First "real" panel saw.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I've been looking for some full size handsaws and panel saws for a while now, but everything I've run across in my area either has been sharpened until the etch is in the teeth and the tip is a point, the handle is totally destroyed, or the thing is pitted almost all the way through. Usually all three, with a blade that's as wavy as a surf; and the folks selling it are convinced it's rare and worth a ridiculous amount. (Also, apparently there's a market on 15 year old plastic handled saws from Sears, because they still keep selling used for more than you could just buy a new one.)

I'm hoping as the weather warms up and the "season" starts, I'll have better luck at the flea markets and antique shows and such. I'm cheap, and not in a hurry, as I can get by, so a nice saw from a modern maker is out of the budget right now.

So anyway, I went with my wife to an antique show yesterday. We were going to go Saturday, but car problems prevented it. Usually hitting these things on the tail end of Sunday means nothing good is left, but there was a decent amount of stuff, and now I know who's booth to look for next time there's one of these things. I was surprised as well, because most of the stuff we saw was reasonably priced, even the furniture.

Picked this up for 12 bucks. Probably could have haggled if he had anything else left I also wanted, but I was sleepy and 12 bucks was still within "throwing around money" for now.

Disston No. 12, 11 TPI rip 22 inch. I'd still like something else coarser and longer, but I feel like this will be a good rip saw for a lot of the rips I'm doing right now. Blade is fairly pitted in spots I guess, but it's not too awful bad. Etch is fairly visible, but damned if I can figure out how to photograph it. The handle is fully intact, couple of chips/dents on the front near the medallion, but the horns are in perfect shape. I think I bought it for nothing else than it just feels terrific in the my hand. It's got an intact nib, but it's a tiny one. Doesn't look worn down or anything, just small, but damned if I know much about what nibs are supposed to look like. Has the common turn of the century "Philada" medallion, but appears to have a "one son" etch. I'm just assuming the second "s" has been lost to the years.

The blade is kink and wave free, but it didn't occur to me to look at much else about it until I got it home. It seems to have minimal to no set, at least as far as I can measure, and binds in the cut as a result. (Although needing a sharpening probably also doesn't help) And the tooth line is pretty far out of straight. I haven't measured it, but it's going to need a fair amount of jointing. I'm reasonably confident in my ability to sharpen a saw, but I'm not sure if I can do this one right. I guess I'll be careful, and have a go.

I didn't do much to it other than lightly sand with 320 grit on a sandingblock with some mineral spirits to remove the worst of the crud and light rust, and then wax the blade. Looking at the photo, I now see I have a fingerprint to clean up, and I guess I managed to put a few scratches in the plate. I don't remember sanding with a swirling motion, however. Weird. The big swirls in the third picture are from the wax.

I guess I have no real reason for posting this, I know it's not unique, special or amazing, I'm just happy to find a saw that I hope can turn into a good user, for a non-ridiculous price, locally. That it has the same super comfy handle as the similar vintage backsaw I picked up the other week makes me even happier.

191899191900191901191902

[Terry Beadle]

That's a keeper and a qualified gloat !

Great price !

[Patrick Tipton]

Congrats! I would much rather spend $12 for a nice old saw than spend $20 on junk from the big box store. You have yourself a great user for years.

Regards, Patrick

[David Weaver]

Good saw for $12.

It's nice to have crosscut saws that have no pitting at all, but a #12 for $12 is a different story. I would've bought it, too. You could flip it on ebay and do just fine, but 12s are nicer to keep than to flip.

Which way out of straight is it? Is it a bit concave? If it is, it'll cost you a few dollars in files to go through all of it. I'd joint it a little heavy in the high spots over a few sharpenings (rather than try to chase all of the frown out in one sharpening), it'll still cut fine. At least in theory, that's what I'd do, (in practice I usually just run it all out at once and chase the teeth down with each jointing), but I think that's a waste of files.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

It's not quite as bad as I thought; but it's not really concave or convex; at first it appears to simply be slightly breasted, at least by the toe, but the toothline is sort of concave over a stretch of 4 or 5 inches about a third of the way in from the handle. It dips in maybe a half tooths depth. It almost looks like someone has jointed it breasted in the past but never filed in the area under the handle.

[Johnny Kleso]

Thats a $50+ saw.. No12s are crazy priced last time I checked ebay..
Nice Score

[Klaus Kretschmar]

$ 12 for a Disston #12 in obviously decent shape??? Where are you living, in the tool heaven?:eek:
Congrats on a stealth gloat. If you´d know the price situation of vintage tools here in Germany, you´d understand me, I´d bet on that.

