# Accidental hand saw score



## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

Came upon a couple really nice old saws yesterday, completely serendipitously. Here's the backstory. 

As some of you guys know, I took the tip of my left index finger off on a jointer right before Christmas last year. It's healed nicely, but its new shape & lack of sensation prevents me from indulging in another passion of mine - playing the acoustic guitar. 

A few weeks ago I decided to look for a used electric guitar, as they are easier to play in that it requires far less pressure to fret a string. Yesterday I found a nice one on Craigslist & went to check it out. 

Long story short the guy I bought the guitar from lives in 1/2 of a double block, the other half of which is occupied by his late father's hardware store. He mentioned that he sometimes finds guitars at yard sales & estate sales, and I told him that I frequent the same on my insatiable search for rusty old hand tools. 

And then he said, "what kind of tools are you looking for?" 








26" Richardson Bros miter saw








1880's Disston D8, 26" 10pt crosscut in beautiful shape 








1880's D8, 18" 11pt crosscut panel saw








Simonds No 71, 24" 8pt crosscut. The entire etch is full & readable on this one. Not sure of the age, dont know a lot about Simonds saws 








And the icing on the cake, an 1880's Disston No 16 in fantastic shape. Straight as an arrow, 26" 8 pt crosscut. Couple little rust spots, otherwise this saw is gorgeous! 

I gave him 100 bucks for the 5 saws and a type 14 Stanley No 4 in great condition. I probably could have offered him half that, but my conscience wouldn't let me. 




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## nbo10 (Jan 26, 2011)

Nice find. 

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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Good score...definitely gloatworthy. 








 







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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Very juicy.
If you can find the time, can you show me a close-up of the carvings on the handles?
Particularly the last one, the Disston No. 16.
I have some decorative carving, cooking in my tiny brain.
Thank you.


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## tc65 (Jan 9, 2012)

Those are some sweet saws, particularly the #16!

RV,
If you are interested in looking at designs on all the different Disston saws, visit this site: http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/index.html

It's the definitive site for ID and dating all the different models - some great pictures of most of the saw handle designs over the years.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

The guy let me root through all the accumulated stuff piled on shelves & buried behind things (which is definitely my idea of a great time) and when I pulled that 16 off the shelf I had to put on my best poker face lol! I could hardly contain myself.

Here are a couple pictures, Robson















This last picture has the kind of beauty that if you weren't into old tools you just wouldn't understand. Notice where the finish is worn off of the handle, right around the grip and also right around the area of the second saw nut from the top. That is exactly where the pad of the index finger sits on a right handed sawyer. This saw was well loved and well used. Too cool. 









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## Brentley (Dec 2, 2012)

Wow, great work and thanks for the great photos.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Thank you very much for taking the time to do this.
For the hand marks, that saw must have been used a lot.

Also for the link. I'll check that soon.
I think I know what the carver did = the moves they made.
Buried in a roll of hardly-ever-used gouges, I might be able to do that.


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## cms1983 (Apr 25, 2012)

Nice saws. Just got a nice 16 to two weeks ago full nib 1880's era just needs a light Sharpen. I really like the 16's nice saws


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

I found that they chip carved the apple/beech handles until the early 20th C. when they switched to power carving. Makes sense for a big business. Interesting that it was not a decoration applied to all their product handles. 
The really fun part is that a power carving friend will be up here in 3-4 days, I'll try chip, he can do power (in birch) for experiments. He does doors for $8k and bone/antler from $450+. If I can talk him inot this, we will try to replicate some Disston patterns.
BTW, clearly different carvers.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

That's pretty cool man. I find myself totally drawn to the chip carved handles, they are really striking and beautiful. If you look at an example of a carved handle from the 1940's, like on a D-23, they are far less ornate and appear to be rather carelessly done. 

I'm certain the Disston handle is chip carved. In your opinion as a wood carver, do you think the Simonds handle is chip or power carved? 


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## cms1983 (Apr 25, 2012)

Really? Chip carving = hand?thats cool that someone took the time and carved it that way that someone being a craftsmen. I have allways wanted a real earlly disston saw that would have had the master himself hands on the saw. That's something I wanted to try is hand carving just haven't came across the right carving tools yet.


