Recent auction outing - Finally got a Disston for cheap!!

[Matt Warfield]

Howdy all,

I've been reading about people finding their hand saws for cheap. I picked up 3 hand saws at an auction tonight for cheap. As I'm not an aficionado with hand saws and just looking to branch out into the neanderthal world to round out my skills, I was wondering if anyone would offer some advice or identification of these saws.

I thought it was kind of funny that there were two lots of hand saws. The ones I bought were tucked away on a table full of linens(not by me!). The other lot had about 7 saws and went for over $50. In that lot, only two had a name: Disston and Atkins. The Disston one did not say Disston and Sons though. Not sure if I missed out on a collectors lot or not. Anyway, here's my score for this evening...

[Jerry Palmer]

The top one in the picture of the three is a Disston D8, the bottom is a #12 or D12, not for sure which but leaning toward the older #12. If the medallion in the middle one is Disston, I'm thinking a D7, but I don't know for sure. Medallion doesn't look quite right.

The five bolt D-8 was touted by some as the "Best" handsaw ever made. It was a half step above the 7 series saws and one of their biggest sellers. The #12 and later D12 were the top of the line saws. More hammer work gave the saw better tension and allowed for a thinner blade and thus kerf. My favorites are the 12s, 112s, and 16s. There top-o-the-line saws.

Edit in: Just looked at the 12 again and the medallion makes it definitely a 12. Puts it prior to the advent of the D12.

[Matt Warfield]

Jerry,

Thanks for the descriptions. The one in the middle has the "Superior Warranted" medallion which I've heard was widely used. But, I'm pretty happy with picking these up for the whole sum of $2.15. I'll take a closer look at 'em over the weekend.

Matt

[Maurice Metzger]

Matt, they look like great users, especially for 2 bucks! Lot of saw for the money.

Maurice