Thread: Handsaw Disston No7

Originally Posted by Lyle

I have inherited a Disston No7 handsaw from my father in law.
It has the Disston on a round 'button' on the handle and a stamped 7 on the very back of the saw at the end below the handle.
It has had a life I'd say as the handle, although is still secure, has a few dings.
I noted that the teeth are unusual, at least to me. Every second tooth is lower than the others and the kerf is fairly narrow.

Can someone tell me more about this saw? Is it a crosscut, rip or ???

Also the etching is almost invisible above a stamped 'trade mark'. Should I try and retrieve it via the methods described in other threads?

Hello Lyle,
There are many saw-o-philes on the forum with extensive knowledge and I hope that they will add to this.
Here is a link to Disston Number 7 saws.

Yours may well be a number 7 or the stamped 7 will simply mean 7 points per inch - the number of teeth.
A picture will help here.
If it is a number 7 and smaller than 20 inches in length then it should be a cross cut saw, as these lengths in number 7 were only originally made as cross cut. Above that length, it could be either rip or X-cut.
And, of course, during its life it may have been re-filed from one to the other by the owner.
I have a saw or two that started out as rip and ended up X-cut.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
SG

As SG says, the stamped 7 under the handle is likely to be teeth per inch. 7 tpi is usually crosscut but, without pictures who knows?

Silly me.
If it is 22 inches long or less, it can't be a number 7 and be X-cut as these weren't made.
22 and 20 inch number 7 saws that were stamped 7PPI were definitely rip - to start with anyway. They may have been re-filed of course.
Any longer than that and they could be rip or X-cut.
This applies if the saw is a number 7, and without a picture it may or may not be.
Check HERE first to see what kind of saw it will be.
Cheers
SG

Excellent. I will get photos up ASAP.
I'll wait until I discover more as to what I will do in terms of restoration.
I may just preserve it as is as a keep sake of my father in law.
He introduced me to woodwork way back when I asked to marry his daughter. (probably was a test to see if I was fit to marry into the clan . I think I passed as our marriage is into the 33rd year now)

Lyle.

Originally Posted by Lyle

Excellent. I will get photos up ASAP.
I'll wait until I discover more as to what I will do in terms of restoration.
I may just preserve it as is as a keep sake of my father in law.
He introduced me to woodwork way back when I asked to marry his daughter. (probably was a test to see if I was fit to marry into the clan . I think I passed as our marriage is into the 33rd year now)

Lyle.

Family history is important, I think.
I also inherited a saw from my FIL.
This is it:
DSC01583.jpg
It's hard to tell at first glance but it is a small Disston X-cut.
I love this saw.
There is more on its history HERE

Cheers
SG

Originally Posted by Lyle

......I noted that the teeth are unusual, at least to me. Every second tooth is lower than the others and the kerf is fairly narrow....

Lyle, there may be some application that requires every alternate tooth of a saw to be lowered, but for the life of me, I can't think of any!

What you describe is not all that unusual on old saws, I'm afraid. It's most likely that it has been 'sharpened' by someone who either didn't quite know what they were doing, or their eyesight was failing. The 'narrow kerf' suggests it has little or no set, so not only will your saw try to cut in a circle, it will bind like fury. It will not be a very nice saw to use in its current condition!

To bring it back to glory, it needs to be 'jointed' (which means filing off the teeth until there is at least a small flat on top of every tooth), and the teeth re-formed evenly. It can then be set & sharpened and should be an excellent tool. If you have never sharpened a saw, it may be better to cast around for some help than to begin with a saw that has such personal value. Unfortunately, professional saw sharpeners who can still do a good job on hand saws are a nearly-extinct species, but a remnant of the population hangs on in a few remote locations. Other forumites might be able to point you to someone in your vicinity.

