In the Saw Shop, new vintage tools for sale: Boy Scout Axe, Case knife, classic hatchet.

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

Skowhegan, ME

Here are the latest additions to my restored vintage tools for sale!

Plumb Boy Scout Axe
This is THE great American hatchet, the vintage Plumb Boy Scout Axe. This hatchet has a freshly sharpened and super clean head with the Boy Scout logo stamp clearly legible. The handle is the original (and hard to find) Plumb curved handle with the original finish (plus a couple of tiny paint spatters) and has been freshly reseated and rewedged making this
hatchet 100% solid and safe to use. It really doesn’t get any more classic
than this!

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$40

Unmarked laminated hatchet
This is a great unmarked vintage hatchet. This hatchet has a softer steel head with a tool steel bit forge welded to it (done to make a harder and more consistent edge) and a gently curved handle that has been freshly rewedged and treated with an old school linseed oil finish. Not the fanciest hatchet around but definitely a good solid user tool that will put most anything made today to shame!

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$25

Case XX Barlow
This is a vintage Case XX 62009 1/2 Barlow pocket knife. This knife has perfect dark bone handles, 2 classic high carbon steel blades that have been freshly cleaned and sharpened, and good, strong, springs! I have a hard time finding vintage knives that havn’t been damaged or worn out, this one is definitely super!

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$40

To order any of these restored vintage tools, drop me an email, give me a ring at 207-399-7108, or visit me at any of the following locations:

Elm Plaza, Waterville, ME (Mondays)
Tractor Supply, Skowhegan, ME (Tuesdays)
Arundel Flea Market, Rt 1 & Log Cabin Rd, Arundel, ME (Fridays)
298 W Front St, Skowhegan, ME (all other days)

If you’re looking for a special tool, please drop me an
email and let me know and I’ll restore one just for you!

SwiftWater Edge Tool Works provides mobile sharpening services across Maine and mail in services around the world for handsaws, carbide blades, planer knives, hand planes, chain saws, knives, scissors, hair clippers, router bits, and almost any blade!

Saw Shop Tech: Sandblasting saw blades.

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

Skowhegan, ME

I just had a question come to me via a Google search about sandblasting a 2 man crosscut saw blade. This one was important enough that I thought it rated a full post of its own.

In short, DON’T DO IT!

Don’t EVER sandblast any hand saw, crosscut saw, or circular saw (cordwood saw or buzz saw) if you care anything about ever being able to safely use them again. It’s the quickest and surest way I know of to ruin a saw blade beyond repair.

It’s true that sandblasting will clean ANY built up crud off a saw blade and it’s no fun hand cleaning hardened pitch off a cordwood saw (buzz saw). It will also do a great job of taking the tension out of the blade.

Saw blades owe much of their stiffness to tensioning, a process that stresses the blade in particular ways to allow it to be stiff and thin at the same time. Lose that tensioning and your saw blade will be impossible to saw with. I buy old cordwood blades to refurbish but I always turn down ones that have been painted on. 99 times out of 100, these blades have been sandblasted and it would be like running wet cardboard instead of a steel saw blade. Highly dangerous to say the least, just asking for a structural failure.

In the worst cases, sandblasting can overheat sections of the saw plate, leading to warped blades. Add these two things together and it’s like juggling a live hand grenade with the pin half pulled.

If you have a junk blade you just want to paint on, by all means, sandblast away. If you want to use the blade, put the sandblast away. If you even suspect a blade has been sandblasted, turn it down (all my blades are cleaned by hand only). It’s not worth a catastrophe.

Visit me at any of the following locations:

Elm Plaza, Waterville, ME (Mondays)
Tractor Supply, Skowhegan, ME (Tuesdays)
Arundel Flea Market, Rt 1 & Log Cabin Rd, Arundel, ME (Fridays)
298 W Front St, Skowhegan, ME (all other days)

If you’re looking for a special tool, please drop me an
email and let me know and I’ll restore one just for you!

SwiftWater Edge Tool Works provides mobile sharpening services across Maine and mail in services around the world for handsaws, carbide blades, planer knives, hand planes, chain saws, knives, scissors, hair clippers, router bits, and almost any blade!

Questions from the Saw Shop: cracking saw blades, cordwood saw engines, and more!

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

Skowhegan, ME

And we’re off!

