Thread: A few more Buck and a Half Saws

David

If you keep posting these $1-50 "steals" I am going to have to gather up a petition with my envious saw collector mates to have you banned!

Ok. Interesting bunch of saws and more than first meets the eye. The D8, if the medallion is correct is a very early example. The Glover patent dates from 1887 so the next question is what style of saw screws does it have? In conjunction with the medallion and the saw screws, which look to be the Glover style, this would make it either 1887 or 1888: Not often we can date a saw that accurately.

The second saw at first glance looked like another D8 and the fact that it is a Bishop No.8 reminds us that Disston was not the only one to have thumbhole saws. Clearly Bishop had them and also Atkins. Probably some others too, but I don't recall off the top of my head.

The last saw is as you have correctly assessed a Disston, but it is one of their budget range. This is from Disston's 1899 catalogue just as an example. I am not familiar with the timeline for this saw:

Disston 1899 catalogue.jpg

Other budget or lesser models included the Bishop No.1 and Jackson.

A 26" Brown No.3 model was $13 (for a dozen) while the D8 was nearly twice the price:

Disston catalogue 1899 D8.jpg

I should add that with the split nuts your saw is clearly earlier and it would have had a Warranted Superior medallion of probably a similar style to your D8 with the sunken medallion.

Thanks for posting the pix.

Regards
Paul

David

once again thanks for posting about some great saw finds.

I reckon my name could be added to Paul's petition.

All that Paul wrote about your saws I go along with as well.


I read somewhere that once the patent expired for the Disston D8
thumb hole handle design, it was then possible for the other manufacturers
to add the design to their catalogue including Spear & Jackson as below.

Graham.

I have one of the S&J thumb hole rips. Not as pristine as that one pictured but nice to use.
Regards
John

This is a C bishop No.1 from about the same era as the Brown No.3:



Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

David

Ok. Interesting bunch of saws and more than first meets the eye. The D8, if the medallion is correct is a very early example. The Glover patent dates from 1887 so the next question is what style of saw screws does it have? In conjunction with the medallion and the saw screws, which look to be the Glover style, this would make it either 1887 or 1888: Not often we can date a saw that accurately.

Regards
Paul

Paul,

Thanks again for the information. Sorry for taking a while to get back to you. We had some tornadoes come through near where I live and I lost a couple of trees. I believe it was just straight line winds here, though. I've been spending my time cutting up the huge pine tree that fell across my driveway. The other tree was a pear tree full of pears.

Anyway, I removed one of the sawnuts from the D8 and took a few photos. One thing about that saw, when did Disston begin making skewbacks, which this one is? Also, there is no nib. Could it still be from around 1888?

Thanks,
David

IMG_1460.jpg
IMG_1461.jpg
IMG_1462.jpg
IMG_1463.jpg

David

The first skewback saw was the No.80 "Choice" in 1874, which morphed into the D8 in 1880.

Online Reference of Disston Saws -- D8 Model

The nib only ever appeared on straight back saws. The Glover patent was taken out in 1887 so your saw won't be any earlier than that. As the sunken syle medallion stopped in 1888 it theoretically places it in these two years.

One interesting departure is that with D8 saws most have the top saw screw of a smaller diameter. However the screws appear to be the same size on your saw. I don't know when the smaller screw came into being. Some of Disston's other models had this mix of screw sizes too.

I sympathise with the mess a tree can make. We had a pine tree fall on a shed a few years back.

Regards
Paul

I think I have the answer to the saw screws being all one size. Your saw has lost a little length and was originally 28". The 28" models had four saw screws the same size.

The thumbnail below is from the 1914 catalogue

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by schuld66

Middle Saw:
- Bishop No. 8 Skewback
- Thumb-hole handle
- 26"
- 5 1/2 ppi (appears to be a "2" stamped on heel)
- "G. H. Bishop & Co." "Pat Dec 27 1887" Griffin image " Cincinnati . O" medallion

IMG_1447.jpg
IMG_1448.jpg
IMG_1449.jpg









Regards,
Dave

Dave

have you had a chance to clean up the heal area on the Bishop saw to see if there is any more of the ppi stamp to be revelled???

Graham.

Originally Posted by macg

Dave

have you had a chance to clean up the heal area on the Bishop saw to see if there is any more of the ppi stamp to be revelled???

Graham.

Graham

It did occur to me that the "2" could be the lower part of 5 1/2 ppi. However the "2" is strong. Maybe there is something alongside under the grime. Perhaps David can check when he is released from tree clearing duties.

Regards
Paul

David

I have to retract on an earlier statement regarding the date of your saw.

I had missed that Disston patented in 1876 a type of saw screw that resembled the later Glover patent. Consequently, your saw if it has the earlier style saw screw, which you would only be able to determine by removal from the saw, may in fact place your saw earlier than I had stated.

Some detail is in post #85 in this thread where we had a discussion:

A Crazy Saw Service

Sorry to have misled.

Regards
Paul