Another Old Saw for a Galoot and a Gloat

[Jim Koepke]

My wife has been wanting to go to the beach for a while. The weather reports made the call of today being pretty good, so we scheduled it for today. We also did a little antique store looking.

I don't know why I still look at saws, but there I was looking. One shop had an old Marples dovetail saw for $40. It was there about 6 months ago. It has split nuts and a brass back. The blade is a little pitted. As we left, I just had to ask. Fortunately the guy who has the saw in there seldom moves on the prices he sets.

We stopped at another store that wasn't so much antiques as it was used things.

Some interesting things and there was a saw laying in the back without a price tag.

182092

It was missing one of the three saw nuts. The medallion didn't really make me get too excited about a "Warranted Superior" eagle mark.

My thinking was that at least asking how much wouldn't hurt. While looking quizzically at the a lady asked me if she could help me with something. I asked about the saw. She said, "let me ask the saw guy." She came back with $5. I mentioned that I only had a little cash and would she take plastic? She consulted with another woman and decided that the minimum for plastic was $5. I said I had to consult with SWMBO and see if she was going to purchase anything.

Well, she did find something she wanted for $40. So, I asked if they could drop the price on what my wife wanted. Once more she consulted with the others and came back that if we bought the item my wife wanted they would throw in the saw.

Heck, it was free, how could I refuse that?

So we did the deal. After we drove away, I explained to my wife why I wanted the saw. It was the nuts on the other side of the saw that got my attention.

182093

The patent date is a bit beat up, but it looks to be Dec. 21, 1869.

jtk

[Peter Pedisich]

Nice, can't beat that price.

[Ray Gardiner]

Hi Jim,

Nice pickup. The patent would be Munger's Saw Screw Patent, where he patented a method for making the head of the screw separately from the shaft. Wiktor has details on his site..

http://www.wkfinetools.com/hUS-saws/z_reading/hSaws-Screws/098,180-1869-1221/098,180-1869-1221-Munger1.asp

Any chance of a close up picture of the Medallion?

Regards
Ray

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Jim,

Nice pickup. The patent would be Munger's Saw Screw Patent, where he patented a method for making the head of the screw separately from the shaft. Wiktor has details on his site..

http://www.wkfinetools.com/hUS-saws/z_reading/hSaws-Screws/098,180-1869-1221/098,180-1869-1221-Munger1.asp

Any chance of a close up picture of the Medallion?

Regards
Ray

Ray,

Thanks for the link to the site. I had found it earlier by searching > Saw Medallion
patents <. That is how I figured out the correct date since mine is a little worn in the date area.

Here is a closer picture of the medallion, about the best I can do without setting up a tripod and proper lights.

182097

I haven't done anything to clean it yet.

jtk

[Ray Gardiner]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the picture, looks like a Disston Style Eagle to my eye, I guess with only 3 screws it's probably a panel saw? No 7 maybe, but there are Disston experts who hang out here
who could tell you more.

For that price, you did very nicely :)

If you look closely you can see the center of the Medallion where it's separated slightly from the screw shaft. (Aka Munger)

Regards
Ray

[Jonathan McCullough]

Huh. Interesting saw. The saw nuts seem to predate the handle. They seem 1870s to 1890s-era. The handle style seems more 1900s to 1920s-era or even later. I don't think it's a Disston handle, and it's almost certainly a replacement. I don't believe that handle ever had a medallion. Department stores sold replacement handles without any bolt holes drilled, so you could do it yourself. This one appears to have been competently, but inexpertly attached to the saw plate; the medallion is on the wrong side. When (if?) you take the handle off to clean the plate, I'll bet the holes in the plate won't line up perfectly with the handle. Can we get a photo of the full saw plate? I'm guessing this saw's story is that it was made in the 1870s-1890s, then the handle got bunged up and went dormant, then a depression-era carpenter dusted it off and bought a repair handle rather than buying a whole new saw. Should be interesting to see what kind of etch it has.

[Ray Gardiner]

Hi Johnathan, Jim

I think you could be right, it's a replacement handle, I can't think of any other reason why the medallion would be on the wrong side..

What do you think the saw plate is from?

Regards
Ray

[Jim Koepke]

I guess with only 3 screws it's probably a panel saw?

...

If you look closely you can see the center of the Medallion where it's separated slightly from the screw shaft. (Aka Munger)

I am not sure if there are only 3 holes in the saw plate. One of the split nuts is smaller than the other two. May have just been some old hardware someone had laying around when they put a saw together.

The head on the other good screw also shows separation between the shaft and head when viewed closely.

The tooth line is 26" long. It looks to be dull and last filling made it a cross cut. The filing isn't real good.


The handle style seems more 1900s to 1920s-era or even later.

...

Should be interesting to see what kind of etch it has.


The handle is definitely newer than the nuts, all the edges are very crisp/sharp. There isn't even any tapering on the horns.

I have not been able to detect any etch. Maybe when it is out in the sun something might show up.

The handle is a bit on the loose side.

jtk

[Jim Koepke]

There doesn't appear to be any remaining etch on the saw plate.

182167

It does have a nib, didn't they all at one time? The plate is also taper ground.


There are five holes that look to be the originals.

182166

One of the screws was broken and this was known when I was looking at the saw.


jtk

[Jonathan McCullough]

Interesting saw nut pattern: Maybe Richardson or Fulton? It doesn't bring to mind anything that's common. There was a saw company in Frisco that I think got wiped out during the earthquake in naught-and-six that Bob Smalser mentioned once--Pacific?