Have You ever seen one of these?

[Josh Bowman]

I'm now the proud owner of a Seavey March 28 1899 saw guide. I bought it from an antique dealer. I have never seen one. It's like a portable miter box. You set the angle you wish, hold it on a board and saw....only thing is it's right handed only and I'm left headed....it's still neat.
The saw pictured is a Browns Number 3. It has all the emblems of a Disston, except it says Brown's. The Brass saws Warranted Superior. Anyone have any history on this one?
I can't find anything on the web.

[David Gendron]

I'm right handed, you can send it to me and I'll use it, and tell you out it work in the "right" hand;)

[Phillip Pattee]

Josh,
Nope, I've never seen one. There are a few modern day versions of saw guides usually magnetic and made for smaller work like dovetails. Here is a link to Lee Valley's version. http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=41718&cat=1,42884. I think Tools for Working Wood sells a saw guide as well. Neither is like yours though. Cool tool.:)

[Dave Lehnert]

Here is a like item from Hartville.
http://www.hartvilletool.com/product/12371

http://www.hartvilletool.com/shared/images/products//medium/67728.jpg

[Chris Vandiver]

One word for you Josh, "ambidextrous"!

The Browns saw was made by Disston and is virtually the same as a Disston #7.

Chris

[Jeff Burks]

I have a later version of this miter box from the time when it was manufactured by Red Devil, the company you know for red handled glass cutters and paint scrapers. I think they acquired the design sometime after 1900 and changed the fence style and marketed it with a bright red paint job. It still has the Seavey patent stamp in the same location as the original black version that you have. I don't have time to dig mine out and take photos though I can share a 1912 advertisement for it.

The Patent (http://www.carpentryarchive.org/files/seavey_patent.pdf)

1912 Red Devil Advertisement (http://www.carpentryarchive.org/files/red_devil_ad.pdf)

Red Devil History blurb (http://www.onlinefloorstore.com/manufacturer/Red-Devil)

Jeff

P.S. You may also want to see an advert for Milks Pocket Miter Box (http://www.carpentryarchive.org/files/milks_pocket.pdf), which was similar, though it did not bolt to a bench or sawhorse like the Seavey design. The Milks Patent (http://www.google.com/patents?id=RlJEAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&dq=parson%20miter%20saw&as_drrb_ap=q&as_minm_ap=0&as_miny_ap=&as_maxm_ap=0&as_maxy_ap=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=1900&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=1930&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=&f=false)

[Josh Bowman]

One word for you Josh, "ambidextrous"!

The Browns saw was made by Disston and is virtually the same as a Disston #7.

Chris
I'm guessing "Brown's" was a hardware store? I agree, all the symbols, match Disston to a T. The keystone, the balance. Now as far as a #7 this saw is very short, maybe 20". It's the shortest handsaw I have in my till (aside from dovetails etc.). It looks like the big boys in everyway, except for the 3 in the keystone.

[Josh Bowman]

I have a later version of this miter box from the time when it was manufactured by Red Devil, the company you know for red handled glass cutters and paint scrapers.

The Patent (http://www.carpentryarchive.org/files/seavey_patent.pdf)

1912 Red Devil Advertisement (http://www.carpentryarchive.org/files/red_devil_ad.pdf)

Red Devil History blurb (http://www.onlinefloorstore.com/manufacturer/Red-Devil)

Jeff

P.S. You may also want to see an advert for Milks Pocket Miter Box (http://www.carpentryarchive.org/files/milks_pocket.pdf), which was similar, though it did not bolt to a bench or sawhorse like the Seavey design. The Milks Patent (http://www.google.com/patents?id=RlJEAAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&dq=parson%20miter%20saw&as_drrb_ap=q&as_minm_ap=0&as_miny_ap=&as_maxm_ap=0&as_maxy_ap=&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=1900&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=1930&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=&f=false)
Thanks, I wasn't sure I should buy the thing, but I thought it was unique. So I put it in a pile of stuff and asked for a price for all. Got it fairly cheap. But I guess when you don't need it, it's really expensive.....I still like it and will put it in the saw till, you've just made it even more valueable.

[Richard Niemiec]

Miter boxes, portable or otherwise, I can understand, but even they are really a replacement for freehand cutting followed by true up with a shooting board. Saw guides like the LV or Rockler versions I just don't get. If you need one to be able to saw to a line (whether with a western or japanese saw), what you really need is more practice, possibly a better (or sharper) saw, but certainly not some magnetized gadget. From my perspective the whole point of doing things by hand is to build a skillset with handtools, which in turn provides me with the satisfaction of the hobby. Bring one of these contraptions to a handtool class and Frank Klauz would just shake his head and walk quickly away from you, St. Roy would get a belly laugh and then toss it in the scrap pile, and Tage Frid would roll over in his grave.

I guess this sounds harsh, but its not meant to be.

[harry strasil]

Looks like you could hold it on the backside of a board with your right hand and use your wrong hand to manipulate the saw.

[Josh Bowman]

Looks like you could hold it on the backside of a board with your right hand and use your wrong hand to manipulate the saw.
Great idea..I just went out to the shop and it works........hey! What do you mean "wrong hand".

[harry strasil]

GOTCHA! didn't you learn right from wrong. I use either hand, the right one more proficiently tho.

[harry strasil]

Where there's a Will there's a Way ---Errr Relatives!

[harry strasil]

Send ur Right hand to handtool bootcamp and teach it to work. I remember a sign on the Hospital bulletin board stating that right handed people live 7 years longer than Lefties.

[Jim Koepke]

Send ur Right hand to handtool bootcamp and teach it to work. I remember a sign on the Hospital bulletin board stating that right handed people live 7 years longer than Lefties.

Maybe it is from not having to put up with the frustration of living in a right hand world.

jim

[Jim Koepke]

My oldest brother and I are both ambidextrous, though right dominant except, some of my work habits are left dominate.

I think it all comes down to training and how the world is set up.

jim

[Mark Stutz]

My father was a teacher for 9 months of the year and a farmer for the rest, helping my grandfather. He was repairing the floor of a truck with T&G boards, so it would hold the grain. I was watching...couldn't have been more than 5 or 6...and he bent several nails and had to remove them. I must have been laughing, because he looked at me and said that it was due to my grandfather's left handed hammer!:D:D

[harry strasil]

They used to make Left Handed Tools, a Left Handed Monkey Wrench is not a MYTH, they are very RARE, I have only seen and held one from a friends wrench collection.
They look just like an ordinary monkey wrench, but if you hold it in your left hand and turn the adjuster with your left thumb the jaw will move up.

[Jared Pero]

Hi there, I'm new to this forum and found it while searching for information on a saw that I came across. Here's a link to the only other information I found. Cool miter jig. " What you've got there is a Disston #00 Jackson panel saw. The #00 Jackson, #0 Taylor, #1 Bishop and #3 Brown saws were from the lower cost Disston line-up. They were indeed made in the Keystone Saw Works in Tacony...the same factory where Disston made all of their saws." From my other searching I'm speculating that the 4 names were small saw makers that got bought up by Disston.

http://www.forums.woodnet.net/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=5412560&page=117&view=expanded&sb=4&o=