/3a9bnDG
Klean Strip Boiled Linseed Oil https://amzn.to/3KTSJ0r

If you would like to see me restore a 100 year old handsaw, click here    • Repairing a 120 Year Old Rusty Broken...  

If you want to watch the junkyard tour where I found this saw    • Help Me Pick Out a New Restoration Pr...  

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Cheers!