Steve Reynolds (commenting on Pete Taran's words) said:
>    Conversely, the D-series saws feel like a handle with a piece of
steel
>attached.  I tend to try use a little muscle because it doesn't want to
>naturally eat through a cut like its older, brawny, neanderthal ancestor.
>I need to tell myself, "Let the saw do the work."  But the effete little
>bugger just asks for a little slapping around.
>
>... on the changes of 1929.  Some believe they were improvements that
>were a commercial success.  But I tend toward the belief that the changes
>were detrimental to the quality of the saws.  I'll go out on a limb and
>point to this as the beginning of the "wussification" of the American
male.

You may be right about the "wussification" stuff and steel-with-handle vs
handle-with-steel.  I agree with you in the marked difference in the feel
of old-old (pre 1929) vs new-old saws.  To me, it's more than just the
weight of the saw, however -- there is also a subtle difference in the
angle and placement of the handle grip, and the resulting "natural" stance
of using the saw.  If you're used to the "new-old" style, and pick up an
"old-old" style, it feels very different, even somewhat unnatural, in the
hand, and vice-versa.  On the older saws the handle seems to be attached a
little higher up on the rear of the saw, and the angle of the hand grip to
the teeth is more upright (closer to 90 degrees to the tooth edge).  On
later saws, the handle seems to be mounted down a little (toward the
teeth), and the angle the grip makes with the teeth gets a little less
upright.  The difference is only about 5 degrees or so, but it makes an
enormous difference in the feel of the saw, to me at least.  (This
progression to a more angled handle seemed to continue to today.  The grip
angle on some of today's handsaws seems to be approaching 45 degrees to
the teeth.)

You can clearly see the angle difference in the "old" (1911) No. 115 :

<http://www.mcs.net/~brendler/oldtools/disston/d115.htm>

vs the "new" (1942) D-115:

<http://members.aol.com/tomprice/galootp/disston_42_cat.html#d115>

To be honest, I'm not sure which "feel" I prefer, but they are certainly
very different.

Regards,
Joe
_______________________________________________________
Joseph G. Baron