Last weekend I bought fairly sad saw for parts. I didn't really look at it carefully at the market, I just wanted the nuts. I now see that the handle is clearly not the original one (looks Disston?). There was a "Warranted superior" medallion which did not fix the handle. The end had been broken off the toe, but the nib is still there. Under the handle the letters "JR" are stamped. Photo links below. Any thoughts on this? Thanks, Tim https://picasaweb.google.com/timrobinson22/Saws?authkey=Gv1sRgCMy2rJ-4l9HslgE#5767577581241508498 https://picasaweb.google.com/timrobinson22/Saws?authkey=Gv1sRgCMy2rJ-4l9HslgE#5767579826586715810 https://picasaweb.google.com/timrobinson22/Saws?authkey=Gv1sRgCMy2rJ-4l9HslgE#5767580059203716610 https://picasaweb.google.com/timrobinson22/Saws?authkey=Gv1sRgCMy2rJ-4l9HslgE#5767578562322267890
I have no idea on the "JR". On the saw, is there a comma in between the J and the R? You're right on the handle, it looks like a D8 or D-8. Is (or was) it a 'cover top'? And the label screw is English. Was the 8 crossed arrows used on English Warranted Superior label screws regardless of place of manufacture, or is it Sheffield specific? I don't see any fatal damage in your photos, I would repair as necessary, put it back together and use it. I would move the nib back to a more attractive location. Toby P.S. If that is a Disston D8 handle, the mortice will not properly fit the blade, It's not a straight slot. But it can be made to work.
Under a loupe the "full stop" is square, it is corrosion that has made it look rectangular. The handle is not, and never was as far as I can tell, a "cover top." To get the handle to fit I would need to drill new holes in the blade. I don't feel comfortable about doing that (I know it of no particular significance, but it goes against my archival training ) I'd rather make a new handle for it - in the fullness of time! Tim PS - Last night I checked HSMOB for makers with the initials JR. As you would expect there are about 5 or so. However, the dates seem to me to be earlier than I would have expected for a saw in Australia - not impossible, but unlikely. Are there US makers with the initials? I guess with mass production of saws it was unlikely that an individual person would put their initials on their work - as a kind of quality control mechanism within the factory? (In the violin world the Hill family companies made highly sought after bows, the individual craftsman who made each bow maked his work in hidden locations. A decent Hill bow, not the top of the range, would now easily cost $8KAUD)
Not a D-8 Not a D-8 Blade. They had a cut in, and a sway back. The heel of the blade is straight. Maybe a D-7. Maybe a mismatched handle and blade. I have seen plenty of them before. If the handle has a covertop or a saw cut in the bottom of the drop of the handle, maybe a D-8 handle on a D-7. I would say from the medallion probably from your side of the pond. Tim
Thanks Tim. It is definitely a mismatched blade and handle – the screw holes don’t line up. I mentioned before the handle is not a covered top one. It look much like other Disston ones I have. There is of course no way of knowing, but I wondered if the medallion (which is a split nut type) was originally with the blade and was used with the replacement handle – the other nuts on it are Disston domed type. Regards, Tim PS – I’m not on the other side of the pond ïŠ, quite a bit south of the UK in fact.
Tim, Disston saws did sometimes have letters or numbers stamped under the handle. They used an X if the blade had extra taper, as on the No. 77 Handsaw. Daryl Weir has posted a couple of Wheeler, Madden & Clemson saws on WoodNet Forums, one of which had an 11 under the handle, and the other having a 99. In other words having something stamped under the handle isn't unusual, it may have been a way for workers to identify different blades in the factory prior to them being handled. ('handling up' as Disston put it) Toby