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In the Shop

Restoring Saw Handle
by Bob Sturgeon

This article is focused primarily on hand saw handles but it can be used on any wooden application.  (Handles of hammers, planes, hatchets, axes, you name it).

Hand Saws whether purchased at the Local Flea Market, the Elite Antique Shop of Mall, or the Notorious Online Auction Emporium, are often times received in well used and uncared for condition.  Ground in grime and sweat from many years in the hands of skilled carpenters.  Then from their hands to spend the next 30 or 40 years hanging up in an old barn or garage.

Sometimes dirt laden to the point that you can no longer even see the possible beautiful old finish, underneath.

First thing to do is to remove the handle from the blade.  Most handles are very easy to remove, once in a while you get one you have to say a few choice words over.  Unscrew one saw nut about half way, and then tap this nut with the butt end of your screwdriver.  If the face side of the saw screw moves out a bit, fine, tap it on out.

If not and the screw appears stuck, take an X-ACTO knife point and carefully circle around the face of the screw just enough to break the seal between it and the surrounding wood.  Remove the remaining screws in the same manner. Use a nail set and hammer if need be.

If both pieces turn around together, use a Wooden Hand Clamp.  Put one jaw over the face side of the screw with fine sandpaper in between and cock the clamp on the nut side, to one side so the nut can be turned out.

Sometimes wood will chip up around the face side no matter what you do, if this happens, push the wood back down with your fingernail and go ahead and remove the screw.  Raise the wood chip up slightly with the tip of the Exact-O knife blade and put a little wood glue under it with a flat toothpick, press down and clamp overnight.  Put the saw screws in a small zip lock bag and put a piece of masking tape on the front with the saw name on the bag to identify what screws go to which saw.  Sometimes I may be working on 3 or 4 saws at a time so I keep each in a different bag.

Handle as found

Cleaning the dirt and grime from the handle can be done with many different products, but the one I have found that works best for me is a product called Kramer's Best Antique Improver available at www.kramerize.com.  Check out the web site, lots of good information and examples.  This product can be used to clean any type of finish whether it be Varnish, Shellac, or whatever without harming any of them.  If used on dry weathered wood, it will put back a beautiful antique color to the wood.

Its not cheap, $14.95 for an 8oz. bottle, but once you use it, I think you will agree with me its great at any price.  This product can also be used on any metal surface, enhances the old patina and helps prevent further rust.

Great for cleaning wooden planes, metal planes, hammers, chisels, any hand tools. You can clean a lot of tools with one bottle.  I buy it by the quart, that way its like getting an 8oz. bottle free.

If your handle has old paint splatters on it, the Kramer's will dissolve them but not hurt the old finish. Just rub until they come off.  If you have a heavy paint spot, take the Exact-O knife and shave off the top layers of the paint, but don't go down all the way to the old finish.  Don't try to pop the whole spot off at once or it will take off the old finish underneath with it.  Then clean the spot with the Kramer's until it is gone.  Let dry overnight.

Handle - Example 1

If after cleaning you have a handle with a good percentage of old finish, proceed with about three to six coats of paste wax I usually put on five.  I use Johnson's Paste Wax, available at most grocery stores in the floor care section.  I have tried many different brands and homemade concoctions, but have never found anything better than Johnson's.  Apply a thin coat and let dry for about ten minutes and buff with a paper shop towel.  Keep applying additional thin coats until you are pleased with the shine.  Do final buffing with a Terry Cloth towel.

Handle - Example 2

With this handle we have a different situation, finish mostly gone, chipped up, maybe a little old finish left around the inside and the back of the handle.  Best thing to do here is to remove the remaining old finish and put some kind of new finish on.  A lot of people at this point would reach for the good old paint stripper, but I have found that most old finishes are usually on the brittle side and I scrape it off with a sharp pocket knife blade.  I like the pocket knife because it can get into small areas.  Most times it just pops off, finish that is solid will scrape away. 

