This "art" for sale on Etsy made me cringe

[Jason Buresh]

Screenshot_20200501-121520.jpg

I'm no expert on handsaws but I have been looking for an old Disston rip saw with the thumb handle. I was browsing Etsy and I saw this monstrosity. I can only assume this was a Disston D8 from the early 1900's

I'll admit the art looks cool, but why can't they do this to a saw that isn't a piece of history.

[Jim Koepke]

When an old D-8 can be found in Goodwill and junk shops for a few bucks it seems like a way for some artist to possibly make a little income.

My shop has an old saw hanging on the wall with a bucolic scene painted on. It wasn't a great example of the saw maker's craft. To me it was better used as a decorative piece.

The Etsy listing looks like it may have been a rust bucket saw when found. The handle and the saw nuts would likely have been profitable with out the work of cutting into the saw plate.

This happens because people live in different worlds. To a woodworker an old saw is a valued tool. To an artist it is merely a pallet or a canvas. In one world we look to see if something can be returned to use. The artistic world looks to see if an item can be repurposed.

In my days as a coin collector it was sad to see an artist turn an old coin worth hundreds of dollars into a "piece of art" they could sell for maybe twenty or thirty dollars.

jtk

[Jason Buresh]

Jim,

I know someone looking for a saw to do art with and knows nothing about them isn't going to pick and choose, but if he would have done some research I am sure someone on eBay would have paid $60 for it and he wouldn't have had to touch it.

My sister paints saws, which is a less destructive type of art than what this guy is doing, but the great thing is that she shops for vintage saws and so do I. Before she paints a saw she gives me a chance to claim it if it's in good shape, and if I find saws in less than perfect condition I pass them to her to paint. It's a win win situation for everyone.

Neither one of us has run across a Disston D8 with a thumbhole though.

[Andrew Seemann]

I have some saws hanging on the wall waiting for restoration that probably would be better served being turned into art like that. A few are sentimental and probably will get restored, but a few (or more) probably should have been left wherever I found them

[Jim Matthews]

That would look awesome next to my Hummels and Thomas Kincade (limited edition) reproduction.

[Matt Riegerix]

Perhaps it was badly kinked.

[bill epstein]

Pretty funny as it is a sometime complaint on boards that discuss LPs like Vinyl Asylum and Hoffman.

Here's a fav cringer of ours:

[steven c newman]

Sometimes, you just have to do a Saw Rescue..
IMAG0138.JPG
At $0.25 each....
IMAG0141.JPG
After a clean up...
IMAG0140.JPG
And the best of the bunch..
IMAG0143.JPG
These were painted on both sides of the plate...and they used a primer coat....