A $1 Garage Sale Find

Disston saw cleaned up and ready to use. Saw vice is on the bottom of the picture. File and the saw set are on the top. The vice and saw set have been sitting in a corner of the shop for years.

Last weekend I had to drive to Chaplin, CT to pick up Ben from a friend’s house. Izzy joined me for the drive, on the promise that we would stop by a garage sale if we found one. And we found only one that braved the rain to have a sale. We looked around a bit, and I let Izzy pick up two toys and a book that were being given away for free. I found a rusty Disston panel saw covered in rust for $1 and picked it up.

The medallion on the saw indicates that the saw was made between the wars (1917-1940), at least according to the Online Reference of Disston Saws. This week I took off the handle and cleaned the rust off the blade. I cleaned up hte handle and coated it with spar varnish. Tonight I reassembled the saw, did a quick sharpening, and set the teeth. A quick test cut on some pine, and I have a second fully functional saw for the workshop. I should probably hit the teeth with the file again for one quick finishing pass and try the saw on something harder like oak.

Maybe I should get around to sharpening the 5-6 saws I have hanging on the shop wall for decoration. I also should have taken a picture before I cleaned up the saw.

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