Henry Diston back saw

[Dangermouse]

Saw this on e-bay and wondered if this was how it had been made or was it altered in use, as I've never seen anything like this on a back saw before. What do you guys think ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A-VINTAGE-V-H ... 1e78c9a329

 

[carlb40]

I spotted that as well, and was going to ask a similar thing. So will be interested in the replies

 

[TobyC]

Nothing in their catalogs like that. I've seen some that were bent down in the middle from being banged on, but that's one heck of a bend!

Toby

 

[Dangermouse]

But the back of the blade must follow that bend in the brass back, so I cant see how it was bent in service.

 

[TobyC]

But the back of the blade must follow that bend in the brass back, so I cant see how it was bent in service.

The center could be all the way down on the blade and the ends just barely on the blade. I have seen many with one or both ends not down on the blade.

Toby

 

[GazPal]

It looks like a "customised" tenon saw with it's brass back bent to make it fit a heavily re-sharpened saw plate. I'd be very surprised if the back of the saw plate follows the serpentine contour of the brass back and there's probably more saw plate seated at either end, but very little - if any - seated within the central area of the brass back.

 

[pedder]

Saw this on e-bay and wondered if this was how it had been made or was it altered in use, as I've never seen anything like this on a back saw before. What do you guys think ?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A-VINTAGE-V-H ... 1e78c9a329

Wow, this must be one of the very few examples with a skew back spine. When Disston invented the skew spine on hand saws and found they sell much better than straight backs, he made some tests with this skew spines. This must be worth something!

Cheers
Pedder

EDIT: Just in case Someone takes this serious: look at the date of the post....

 

[toolsntat]

Give this helpful bunch of saw aficionados a look.
http://www.backsaw.net/index.php?option ... &Itemid=58
They really know their stuff :wink:

Andy

 

[Dovetaildave]

I saw it on the bay and I thought it was lens distortion.
Skew back, well I never :roll:
Looks more interesting now

 

[GazPal]

I think I'll give the spine of one of my tenon saws a sharp slap on the edge of my bench and post it on ebay as a skew backed tenon saw, a la Disston. :lol:

In all seriousness the saw in question shows signs of having been abused by being treated in such a manner, as the witness line/ghosting of the spine's original position remains visible near the front of the handle. It has the appearance of someone's fudge handed attempt at re-seating a loose saw plate into it's brass back.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

It would have to be one heck of a thump to distort a brass back like that. The sort of thump that would damage the blade, too.

The auction didn't end on April 1st, did it?

 

[GazPal]

It would have to be one heck of a thump to distort a brass back like that. The sort of thump that would damage the blade, too.

The auction didn't end on April 1st, did it?

Not really all that heavy a thwack necessary and it wouldn't damage the saw plate. The only reason I know is that (When we were kids) one of my younger brothers did the same to our uncle's tenon saw when messing about and still walks with a limp after the lathering he received for his troubles afterwards.

 

[jakethebuilder]

It looks like someone cut the lower end off of a panel saw, then bent the brass back to conform to the curve. On some panel saws, the back of the blade is curved, exactly like that.

 

[jakethebuilder]

Found a picture, similar to the type saw I was talking about.

 

[MIGNAL]

I'm with Gazpal and the frankinSaw idea. For some reason a user decided to meet the two types of saws. I guess that if you heated the brass back and beat it into submission it might be a fairly quick affair. Maybe the person had a specific task for this particular saw. Maybe he found that the steel saw plate usually found in tenon saws bent a little too easily and that saw makers of the day were very stupid for using such thin steel. Who knows.