1. (question about keeping saw blades from cracking)

Keeping circular saw blades from cracking is simple. Don’t hit foreign metal, don’t saw dull (overheating), don’t saw without enough set (overheating), don’t saw with pitch buildup (overheating) (seeing a trend here?), don’t feed the saw too fast (overheating). Do these things and it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever crack a blade (I have an 8″ set of Delta/Simonds Saw and Steel dado blades from the 1940s in stock that are in perfect condition. These saws WILL last if you don’t abuse them.).

2. (question about powering a cordwood saw with a dedicated engine)

It’s most common these days to see cordwood saws (buzz saws) running from tractor PTOs, however, back in the early days, it wasn’t uncommon to see them run from stationary, dedicated, engines (my grandfather ran one from a 20hp Model T flathead 4 and transmission). The problem trying to run one of these from today’s small engines is going to being lack of flywheel/rotating mass. Figure a minimum of 25-30hp and lots of hefty flywheel, not something you’re going to run off a lawnmower engine.

3. (question about how to determine a circular saw blade is damaged)

Missing carbides, chewed up carbides, missing teeth, wobble when running, abnormal whine when running, saw plate no longer flat (check with a straight edge). These are the quickest and easiest ways to spot a damaged blade.

Visit me at any of the following locations:

Elm Plaza, Waterville, ME (Mondays)
Tractor Supply, Skowhegan, ME (Tuesday and Wednesday)
Arundel Flea Market, Rt 1 & Log Cabin Rd, Arundel, ME (Fridays)
298 W Front St, Skowhegan, ME (all other days)

If you’re looking for a special tool, please drop me an
email and let me know and I’ll restore one just for you!

SwiftWater Edge Tool Works provides mobile sharpening services across Maine and mail in services around the world for handsaws, carbide blades, planer knives, hand planes, chain saws, knives, scissors, hair clippers, router bits, and almost any blade!

In the Saw Shop, new vintage tools for sale! Disston saw, Stanley plane, Witherby chisel.

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

Skowhegan, ME

Here are the latest additions to the stock of restored vintage tools available for sale!

Stanley #5 jack plane, type 11, 1910-1918
This is a Stanley Bailey #5 jack plane. The #5, along with the #4, was the staple of every carpenter’s toolbox in the day. This is a gorgeous, clean, plane with 99+% of the original body japanning and 100% of the original knob and tote finish (with a couple of very small paint splats on the knob, typical for a #5). This plane is clean, sharpened, and ready to work!
$50
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T.H Witherby 1″ bench chisel
This is a T.H. Witherby socket handle bench chisel. The Witherby branded chisels have long been known as some of the best chisels ever made for their superior steel. This one is 1″ wide and 6″ long with a solid and great looking vintage handle, freshly finished with a classic linseed oil finish and clearcoated. This is a super duper chisel, cleaned, sharpened, and ready to go!
$35
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Disston D-24. This is a pre-1928 Disston D-24 handsaw. This saw was classified as a “pruning saw” in the Disston catalogs of the day, but it was really just a heavy duty carpenter’s crosscut handsaw, designed by Harvey W. Peace and the Vulcan Saw Works before being taken over by Disston. This saw is 22″ long and 7 tpi with a faded but readable etch. This saw is clean and sharp with a fresh linseed oil and clearcoat finish on the handle.
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$30

If you are interested in any of the tools listed, give me a call at 207-399-7108, drop me an email, or visit me at any of the following locations:

Elm Plaza, Waterville, ME (Mondays)
Tractor Supply, Skowhegan, ME (Tuesday and Wednesday)
Arundel Flea Market, Rt 1 & Log Cabin Rd, Arundel, ME (Fridays)
298 W Front St, Skowhegan, ME (all other days)

If you’re looking for a special tool, please drop me an
email and let me know and I’ll restore one just for you!

SwiftWater Edge Tool Works provides mobile sharpening services across Maine and mail in services around the world for handsaws, carbide blades, planer knives, hand planes, chain saws, knives, scissors, hair clippers, router bits, and almost any blade!

News from the Saw Shop, Event Announcement: Skowhegan Fun and Business Fair

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

Skowhegan, ME

On March 3rd from 10am to 3pm, I will be at the Skowhegan Area High School (W Front St, Skowhegan, ME) for the Skowhegan Chamber of Commerce Fun And Business Fair. I’ll have tool displays, sharpening demonstrations, and a great selection of restored vintage tools of all sorts for sale!