If it were my saw, I would get it sharpened & use it. I have a saw each from my father & FIL. They are both good saws which I use often, and every time I use either, I think of their former owners. (I see my old pot frowning at me as a teenager, for forcing the saw instead of letting it 'cut at its own pace'! ). I plan to go on enjoying using these saws for the rest of my woodworking life, after which I hope they pass on to someone who will also derive pleasure from using them. While it would be nice to see them go to a family member, who would know their history, I would most like to see them appreciated for what they are & used, & if that means they end up elsewhere, so be it. After all, I have plenty of old tools that belonged to some former owner I never knew, and I love 'em almost as much as the inherited saws.....

Cheers,

Cheers,

Lyle, The last time the saw was sharpened , was by a home handy man. My dad was a saw doctor late 40 and 50ies, he hated to refile a saw that was all COWS and CALVES, hence each alternate tooth was smaller. I remember seeing him sliding a needle down a saw after he had sharpened it. NF.

Hi Lyle.

Here is the #7 page from the 1911 Disston catalog ...

#7 1911.jpg
(Just learned something else - you can double click on the photo you are adding to edit details)

By the catalog, it was available in the widest range of sizes - from 14" blade to 36" (!!)

The #7 is a basic, good solid, no-nonsense working saw - but still quality.
Back then Disston were selling a 26" "Jackson" saw that is visually similar to the #7 at $8 per dozen.
The #7 cost $20/doz ... D8 for $22.50/doz ... and a #12 for $29/doz.

If you look at the handles on the two smaller 'types' on the page there is a lamb's tongue shaping under the handle.
The top one - long ripsaws - has a solid 'heavy duty' handle. Also the grip area inside the handle curves over at the top to allow your other thumb to go in there for two-handed use on long rips.

I did a quick makeover for a family friends before xmas - it turned out to be a #7 when I was initially thinking english saw.

It started a bit like this.

saw 063 (Medium).jpg

and cleaned up in the first instance to ...

saw 006.jpg saw 009.jpg

The etch was moderately visible ...

saw 007a.jpg a clearer example is

You can see other handle styles here - notice all of them sit off from the saw-blade -
Disston #7 question - Saw Discussion Forums

and a more modern one - the D7 - at the bottom of this photo (with a #12 and a D8) -
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...saws-2-056.jpg

You will often see then like in the bottom of this photo, where the close-handled D8 style saw suffers less -
https://www.woodworkforums.com/attach...saws-2-055.jpg

As far as dating goes there is the etch if it is visible, the medallion if it is present and original, and even the size of the saw-nut holes. If you look at the make-over handle, it didn't come with any original sawnuts - but the size of the holes for the bolts put in around about 1875ish time-frame.

Photos please

Cheers,
Paul

Thanks very much for all the info suppled so far. Made interesting reading.
However I am still puzzled.
The saw has a 26 in long blade with the number 7 stamped on the heel?. So I am sure it is a number 7 Disston.
The handle has five bolts (if you include the Disston button). But there is no carving on the handle,
So far my searching on the sites I have found and the ones that have been put in this thread doesn't detail the saw.
Could it be a mismatch handle/blade?
The trade mark/stamp are nearly invisible (but there is one mark/stamp around where the mark appears in the site pictures. It is a 8 with a backward G or P (hard to tell and my phoyo skills are not up to capturing it.)
The phots also show the teeth configuration.
Anyhow I'll be keeping it. A bit of cleaning of the handle, some steel wool on the blade and an oil up. Sharpening maybe later when I find someone in the local (Medowie) area that can do it.

Again thanks for the info, it has been appreciated.

Lyle.

Originally Posted by Lyle

The saw has a 26 in long blade with the number 7 stamped on the heel?. So I am sure it is a number 7 Disston.

No Lyle, that definitely is the tpi, teeth per inch, as in fact you show in the photo with the rule. The number of the saw will be in the etch not in the stamped number at the heel.

Looks very like a Spear and Jackson of mine. Great saw if it is.

Thanks jimbur, now I am back at the start.
I do not think the etched marks will ever be seen.
Although I might try to recover them using the info on the forum. Nothing ventured nothing gained as they say
The number that is stamped where I thought the etching would be is clearly a 8.
But the number of bolts in the handle doesn't appear in any of the links supplied or that I found.

Looks like this one to me..