Klaus

[george wilson]

From what I have seen here,that saw is well over $200.00,especially in that condition. There were 1 or 2 for sale in the classifieds here not too long ago. I think that is what at least 1 or them went for.

[Pat Barry]

What is the purpose of the nib on the saw? I don't see them too frequently.

[David Weaver]

they put them on to give future woodworkers something to argue about.

[Jonathan McCullough]

Sincerest condolences on your "first real panel saw." Now you'll be wondering why all the subsequent panel saws you try just don't measure up! Seriously though, that one looks like a keeper. At 11 tpi I'd recommend that you don't file it as a rip saw though--it's probably thinner than than most rip saws. You could convert a less special saw into a rip saw for that purpose, or there are plenty of 26-inch length rip saws around. At any rate, it'll be really nice to have around the bench.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Now I feel like a cheap skate! I knew I was getting a good deal for 12 bucks, I think I made it sound like I was holding off more than I was. Although I remember when I was younger [And not that long ago - I'm only 32] and you could get several of these for 12 bucks together at any place that sold old stuff. Now I never see non-backsaws anywhere local, and the few times I do, they want 60 bucks for something in terrible, unusable shape. Seems like whenever I don't think I want something (I'm trying to keep from getting too much stuff) I see a boatload of it. As soon as I realize I want something, I can't find any! I'm having this problem with oilcans right now; I could use a smallish oil can, the kind with the half-sphere bottom and the longish spout. Seems like they were in every junk and antique shop two months ago, and now I can't find any!

the 200 dollar ones I've seen online are probably in better shape than this (the flash makes it look a little better than it is, but I also could probably clean it up a little better) and have had all the hard work in sharpening done on 'em. I guess I could justify paying something close to that for someone else to do the labor for me if I didn't mind doing it myself. (Crossing my fingers I don't mess 'em up.) I think a lot of the more expensive ones are also sharpened by someone with a "reputation"; which sounds silly at times, but I'd pay more for a saw sharpened by someone who I knew always did a good job. Ebay prices I just disregard; they vary too much from auction to auction and month to month. All I knew was that if I was going to have to sharpen something myself, I wanted it to be far cheaper than the cost of a reconditioned saw.

Talking to the fellow who was selling these tools, it was nice to see that his prices were really more in line with him making a profit based on what he payed when got the thing, and not what he thought he could get. I don't know if I could do business like that, but it was refreshing after seeing folks lowball people selling their husbands estates and then making 600% profit at the antique store.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Sincerest condolences on your "first real panel saw." Now you'll be wondering why all the subsequent panel saws you try just don't measure up! Seriously though, that one looks like a keeper. At 11 tpi I'd recommend that you don't file it as a rip saw though--it's probably thinner than than most rip saws. You could convert a less special saw into a rip saw for that purpose, or there are plenty of 26-inch length rip saws around. At any rate, it'll be really nice to have around the bench.

Yeah, looking closer at it, it seems like it may have originally been a crosscut saw that's been sharpened with less and less fleam each time. The teeth that seem to have been missed during jointing, as I mentioned above, are much more pronounced cross-cut style. Taking more than a second to think about it, an 11tpi rip in this size does seem a bit silly...

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

While I'm at it, here's the panel saw I mentioned. Picked it up last month at an antique stores sale. I think it was $35 for it? I haven't gotten around to doing a thing with it, yet. it's 16.5 inches long, and has some spotted rust that looks like it had had some water drop on it in a couple places and not get cleaned up. The worst being hidden by the flashes glare. Chip on the side of the top horn; so the horn looks intact from the reverse side. Interestingly enough, also 11tpi. Crosscut, but again with some teeth being pretty much filed rip. Same era as the panel saw. Maybe there was a saw filer in VT who hated dealing with fleam. Still cuts decently, but really needs a sharpening as well.

191928

[David Weaver]

You can do pretty good work with teeth that fine without ever putting fleam on them. Try using one of those crosscut when you get it filed. The rake makes a bigger difference crosscut in how grabby the saw is, and the fleam cleans up the cut a little, but a rip saw with relaxed rake in the 10-12 tpi range cuts crosscut fast and smooth.

If that saw is dead straight, it's a good and useful saw for $35.

Even though some folks would balk at paying $35 for a saw, you have to figure if you don't see them all the time with good clean plates, trying to find one cheap online and then paying $12 to ship it doesn't make for an attractive deal, either.