If you’re in the Skowhegan area on March 3rd, stop by and say hi!

Visit me at any of the following locations:

Elm Plaza, Waterville, ME (Mondays)
Tractor Supply, Skowhegan, ME (Tuesday and Wednesday)
Arundel Flea Market, Rt 1 & Log Cabin Rd, Arundel, ME (Fridays)
298 W Front St, Skowhegan, ME (all other days)

If you’re looking for a special tool, please drop me an
email and let me know and I’ll restore one just for you!

SwiftWater Edge Tool Works provides mobile sharpening services across Maine and mail in services around the world for handsaws, carbide blades, planer knives, hand planes, chain saws, knives, scissors, hair clippers, router bits, and almost any blade!

Thoughts from the Saw Shop: Lost tools, lost skills, surviving a disaster.

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

Skowhegan, ME

In my business, I not only sharpen nearly every blade under the sun and repair a wide variety of hand tools, I also restore the old, high quality, tools that don’t need any gas, don’t need to be plugged in, and out quality almost anything being made today. In this post, I’m going to talk a little about lost skills.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not one of these militia, hardcore prepper, types getting set for the end of the world. What I’m talking about here are things like natural (or unnatural) disasters. Getting a set of my restored old tools is only half the job, here are the things I think everyone should know how to DO with the tools when it drops in the pot.

1. Cut your own firewood. The power is out, the fuel is out, but you still have to stay warm. Everyone should know how to go from a standing tree to a pile of split and dried firewood. This means knowing how to safely use a 1 man or 2 man crosscut saw and an axe for both chopping and splitting. If you have the right tools and know how to use them, you should never have to go cold.

2. Know how to build shelter. You’ve been pushed out of your home by a disaster and nobody has offered you a free room at the Ramada. Everyone should know how to build a sound shelter at least suitable for whatever climate you live in and preferably for a wide range of climates. This means everything from the axe (for basic, rough, highly temporary shelter) to traditional vintage carpenter’s tools such as handsaws, nail hammers (remember, no power means your electric drill isn’t going to be much good for driving screws!), hand planes, squares, etc, for more substantial shelter. Have the right tools and know how to use them and you can get through a disaster snug and dry.

Finally, learn how to use the tools so you can come up with your own list of things you can do with them to make your life in a pinch easier and more comfortable.

I don’t care if you’re a banker, business executive, or anyone else who figures they can always pay someone else so they never need to lift a tool. Learn to hammer a nail. Learn to cut boards with a handsaw and plane them smooth with a vintage hand place. Learn to split a stick of wood with an axe. Learn how to get that standing tree safely on the ground and cut up with a crosscut saw. You don’t have to make works of art, just get through whatever it is you have to get through.

You may never need these skills from your high rise office in the big city but you never know what’s going to happen.

Oh, and come see me for the great vintage tools that will let you get it done .

Visit me at any of the following locations:

Elm Plaza, Waterville, ME (Mondays)
Tractor Supply, Skowhegan, ME (Tuesday and Wednesday)
Arundel Flea Market, Rt 1 & Log Cabin Rd, Arundel, ME (Fridays)
298 W Front St, Skowhegan, ME (all other days)

If you’re looking for a special tool, please drop me an
email and let me know and I’ll restore one just for you!

SwiftWater Edge Tool Works provides mobile sharpening services across Maine and mail in services around the world for handsaws, carbide blades, planer knives, hand planes, chain saws, knives, scissors, hair clippers, router bits, and almost any blade!

More vintage tool YouTube videos, the good, the bad, the ridiculous: Axe follies again.

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

Skowhegan, ME

Hey folks! It’s time to critique some more YouTube videos of folks using (and misusing) old tools!

First up is a video that is mostly a win (YAY!)! Good solid video of felling a tree with an axe, especially clearing the junk away from the tree first so you have good, safe, footing. The only downsides I can find to this one is what looks like a short axe handle (use a full length 36″ handle for best power with a felling axe and it will save you time and effort) and a ridiculous bit (big honking wide curved bits on chopping axes are NOT better).

In the DO-NOT-EVER-DO-THIS-YOU-WILL-GET-HURT category, we have this video. Do not EVER try to hold an axe head with one hand and file it with the other. You will not have enough control to work safely and there’s about a 95% chance of you coming in contact with the sharp edge. No matter what kind of file or edge you’re working on, 2 hands on the file at all times!