Once the old finish is off, if the handle is very smooth all over, great.  If its rather on the rough side, sand with 220 garnet paper or what ever 220 you like, using a small block for back up on the flat sides and by hand on the rest following the grain.  Don't go overboard sanding, you just want it fairly smoothed up.  Scrub with the OOOO Steel Wool and the Kramer's to blend in with the rest of the handle.  At this point if the handle has a nice pleasing color, you are ready for finish. Let dry for a couple of hours.

If after the Kramer's it is still very light colored you may wish to stain.

I use Min-Wax oil stain in colors of English Chestnut, Provincial, (both shades of old looking brown), Red Mahogany, and Red Oak.  Put on a pair of latex gloves and apply with one half of a blue shop towel, let sit for a couple minutes and then brush very lightly with the other half of the towel, just barely touching the wood to even it up.  Let dry 24 hours.

Now to move on to the finish.  I use a product called Min-Wax Wipe-On Poly Clear Satin (Also comes in Gloss, just like Satin better) comes in pint and quart cans.  Available at Home Depot and Wal-Mart.

Hey wait a minute did he just say the dreaded "Polyurethane" word, yes he did, but please bear with him.  This product will do everything that Boiled Linseed Oil or Tung Oil will do but with practically none of the work.  Ease to apply, finishes to beautiful Hand Rubbed look, doesn't look plastic and best of all dries and can be recoated in two hours.  You don't even have to sand between coats.  No final rub down with Pumice or Rottenstone.  Hope everyone has calmed down by now.  Remember Boiled Linseed Oil at one time was the new kid on the block.  My motto is try first, condemn second.

Take a blue paper shop towel, tear in half, fold up into about a 2x2 square.  Apply Wipe-On Poly to the towel and rub in circular motions over the entire handle.  Apply plenty on this first coat, it will soak up quite a bit the first time.  Take the other half of the dry towel and very lightly brush away any finish that has puddled up of still looks excessively wet, barely hit the surface.  Don't leave any looking wet and shiny.  Blot out the screw holes and hang up by a length of wire to dry.

I hang mine on the blade of an old bow saw, that I have said I am going to clean up someday, but on the other hand it makes a heck of a drying rack.

Apply the additional coats thinner and rub in well, brushing off as before.  What you want is a build up of thin coats.  After about the third coat or so you'll see the finish coming to the top of the surface.  I usually apply five coats.  Let dry 24 hours after the last coat.

Now for the final step, applying the wax.  Open the Johnson's Paste Wax and for the first coat apply with OOOO Steel Wool rubbing in circles.  This will smooth up and polish the last application of the Wipe-On Poly underneath.  Do this with the steel wool only once. Let sit about ten minutes, and buff with a blue shop towel.  The rest of the coats of wax apply with half a blue shop towel, buffing between each.  I put on five coats of wax, finally buffing with a terry cloth towel.

Results

Cleaned only with Kramer's and waxed

Cleaned, completely refinished, and waxed

Medallion and Saw Nuts

The brass saw nuts and medallion can be cleaned while other things are drying.  Some people like to leave them as found, but I prefer to clean them to an old brass shine.  Take the screws and nuts and screw them together.

Work on the medallion first.  Take a small piece of OOOO Steel Wool and soak one end of it in Kramer's.  Scrub the nut face first, rotating the nut as you clean, then clean only the rim of the medallion.  If nickel screws, don't scrub too hard nickel is just plated and will chip off.  What you want to do is just remove the old dirt and grime, to a dull brass color, not a high bright shine. 

Put a paper towel over the top of your vise that has wooden jaws with the vise open about 3/4 of an inch.  Push the nut of the medallion into the paper just enough to be held firmly in the jaws with the medallion facing up.  The paper towel keeps from making a mess of your vise. 

Pour enough "BRASSO" brass cleaner (available at most any grocery) to fill the cup of the medallion. 

Let soak while you cleanup the rest of the screws and nuts with the Kramer's. Scrub the medallion with a small stiff brass wire brush. (the kind you clean battery posts with but must be brass) those little flea market brushes are just too soft. Wipe out with paper towel and fill up again with BRASSO, let soak again.

