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Thread: Oldest Tools?

  1. #16
    "My oldest tool, to my knowledge is a Disston panel saw from between 1878 and 1888. This by the medallion guide on the Disston Institute site."

    Can I ask a stupid question? What is a panel saw?
    "The key to a long life is when you start to die, don't"

  2. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    Panel saws were a little shorter than a Hand Saw. I think the typical one is 20", rather than 26" for a Hand Saw.

  3. #18
    Gotcha! Thanks!
    "The key to a long life is when you start to die, don't"

  4. #19
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
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    SE Michigan
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    As Tom said, most old hand saw catalogues will list anything less than 24” as a panel saw. There is some debate over why it was called a panel saw, but I tend to think they were appropriate for sawing thinner “panel” material. Today, many refer to any hand saw as a panel saw as a way to distinguish it from a powered saw.

  5. #20
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
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    Princeton, NJ
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    I admire Tom’s willingness to neatly modify and old tool and keep it in use. Tom does historic restoration, he is uniquely qualified to do so, in my estimation.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  6. #21
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
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    My current oldest tools are a couple of mortise chisels. They were purchased on ebay many years ago:

    James Cam & Newbould Mortise Chisels.jpg

    Here is part of the text from the description:

    The wider chisel has a cutting edge of 3/8" and is stamped NEWBOULD, a mark used by Samuel Newbould. He is listed as an "edgetool maker" on Sheffield Moor in the Directory of Sheffield for 1787. This example has two early features. The bolster where the blade enters the handle is not the integral, faceted one that is usual; instead, there is a disk that the blade passes through and a very heavy, hand forged ferrule behind it (see photo). The disk is like that on a Samurai sword. The other early feature is that the chisel has a steel edge welded to an iron backbone, much like early axes. The steel will hold an edge much longer than iron, but wrought iron is tougher and less brittle for the body of a tool. The line between the steel and iron can be seen along the edge of the NEWBOULD blade (see photo). The chisel is about 9½ inches in length. The length from the tip to the beginning of the exposed wood in the handle is about 7 inches.
    The second chisel is lightly stamped JAMES CAM, who started in Sheffield in 1781, according to Goodman’s book on British plane-makers.
    The handles have been replaced.

    One of my scythes has a Shapleigh trade mark. This was changed to Diamond Edge in 1864.

    Some of my Buck Brothers carving tools are from before the buck's head was incorporated into their trade mark circa 1870.

    Buck Brothers Marks 2.jpg

    One of my Stanley/Bailey planes is a type 4, 1874-1884.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  7. #22
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,467
    The wood on this Vesper joinery knife is 10000 year old Black Red Gum ...



    See if you can beat that!

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  8. #23
    My oldest tool is a D. R. Barton drawknife that I can date to sometime between 1849 and 1874. It's my only drawknife and gets quite a workout whenever I decide to turn anything on my pole lathe.

  9. #24
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    twomiles from the "peak of Ohio
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    I have two non-users...too brittle...There is a Disston from the 1850s..a No. 7, made before the eldest son joined the firm

    There is also a rip saw, patent dates are on the underside of the split nuts....from 1868. Both are retired, just like me.

  10. #25
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Central Florida
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    102
    I think Derek wins! Very cool. I’ve always thought it would be cool to have a piece of a 1500 or so year old Cypress that a meth head burned down here in Florida a while back, but 10,000 years old is impressive.

  11. #26
    Indeed! Where would you even get something like that?
    "The key to a long life is when you start to die, don't"

  12. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    My current oldest tools are a couple of mortise chisels. They were purchased on ebay many years ago:

    James Cam & Newbould Mortise Chisels.jpg
    I like Jim's Cam mortise chisel (upper one) the best so far. 18th century chisels like this are quite a bit lighter than the late 19th century joiner's mortise chisels we often see.

    I have a nice James Cam skew chisel for turning. It is 1 1/4 inches wide and tapers from 5/16 down to less than 1/8 at the tip. It was probably around 3/32 thick at the tip when new, which makes for a nice tool. It has very fine steel. Quite a bit more skewed than the picture shows.

    Cam skew.jpg
    Last edited by Warren Mickley; 02-29-2020 at 9:34 PM.

  13. #28
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    On the edge of Pisgah National Forest
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    236
    Being up against you tool collectors leaves me in the dust. I won't even mention my father's hammer which I still have and treasure, ca. maybe 1950.

    Now my #1 hobby, building vacuum tube audio equipment, here's a single-ended triode amplifier (foreground) with RCA Cunningham engraved UX-45 output tubes made in 1937. Still going 2.8 Watts per channel strong.

    IMG_4506.jpg

  14. #29
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Longview WA
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    Quote Originally Posted by Josh Robinson View Post
    I think Derek wins! Very cool. I’ve always thought it would be cool to have a piece of a 1500 or so year old Cypress that a meth head burned down here in Florida a while back, but 10,000 years old is impressive.
    The tool is rather modern, the handle material is ancient.

    Quote Originally Posted by Aiden Pettengill View Post
    Indeed! Where would you even get something like that?
    Petrified wood would be one way.

    One woman at a recent flea market had a knapped stone knife with an antler handle. It is still a modern construction.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  15. #30
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    9,467
    Quote Originally Posted by Josh Robinson View Post
    I think Derek wins! Very cool. I’ve always thought it would be cool to have a piece of a 1500 or so year old Cypress that a meth head burned down here in Florida a while back, but 10,000 years old is impressive.
    Thanks Josh ... but you know I want just kidding (although the wood is indeed 10000 years old).

    I have an 1896 shooting board, which gets frequent use.

    Hell, I'm getting to be an old tool, myself!

    Regards from Perth

    Derek

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