Most ridiculous axe award of the day goes to this video. This axe is definitely shaped as a chopping axe but 6.6 lbs is WAY too heavy to control safely unless you’re Arnold Schwarzenegger. Also, this axe has a LONG bit and not nearly enough poll to balance it out, making it hard to control. Add the extremely heavy weight to the balance issues and it’s a disaster waiting to happen.

Visit me at any of the following locations:

Elm Plaza, Waterville, ME (Mondays)
Tractor Supply, Skowhegan, ME (Tuesday and Wednesday)
Arundel Flea Market, Rt 1 & Log Cabin Rd, Arundel, ME (Fridays)
298 W Front St, Skowhegan, ME (all other days)

If you’re looking for a special tool, please drop me an
email and let me know and I’ll restore one just for you!

SwiftWater Edge Tool Works provides mobile sharpening services across Maine and mail in services around the world for handsaws, carbide blades, planer knives, hand planes, chain saws, knives, scissors, hair clippers, router bits, and almost any blade!

Questions and answer from the saw shop: bent knives, axe handle length, wandering handsaws.

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

Skowhegan, ME

It’s that time again! I’ve picked the best of the recent questions from visitors to the blog and the website, and now I’m answering!

1. (question about straightening bent knives)

I see it all the time. Every single batch of kitchen knives I get in to sharpen has at least one that someone has tried to use as a screwdriverand bent the dickens out of the point. Of course, a knife can’t be properly sharpened unless it’s straight.

Knives straighten on the anvil, the same way most bent tools I get do, just with a lot more finesse. Most knives that are bent can be straightened, since most knives that would break by being straightened would have broken when they bent. Very good quality stainless steel stand the biggest chance of breaking, since the qualities that make the steel stainless also tend to make it brittle.

2. (question about a 36″ axe handle being too long)

Back in the day, it wasn’t uncommon to see 3 1/2lb poll axes set up for splitting with 28″ long handles (I have one for sale on the website). These days, I’m unaware of anyone who makes replacement handles for the 3+ lb poll axe’s eye size, which is why I try to save these when I can find them. The only other option is to drop down to the 2 1/2lb boy’s axe with its standard 28″ length.

3.(question about a handsaw not cutting straight)

9 times out of 10, uneven set on the teeth is the culprit for a handsaw that pulls to one side. The side with more set in the teeth will be more aggressive than the other, so the saw will pull that way.

Visit me at any of the following locations:

Elm Plaza, Waterville, ME (Mondays)
Tractor Supply, Skowhegan, ME (Tuesday and Wednesday)
Arundel Flea Market, Rt 1 & Log Cabin Rd, Arundel, ME (Fridays)
298 W Front St, Skowhegan, ME (all other days)

If you’re looking for a special tool, please drop me an
email and let me know and I’ll restore one just for you!

SwiftWater Edge Tool Works provides mobile sharpening services across Maine and mail in services around the world for handsaws, carbide blades, planer knives, hand planes, chain saws, knives, scissors, hair clippers, router bits, and almost any blade!

In the Saw Shop, New for Sale: Classic hedge clippers, fire axe, vintage Stanley planes.

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

Skowhegan, ME

New additions just available, get your restored old tools now!

H. Boker & Co. hedge clippers
This is a pair of classic H. Boker & Co. “Trenton” hedge clippers from the 1930s. H. Boker was far more famous for their excellent knives, this is the first thing other than knives I’ve seen from them. The beefy high carbon steel blades have been thoroughly cleaned and well sharpened and the hardwood handles have been beautifully refinished with a classic linseed oil finish and an acrylic clearcoat for durability. Just a classic high quality tool that also looks great!

$25
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Craftsman classic hedge clippers, 1940s
This is a pair of Craftsman #8653 hedge clippers from the 1940s. The high carbon steel blades have been well cleaned and sharpened and the original ash handles have been treated to an old school linseed oil finish and an acrylic clearcoat. You can’t get a tool like this from WalMart!

$25
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Edge Tool Co. Jersey pattern.
This is an “Edge Tool Co.” marked Jersey pattern poll axe head. This is a full wedge profile 5lb head in great condition, clean, sharp, minor mushrooming on the poll. The head is also stamped “HOSE 10″ on one cheek so I suspect this may have been a fire department engine axe in a previous life. This would make a spectacular heavy splitting axe!

