# Disston no 7 panel saw restoration



## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

some pics and quick narrative on an old Disston no 7 panel saw that I just finished restoring for a fellow woodworker. the before pics arent great. you can see the deep belly in the center of the toothline. this is pretty common, and not good for a smooth cutting saw. A fine finish 11 pt panel saw like this should have a straight toothline.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Plate cleaned and jointed straight. Had to totally obliterate all the gullets to get it straight. The belly was about 5/16" deep in the middle so I had to joint it aggressively.








I used an old 11pt saw from a mitre box as a template for the spacing of the new teeth. Clamped the two plates together and took one stroke with the file to mark the center of each gullet. 








Then started shaping








And shaping


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

So now I've got teeth, and I cut in the fleam








After I cut all the teeth, I joint the saw and do it again, to take out any inconsistencies and/or high-low teeth. It's very important for all the teeth to be the same height, or "in joint". 
Nice & straight 








Now I begin the handle repair. The block is beech, cut from a sacrificial handle from a parts saw that was not worth fixing. 








Shaped with a few rasps and some light sanding


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Repaired handle








Cleaned and ready for finish








Getting the repair to match was challenging. It could have been closer, but overall not too bad. 

Before finish


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

And finally, the sweet little 20" finish crosscut panel saw in all her 130-140 year old glory


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## Paul_R (Nov 26, 2014)

Great write up thanks for posting that. I love my old Disstons but I'm happy to pay somebody else to do all that work, restoring saws is a skill set in and of itself. Even basic sharpening is more than I care to get into.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

That was a lot of work but well worth it, looks great, thanks for showing us your restore.


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## Paarker (Mar 20, 2013)

That looks great! Looks like a lot more work then I would think.:whistling2: If I was a betting man I'd stay it cuts like a dream now and you have one very happy customer.:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

One awesome job!

Thanks for posting.


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## Jeff Shafer (Nov 16, 2010)

That came out great! Btw that is a beautiful tool box the saw is on.


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