02-26-2016, 08:04 AM
About 5 weeks ago I was on a business trip, and got to stop by a couple of antique malls in NE Indiana. I got a coffin-plane, 2 Disston D8's, a wrecked Simonds saw, and this next guy....
"The Revenant" (I just read the book, haven't seen the movie), a saw back from the dead. It was basically a piece of charcoal when I got it, and I was dreading even trying to clean it. But I thought it might be a rarer Disston D-22 find. After cleaning, I see it's a generic Warranted Superior model, but I really like the lines of it. Also, it has turned out to be a very nice crosscut saw. The plate is of a fairly heavy cast steel, which probably never was "pit free" even 100 years ago, but the nice thing was that after all the wear and cleaning, the teeth were basically down to a 'no set' condition, so I was able to add only just enough tooth-set to suit my "prissy" small-time project work. The saw bites in aggressively with the substantial weight.
In fact this has got me pondering the wholesale movement to thinner plates and "lightweight" designs on 26" saws. After using this saw, I think cost-savings -- not just user enjoyment -- were part of spec'ing down the steel content.
"The Revenant" (I just read the book, haven't seen the movie), a saw back from the dead. It was basically a piece of charcoal when I got it, and I was dreading even trying to clean it. But I thought it might be a rarer Disston D-22 find. After cleaning, I see it's a generic Warranted Superior model, but I really like the lines of it. Also, it has turned out to be a very nice crosscut saw. The plate is of a fairly heavy cast steel, which probably never was "pit free" even 100 years ago, but the nice thing was that after all the wear and cleaning, the teeth were basically down to a 'no set' condition, so I was able to add only just enough tooth-set to suit my "prissy" small-time project work. The saw bites in aggressively with the substantial weight.
In fact this has got me pondering the wholesale movement to thinner plates and "lightweight" designs on 26" saws. After using this saw, I think cost-savings -- not just user enjoyment -- were part of spec'ing down the steel content.
Chris
