I'm not principally a hand tool guy; especially with hand saws. But I do have 2, one a circa 70 Craftsman (the Kromedge days, a very good quality saw) and a $2 Disston D8 (Restore)....both of these are crosscut. I've been wanting a Disston D8 rip saw and hadn't found one....until last week. This one looks to be NOS, unused as best as I can tell. I probably paid too much, but it really is a nice saw. I'm sure it's a later model, but it's the last handsaw I'll probably buy.

 

Edited January 12, 20206 yr by Fred W. Hargis Jr

That's a beauty, Fred. Just how old is it? 

Love it Fred.  Those Restore buys are the best.

25 minutes ago, Gene Howe said:

That's a beauty, Fred. Just how old is it? 

I'm clueless about that, Gene...maybe some of the more knowledgeable folks will chime in. My guess about it being a later model is just that: a guess. My much older D8 crosscut has the nicer brass bolts and medallion holding the handle to the plate. These appear to be aluminum...suggesting (to me) a cost engineering exercise that comes with later models of almost everything. The plate is a little smaller in depth than my crosscut as well, but maybe that's due to it being  a rip saw (?).

1 hour ago, Gene Howe said:

That's a beauty, Fred. Just how old is it? 

 

51 minutes ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

I'm clueless about that, Gene

 

Here is a good place to look.

 

http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/

 

 

Nice looking, saves you the task of cleaning it up. Which reminds me I need to fix my Grandfathers saw handle.  

Thanks for that link, Dan. Interesting to me was that I didn't see any listing in the later years for a 26"-7 point rip saw; which is what this one is. But the description of the handles make me think it's from the early 50's.....it's just that the tooth count/blade length thing doesn't fit that thinking. This saw may (probably) also be one of the "lightweight" models they were selling. The link describes the acquisition of Disston by HK porter in 1955, which is when the D8 was discontinued. I'm wondering if this could have been one of the very last ones to roll off the lines.

1 hour ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

The link describes the acquisition of Disston by HK porter in 1955, which is when the D8 was discontinued. I'm wondering if this could have been one of the very last ones to roll off the lines.

 

It might help to look at the medallion section if you haven't looked there yet.

From when Disston moved down to Danville, VA....after the sale to HK Porter. 

I have 2 that have a coat of rust.  The stamp is visible, but I think it is an ink stamp rather than a metal imprint.  I want to remove the rust without loosing the imprint.  Any ideas?  Thank you in advance for your help.  

 

Others liek Steven can help more with this, but if it's a Disston that brand is actually a light etching. Cleaning the rust off gently may bring it back, but there is a trick of coating it with cold bluing agent and then use emory paper to remove the top most coloring. I did this on my older Disston and it helped, but only a little.

I want back to the Medallion section as Dan suggested and I have concluded (however wrong I may be) that my saw was indeed mid-50s model. Some of the info said that the D8 was discontinued somwhere around 1955, though Disston continued to make saws with that brand on them. The medallion is from the mid-50s to 1990 production. I'm thinking this was at the end of the runs for the D8. The link said that quality declined rapidly after HK Porter sold the brand to Sandvick (sp?). Just another great name gone to the money gods that befall so many good products.

That is a beauty Fred, no matter the age.  I do have a disconnect though trying to age it.

The address on the label includes a zip code.  I remember when the post office introduced zip codes, which was in the early 60's.  Unless the PO was experimenting with zip codes earlier, I cannot square up a saw discontinued in 1955 having a label from the early 60's?

Good point, so maybe it's younger than I thought. In fact I looked up zip codes, and while they started in 1963...they became mandatory in 1967 so it could be a late 60's model...which might put it in the declining quality years of production.

Edited January 13, 20206 yr by Fred W. Hargis Jr