u/KingPappas

First, I want to focus on the 77. I understand that the number shown on the anvil does not directly correspond to the saw's TPI/PPI and that the set should be the minimum necessary to keep it from binding, but how does this work? Does anyone have a 77 who can guide me on what numbers to use based on their saw's TPI? By the way, is it the same for rip as for crosscut? I feel like experimenting could take me a lot of time, and especially bending the teeth many times could risk breaking them, so I don't want to tinker too much.

Regarding the 38... I really don't know if it's complete. I bought it along with the 77 for practically the same price that other sellers had the 77 alone, so I figured it was worth it. I can't find any video or guide on how to use it, nor do I know how to change the file, because it's quite worn.

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Starting from the top, there's a W. Tyzack & Sons, rip, 3½ TPI, a Simonds crosscut at 6 TPI, and a Henry Disston & Sons D8 crosscut at 8 TPI.
The W. Tyzack & Sons has an S-bend that's going to be hard for me to straighten. Luckily, the Simonds has a very smooth curve that's easily correctable. I love the balance of the Disston, it's very comfortable, although all the handles are a bit big for my little hands.
It's going to take some work to restore them. I also need to learn how to sharpen crosscut saws.

https://preview.redd.it/o3irv2p8t4zg1.jpg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c80e36d390254fabca05e26b4f6e76c704851509

I should introduce myself. My name is Sergio, and for 12 years I have been studying Roman shields from an archaeological point of view — reading excavation reports, papers, various types of reports, etc. — and trying to make archaeological reproductions of them for various people in Europe and the US.

I want to focus on — possibly — one of the most discussed issues. Many people know this shield. This shield is the most famous find when it comes to Roman shields. It is the No. 15, and as that number indicates, it was not the only one. It is part of a group of 24 finds discovered in various locations along Dura Europos over several years of excavations. 21 of these shields are Roman, 3 are Sassanid.

Fig.1. Image from the Yale University Art Gallery. The shield in its current state.

The shield was found broken into 13 pieces. Here are a couple of images of the find as it was freshly unearthed in 1928.

Fig. 2. The larger fragment freshly unearthed.

Fig. 3. The 12 remaining smaller fragments.

The state of the paint is certainly quite astonishing, but as you can see, the shield underwent an intense restoration process that sought to preserve the paint rather than the structure, which today shows a degree of curvature much greater than the original, which was one Greek palm in depth (231mm) along with greater width. This process was carried out sometime between 1928 and 1967, the date of publication of the final report that compiles the military finds from the site.

This restoration came with other sacrifices: the current handle is probably not the original one, the thin slat frame on the inner face was removed (illustrated in a 1928 drawing and still present on another shield of this style, No. 17), the thickness of the shield was increased, probably to add some type of substrate to serve as a backing to join the fragments, and the rivet holes that attached the umbo to the shield were filled in.

Fig. 4. The rivet's holes are plugged and hiden.

The shield was painted in a workshop dedicated to painting shields at Dura Europos, where Syrian artists worked. Painting was a specialized job, and shields were not painted by the soldiers for several complex reasons.

As for the general characteristics, the shield has a pseudo-rectangular shape. It is not a pure rectangle; rather, its horizontal top and bottom edges have a subtle curvature. It measures 106cm at its highest point, 66cm in width, and 23cm in depth — at least in its original state. It was manufactured with 3 layers of platanus orientalis slats, with the entire shield measuring only 5-6mm in thickness. It was first coated (on the front face) with fine linen and then with thin rawhide over that. The edge is also made of very thin rawhide that was sewn through the shield. Finally, it was painted with encaustic. Its weight would probably have been in the range of 4-4.5kg.

There are 6 plywood shields at Dura Europos: 4 of this style (presumably rectangular or pseudo-rectangular) and 2 oval lenticular shields. Many other remains come from shields made with planks.

Remains of Roman shields are not unusual. They exist in the UK, the Netherlands, Egypt, Israel, and Sudan, plus remains from other finds of their presence, and other indirect evidence.

There is certainly a lot that can be said about this find, about the Dura Europos finds, or about Roman shields in general. I don't want to go into too much detail right now, but I'll answer any questions in the comments.

Hi. I’d like to get one of these planes at some point in the future to see what I can do with it and what possibilities it offers, but I’m concerned about one detail. I believe the only one that has a side cutter to trim the fibers when planing across the grain is the Stanley 10 1/4. To what extent does this offer an advantage, or is it important? I feel like the 10 and 10 1/2 might lose some utility or versatility by lacking this feature. That would be a shame, since the 10 1/4 is quite expensive—especially here in Spain—and the one made by Lie Nielsen is at least as expensive, if not more so.

I also thought about modifying a No. 4 or 5 to turn it into a rabbet plane, but unfortunately the blade of a 4 1/2 or 5 1/2 is 2 mm narrower than the width of the plane, and using an iron from a No. 8 would make it very expensive, given the DIY nature of the project.

I'm about to buy a couple of vintage Disston saws and I've been considering whether, during their restoration, I should re-establish the tooth set from scratch. I'm new to the saw sharpening world but I've discovered the tools used for this. In my search I came across the Eclipse 77 (which appears to be made of brass or bronze) and others of a similar style, like the one I've illustrated in the post. I need a bit of guidance on this matter because I don't know how many variants of this type of tool exist, how it really works, and what I should look for in this type of tool to get something good and easy to use.
For reference, my saws currently range from 3-8 tpi. Is there a tpi limit that these tools can handle?

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