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## cms1983 (Apr 25, 2012)

PS would like to see the work if you guys do it. The Reagan handles look really good to. The Reagan handle and Panther saws are on my flea market list. They to are beautiful work


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Use the link (Post 5, above) to the Disston website catalog. I looked at the 12, 112 and the quick collections parts and I can read very quickly.
Disston says that the handles were chip carved into the early part of the 20th century and power carved after that. Very interesting read.

The differences in sizing, spacing and angularity shows me that several different carvers did those handles.

I know for a fact that there are really crappy power carvers (me) and extremely excellent power carvers (Kurt). He can't chip carve to save his life, but I can.


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## mavawreck (Nov 26, 2011)

Dude, awesome finds and a cool story to boot. Thats just as much fun isn't it? Are you getting like me in that you have a massive stack of saws?


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## cms1983 (Apr 25, 2012)

I've been on that site hundreds of times never realized that. By the way great site he has.thats cool I like it when tools have been touched by a personal hand adds to the craftsmen ship


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

mavawreck said:


> Dude, awesome finds and a cool story to boot. Thats just as much fun isn't it? Are you getting like me in that you have a massive stack of saws?



Haha yeah man, it's getting pretty tall. I'm getting married in T minus 13 days, so I've been buying them like 5 at a time to bolster the rust pile. Once the 2 bank accounts become 1, my old tool budget is going to take a serious hit. I'm hoping that whatever I can make by restoring & selling will stay in my paypal account. I hope. 


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Kurt will be here no later than Wednesday (800 mile drive). I'll bring him up to speed
on the Disston patterns and we will mess with them (chip & power.) I have no Beech.
All my apple wood is split to Hello and gone, it was destined for the smoker BBQ but I think we can salvage enough for experiments (in between the BBQ pork side ribs).
I think that the density and working character of top quality carving birch will give us some strong insights.

BZawat: I wish you and yours nothing but the best from here in the mountains at 53N.


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## cms1983 (Apr 25, 2012)

Bzawat wish you guys the best as well. Again great saw love those handles adds much beauty and character to em you given any thought in to the raising the etch? I been wanting to try it on my 16 and two back saws.


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## cms1983 (Apr 25, 2012)

Robson, again any pics would be great would love to see them. If it's not to much.


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## cms1983 (Apr 25, 2012)

Sorry misfire


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## mavawreck (Nov 26, 2011)

BZawat said:


> Haha yeah man, it's getting pretty tall. I'm getting married in T minus 13 days, so I've been buying them like 5 at a time to bolster the rust pile. Once the 2 bank accounts become 1, my old tool budget is going to take a serious hit. I'm hoping that whatever I can make by restoring & selling will stay in my paypal account. I hope.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using woodworkingtalk.com


Congrats! Wish you guys the best. We're working on our second year of marriage and I will say that it hasn't hindered my rust hunting at all. As far as hobbies go, it is fairly inexpensive and can come close to sustaining itself. 

On a saw note:
If you guys haven't tried raising an etch yet, I've found it to be fairly easy. For my latest process, I scrape the saw with a razor blade, wipe on a few coats of gun blue over the etch, sand with a sanding block, and done. I have found that the gun blue for my purposes seems to stick better if it is allowed to dry overnight versus a few minutes. I'm trying to spend less time sanding saw panels and razor blades are cheap.


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## BZawat (Sep 21, 2012)

I haven't tried raising an etch yet, but thanks for the advice. I'm definitely going to give it a shot on the No 16 and the Simonds No 71. That one's got a beautiful etch but I might lose some when I clean it. 

For cleaning I use a scraper that I cut from an old No 7 plate that was beyond salvage. From there I go right to 600 grit wet/dry and some WD-40. I absolutely loathe sanding, but I really enjoy the jointing/setting/sharpening/tuning process. 


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## cms1983 (Apr 25, 2012)

Yes it is relaxing the sharing process. I haven't tried raising the etch. If you can't read the etch but you can see something there. Will the gun blue work and bring it up some?


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## mavawreck (Nov 26, 2011)

The two that I've done have had 50% etches left. I just took two disstons in lieu of cash (sure sign you have a problem) with faint but legible etches that I will try and report back.


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## cms1983 (Apr 25, 2012)

That would be great man. The disston Stanley is 30% the 16 is 50 60%. I really want to see the stanley and disston logo on that backsaw plate


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