Hello esteemed Galoots,

I recently bought a bundle of nasty old saws for almost nothing.

One of them has me puzzled. 

It’s a 22” panel saw plate, with no evidence of an etch, and the end of the
plate is rounded off. Not rounded off like the flooring saw; just rounded over
at the end of the plate instead of being square tipped. The “rounding” was
either done by an extraordinarily talented amateur, or it was done by someone
with industrial tools. Not only is it perfectly radiused, there’s a hint of
distortion, and no visible tool marks. The teeth are well spaced.

The medallion is an “and sons Philada” and at first I figured it was probably
from another saw. But as I cleaned it up, I think the handle is legitimately old
Disston; at least It’s a good match for other old Disstons I have where I can
date them by the etch as well as the handle and medallion. So I was then
thinking maybe someone put an old Disston handle and medallions on a strange
round-ended plate?

But when I took it apart, that’s when it got really odd. 

There’s no “TPI” number struck into the heel of plate . . . . but it has an “X”
struck into the top of it, where you’d never see it when the handle’s in place.
The “X” is maybe 3/8” top to bottom. The “X”, like the rounding, sure looks like
it was done in an industrial press. Be very hard to get it this uniform if you
were using a sledge hammer, even if you happened to have a set of 3/8” letter
dies. And while typography isn’t a perfect science, this “X” sure looks like
it’s 19th century, with the serifs and all.

Anyone have any guesses?

Mark.

}}}sorry for the sloppy editing . . . . I meant to write “not a hint of
distortion” as you’d expect to see if someone had rounded the end of the plate
off using shears of some sort}}}

Mark, could it have been a regular length Disston at the outset and that at some
point had the end broken off, and the broken end ground smooth and to a radius?
Grinding would leave no distortion marks.

Cheers,
John

“P.S. If you do not receive this, of course it must have been miscarried;
therefore I beg you to write and let me know.” - Sir Boyle Roche, M.P.

On Jul 17, 2017, at 12:53 AM, Mark Pfeifer mailto:markpfeifer@i...">mailto:markpfeifer@i...>> wrote:

}}}sorry for the sloppy editing . . . . I meant to write “not a hint of
distortion” as you’d expect to see if someone had rounded the end of the plate
off using shears of some sort}}}


On Jul 17, 2017, at 12:50 AM, Mark Pfeifer mailto:markpfeifer@i...">mailto:markpfeifer@i...>> wrote:

Hello esteemed Galoots,

I recently bought a bundle of nasty old saws for almost nothing.

One of them has me puzzled.

It’s a 22” panel saw plate, with no evidence of an etch, and the end of the
plate is rounded off. Not rounded off like the flooring saw; just rounded over
at the end of the plate instead of being square tipped. The “rounding” was
either done by an extraordinarily talented amateur, or it was done by someone
with industrial tools. Not only is it perfectly radiused, there’s a hint of
distortion, and no visible tool marks. The teeth are well spaced.

The medallion is an “and sons Philada” and at first I figured it was probably
from another saw. But as I cleaned it up, I think the handle is legitimately old
Disston; at least It’s a good match for other old Disstons I have where I can
date them by the etch as well as the handle and medallion. So I was then
thinking maybe someone put an old Disston handle and medallions on a strange
round-ended plate?

But when I took it apart, that’s when it got really odd.

There’s no “TPI” number struck into the heel of plate . . . . but it has an “X”
struck into the top of it, where you’d never see it when the handle’s in place.
The “X” is maybe 3/8” top to bottom. The “X”, like the rounding, sure looks like
it was done in an industrial press. Be very hard to get it this uniform if you
were using a sledge hammer, even if you happened to have a set of 3/8” letter
dies. And while typography isn’t a perfect science, this “X” sure looks like
it’s 19th century, with the serifs and all.

Anyone have any guesses?

Mark.


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OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.

To change your subscription options:
https://oldtools.swingleydev.com/mailman/listinfo/oldtools

To read the FAQ:
https://swingleydev.com/archive/faq.html

OldTools archive: https://swingleydev.com/ot/

OldTools@s...

If you go to: http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/faq.html

You will find the following question and answer.

Q. What does the "X" stamped on the blade under the handle of a No. 12 handsaw
mean?
A. There has been interest among collectors in the meaning of the initials
stamped on the blades under the handle. The only reason to stamp the blade
during production was for the purpose of identifying some information about the
steel during the early stages of making the saw, when there would be nothing
else on the blade to give that information. Disston wouldn't want to roll high-
grade steel into a saw plate and then finish the saw with a No. 7 handle and
etch, and sell it at the No. 7's lower price. The stamps prevented that from
happening. The practice started in the early days of Disston's manufacturing.
   What does X mean? Logic tells me it is EXtra Refined London Spring Steel. All
the No. 12 saws I've seen disassembled have that stamp. Similarly, CS on a No. 7
handsaw is cast steel.
   All the other stamps have meanings that are unknown to me. I've seen plenty
of 20th century saws with the stamp HD under the handle. It doesn't mean Henry
Disston made it himself, obviously. The stamps would either identify the grade
of a batch of steel or act as a quality control identification, the same way
stamps have that role in steel production today. It told the saw makers
something they needed to know during the manufacturing process.
   Honestly, I've never spent a lot of time studying those stamps because I can
identify the age, grade of steel, and model number by looking at the rest of the
saw.

This is true for many of the saws I have disassembled.

Ed O'

-----Original Message-----
From: OldTools [mailto:oldtools-bounces@s...] On Behalf Of Mark Pfeifer



There’s no “TPI” number struck into the heel of plate . . . . but it has an “X”
struck into the top of it, where you’d never see it when the handle’s in place.
The “X” is maybe 3/8” top to bottom. The “X”, like the rounding, sure looks like
it was done in an industrial press. Be very hard to get it this uniform if you
were using a sledge hammer, even if you happened to have a set of 3/8” letter
dies. And while typography isn’t a perfect science, this “X” sure looks like
it’s 19th century, with the serifs and all.

Anyone have any guesses?

Mark.


What does the "X" stamped on the blade under the handle of a No. 12 handsaw
mean?