Thread: Saws: Something worse than painting them

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!

Nooooooo!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by paul.cleary

warning: These scenes will be distressing to people who use and restore old hand saws
see: laser cut antique saw | trade me marketplace

He should have used some old throw away Hard point saws.

Martin.

A fallen saw [emoji20][emoji20][emoji20][emoji20][emoji20].

May they Rest In Peace.

Cheers Matt.

Sacrilege.

As bad as first degree murder, the other really sad fact of this is there will be people who think their cool and buy them

That's worse than planes as bedside lamps. They perhaps could be saved. Likely down to lockdown mental health issues.
Regards
John

I did contact the person who is laser-cutting the saws and inquired what he did with collectable saws. Here is his reply:
"The majority of ones [saws] that have stand out features and are collectable I have kept and restored over time"
So there is some hope.

It does look a bit like vandalism on an industrial scale, but take heart, only one of the saws in the link is pre-WW2, & most are late 20th C and probably don't warrant too much sympathy.

The weird things human beings take it into their heads to do!......

You know, old hand saws and dodgy planes are a dime a dozen. The world really isn't the poorer for them being laser cut into patterns that will bring people joy. Having said that, I do still cringe because "if I had that saw...". Of course, I could go onto Gumtree and buy an old saw any day of the week if I really wanted to.

I recently bought an article for my wife's birthday (I can't say what it is, as the birthday is still several weeks away) which to the right subculture would be a highly prised collectible. I know that she will strip it and use the parts for a furniture project. This gave me pause for thought. Am I complicit in destroying something really special for brownie points? In the end though, this is an item which is not scarce, and anyone who really wants one could save the money and buy one themselves.

I guess the key is in trying to appreciate the true value of an item when re-purposing. If it's scarce or has true historical/cultural value, and society would be deprived if it was lost to history, then perhaps not. If not, why not?

I am leaning towards Ian's and Lance's viewpoints on this one. Most of the saws were of little value: Hardly more than the now ubiquitous "hardpointers," which of course also suffer from the indignity of a ppp..plastic handle. Just worth noting that Disston made their first plastic (bakelite) handled saw no later than 1926 (D18) and possibly earlier than that before we become too indignant about such things!

Generally the seller is repurposing trash that ordinarily would have gone to the tip. So plus one there.


However, this little effort is an abomination.

Disston No.7...Laser cut.jpg

Why?

It is a Disston No.7, which was the last saw they made sporting the much loved, but totally useless, nib. It was the end of an era around the late 1920s before the entire range was revamped in 1928. A little bit difficult to see but this example looks to have split nuts and a sunken medallion thus making it pre 1890. Ok the handle horns were less than perfect, but we have a one hundred and thirty year old saw destroyed. Also the No.7 was the first model made by the young Henry Disston back in 1840.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by paul.cleary

I did contact the person who is laser-cutting the saws and inquired what he did with collectable saws. Here is his reply:
"The majority of ones [saws] that have stand out features and are collectable I have kept and restored over time"
So there is some hope.

Given Bushmiller's comments - make me wonder if he actually knows what is "collectible" and has worth as a handsaw.

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

I am leaning towards Ian's and Lance's viewpoints on this one. Most of the saws were of little value: Hardly more than the now ubiquitous "hardpointers," which of course also suffer from the indignity of a ppp..plastic handle. Just worth noting that Disston made their first plastic (bakelite) handled saw no later than 1926 (D18) and possibly earlier than that before we become too indignant about such things!

Generally the seller is repurposing trash that ordinarily would have gone to the tip. So plus one there.


However, this little effort is an abomination.

Disston No.7...Laser cut.jpg

Why?

It is a Disston No.7, which was the last saw they made sporting the much loved, but totally useless, nib. It was the end of an era around the late 1920s before the entire range was revamped in 1928. A little bit difficult to see but this example looks to have split nuts and a sunken medallion thus making it pre 1890. Ok the handle horns were less than perfect, but we have a one hundred and thirty year old saw destroyed. Also the No.7 was the first model made by the young Henry Disston back in 1840.

Regards
Paul

I'm of the same view, there must be millions of old handsaws in the USA, but not as many here in Oz or NZ so it's sad to see a saw in this sort of condition being repurposed though. I would rather see the saw plate repurposed into another user handsaw than as "art."

There was recently a thread on a Facebook page on saws, there is an artist(saw cutter) in America who just brought two Ute loads of old saws(yes two full Ute tubs of saws).

She was polite enough to lay them out on her factory floor,an was asking saw collectors to please view the saws, an tell her which ones had significant Value or were worth putting aside for collectors.

An many were put aside an handed back to collectors.

Cheers Matt