Give it another scrub and this time it should come clean. Some are pretty grungy.  Polish the medallion a little with the OOOO Steel Wool and Kramer's and the screws are done.  Put back in the zip lock bag until assembly time.

One final thought, at times you will run into cracks in the handles.  Cracks across screw holes or through the handle that lead to the outside can be spread open slightly and wood glue inserted and clamped.  Stress or weather cracks on the other hand cannot be clamped therefore they must be filled. 

Putty sticks, the kind used to putty up nail holes in paneling is one of the best things I have found to use.  These come in several different colors to match the handle color you have.  Rub the stick across the stress crack filling the void to the top and then rub with a paper towel to smooth an level.  Do this after the finish has been applied, but before any wax is put on.  Putty sticks state they can be waxed over but a finish cannot be put over it.

© Bob Sturgeon
In the Ohio Valley of Indiana
December, 2005

Additional Techniques from The Porch

Tom Ford Tom in KY

Bob has graced us with a nice How To on the restoration of wooden handles. I've read several articles or other internet posts on the restoration of saws and I usually do not see much detail on the handle. The tip on removing a spinning screw is cool. I use a rubber glove on the slick side with a little foul language, that never fails me. Your way looks much more family oriented. Most of the others focus largely on the blade and specifically Disston etching. I was glad to see the focus directed to the handle for a change.

Bill Ghio on Maryland's Eastern Shore

Good article and I especially liked the idea of scribing around the nut w/ the X-ACTO knife to prevent tear out. Another trick that has worked well for me is to drill a hole, same size as the nut, in a block of wood, then tap the nut into this hole. If you size it correctly, the edge of the hole will support the wood at the edge of the nut and prevent blowout.

Charlie Driggs in Newark DE

Yes, Bob Sturgeon did a nice, professional job with this.

Bob should be particularly pleased by Jim Thompson's compliment, as I have several saws with handles Jim refurbished and I can tell you all that Jim is an expert at making a saw handle look even more sensuous in real life than his posted pictures indicate.

One thing I can suggest to improve on Bob's technique deals specifically with what Tom comments on above.  I used to use (I'm pretty sure) the same technique Bob wrote up involving a handscrew - until I fractured one by compressing the shaft of the screw off-center just as Bob describes.  Pretty depressing when you're dealing with a difficult to find item.  I took some inspiration from an old overhead valve (auto-engine) spring compressor hanging in my shop, pulled out my brace and a #9 bit chosen to match the larger sawscrew heads, and drilled a handscrew to provide a tool that both held the medallion in place and allowed direct access to the screw head on the other side.

Works like a charm without rubber gloves, wood chips, cussing or any other external aid, significantly reduces the risk of damaging a medallion screw, and still works just fine as a handscrew clamp.
 

Bob Sturgeon in Kentuckiana

Saw Screw Repair or What the heck do I do when the face of the nut snaps off.

I have taken apart over 150 hand saws with very few problems, but there will comes a time when you will find one that has at least one saw screw that seems to be welded on. Mine came along in the form of an old hand saw with a beautiful old hardware store etch that I was really impressed with, three screws and a medallion. The first two screws and the medallion came out with no trouble at all. Then I got to the final screw and it would not budge. I put a clamp on to hold it, and tried to turn it one more time and of course the face to the nut snapped off as a cute little disc, leaving the shank of the nut wrapped around the screw.

I thought, well all I have to do is take a pair of pointed-nose Vise Grips, lock on and turn it out. Didn’t work. I thought about taking a small cold chisel and cracking the shank in two, but was afraid I might break the handle. After some high powered thinking, I decided to drill it out.

Knowing a regular twist drill bits habit of wandering, I selected one of those Pilot Point Bits by Dewalt (several other companies make the same thing) in a size just slightly larger than the shank.

 

Chucked the bit in a drill press and proceeded slowly to drill it out, a little at a time.

The point on the bit stayed in the middle of the screw and the outside of the bit cut away the broken shank.

I put a replacement screw and nut back in and all was saved. A good end to a bad situation.

Bob.

January, 2006