Is this the World's best saw set?

[george wilson]

This is a saw set I have,and have not found another like it. It is nickel plated,with a Brazilian rosewood handle.

It is capable of setting VERY small teeth,which is one reason I like it so much. Laid up against the setting hammer is a rather thin piece of spring steel that can be adjusted to lie against it,or to be any distance away from it that you might need it to be. It can also be adjusted as close to the tip of the hammer as necessary.

A great deal of use by me has not produced the slightest sign of peening or wear on the hammer.

Overall,it is made extremely well,much like a surgical tool. It is quite weighty for a rather slender tool. Overall length is about 9"

It would be interesting to see if anyone else has one of these.

[George Beck]

That is sweet! I saw a saw set like this in a museum and it was used to set surgical saws used in field amputations.

George

[David Weaver]

George - is that another one of your kutztown flea market finds?

[george wilson]

Can't recall. I found the missing picture and added it. This new format is not very handy!!!!

I'm not surprised it is surgical. I thought it seemed so due to the very high quality. Probably the plating is to keep blood from etching the metal. I can easily set 20 TPI with it.

[Lowell Smith]

Is this the same set?

http://hyperkitten.com/tools/ads/display_ad.php?picture_file=osmith4.jpg

[george wilson]

That is it!! I hadn't bothered to research it. I should have. The computer is a wonderful tool!! Well,the ad doesn't say it's surgical,but it is certainly of the required quality. Only $1.00???? Things have changed,haven't they? I can't believe they could make and sell this tool for $1.00 even at that time. It has a lot of parts on it,and the steel is of very high quality to have not shown wear yet.

Apparently about 1912. This saw set certainly outshines any other I've seen in quality and versatility. Not that I'm a saw set expert or collector. I just buy tools to use.

[george wilson]

I might add that this saw set has much greater leverage than any other I have used. Jon and I had bleeding hands from setting so many saws we made at Williamsburg. This set would have been handy at that time.

I had also gone later to using a set driven into a small stump,which you could strike with a hammer. Those are fairly common. I could set a saw pretty quickly with one of those.

For very small teeth,you can't beat this one,though.

[John Coloccia]

Wow...Rockfall is less than an hour from here. Like everyone else in this area it seems, Otis Smith made guns :) I don't know much about saw sets, but I do know a bit about guns...

I've been looking for a good saw set. I'll keep my eye out for one of those.

[John Coloccia]

Is the little piece of spring steel used to index to the next tooth?

[george wilson]

The answer is yes. It does measure off the last tooth and set the hammer in the center of the tooth you are setting. Maybe the hammer should be called the anvil,but I'm calling it the hammer,since it comes down against a stationary steel part,which,to me,should be the anvil. I'm not a saw set expert,though,as I have said.

I did research it after Lowell posted the old ad. This saw setter is definitely of gun like quality. Since it is plated,too,I can also see that it would have been the best tool out there for setting surgical saws,too. Especially if they had smallish teeth.

Funny,in my numerous travels,I never ran into another such saw set.

[Josh Bowman]

George, I'll give you double the retail price.....I'll pay $2 and even spring for the shipping.:D
No kidding, that's a nice tool, thanks for showing it.

[george wilson]

Even more remarkable,the maker apparently paid the shipping for the $1.00.

[James Taglienti]

That was back when

To : John Smith in Kendall County

Probably sufficed for address.

[Pam Niedermayer]

George, what do you think of this type of set (http://cgi.ebay.com/English-Spring-Saw-Plate-Set-Wrist-Wrench-Boxwood-DN57A-/320553770731?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aa27e5eeb)?

Pam

[Tom Vanzant]

Pam,
This looks like a WWII British Commando knife blade that has been modified to a wire stripper for various diameter wires. Tip ground to a split nut profile. Adjustable guard... ??

[Niels Cosman]

pam,
that looks like an early version of the "wrecking knife". :)

[george wilson]

It is a primitive type of set that is better suited to setting coarser type teeth,Pam. That type set was especially suitable for pit saws in a larger edition. The accuracy of using it is entirely dependent upon personal skill as there are usually no stops by which to regulate the set. We had them in Wmsbg. This one seems to have a brass stop on it.

[Pam Niedermayer]

OK, thanks, George. I thought one really good thing about a wrest version is that one could train for a particular touch, rather than being enslaved by a preset hammer. Of course, one could train for using a hammer and anvil perhaps as easily.

Pam

[george wilson]

Flexibility is always a good feature. There is nothing wrong with developing personal skill. There is also nothing wrong with getting all your saw teeth set exactly the same amount though,is there? Since YOU preset the preset hammer,I don't think it represents being enslaved by it. You enslave it.

I used the wrest type many times,but find no great shakes about it.

You all are going to have to work harder at convincing me that there is a better saw set out there,or I may continue to believe that I have the best type.:)

[Pam Niedermayer]

George, wasn't really trying to convince you of anything. I wanted your opinion and some idea of how the wrest type works in the hands of an expert, especially since it's apparently impossible to buy your favorite.

Thanks,
Pam

[george wilson]

They aren't easy to find,for sure. Maybe someone could convince LV or LN to reproduce something similar. It wouldn't have to be as refined,just using the little spring steel adjustment would be nice.

My convince me joke was directed to others who haven't shown a better saw set yet. there must be something out there.

[george wilson]

For those interested,if you go to collectible tools on Ebay,and type in saw set,there are several nice ones available. A few are by Leach,and are of a similar layout to mine. Not quite the same,but easy to squeeze,and look easy to use.