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My Dad was a real sticker for making sure his hand saws were clean and sharp. He made sure I learned how to sharpen them and always maintained he could cut a plank faster with his hand saw than I could with by carbide tips. He was right but he spent 50 years as a carpenter and always had a hand saw ready. He had a corner of the back porch set up for sharpening where the light was good. I never quite got to his level in sharpening and would have to endure "the comment" when I was finished. He'd take the saw, make a cut, look it over and say something like "not bad, you went a little heavy on the set" or "I can touch it up for you if you like". Then he would always tell me about starting out working on construction sites sharpening saws for the carpenters for 10 cents a saw. I should have paid closer attention. Man those saws were dangerous!

thanks for the link Todd, that's cool!

Thanks Todd,

Now I know that neither of my Diston handsaws are exciting. One was a select likely built as a low end market saw in mid 1930's. A nice little saw handed down by my dad. It's a crosscut that has always been difficult to get a sharp edge on. The other was built at the Dansville Virginia plant likely on the mid 1950's. This saw I paid $3 for at a yard sale this summer. It was so dirty I could see it labeled Diston but little else. It was fun using your link to identify them. Jim

fjimp wrote:Thanks Todd,

Now I know that neither of my Diston handsaws are exciting. One was a select likely built as a low end market saw in mid 1930's. A nice little saw handed down by my dad. It's a crosscut that has always been difficult to get a sharp edge on. The other was built at the Dansville Virginia plant likely on the mid 1950's. This saw I paid $3 for at a yard sale this summer. It was so dirty I could see it labeled Diston but little else. It was fun using your link to identify them. Jim

Well like I said neither of the saws I have are Disston's either, or if they are the are from the "second's" line. However, since I do not have a handsaw in my shop, I am eventually gonna try my hand at cleaning these up and seeing how they cut or even if they are functional. Glad ya'll enjoyed the link, learned a lot about Disston saws myself.

Todd

For anyone inclined to do work on your hand saws, this might be a good primer.

dusty wrote:For anyone inclined to do work on your hand saws, this might be a good primer.

Thank you Dusty that is a great primer. Jim

In the last 2 weeks I hit upon an Antique-Store mystery which turned out to be really exciting. This saw is going to go to my brother who's a bigger tool-collector than I am.

Not far from Indianapolis I found a rosewood saw-handle with no holes bored in it. I initially wrote it off as some sort of tribute artwork piece. Later, I figured out it was a genuine ATKINS FOUR HUNDRED top-of-the-line tote, apparently taken home from the factory in Indianapolis decades ago:
[ATTACH]18455[/ATTACH]


I consulted some "saw doctors" but nobody wanted to buy it especially. So I found a similar-style Atkins lower-end saw on eBay, and nervously started machining the slot and multiple counterbored holes in the Rosewood handle to fit it:
[ATTACH]18458[/ATTACH]

I was as careful as possible, but I did add a scratch in the process. Anyway, it's a TOOL, not a museum piece. Still, pretty thrilling to discover the "Duesenberg of Saw Handles" , with interesting local history.
[ATTACH]18457[/ATTACH][ATTACH]18456[/ATTACH]

Nice!! Beautiful Handle

Dusty, great link to the primer. Will be reading that from time to time as I have a couple to work on.

Chris, super job on your saw. I love it. Now, I got to get to work, right after I finish my bathroom.

Since it is vintage, everything about it is an absolute beauty.