Opinions sought on old back saw

[SteveF]

I picked up an old Tilotson 20" back saw this morning. The handle is excellent, but the plate is horribly pitted at the rear. My plan was to take another plate from a miter box saw and cut it to fit. Well, the problem is, the original plate is .030 and all my donors are .043. The .043 will fit into the handle without modification

So, do I just use the .043, keep hunting for a thinner plate, or just have one of the saw making guys make up a stainless plate in the correct thickness?

[Blacky's Boy]

What size do you need? I got 0.032" spring steel in a variety of widths and lengths

[Admiral]

I was gonna say, TGIIG is your solution. Dominick beat me to it.

[SteveF]

Let me think about this. I may make this saw smaller to fit one of the small Millers Falls miter boxes.