Help with saw ID

[Cliff McNeill]

A guy at a tools site I visit is trying to find some info on a metal handled hand saw. I though someone here might be familiar with it.

His post....

Does anyone know who made these? Some cleaning might reveal an answer, but I just wondered if anyone was familiar with this style. It is a cast iron handle and I've been told these were used in underground mines. This is old mining country and I see them occasionally. I used to have one with a differently designed handle, but I let it go for a few dollars. Just how scarce are these in other parts of the country?

Thanks!

[Jonathan McCullough]

My passing familiarity identifies that as a heavy-duty "docking" saw around dockworks and quaysides. They were used in pervasively wet conditions, perhaps because the wood handles would get mushy and deteriorate, or perhaps because it was easier to take them apart and clean them under the handle? Mines can be wet and hard on tools, too. Sometimes you also see saws with handles like these advertised as "ice saws." I can't imagine cutting a hole with one of these in a lake to go fishing. But I can imagine someone who worked at the local ice house using one to cut a slab off for great-grandma's "ice box" in the days before refrigeration. Don't know if they heated the saws in those operations, but if I were to stick my ice saw in a potbellied stove before cutting ice slabs, I would probably want an iron or steel handle rather than a wooden one. Interesting to speculate.

[harry strasil]

Ice saws were much larger and had really coarse teeth. I remember Disston made a metal handled saw.

[James Taglienti]

I agree with harry- ice saws almost always had metal handles but they also had 1-2 tpi in a wicked rip pattern with no set... there were plenty of ice saws made in that size, but not with that TPI. what i think you've got is a crosscut ice saw. no, a few makers offered a wood saw with a metal handle. I don't think it was designed with mining or any other specific operation in mind... maybe just rigorous work or a clumsy owner. as far as rarity and value, it is probably rarer than most, but not outrageously collectible. you should check the handle for patent dates??