It followed me home (Part 2)

Could you please tell me more about this saw guys? I only ask as I literally just got home after popping into the thrift shop and saw 3 of these saws all in very good condition. I left them as I didn't know what I was looking at. They were priced at $10 NZD each ($7 USD) which I knew was obviously a good price for any old tool in good condition but still left them as I have zero knowledge on saws. The makers mark was mostly visible it said '...davidson&sons" I believe, something like that. They looked identical to your saw here.

Any info would be greatly appreciated and I might just go back and grab them. Thanks.
 
Oh just did some searching on the net and saw that the maker was "Henry Disston & Sons", yup that's the one. Blade was fairly brown do couldn't see an etching. 2 of them had a small hole drilled into the top part of the tip of the blade. Do the numbers refer to sizes? They look like they go for alright money online.
 
They are very handy saws. The “panel saw” ranges from 18-22” or so. The one I found is 18”. If I find them with nice handles and they haven’t been sharpened down I get them every time! Also if they have pitting within about a half inch from the teeth I won’t get them. Unless I’m just buying it for the handle. There are lots of different button styles and to be honest I have not dated one in a long time so I’m not too versed on them but if memory serves me right I think the ones that say Henry Disston “& Sons” are the earlier ones.
 
Well I just had to go back and get them! After looking for the second time I realised 1 was good, and on the other 2, 1 had a good blade and a bad handle and the other had a good handle but bad blade. So instead of paying $30 (10 each) I got them for $20. Will replace the handle on the good blade and bin the rest.

In the picture the 1 at the bottom with the hole to hang it from is good overall, the middle has this weird cut out on the handle plus one of the horns is smashed and the top one has a few teeth missing but a good handle.

iS4Kha0.jpg


Handle of middle 1

YrsuVEm.jpg


Missing teeth on the top one

8yRRnrs.jpg


As for the makers mark medallion they vary in quality but are all quite dirty, looking forward to cleaning them up and seeing what we've got.

About the teeth.. they are not pointing 100% straight down across the blade. On all 3 saws they are ever so slightly pointing outward in opposite direction in succession one after the other (left right left right left right etc.). I thought the teeth should be in line completely with the saw blade, straight down? Is it possible that somebody took a file to it and bent every single tooth slightly outward? It's not major but noticeable when you run your thumb and pointer finger down the length of the teeth, bumpy like ridges all the way down.
 
  • Like
Reactions: A17
If it is dodgy filing/ruining of the teeth have these instantly become wall hangers or could it be fixed? Thank you :)
 
KiwiBloke said:
Well I just had to go back and get them! After looking for the second time I realised 1 was good, and on the other 2, 1 had a good blade and a bad handle and the other had a good handle but bad blade. So instead of paying $30 (10 each) I got them for $20. Will replace the handle on the good blade and bin the rest.

In the picture the 1 at the bottom with the hole to hang it from is good overall, the middle has this weird cut out on the handle plus one of the horns is smashed and the top one has a few teeth missing but a good handle.

iS4Kha0.jpg


Handle of middle 1

YrsuVEm.jpg


Missing teeth on the top one

8yRRnrs.jpg


As for the makers mark medallion they vary in quality but are all quite dirty, looking forward to cleaning them up and seeing what we've got.

About the teeth.. they are not pointing 100% straight down across the blade. On all 3 saws they are ever so slightly pointing outward in opposite direction in succession one after the other (left right left right left right etc.). I thought the teeth should be in line completely with the saw blade, straight down? Is it possible that somebody took a file to it and bent every single tooth slightly outward? It's not major but noticeable when you run your thumb and pointer finger down the length of the teeth, bumpy like ridges all the way down.
Click to expand...
The teeth slightly pointing out is called "set". They cut a kerf slightly wider than the body of the saw so it doesn't bind in the cut. You've got all skew backs too. Other than those missing teeth you've got some pretty good users there!
 
Yankee Josh said:
The teeth slightly pointing out is called "set". They cut a kerf slightly wider than the body of the saw so it doesn't bind in the cut. You've got all skew backs too. Other than those missing teeth you've got some pretty good users there!
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Josh! Great to hear it is the design. All 3 are roughly 25.5 inches long. 2 of them are 5.9 inches at the highest point of blade and the bigger one is 6.7 inches. I suppose they all perform a very similar if not identical job?
 
Last edited:
KiwiBloke said:
Thanks for that Josh! Great to hear it is the design. All 3 are roughly 25.5 inches long. 2 of them are 5.9 inches at the highest point of blade and the bigger one is 6.7 inches. I suppose they all perform a very similar if not identical job?
Click to expand...
Well that depends on the cut of the teeth. If the teeth are filed 90° (just points) it's a rip saw and if they are filed at an angle it's a cross cut. I'm no expert on saws though. There's others on here that know a lot more. I bought everything needed to reprofile and sharpen saws except a spider. It's right up my alley cause it's difficult and time consuming! I'm trying to locate a guide to share with you that i found and download somewhere.. it just goes over the principles and tools of sharpening which gives you the knowledge of how they cut and how to sharpen them. I believe it was a saw maker that authored it. I'll keep looking.
 
Google; usda cross cut saw manual

And it should be the first link in the list. Download that and after reading you'll just need to practice! Well you'll need a saw vice, jointer, raker gauge, swaging tools etc. Good luck!
 
Yankee Josh Yankee Josh thank you for the tips and taking the time to find me the guide! Will be a good read and to learn more.

Thanks rjdankert rjdankert that's a great recourse!

It looks like I have 2 D8's there and the one with 3 bolts and medallion I cannot find on the website.

I must be blind I actually thought I had 3 identical saws haha oh dare. I had planned to use one for parts to swap over the handle on the good blade but that's fine as I fixed the broken horn and other than the few missing teeth it's looking in good shape now. So I took all 3 saws apart and cleaned them up as best as I could. The handles LOVED a drink of BLO they were as dry as a bone. Some rust came off but some was so ancient the brass wire cup brush did nothing to it. Will dry steel knotted cup or chemical next time. All oiled up, will take them for a test cut tomorrow and see what the sharpness is like.

The medallions are interesting. 1 x H. Disston & Sons Philada, 1 x Disston USA 1 x Disston Canada.

According to the website my H. Disston & Sons Philada was made somewhere in 1896 to 1917 http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/medv2.html

Very cool :D
 
Last edited:




So today I went to one of my usual stops for pickin. I have explained to the guy what I am looking for and most of the time it’s easiest to say “wood handles axes good” “fiberglass handles bad”. But today I got lucky. He said well I got an axe but it’s a fiberglass handle. I said well let me look at it. It ended up being this Dunlap boys axe. Just goes to show you make sure you look at those axe heads before you dismiss them!! Happy pickin!!!

I also picked up this chunk of brass and this little threaded countersink maybe? I’m not sure. $3 for all!
 
Maine20 said:
3.5 plumb Connecticut, 26.5 inch handle. Handle says “Perry” in gold letters. Anyone know anything about this handle maker?

D6-F94-B02-61-C8-4-F92-8623-527-A14-AD5-A63.jpg










Click to expand...
So I have been searching the web trying to date date the plumb USA stamp and I think it may be form the 1920s. The 2 advertisements below are from 1922 and 1923. I only saw plumb USA stamp used in ads between 1921-1926.

Anyone know of any info on this version of the plumb stamp?






 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top