help me understand...

I have one of these. My dad worked on a logging crew when he was a kid, and he calls it a “Set”. They used it on big saws – cross-cuts and the like. I’m not totally clear on how it was used, but I think the top plate you mention is to set the rakers.

-- http://www.peteroxley.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --

OK I can see what you are saying, and my mistake in the pics is not offering any reference for the size of the jointer. It’s only 5” wide and 2 1/4” tall. smaller than my opened hand. I have seen the big jointers that you are talking about on the big saws and in relation to what I have seen this jointer is much smaller than those. I have one of those big 2 man saws in my shop, painted as a sign, see here

I don’t think that this tool is taller than the gullets are deep on the saw, and I would think you’d need something larger to register on the blade of the saw for jointing, not mostly on the teeth.

I hope you don’t think I’m discounting you, I really don’t know any specifics, only what I’ve seen in some pictures while researching saw sharpening. Is the one you have really about the size of this one??

I do want to thank you again for your help.

-- Oldwolf - http://insidetheworkshop.blogspot.com/

Nope, mine must be the bigger type, but they look almost exactly alike, so that top plate must serve the same purpose on both. I’ll ask my dad to explain it to me again and I’ll get back to you.

-- http://www.peteroxley.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --

cool! Thanks for your help Peter. I can’t wait to hear what he has to say.

thank you

-- Oldwolf - http://insidetheworkshop.blogspot.com/

Oldwolf – sorry it’s taken me so long to follow up on this. This is how my dad explained it to me …

The plate in question moves in and out as the screw is tightened or loosened. On either side of the plate are ledges. If you turn the blade so the teeth are pointing up (as in sharpening), you can set the ledges on the teeth and one or more of the teeth or rakers will pass into the slot on the plate. When properly adjusted (flush for teeth or slightly recessed for rakers), any tooth or raker that protrudes through the plate is filed down to maintain equal and correct height.

I don’t know if it will help with your research, but mine is marked as follows:

ATKINS & CO
IND’P’LS IND
PAT
MAY 5 74
JUN 75
AU 81
JA 88

-- http://www.peteroxley.com -- http://north40studios.etsy.com --

Oh, that makes sense… I can really se how that would work on a larger saw blade.

I can tell you from practice it works very well just to hold a file and joint a regular handsaw as well :) That will help me as I am building a set up to perform hand tool woodworking in front of the public at Renaissance Faires for crowds, It’s conceivable that I would have to sharpen a saw on the go and I would get asked about specifics of the joiner. This at least helps me understand and explain.

I appreciate the extra effort here Peter, Thank you so much for going the extra mile. The understanding was worth the short wait. And please tell your father I said Thank You as well.

Oldwolf

-- Oldwolf - http://insidetheworkshop.blogspot.com/

Ya know, it’s funny, I have one that looks a lot like it and I had no idea what it was. I bought a saw on Ebay and the seller threw it in for nothing. I was wondering what it was and it’s just been sitting in my shop collecting dust. Mine says “Disston USA Pat’d Nov. 9, 1916”. Now at least I know what it is. Thanks.

-- Failure is the road to success if you learn to learn from your mistakes - Vince, Greenville, SC