Iceland Find

[Richard Line]

While vacationing in Iceland, I checked out the nearby antiques shop and ended up with a couple of items for only 10,450 Krona (that's US$ 8.80). The saw has no name or markings on it. It is approximately 13 ppi (there's a small fraction of another tooth in there), blade is 12-7/8 inches long, cutting depth is 2-3/4 inches. It shows signs of only a small amount of use. The teeth are reasonably sharp and after a closer look in good light appear to be filed rip. (In the dimmer light of the shop, I had originally thought it was filed cross-cut. It has been sharpen and ended up with a small amount of reverse fleam.) The handle fits my small hand nicely. The couple of test cuts I gave it were pretty nice looking. I think I've got a keeper, and one that I won't be afraid to practice sharpening on. I guess it falls some where in the tenon to dovetail saw range. The wood square has no markings, but I would say it is a manufactured square, not hand made, particularity as there were 2 of them. The blade is almost 8 inches long. It is out of square by about 1/8 inch over the blades length. I knew it wasn't square when I bought it. Now, I've got to go back and find how to make it square; one of the ww mag's had an article or web piece on squaring up wooden squares a little while back. The saw's price was 10,000 Krona (~$8.80), the square 450 Krona (~$4). There were quite a few wood planes (all wood and transitional) from somewhat old to recent, in all sizes. Also several other hand saws of various sizes. Some of the prices were good, others not. I enjoyed the looking, but then I enjoyed the whole 2 week visit to Iceland.

Edit – After wiping the saw off a little better and looking closer, I found a maker's name on the blade's back. It is "RH Davis, Cast Steel".