> If using vinegar will damage springs,  it stands to reason that vinegar
> would not be good to use on saw plates seeing as they are made of 
> spring
> steel.

I just used vinegar on the plate of a circa 1890 Disston 10 inch back 
saw
with no apparent (at least not yet) ill effects.  The handle is 
gorgeous,
but some idiot left it to gather dust in an open shop for maybe a decade
or two.  The dust absorbed all the ambient moisture with predictable
results.

I've had some luck making springs out of old file tangs.  Annealed, they
work pretty easily.

Mike in Sacto