In stark contrast to the lovely saws Peter posted (via the David Stanley Auction), I recently rescued a pile of beater saws sitting in a rusty heap at a local farm auction. A couple of them had interesting features. First; Specially for Lui, a 28" ripsaw by Beardshaw & Son with huge 2.5tpi teeth (reduced to 3.5tpi then to 4tpi over the end 12"). This seems to be an older Beardshaw, with a stamped blade and small (1/8" dia shaft) screws. Only one of the original split nut fasteners remains, and the repair modification for the other missing screws is an interesting and effective fix-it, where steel pins have been driven through the plate and lead plugs poured to replace the screw heads and nuts (but why isn't there a name carved into the new lead medallion ? ) Second; A 24" Disston mitre box saw that has the spine stamped "Langdon Mitre Box Co, Millers Falls Mass." There's some good information on the Langdon Mitre Box Co at http://oldtoolheaven.com/related/miter-boxes.htm that puts this saw in the 1875-1907 era, and the Disstonian Institute ( http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/medv2.html ) dates the Disston medallion in the handle to the 1878-1888 period. This saw suits the Langdon mitre box that I got last month and posted with the Martin backsaw [Darn, both the saw and mitre box need some serious elbow grease to make them presentable]
Hi Kiwi, That Beadshaw is a monster... 2.5 tpi, must have been a tough day at work pushing that.. I agree, that's one for Lui... Thanks for posting that Disston Mitre Box Saw, That saw would fit nicely somewhere around the 1890 Disston Catalog picture. I'm going more by the handle shape, than the shaping on the heel. Regards Ray
Hi Kiwi and Ray, Your both correct, that is my kind of saw. The fixing method is very unusual, but if effectice could have incorporated an image as part of the casting. A simple stamp pushed into the cooling lead would have worked well. I was talking to a fellow saw man a couple of weeks back about saws like this. Ones where the tooth line is over sharpened in the middle, without jointing the saw. With the number of saw filing guides talking about the need to joint a saw before you sharpen, and the number of old saws that it has clearly been ignored on. These saws have not missed one or two jointings, but many, over several years. Clearly the saw was still very useable in it's curved profile. I'm not advocating not jointing your saws, and I wonder how eay it was to sharpen effectivly. I suppose that if you only sharpen the blunt teeth, any over sharpened teeth will come back into the cutting line. Sorry for going off in a random direction. Nice saws. lui
Ray, My Langdon saw looks a close match for the 1906 Disston catalogue picture for mitre box saws shown here from http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/backsawpage.html , with both the 3 screw handle with a sharp vee cutout in the grip, and the sloping heel on the blade. Lui. My guess is that having sharp teeth is far more important than having a saw precisely jointed flat, and that's why many mechanics seem to have neglected the additional time and effort required for jointing. [Some of my old saws have a tooth line concavity nearing 1/2 inch]