Scott, 

An old friend that slipped and ended up needing bandages?

Why, you do what any of us would.  You make the handle repair, and re-finish it
so the repair still shows, but it now shows that indefinable something that
comes from a half century of being handled, used but not abused, worn in places,
still shiny where your hands rarely go.

Then you look at the chipped teeth, and say to yourself ‘Do I fettle this out,
or leave it to remind me, each sharpening making it a little less obvious.  2
teeth out of ….   will it make a difference to the utility of my old friend?
It might, depends where the gap tooth is.  Maybe it can stay, or maybe you tell
yourself that you’re just going to bring forward the next jointing.  Replacement
plate, and replaced handle, and its the same saw.

Or not.  Or maybe its retired to the wall or the saw till  still ready to work
if needed, but taking life a bit easier these days, and happy for the new young
kids to go out in the toolbox and show off their hardpoint teeth, until they
lose one and find that there is no return for a hardpoint saw plate.  You lose a
tooth and you’re junk.

Your saw - your choice.   We’re all here for you (and the saw)  The Porch has
always cared for its own, be they flesh or iron.



Richard Wilson
Yorkshireman 




> On 16 May 2021, at 18:02, scottg  wrote:
> 
> OLD SAW
> I am currently having a small crisis.
> I dropped my saw!
> A common Disston #4 and nothing special at all.
> Except I have been using it closing in on 50 years now.
> My favorite old, always reliable, saw. The saw that taught me posture and
stroke and how to saw straight and true.
> I dropped it and broke the handle bad and chipped off 2 teeth!
> I can carve another handle if I want, (I have since repaired the old one). I
have jointed and started filing new teeth.
> I have much better saws to use and if I totally restore the old one its not
that good of a saw really.
> But I used this one forever!
> I learned to file on that saw. I didn't like the lame handle it came with, so
I restyled my first saw handle on that saw. Filing out the details in my crude
little wooden shed where I started. Working on old tools in the dark ages before
practically anyone anywhere cared about old tools.
> I just can't decide between fully restoring it or moving on to another saw.
> For many our age, I am sure most of us have lost many important people in our
lives. I've lost a lot of them in the last years. Its kind of weird being on the
other side.
> Lived your life. Did the best you could. Saw a lot of water go under the
bridge. Occasionally over the bridge at floodtimes.
> I can repair the old saw but nobody except me would ever care. It'll be a 2
dollar saw at a yard sale eventually, same as when I met it, so long ago.
> 
> yours scott
> 
> -- 



-- 
Yorkshireman Galoot
in the most northerly county, farther north even than Yorkshire
IT #300