Living in Southern California where vintage hand tools are few and far between, I'm always envious of my fellow Neanders in other parts of the country who have great stories of stopping by the neighborhood garage sale, thrift store etc. and finding excellent vintage plane, hand saws, etc. waiting to be restored and put to work.
I have a "bad handsaw problem", and although I am in a 12 step program I occasionally relapse and find myself trolling the mega auction site. The mint condition saws that are well photographed and described are typically more than I want to pay,so I'm usually on the lookout for "hidden gems". This is risky because I've certainly been frequently disappointed when saws show up and the plates are in poor condition or the saw is not as described.
Despite my frequent disappointments, I recently took a risk on a lot of 4 hand saws that had only one picture and no description. (I did say I have a problem!).
One of the saws was clearly worthless, 2 other saws were quality Disston models that need work but had potential, and the third was too dark and blurry to be identified by the photo, but I had my suspicions....
It turned out to be this D-15 with a rosewood tote and Liberty Bell etch:
DSC_0055.jpgDSC_0056.jpgDSC_0057.jpgDSC_0059.jpg
Here are the "after" pictures:
DSC_0062.jpgDSC_0063.jpgDSC_0064.jpgDSC_0072.jpg
continued below...