small saw id help

[macg]

Hi all,

I bought this small saw at the Naracoorte swap meet, it was in fairly rough condition, but cleaned up nicely.

It has an 11 ppi cross cut straight back 8 inch blade with intact nib, and open beech (roughly finished) handle held by rivets.

It seems to have been made for a small hand, as I can only fit three of my blokey fingers around the handle.

Could it have been made for a childs tool kit?

Can anyone help with its ID?

thank you

Graham

[orraloon]

From the front nib I would guess it is the front end of a crosscut saw and a tenon saw handle. May have been made for a kid or perhaps made for a specific task. 3 fingers on the handle is quite normal with the forefinger held pointing along the line of the saw. Reasonably old with a nib and split nuts. Perhaps someone could not afford to buy a tenon saw and made it up from old parts.
Regards
John

[hiroller]

Without dimensions it's hard to tell but it looks like a kids saw.
The nib is proportional. Could be user made. Wouldn't mind having a go at making one myself.
Disston made a kids saw for the Buddy L Tool Chest but looked like a hand saw.
http://www.grandoldtoys.com/toydb_Detail.php?id=786
http://atca-club.org/article13.php

[RayG]

I don't think I can help with identifying a maker, but I've seen saws very much like that in pictures of toolchests for boys.

Try googling "elite tool chest for boys"

[Luke Maddux]

It looks like the front end of an old Disston No. 7 with a retrofitted handle.

[pmcgee]

The size would be original ... saws came in all types ...
I think you're right about rivets in the handle, sanded down.
Yours is maybe at a wildish guess 1900-1920 ... nicer handle than the bottom two here ...
If there's no stamp on the blade, very hard to try to say who made it.

Cheers,
Paul

20150514_222624.jpg

[macg]

(It seems to have been made for a small hand, as I can only fit three of my blokey fingers around the handle.)

having another look at the saw and, it is only two fingers that can fit around the handle.

thank you for all of your replies.

Paul, the saws in the photo, are they yours?
the bottom one looks like it has the same 8" length blade as mine,

An observation I have made, is that a lot of the tools in child tool kits
were not finished as well as regular tools, especially any tools which were meant to do any cutting.
(I realise there is the safety factor) it is as though they were designed to only mimic dads tools.

I can just imagine a gentleman in his well equipped home workshop performing a delicate bit of dovetailing,
while junior is at his own miniature bench, getting frustrated and swearing because after 3 hours of toil,
the piece of wood he has been trying to saw only has a 1/8" deep groove, because his saw only mimics his dads saw.

This could explain why there are a lot of dud tools on the market these days.

They were designed by generations of frustrated juniors traumatised by their use of mimic tools in their childhood.

But getting back to my little saw, after I had cleaned it up, it was able to cut through a bit of cedar, it took a while
because the teeth were blunt, but this saw was meant to work properly.

I thought it was worthy of some filing, and being just 8" it didn't take very long.

So now it cuts just as well as any other gentle mans saw, without any frustration.

Regards

Graham.

[IanW]

.....An observation I have made, is that a lot of the tools in child tool kits
were not finished as well as regular tools, especially any tools which were meant to do any cutting.
(I realise there is the safety factor) it is as though they were designed to only mimic dads tools.

I can just imagine a gentleman in his well equipped home workshop performing a delicate bit of dovetailing,
while junior is at his own miniature bench, getting frustrated and swearing because after 3 hours of toil,
the piece of wood he has been trying to saw only has a 1/8" deep groove, because his saw only mimics his dads saw.....

How right you are, macq! I well remember the bitter disappointment I had when I tried to actually use the 'tool kit' I was given by some well-meaning, but ill-informed aunt when I was about 6 or 7. It looked the part, but the saw & chisel were made of mild steel and virtually useless. Even with the dinky wooden mallet that came with it, I managed to curl the edge of the chisel by about the 3rd hit (whichwas about when the mallet broke, as I recall!)

I made sure when I gave my own son his first tool kit, at a similar age, that the tools were actually useable, though they certainly weren't top-shelf. Just as well, because most spent at least one night out in the weather. There were some stern admonitions given, about what he could use them on, and I'm glad to say, he didn't attack anything he shouldn't have...

There's a twist in this story, though - I became an avid woodworker, while he (now in mid 30s), shows no interest, so your future isn't decided by your first tool kit, it seems!

Cheers,

[Cold Guy]

Hi all,

I bought this small saw at the Naracoorte swap meet, it was in fairly rough condition, but cleaned up nicely.

It has an 11 ppi cross cut straight back 8 inch blade with intact nib, and open beech (roughly finished) handle held by rivets.

It seems to have been made for a small hand, as I can only fit three of my blokey fingers around the handle.

Could it have been made for a childs tool kit?

Can anyone help with its ID?

thank you

Graham

I believe what you have a salesman's sample saw. I don't know too much about them other than most major manufacturers made sample saws for their reps to show hardware store buyers. About 40 years ago I knew a rep from Simonds Saws who had a variety of sample hand saws from, if I recall correctly, the 20s or 30s.
Doug