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269662 Christian Gagneraud <chgans@g...> 2020‑01‑13 Disston saw with custom distributor etching
Hi there,

I bought a nice 10" Disston dovetail saw at a shop for 15NZD/10USD.
I could see it had a strange etching but couldn't read it. Once back
home i scratch the saw blade with a razor blade (best way to clean a
saw blade w/o damaging the etching).
And to my surprise the etching was there, crisp and clean, it reads:
MADE FOR
MC CLEAN & ARCHIBALD
WELLINGTON NZ

Such a shop did exist in Wellington from 1904.
The medaillon of the saw suggests 1896-1917 (as per
http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/medv2.html). The steel back has the
usual Disston marking.
The saw is in a good condition, once the handle was removed, i could
see that the steel back was actually blue.

Apparently the New Zealand national library have a few catalogues from
McClean & Archibald Ltd. But i live quite far from Wellington.

Anyway, my questions to the list is:
Is this something common  for a Disston saw?
I own maybe a dozen or more Disston saws, and it's the first time i
see this kind of etching.

Something really weird i noticed on this saw is that the very first
tooth (handle side) is clearly higher than all other ones, and it is
the only one like that, all other teeth have the same height and are
in good condition. I wonder if it came like that from the factory, and
why would you do that given that the teeth are quite fine and so
fragile (13/14 tpi).

Thanks,
Chris
269663 Ed Minch <ruby1638@a...> 2020‑01‑13 Re: Disston saw with custom distributor etching
> On Jan 12, 2020, at 8:52 PM, Christian Gagneraud  wrote:
> 
> Is this something common  for a Disston saw?


Christian

Here is a saw owned by a friend - look at this shot and the three or so that
follow, click to the right

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/6911260248/in/album-721576294059
97020/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/6911260248/in/album-7215762940599
7020/ <https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/6911260248/in/album-7
2157629405997020/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/6911260248/in/album-72
157629405997020/>

The hardware store is in Harrisburg PA, in the 1850’s, a couple hours by train
from the plant in Philly

Ed Minch
269664 Christian Gagneraud <chgans@g...> 2020‑01‑13 Re: Disston saw with custom distributor etching
On Mon, 13 Jan 2020 at 17:27, Ed Minch  wrote:
>> On Jan 12, 2020, at 8:52 PM, Christian Gagneraud  wrote:
>>
>> Is this something common  for a Disston saw?
>
> Christian
>
> Here is a saw owned by a friend - look at this shot and the three or so that
follow, click to the right
>
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/6911260248/in/album-72157629405997020/
>
> The hardware store is in Harrisburg PA, in the 1850’s, a couple hours by train
from the plant in Philly

Hi Ed,

Thanks for sharing, here are some pics of mine:
https://ibb.co/vvqbLLx
https://ibb.co/p01whDn
https://ibb.co/hRMM69D
Chris
269665 Ed Minch <ruby1638@a...> 2020‑01‑13 Re: Disston saw with custom distributor etching
Your saw is in excellent condition - partial label on the handle and all

Ed
269666 Gary Caron <caronfamily1@g...> 2020‑01‑13 Re: Disston saw with custom distributor etching
I occasionally come across saws with a secondary mark. Kept one because
it's a bit different.

It's a Disston one son rip saw, with a secondary etch for a hardware store
in Lancaster PA. The hardware store no longer exists, but the original
building is still there in downtown Lancaster.

The saw saw little if any use, and as far as i can tell, was never
sharpened.  Picked it up at an estate auction in Lancaster county a few
years back.

At the moment the saw is in Pittsburgh and i am in York, but i will post a
pic when i get up there.
269670 David Charnon <dcharnon@w...> 2020‑01‑14 Re: Disston saw with custom distributor etching
I have a Disston backsaw with this etch:

Milwaukee
Public Schools
Manual Training

I thought it very cool and missed out on a similar one a number of years ago
(and still regret it). I imagine if you bought enough, Disston would add a
custom etch.

Dave
In Milwaukee
269810 Christian Gagneraud <chgans@g...> 2020‑01‑28 Re: Disston saw with custom distributor etching
Just found another similar specimen, same custom etching:
https://www.trademe.co.nz/2508248307

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