Item S1 - Henry Disston & Sons.
Modified Open Handle Dovetail Saw.
The
other day one of our local “tool hounds” brought me a bunch of tools, one of
which interested my eye. This was a small (I mean really small) back saw that
had a blade with an edge length of only 4 ½ inches, with a blade depth of just
7/8 of an inch. The saw has an apple handle that is missing the front horn on
the bottom of the handle (and also has a hang hole bored in the middle of the
handle). But the handle is obviously an open one, and the upper horn is full
length, with no cracks. The spine of the diminutive blade has the standard Henry
Disston & Sons stamp, with a “Philad'a” mark. The front of the mark reaches to
within ¾ of an inch of the front of the spine. The spine, however, has not been
cut back at the front, and is clearly on a blade that was no longer than perhaps
6 inches. It was attached to the blade with two screws—one an original Disston
slotted screw assembly, and a second that was clearly an added screw and nut.
Upon removing the
handle from the blade, I discovered two things. First, the original screw
assembly utilized the narrow shank screw that was used by Disston until about
1887 when the Glover patent for saw screws came into effect. This suggests that
the saw (or at least one of its screws) dates to before 1888
The second discovery was that the saw blade (and spine) had
been cut back, at least an inch, and maybe a little more. On his great
“Disstonian” web site --
http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/index.html -- Erik von Schneidern has
reprinted an article entitled, “The Mysterious Open-Handle Backsaw” that
discusses the open handle dovetail saws made by Disston, including the types
that never found their way in Catalogs. The saw in hand has a handle that shares
the exact shape of 6” open handle dovetail saws made by Disston, but never
advertised. These are reported to have two saw screws, but no medallion. The
mark on the present saw is identical to the two saws pictured in that article
and shares the distinctive placement of the the “Philad'a” under the arched
“Henry Disston & Sons” on the spine. The blade has a thickness of
22 thousandths and is need of some sharpening. Despite its warts that is an
interesting and rare Disston Dovetail Saw. Good. $80.00
Price - $80.00