OldTools Archive

Recent Bios FAQ

94662 "Palazzolo, Joe" <Joe.Palazzolo@i...> 2001‑06‑29 Help identify an old saw (NOT: Soaking Planes in Oil)
GG's,

Last weekend at the antique show I found a good project saw: 
   http://www.geocities.com/jmpalazz/2001_June/Dsc00152.jpg
Nice handle, nib, filed crosscut, four split nuts, medallion from Warren and
Ted's Superior Tool works, a good project saw.  The guy I bought it from
said he found it in Durango, CO, and offered to throw in a "newer" saw for
only a couple of dollars more.  No thanks.  When I subjected it (the saw) to
the old sanding block test I saw this interesting stamp mark:
   http://www.geocities.com/jmpalazz/2001_June/Dsc00157.jpg
As near as I can make out, it says:
     BROWNE (upside down)
WARRANTED No.3 CAST STEEL
I could be wrong about the "CAST" part, because it also looks like "??CT" if
you hold it just right.  Anyway, I thought that it was interesting that the
word BROWNE was upside down.  Any thoughts from the assembled Galooterati on
who this BROWNE guy was, when he was, etc.?  BTW - I don't want to know
value - for those interested it cost me $4.

Joe Palazzolo
Fort Wayne, Indiana
Where the corn is already more than knee high.


94674 "Peter Taran" <hd1840@d...> 2001‑06‑29 RE: Help identify an old saw (NOT: Soaking Planes in Oil)
Joe writes (in part):

>GG's,
>
>Last weekend at the antique show I found a good project saw:
>   http://www.geocities.com/jmpalazz/2001_June/Dsc00152.jpg
>Nice handle, nib, filed crosscut, four split nuts, medallion from

This would not be my first choice for a project saw. This saw dates from the
1860 time frame, as the hand stamped blade would indicate.  Brown's was an
outfit that Disston acquired, sometime around that time, and he carried the
Brown's line into the early 1900s.  The history of the very early
acquisitions and other mergers is pretty hazy....I'm not sure if anyone
really knows the story of the Brown inclusion into the Disston empire.

I'm inclined to think that you have a pre-Disston Brown, a saw which is
pretty scarce.  Unless the handle is loose, I would not take the nuts off or
do major surgery with it.  From the looks of it, it appears to be in good
shape.  A question....what does the main medallion say?  Warranted Superior,
or something else?  Nice find.

Hope this helps,

Pete Taran
New! Vintage Saws on the Web
http://www.vintagesaws.com



Recent Bios FAQ