A boy and his toys

**Bushmiller** · 14th March 2014, 01:34 PM

I'm excited.

Received a package today. Six handsaws bought without description other than items from a deceased estate. Apparantly they were all Disstons, but in reality maybe only five of the six. This was what I made the purchase from:

6 Disstons.JPG

I deduced (wasn't too hard) there were two D23s, two D8s and two old split nut style saws which I thought were No.7s.

Here they are announced in ascending order of desirability, a little bit like the winners for the Miss World contests

. The first D23 is shabby with an emasculated horn:

Disston 6 001.jpg

The second D23 is in better shape:

Disston 6 002.jpg

The first of the D8s:

Disston 6 003.jpg

Second D8:

Disston 6 004.jpg

These, to my mind are all good user saws, all have a visible etch before cleaning (the second D8 is as new) and none have heavy rusting or pitting.

This next saw is not quite what I thought. The eagle medallion is Warranted Superior, but not the Disston brand which I had thought, because of the eagle. Still old and there is a hint of an etch which might bring more information in due course. The handle has seen better days and I don't know yet what is beneath the tape: Maybe nothing!

It could still have been made by Disston as it resembles the last saw.

Disston 6 005.jpg

This last saw for me was the piece de resistence and I have put up a few additional pix. The medallion is "H Disston" so it predates the entry of the eldest son into the business. I had originally thought the saw was a No.7, but there is a faint stamp on the plate and my eagle eyed son spotted with the naked eye "8" and under an illuminated magnifier I can easily see that too. A little more of the stamp may reveal itself with some cleaning.

The handle looks old, but almost immaculate. Any better and I would say it is a replacement and of course it may still be.

There are two downsides to the saw that I can see (you folks will probably spot something else my blinkered vision has missed. I suppose I could remove the rose coloured glasses

.) Both problems can be rectified. The tooth line has two distinct dips towards the toe. Clearly one of the split nuts is missing.

Disston 6 006.jpg Disston 6 007.jpg Disston 6 008.jpg Disston 6 009.jpg Disston 6 010.jpg

It really is an old fashioned rip saw of the first order 3.5ppi (3 tpi). A monster

.

Regards
Paul

**Christos** · 14th March 2014, 04:35 PM

I am lost for words, but still managed to type something.

**planemaker** · 14th March 2014, 05:16 PM

Nice Paul. The early H.Disston is a real Gem.

Stewie;

**Bushmiller** · 15th March 2014, 08:56 AM

Originally Posted by planemaker

Nice Paul. The early H.Disston is a real Gem.

Stewie;

Thanks Stewie

I thought it was OK, but I'm not sure quite what level of gem it is. A diamond or a cubic zirconia?

I thought maybe an expert of two would offer an opinion. Where's that bloke from WA

?

Regards
Paul

**planemaker** · 15th March 2014, 09:55 AM

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

Thanks Stewie

I thought it was OK, but I'm not sure quite what level of gem it is. A diamond or a cubic zirconia?

I thought maybe an expert of two would offer an opinion. Where's that bloke from WA

?

Regards
Paul

Paul. I may be able to help you with your missing early split nut assembly.. Just pm me the details on the dia. and total length.

Stewie;

**Bushmiller** · 15th March 2014, 05:07 PM

Originally Posted by planemaker

Paul. I may be able to help you with your missing early split nut assembly.. Just pm me the details on the dia. and total length.

Stewie;

Stewie

That would be fabulous. I will measure it and send PM. Thank you.

Regards
Paul

**Sawdust Maker** · 15th March 2014, 07:01 PM

Mate

Nice score

I've got a little storage left if you want me to look after them for you

**Bushmiller** · 15th March 2014, 07:11 PM

The dimensions of the sawnut are 14.5mm diameter across the face, but the vacant hole is only 12.5mm?

The tote thickness is 22.8mm. Some extra pix for clarity:

Boys toys 003.jpg Boys toys 002.jpg

Compare to the poorer nuts on the unknown maker saw

:

Boys toys 004.jpg

PM to follow.

Regards
Paul

**Bushmiller** · 15th March 2014, 07:19 PM

I had ten minutes today that weren't spare (I should have been doing other things, but I couldn't help myself. I wanted to know whether any of the saws were still up to cutting.)

I grabbed the first piece of dry hardwood I could find and tried a rip cut for the prehistoric Disston and crosscuts for the remaining saws.

