TerryMcK Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 I was recently browsing a vintage tools website and came across these two beauties. I couldn't resist them so bought them. They were the not unreasonable £45 + shipping each.CT Skelton small saw The first is made in Sheffield, England by the CT Skelton company. It's a short panel saw 18" long with UK 8TPI. I'm not sure of the date but know they made saws from 1879 to 1953. My money is on the more recent date. A slight amount of damage to the top horn of the beech handle. Nothing wrong this side and a nice identification medallion. It has three brass bolts through the beech handle. The plate is very straight There is a slight nib on the far end of the saw. Not sure what function that has Disston D8 24" The second is made in Philidelphia post second world war by the Disston company. It is a 24" hand saw with 3 main bolts and a fourth bolt with an alloy 13/16" diameter identification medallion. This, apparently, dates it from about 1947 to 1951. Again this one is 8 points per inch. A 4 bolt handle as seen on all D8s 24" long or shorter. Slight wear to the finish (it is from 1947 ish!) The plate is straight and has slight pitting but generally rust free The plate has some etching that I still have to decipher but there is also the signature of Henry Disston on it too. I may need to take a better picture and image process it! Both of these saws would be classed as crosscut saws but they are both sharpened with a rip saw tooth form. There is no fleam whatsoever to the teeth on either saw. However the front of the teeth are ground at more of an oblique angle than a "real" rip saw. Though reading Paul Sellers blog on how he sharpens crosscut and rip saws he advocates sharpening them both the same way as a rip saw - no fleam. He always has done so. Each saw is sufficiently sharp enough but would benefit by a full sharpen. I may change the Disston into a full rip but need to make (or buy) a saw vise first of all. They are both in excellent condition considering their ages and the CT Skelton one has slight damage to one of the horns on the handle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardA Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 (edited) Nice saw's! The handle on the Skelton, looks very comfortable. I've got a 7 tpi, a 9tpi and an 11 tpi... Had them for longer than I can remember. The 7 is filed straight rip, the 9 is filed rip/crosscut, with just a 3 or 4 degree of fleam, and the 11 is filed crosscut with about 12 degree of fleam. One is Craftsman, when they made good tools, in the 40's, one is an old Diston I got from an old carpenter who was in his 60's and I was in my teens, Darn if I cam remember who made the 3rd one. It took awhile, but learning to sharpen was a real good experience! Lie-nelson has post through an outfit called "close grain" that shows a shop made saw vise from wood you have in your off cut bin! I somehow acquired an old cast iron saw vise, It works rather well, but the cast iron has a tiny twist in it and I have to slip a wedge in to be secure! Edited January 31, 2016 by RichardA I had to look up the vise clamp site! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 1 hour ago, RichardA said: Nice saw's! The handle on the Skelton, looks very comfortable. I've got a 7 tpi, a 9tpi and an 11 tpi... Had them for longer than I can remember. The 7 is filed straight rip, the 9 is filed rip/crosscut, with just a 3 or 4 degree of fleam, and the 11 is filed crosscut with about 12 degree of fleam. One is Craftsman, when they made good tools, in the 40's, one is an old Diston I got from an old carpenter who was in his 60's and I was in my teens, Darn if I cam remember who made the 3rd one. It took awhile, but learning to sharpen was a real good experience! Lie-nelson has post through an outfit called "close grain" that shows a shop made saw vise from wood you have in your off cut bin! I somehow acquired an old cast iron saw vise, It works rather well, but the cast iron has a tiny twist in it and I have to slip a wedge in to be secure! I can only get three fingers into the handle on the Skelton but the pinky seems to fit perfectly in the fancy curved vee at the bottom of the handle. I bought a saw file and a saw setter. Not very expensive now looking for a saw vise or plans for one. I saw a pop wood article yesterday that they had offered as a free PDF. I'll have a look for that LN article Rick - thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Terry, Those look like they will be nice additions once you get them tuned up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 7 minutes ago, Chet K. said: Terry, Those look like they will be nice additions once you get them tuned up. Thanks Chet. They cut adequately at the moment both cross cut and rip. You are right when tuned up they should be superb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted January 31, 2016 Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 Going from looks only, as I am a complete know nothing novice on hand saws, those are really neat looking. The handle's are unique compared to the modern ones I've seen. Terry, is there a reason the Disston has a curve on the top of the blade as compared to others that are straight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted January 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2016 5 minutes ago, K Cooper said: Going from looks only, as I am a complete know nothing novice on hand saws, those are really neat looking. The handle's are unique compared to the modern ones I've seen. Terry, is there a reason the Disston has a curve on the top of the blade as compared to others that are straight? Ken it's something called a "skew back" that Henry Disston came up with and patented it. I was reading about the saws on the http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/ website. The blade is set into the handle and has no slot emerging from the top. " The D-8 is the best and most popular Disston Saw for general, all-around work. It is "the saw most carpenters use." The D-8 is the original skew-back saw originated and patented by Henry Disston in 1874. The shape of the blade and the position of the handle place the hand closer to the work, and, therefore, give the user better command and guidance of the saw, allow him to make a full stroke, and give more power to his cutting strokes. When introduced, this saw created a demand which has constantly increased until now there are more Disston D-8 Saws in use than any other one type. It is medium in price. The blade is of the famous Disston-made Steel, taper ground. The handle is of apple-wood, nicely polished, and is fitted to the blade with five brass screws. The D-8 is regularly made in lengths from 16 to 30 inches with cross-cut or rip teeth. " Whether or not the claims made are right it looks cool. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjk Posted February 1, 2016 Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 16 hours ago, TerryMcK said: now looking for a saw vise or plans for one. I saw a pop wood article yesterday that they had offered as a free PDF I made a scaled down version of this saw vise and it works really well: http://www.renaissancewoodworker.com/saw-vise/ Which in turn is patterned after the one on the Lie-Nielsen video: I made my 30 inches long and it's about 9 inches tall. The jaws are about an inch tall. I beveled the outside of the jaws to about 20 degrees. After using it a few times I beveled the jaws a tad more, maybe to 30 degrees. You can see some pics of mine in this thread: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryMcK Posted February 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2016 43 minutes ago, sjk said: I made a scaled down version of this saw vise and it works really well: http://www.renaissancewoodworker.com/saw-vise/ Which in turn is patterned after the one on the Lie-Nielsen video: I made my 30 inches long and it's about 9 inches tall. The jaws are about an inch tall. I beveled the outside of the jaws to about 20 degrees. After using it a few times I beveled the jaws a tad more, maybe to 30 degrees. You can see some pics of mine in this thread: That's fantastic - looks what I'm looking for. Thanks for that link SJ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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