The "Bishop's Saw"

[steven c newman]

I have a short 20" long panel saw. It does have a very good etch on the blade. Seems Mr. George H. Bishop of Cincinnati, Ohio made a few saws. This one has a crack in the handle, no doubt from the two sawnuts so close together along the crack. Took it out to my Back Porch Bench for a little work on the blade. A little hammer time to reduce some of the waviness in the blade, and then came the home made saw vise. 233056Them teeth needed a bit of sharpening. For a 20" long blade, that was a lot of teeth to file. Most were rounded over kind of dull. About six strokes per tooth was the total count. WHEW!! After a Mountain Dew Break, it was time for a test drive. This saw seems to "start" best with the middle of the blade. A couple "pulls' and we're off. A 2x3 was cut very quickly, although I didn't count the strokes, if one uses the full length does not take all that many. Handle was sanded down a bit, and a new finish was put on the handle.233057233058 a "Before" and "After" photo. Handle is still solid and tight. Etch said something about this being a "Greyhound" saw, Model number P80. Ring a bell, anyone??? Seems to be a nice little Panel saw. Now cleaned up, and sharp.

[Jim Koepke]

Looks good Steven.

Bishop saws are considered to by great saws by many.

I have a Bishop #10 that is nice for what it is meant to be.

It has a blade that can be flipped. This allows one set of teeth to be crosscut and the others to be filled rip. The sliding back can also be used to control the depth of cut.

jtk

[steven c newman]

I had it listed on E-bay for a week, never sold. Will re-list next month. Provided i don't decide to keep it, and sell something else. That handle is large and comfy, the kind of handle i like best, all four fingers can get ahold of it. Cuts fairly fast.

[Michael Ray Smith]

Looks nice. Jim's right -- many consider them to be great saws, and my limited experience with them confirms that. (However, that placement of the saw nuts makes me wonder what ol' George and his boys were thinking at the time. Seems like it was just asking for exactly what happened. Oh, well, that's a relatively minor problem.) You'll also find some Bishop saws with etches that say Lawrenceburg, Indiana, instead of Cincy. The company started in Cincy then moved a bit west -- sometime in the early 20th century, if I recall correctly.

If you like the saw, keep it rather than settling for less than you think it's worth. . . or less than you'd pay to buy it for your own use. You can always decide to sell later. I've never regretting hanging on to something I like for too long, but I've regretting letting some things go too easily.

[steven c newman]

IF I do keep the Bishop, a Hybrid saw might have to go233304 a Steigonian/Disstonian hybrid saw. handle by STEIGO, Saw plate by Disston. Just under 20" long. two Medallions, no less.


I also took an old "toolbox' saw (Irwin, BEFORE they used those hardened teeth) and a Disston style handle to make a "better' toolbox saw.233305 still has some of it's old gray paint. Atleast I can sharpen THOSE teeth.