They all cut except for the battered D23. I deliberately tried about a 5mm slither so that if particular difficulty was experienced the timber would break up. None of them were scary sharp and all need sharpening.

Boys toys 001.jpg

Regards
Paul

**pmcgee** · 16th March 2014, 12:07 AM

Hi Paul ... I think you should be pretty pleased with yourself if you picked that up deliberately.

I read the H. Disston singular from the medallion, and was pretty pleased with myself. I emailed to Homesy about it ... and was bidding too.

It's a score ... especially a #8 ... the hook/beak inside the grip was the biggest hint that there was something to look closer at.

Henry Disston singular means pre-1965 ... personally I'd be looking after this one ... special use duty.

I'm glad you landed it.
I'm not too badly off either ... I had a cactus bore pump (installed 1986) ... quoted $1500 ... managed to get out of it for $150 thanks to Gumtree ... but missed the end of the auction.

Compare to this one that came to me only pretty recently ... its later than yours ... H Disston & Sons

https://picasaweb.google.com/1035543...8TownsendGrant

Cheers,
Paul

**Bushmiller** · 16th March 2014, 02:12 AM

Originally Posted by pmcgee

Hi Paul ... I think you should be pretty pleased with yourself if you picked that up deliberately.

I read the H. Disston singular from the medallion, and was pretty pleased with myself. I emailed to Homesy about it ... and was bidding too.

It's a score ... especially a #8 ... the hook/beak inside the grip was the biggest hint that there was something to look closer at.

Henry Disston singular means pre-1965 ... personally I'd be looking after this one ... special use duty.

I'm glad you landed it.
I'm not too badly off either ... I had a cactus bore pump (installed 1986) ... quoted $1500 ... managed to get out of it for $150 thanks to Gumtree ... but missed the end of the auction.

Compare to this one that came to me only pretty recently ... its later than yours ... H Disston & Sons

https://picasaweb.google.com/1035543...8TownsendGrant

Cheers,
Paul

Paul

Yes, I was a little pleased with myself for spotting the medallion being before any sons were in the business so making it 1865 or earlier (I think your earlier 1965 dating has a typo

). I recognised the cut away inside the grip from a picture on the Disstonian institute site. What I didn't know of course was whether it was authentic or put together.

Your No.8 looks as though it is a "one son" which would make it 1865-1871 and that looks like a nice saw too.

What I didn't mention about my No.8 is how hefty it feels. There is another demerit in the nib has gone, but I gather that occurs more often than not.

Regards
Paul

**pmcgee** · 16th March 2014, 06:43 AM

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

(I think your earlier 1965 dating has a typo

)

Picky. I was only out by a century.

Your No.8 looks as though it is a "one son" which would make it 1865-1871 and that looks like a nice saw too.

I have a small saw with the "one son" on the blade and medallion.
If I remember correctly that pins it down to exactly 1865, cos I believe the others were in the very next year.
I wrote about it before ... I'd have to find it to remind myself

Now I know why people put those little white tags on their 'collectables'.
Alzheimers.

My saw has a "sons" medallion, and it's arguable about whether the etch might have had a "s" on the end on "son" or not.
But it has the extra hardware store stamp, and the two ads I found were 1874-75 ... so that's my rough guess for a date on mine.

The extra stamp is very light - and you'll also see this on some of the central/main stamps.
Some of the stamping was done with the steel soft and is deeply impressed, and some of it was done after most of the smithing and hardening ... and they are much more lightly impressed.
Keep an eye out on yours in between the etch and handle for any extra info.

The other splitnut saw looks nice too.
We can see word/s in the picture you put up ... does it say "Disston"? it looks #7-ish.

It is interesting these two were in with the later saws ... might be a story there.

Cheers,
Paul

**pmcgee** · 16th March 2014, 06:51 AM

oh btw ... there were eagle WS medallions all over the place (US) ... not just Disston.
the same as the lion/unicorn ones were from all the different UK sources.

there were also UK (sheffield) made saws that were for export that scored a WS eagle medallion.
(... or three)

Cheers,

**Sawdust Maker** · 16th March 2014, 08:28 AM

the top of the handle on your unnown saw looks familar
I think I've seen it somewhere recently in my readings
unfortunately I've read so much in so many web pages in the last couple of weeks it could be anywhere

I'll see if the subconscience can help

**Bushmiller** · 16th March 2014, 04:58 PM

Nick, Paul and anybody else,

Any help is gratefully received.

Regards
Paul

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