$20
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Stanley #4 smoothing plane, type 16, 1933-1941
This is a Stanley Bailey #4 bench smoothing plane. The #4, along with the #5, was the staple of every carpenter’s toolbox in the day. This example is actually made in Canada, with 100% of the original body finish (plus a couple of very small paint splatters) and 100% of the original wood finish. This plane is clean, sharpened, and ready to work!

$30
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Stanley #5 jack plane, type 17, 1942-1945
This is a Stanley Bailey #5 jack plane. The #5, along with the #4, was the staple of every carpenter’s toolbox in the day. This appears to be a war production plane with the much thicker body casting. Original body finish is 95%, original wood finish is 90%. This plane is clean, sharpened, and ready to work!

$45
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Stanley No. 7 jointer plane, type 4. 1874 to 1884.
This is a great example of an early Stanley Bailey with some minor chipping at the back of the mouth that doesn’t effect the plane’s operation at all and a small chip on the side at the toe. Correct Stanley Rule and Level cutting iron (chip breaker screw hole at the top) with plenty of meat left on it. Excellent condition for a 130+ year old tool! The plane has been thoroughly cleaned and sharpened. The body finish is 60%+ , the wood is in excellent shape!. This is a great example of an early Stanley and is completely usable and ready to work!

$75
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Stanley #18
This is a Stanley #18 block plane. This #18 is 6″ long with the adjustable mouth to prevent tearout when planing hard woods, standard cutting iron angle, vertical post depth adjuster, and a lateral adjustment lever. It also includes a “knuckle joint” lever cap (with minor pitting of the nickle plating) and tons of length left on the cutting iron. A great, usable, example of a plane that hasn’t been made since 1950!

$40
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Keen Kutter KK6 fore plane
This is an E. C. Simmons Hardware Keen Kutter KK6 fore place. This plane was made for Simmons by the Ohio Tool Company and closely matches the Stanley Bailey #6 plane. This KK6 has 75% of the original body finish, 100% of the original wood finish, and the correct Keen Kutter marked cutting iron that is much thicker than the Stanley irons. This plane is clean, sharp, and ready to go!

$65
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Visit me at any of the following locations:

Elm Plaza, Waterville, ME (Mondays)
Tractor Supply, Skowhegan, ME (Tuesday and Wednesday)
Arundel Flea Market, Rt 1 & Log Cabin Rd, Arundel, ME (Fridays)
298 W Front St, Skowhegan, ME (all other days)

If you’re looking for a special tool, please drop me an
email and let me know and I’ll restore one just for you!

SwiftWater Edge Tool Works provides mobile sharpening services across Maine and mail in services around the world for handsaws, carbide blades, planer knives, hand planes, chain saws, knives, scissors, hair clippers, router bits, and almost any blade!

Old tool YouTube videos, the good, the bad, the ridiculous: broad axe follies.

Vern Burke, SwiftWater Edge Tool Works

Skowhegan, ME

First up tonight in the YouTube videos, we have a solid WIN in the axe column (finally!)

This video is an excellent one. Normally I preach right tool for the job, if you want to hew, you need a broadaxe. This technique of notching the log and then splitting off the chunks between the notches is a great way to get the job done with nothing but a conventional poll axe! Note the use of the short handled axe and also choking up on the long handled axe for more control. Good safety example!

Next up is this video which isn’t so pretty. This broadaxe is WAY too small for the job, making control problems likely, and cutting this way is an engraved invitation to catching an axe in the leg.

This video is like watching a woodpecker at work. If you’re going to hew a log, get a full sized broadaxe with a proper full length handle!

Just as a note on broadaxe work, a proper, full sized, broadaxe has a handle curved depending on whether the axe man is left or right handed and the axe man hews the opposite side of the log from where he’s standing. Much safer than trying to hew with a toy on the same side you’re standing on.

Visit me at any of the following locations:

Elm Plaza, Waterville, ME (Mondays)
Tractor Supply, Skowhegan, ME (Tuesday and Wednesday)
Arundel Flea Market, Rt 1 & Log Cabin Rd, Arundel, ME (Fridays)
298 W Front St, Skowhegan, ME (all other days)

If you’re looking for a special tool, please drop me an
email and let me know and I’ll restore one just for you!

SwiftWater Edge Tool Works provides mobile sharpening services across Maine and mail in services around the world for handsaws, carbide blades, planer knives, hand planes, chain saws, knives, scissors, hair clippers, router bits, and almost any blade!