As far as I know I've never seen a Disston for sale in all the car boots I've gone to, although there's always the chance I didn't recognise one under a layer of rust and general filth. Anyway, wouldn't you know it I spotted two for sale on the same day last week.
One was a keyhole saw in quite good condition for its age, from the medallion it dates from between the wars.
The seller was asking a bit more than I'd want to pay (similar to prices on ebay) so I passed. I don't have need of a keyhole saw anyway, that's what I keep telling myself.
Later that afternoon in a bric-a-brac shop I just spotted this as I was heading out the door, hanging from a nail in a dark corner:
The proprietor saw me inspecting it and said I could take it away with me but I wanted to pay something for it so we settled on €2. To be honest I didn't even know what I had because of the bad lighting, and you can see the condition, so regardless of the condition I was still very pleased to read the Disston name once I got it home. I've been after a dovetail saw for a long time, finding a Disston of a good age that could fit the bill I didn't even dream about.
Although as I should have learned already you should be careful what you wish for, I didn't know what I was in for cleaning it up. Just about every aspect of the refurb work was a struggle, starting with getting the screws undone (no suitable screwdriver so had to improvise, luckily I had a strip of putty knife in the 'bits that might be useful' tray that fitted perfectly), then getting the handle off which was firmly rusted in place, then levering the back off which I thought wasn't going to move without damaging something.
My first inkling that the back was brass, although the weight should have tipped me off I guess. I didn't know brass could even go so uniformly dark on its own but a century is a long time.
Seeing the four holes I presume the saw plate is not original but never mind.
On the plus side the varnish on the wood had given up the ghost sometime when I were a lad so it was a breeze to scrape away what little was left. Much of it was so far gone you could scrape it off with your thumbnail, which is a new one on me.
Scraped:
Washed and sanded:
One was a keyhole saw in quite good condition for its age, from the medallion it dates from between the wars.
The seller was asking a bit more than I'd want to pay (similar to prices on ebay) so I passed. I don't have need of a keyhole saw anyway, that's what I keep telling myself.
Later that afternoon in a bric-a-brac shop I just spotted this as I was heading out the door, hanging from a nail in a dark corner:
The proprietor saw me inspecting it and said I could take it away with me but I wanted to pay something for it so we settled on €2. To be honest I didn't even know what I had because of the bad lighting, and you can see the condition, so regardless of the condition I was still very pleased to read the Disston name once I got it home. I've been after a dovetail saw for a long time, finding a Disston of a good age that could fit the bill I didn't even dream about.
Although as I should have learned already you should be careful what you wish for, I didn't know what I was in for cleaning it up. Just about every aspect of the refurb work was a struggle, starting with getting the screws undone (no suitable screwdriver so had to improvise, luckily I had a strip of putty knife in the 'bits that might be useful' tray that fitted perfectly), then getting the handle off which was firmly rusted in place, then levering the back off which I thought wasn't going to move without damaging something.
My first inkling that the back was brass, although the weight should have tipped me off I guess. I didn't know brass could even go so uniformly dark on its own but a century is a long time.
Seeing the four holes I presume the saw plate is not original but never mind.
On the plus side the varnish on the wood had given up the ghost sometime when I were a lad so it was a breeze to scrape away what little was left. Much of it was so far gone you could scrape it off with your thumbnail, which is a new one on me.
Scraped:
Washed and sanded:
