This huge 26inch mitre box saw was made by E. C. Atkins of Indianapolis around 1911. Atkins was one of the top US saw makers of the hand tool era. The saw blade was made of thick, very high quality steel and the handle was made of apple wood. At some point in its history, the saw was left outside on the ground, exposed to the elements for perhaps several years, resulting in extensive rusting and the onset of decay in the handle. Luckily this piece of history was not thrown away and survived for us to bring it back to life.

My goal in tool restoration is to make the tool clean and functional while preserving all of the unique signs of its age and history.

00:00 Intro
00:31 Disassembly
01:03 Scraping
02:36 Sanding and polishing
05:57 Restoring the handle
10:33 Sharpening and setting
12:23 Waxing and reassembly
14:18 Test cut and using a mitre box