A buddy of mine just gave me 6 or 7 different Disston Saws. How can I clean up the blades?

Read Bob Smalser's articles here: http://wkfinetools.com/tRestore/saw/sawsRestore-index.asp.  Then read all the other articles.

Oh, and check out http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/ for figuring out which Disston saws you have and about how old they are.

The woodworking forum with the most saw activity that I've seen is WoodNet, but it's got a lot of people who are making from scratch, so you have to be really, really careful in going there not to get caught up in the fever.

On most saw blades there is an etch, name stamp.   Some are quite fancy, they help date the saw, and on Disstons give the Model #.  Any power polishing or buffing destroy the etch, so go slowly, you will be rewarded.   

Good articles, Bill.

Thanks for the info guys.


I already found the disstonianinstitute site and that's what got me interested in cleaning them up.


I have the following (I think)


#7 panel, #76 Centenial, D8, D100 panel, #9 and either a D 20, 21, 22, 23.