Disston saw question

Jan 02, 2008 4 Replies

I have a relatively old Disston saw. It is a crosscut, I believe. Overall



30" long. Tip is 2.5", and on top of the tip for exactly 3", it is 1/8" less. Then a semicircular nib, then a 45 up to the straight run to the handle.

What is this type of saw? What is the significance of the odd shaped end of the saw?



Picture at:

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Steve


Took too long to try to load image so didn't look at it...

The nib is a relic of varying hypotheses -- it is a fairly periodic topic at rec.woodworking. At this point, there seems to be nobody able to shed a conclusive answer. Lot's of "grandpa told me and he was..." kinds of narratives and other hypotheses, but nothing that can be truly correlated to actual corroborated evidence/history that I've ever seen, even w/ some quite knowledgeable folks there...

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According to the Disston Saw Institute:

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It is simply for decoration and serves no purpose whatsoever. If you go to the site that I posted, look under "Saw Parts" and it has that explanation.

Robert Allison wrote: ...

Some would say that _is_ a purpose... :)

I suppose I should have tried to follow up on some of the earlier discussions -- guess there is actually some factual data after all. :)

It had always been my contention that the decorative function was the most likely, but hadn't ever bothered to actually try to find out too much...

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I suppose it is a purpose if you prefer form over function ;-)

I had one that had that nub and I used it to tell when I had inserted the saw into its holder far enough. (When I slid it into the slot in my tool box, when it hit that nub, I knew it was in far enough.) So I guess it can have a purpose. (Other than decoration.)

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