D-8 1896-1917

[Joe Tilson]

I am hoping you fellows can help me with the type of wood this tote is made from. Did Disston make totes out of rosewood? It does have a pinkish coloring to it.293699293700293702 D-8 from 1896-1917.
Thanks,
Joe

[David Weaver]

It could just be a piece of apple with some curl.

[Joe Tilson]

Thanks David, but this is awfully blonde wood, though I have seen nearly white wood from an apple tree. Still scratching my head. You are probably right. Can you tell of the confusion in my mind? My wife says I run things around in my head to much.:confused:

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I am hoping you fellows can help me with the type of wood this tote is made from. Did Disston make totes out of rosewood?

They did, but I believe it was only a handful of models, like the D15 and D115. I have one of those - it's a very dark rosewood, and if you do any sanding on it, you'll know immediately what it is by the scent. Yours certainly don't look like rosewood to me. If the model and date you have are accurate, and the handle appeared to be original, I'd just assume apple, as Dave said.

[David Weaver]

I'd scrape it and put a little bit oil and shellac on it to get an idea. The old handles appear to have been stained dark, but i'm not historian of disston stuff and don't know how much of that finish turned dark. The later saws are a lighter color.

[Joe Tilson]

Joshua,
I have a D-115 with a rosewood handle, and it is very dark. I saw a piece of rosewood at Cormark Ind. in Weaverville, NC one time that was a blondish color. The sign on it did say"unusual color" and it was very expensive.
Thank you for all the help. You guys are very helpful.
David,
What oil and shellac would you suggest?

[Stew Denton]

I have a tote on an old Stanley #7, type 11, that I am restoring as I have time. The tote had a name stamped in it, looked like he had used 1/4 inch metal stamps, and the tote was a very light tan color. I tried to steam out the name, but it was a no go, so ended up sanding the name out. I was shocked to find out that after sanding just a tiny way into the tote that it turned almost black, beautiful rosewood, although there was no rose odor.

I thus learned that if the wood is old enough you may not get any of the rose odor. I don't know if Stanley bleached the rosewood, or it was bleached by setting in a shop window for many of it's 90+ years of time (At any rate, the light color and lack of odor is not proof that it isn't rosewood.)

Given that, I think Joshua is probably right, as Disston did not put many Rosewood totes on their handsaws, only on the premium models. I too have an old 115 that has a rosewood tote, but it was "rode hard" and has seen better days.

One thing does make me think it could be rosewood, however, is the condition. One of the members reported in a post that rosewood is oily enough that it does not develop cracks on its own, over time. (I know it can crack, all you have to do is look at a lot of old planes, but those cracks are due to stress on the wood, not due to drying out due to age.) That tote might have developed cracks, if it was apple, due to drying out and to age, so think it could be rosewood.

However, all of the rosewood totes that I remember seeing had the wheat head carving on them, and that tote does not which is evidence that it is not rosewood.

One question, what model saw did it come off of, that would give a hint?

Like David and Joshua mentioned above, I would sand and put some finish on it to see what it looked like.

Anyway, my two bits.

Regards,

Stew

[Jerry Thompson]

I have a D-8 rip with the thumb hole that has an apple tote.

[Joe Tilson]

Stew,
I am also working on an older #7 and it does have a very dark tote. The wood looks like apple to me, but I'm not up to speed yet on my woods. Worked with wood many years ago with my grandfather. I just do not have the recall, so I'll get the wood bible out and do some studying. Thanks for the info,
Joe

[george wilson]

The handle is not rosewood. It is apple. Now that I looked at the picture more closely,it cannot be beech.

[Stew Denton]

Hi Joe,

After you finish restoring the tote, please post a photo.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

[David Weaver]

Joshua,
I have a D-115 with a rosewood handle, and it is very dark. I saw a piece of rosewood at Cormark Ind. in Weaverville, NC one time that was a blondish color. The sign on it did say"unusual color" and it was very expensive.
Thank you for all the help. You guys are very helpful.
David,
What oil and shellac would you suggest?

Really anything. You could just use the oil to get a look, that'd probably be more than enough. When those old handles get dried out and get sort of a dusty whitish outside, they get way far away from what the fresh wood would look like.Thankfully, the apple handles don't get the same kind of fragility that old beech can get where it starts to be very dusty in the early wood and just fall apart.

[Joe Tilson]

George,
After checking with the wood bible, I believe you are correct. It is quarter sawed and has a grain similar to maple. I just hope I can finish it and do it justice.
Stew,
I will post a picture.

How far would you follows go with sanding this tote?

[David Weaver]

I would scrape it first and then lightly sand it, but you could just sand it. There's no great need to go beyond 220 with final scratches going in the direction of the grain - just try to get a clean fresh surface so it doesn't finish like it's covered with dust/fuzzy.

[Joe Tilson]

Stew,
Here are the pics you requested. Check out the tiger striping. 293750293751293752293753

[David Weaver]

It's a nice handle, looks certainly like apple to me. Is that just oil only?

[Stew Denton]

Joe, I love the grain and color. That is going to spruce up the saw no end, especially compared to the "before."

Stew

[Joe Tilson]

David,
It is oil only. I put another light coat on it again today. Had plans to wax it up with Johnson paste wax. I will try to get it done tomorrow or Tuesday. After that I don't know when I will be able to do it, as I am having shoulder surgery Wednesday. Rotator cuff that should have been repaired a long time ago. Hopefully after rehab and a few months of more pain than I care to stand, it won't hurt 24/7.

Stew,
This tote will probably spruce up another saw. The plate on this one is really bad. Believe me, I didn't think this tote was any good either, and I was only going to keep the screws and medallion to add to some D-8's that are in better shape. Really glad I removed the old cloth black tape and cleaned this one up.

[Stew Denton]

Joe, hope your surgery goes well, I had rotator cuff surgery a few years ago, it was a good thing for me. I also had a different surgery about a month ago, am still recovering from it, but have recovered enough to go back to work.....but do not do heavy work. Let us know how it goes, I will try to remember to pray for a good surgery and good recovery. If it works out for you like it did for me, you will be glad you had the surgery.

If you don't have a plate for the tote now, as you know you may be able to pick a saw up cheap at a show, flea market, garage sale, or on Ebay. I haven't been to a garage sale in years, so don't know if old saws show up any more, but that is how I got quite a few of mine, but again it has been 35 and more years ago for me since I last bought one at a garage sale. As you know, a saw with a broken tote goes for drastically less than one having a good tote, so you should be able to get one at a bargain price. If you look on Ebay for a while you might be able to find the same model, so it will be an easy change over.

Look at my post on "Need Advise, Disston Handsaw Restoration" of a couple of days ago. Jim Koepke put a link on it to an article on redoing a saw, and it shows how he fitted a new handle to the redone saw, and did it the right way....no play in the handle.

Stew