Andrew wrote
>
>I ran across a weird saw-ish item bearing the logo "H. & C. Disston"
>yesterday, and was curious when Disstons were produced with this
>label (I'm familiar with the H. Disston --> H. Disston & Son -->
>H. Disston & Sons progression, but hadn't seen this one before).
>
>The item itself was weird, and I imagine was a homemade tool
>made from part of a saw blade.  The blade was about two inches wide,
>had crosscut teeth on one side, and the other side was crudely
>sharpened like a knife, and curved. The handle was symmetric,
>looking like a knife or sword handle (tapered away from the
>blade, flared out ar blade a little, brass fittings).
>
This is call a  Saw Knife in the 1876 Disston catalog and in the 1876
Boynton catalog.  Disston used the H & C Disston mark on the Saw Knife
in this catalog.  I have seen them with two or three brass bolts and with
all steel bolts and with the split nut brass bolt as seen on old saw 
handles.  I suspect that many saw makers reproduced this design.  It was
most likely used in the kitchen, farm or butcher shop as a cheap replacement
for a separate butchers knife and butchers saw.  The one made by Disston
has a circular cutout near its tip that looks like it was broken off.
Some people have called it a Civil War surgeon's knife.

Richard
rburton@v...