Hi,

The bio:

I'm 37, married with 3 kids, currently in Austin though originally from
Colorado. I'm a software engineer at Motorola. I'm one of the lucky
few who have a tool literate wife who grew up around a shop and loves
wood. Although I do some carpentry and custom cabinetry/furniture work
on the side my real hobby is woodturning (yes my lathe has a motor on
it). I am also fasinated by old woodworking tools of which I own a few
- all are used, I think there's something very relaxing about going out
to the shop and making a big pile of shavings using an old plane. I
feel the same about woodturning, both make me feel like I'm crafting
something - my work with power tools is more like manufacturing and not
too relaxing although in my case it pays better. BTW I have very much
enjoyed the wealth of information and the friendly nature of this group.

The question:

I recently found a Disston D-23 at a junk shop. It's kinda cool
looking, has a nice handle with 5 nuts, says Disston & Sons and has "For
Beauty, Finish, and Utility this Saw Cannot be Excelled" or something
like that etched on the blade, it also has Disston U.S.A. on the
medallion on the handle. I'm trying to find out how old it is and if
it's worth sharpening and hanging on to.

Thanks,

Jerry Russell

At 4:10 PM -0600 2/12/97, Jerry Russell wrote:
	[snip of bio part]
>I recently found a Disston D-23 at a junk shop.
>....I'm trying to find out how old it is and if
>it's worth sharpening and hanging on to.

Jerry:
	That thing is not only junk (you got it in a junk shop, right?),
but it is a dangerous embarrassment.  You should send it to me immediately,
and I will make sure of it is disposed of properly.
	You're lucky we caught this in time.  The accumulation of old
Disstons with fancy logos and scrollwork, especially if they have 5 nuts,
can be a serious affliction.
		Tom Holloway
PS--welcome to the porch. You *probably* have a nice saw.  ;-)

> 
> At 4:10 PM -0600 2/12/97, Jerry Russell wrote:
> 	[snip of bio part]
> >I recently found a Disston D-23 at a junk shop.
> >....I'm trying to find out how old it is and if
> >it's worth sharpening and hanging on to.
> 
> Jerry:
> 	That thing is not only junk (you got it in a junk shop, right?),
> but it is a dangerous embarrassment.  You should send it to me immediately,
> and I will make sure of it is disposed of properly.
> 	You're lucky we caught this in time.  The accumulation of old
> Disstons with fancy logos and scrollwork, especially if they have 5 nuts,
> can be a serious affliction.
> 		Tom Holloway
> PS--welcome to the porch. You *probably* have a nice saw.  ;-)

I took a look in my Disston 1932 dealer catalog, and here is what it says 
about the D23:

No. D-23 Lightweight Pattern Straight-back

The Disston No. D-23 Lightweight Pattern Straight-back Saw - the largest 
selling lightweight, straigt back saw.  Thin back, true-taper ground by
a new Disston process.  Tooth edge is the same gauge throughout: blade
tapers evenly from butt to point and from tooth edge to back.

Blade of Disston steel, hardened and tempered; high polish; striped back.

Cover-top handle, applewood: full carved; large hand hole; Disston 
weatherproof finish; five brass screws in 26-inch length; four brass 
screws in 24-inch lengths.

Length of  Points to inch  Points to inch  Weight per  Price per
  Blade      Cross-cut         Rip            doz.       doz. 
---------  --------------  --------------  ----------  ---------
24 inches   7, 8, 9, 10     ............    18 lbs.     $42.00
26 inches   7, 8, 9, 10      5 1/2, 6       21 lbs.      42.00

The D23 came only in the lightweight pattern.

The D8, on the other hand, came in both lightweight and regular
patterns, but in 1932, the handle was not full-carved.  The difference
in weight between lightweight and regular saws was: a dozen
26 inch lightweight pattern saws weighed 21 pounds, and a dozen
regular pattern 26 inch saws weighed 24 pounds.

The D8 also came (regular pattern) in 20, 22, 24 and 26 inch lengths,
and came with crosscut teeth in 6,7,8,9,10 and 12 points per inch,
and rip teeth in 5,5 1/2, 6 and 7 points per inch!

Not all lengths and points per inch combinations were available.

If anyone has other Disston models they would like similar information
on, just ask...

Dave

David & all,

thanks for the detailed information, I have two more newbie type
questions:

> No. D-23 Lightweight Pattern Straight-back
> 
> Cover-top handle, applewood: full carved; large hand hole; Disston
> weatherproof finish; five brass screws in 26-inch length; four brass
> screws in 24-inch lengths.

1)This saw has 5 nuts in the handle but they don't appear to be brass,
they are silver colored - any significance?

2)My wife bought me a future antique Stanley UK #3 plane for our
anniversary so she could get some stuff engraved on it (okay it's new
but when my son gives it to his son/daughter it will be a cool old
tool). She was quite horrified when it showed up with the nifty "black
composite material" knob and tote (I quickly made new ones out of paduak
which I had some big scraps of - and yes I did save the originals in
case "black composite material" becomes collectable in future
generations), finally the question - what is the plastic looking
varnishy type gunk they use to coat the sole and the sides? And what is
the best way to get it off (I don't want to mess up the engraving). 

If either one of these questions is stupid then I have achieved a
consistency in my life which few can match.

Thanks again for the help

Jerry