|
|
Disston Medical Amputation Saw
by Philip W. Baker

Not too long ago I received an email
from Wisconsin advising me to check out a saw on eBay.
It was listed as a Disston tenon saw. It looked more
like a medical to ol to me, however the seller said it
was marked Disston.
Having not ever heard of a Disston
medical amputation saw I figured it was worth a bid.
I was the "lucky" winner. The mail lady
delivered it 4 days later. We live in the woods and she
leaves saws and other things in the house which is nice.
I was not disappointed.
|
1883 -
Roth's Saw File Guide -
Carpentry and Building
Vol. 5, June, 1883, (New
York: David Williams, 1883)
We take pleasure in presenting herewith an
illustration of the saw-file guide referred to. It is
manufactured by Messrs. E. Roth & Bro., New Oxford, Pa. While
this device may be a novelty to many of our readers, it has been
before the public long enough to have demonstrated its utility.
We learn from the manufacturers that, although it was patented
as recently as 1876, over 20,000 have been sold. Some
improvements were patented only last year, and the engraving
presented herewith shows it in its best form.
|
|
1887 -
The Keystone Saw, Tool, Steel and File Works -
Report of the Bureau of
Industrial Statistics
This is one of the most interesting and instructive industrial
enterprises in Pennsylvania. Here is a fine exhibition of the
inventor's skill; machinery which has greatly economized mental
and muscular effort, contributed to the health and happiness of
the operative, and producing an article of better quality, while
lessening its cost to the consumer.
Mr. Henry Disston, the founder of this enterprise, was an
Englishman who came to Philadelphia in 1833, when he was
fourteen years old. Seeing an advertisement in a newspaper that
an apprentice was wanted by a sawmaker, he applied for the
position. The advertisers were two Englishmen, Charles and
William Johnson, who were then engaged in making hand-saws.
Successful in his application, Disston began his apprenticeship.
|
|
Something so
Right... by Scott Grandstaff

Well, there is an old saying
about blind hogs and acorns...
And yesterday, I found one. Right in my own basement,
right in front of my own eyes, unrecognized for who knows how
long??
I had scored a spokeshave.
Wm. Marples and his boys made, at one time, miniature
spokeshaves in solid genuine boxwood. They aren't
particularly rare, but they are totally adorable.
They almost never sell in my
price range (that being a little to nothing range). I had
looked maybe 5 years, off and on, waiting for one to "fall
through the cracks". Couple of weeks ago, it finally
happened... |
|
Warranted Superior Saws
by Frank Peak
Any handsaw labeled Warranted Superior is the
Rodney Dangerfield of the saw world; it just don’t get no
respect. This is because most of these saws are the second line
offering of the maker and are not up to the high standards of
the rest of the line. They were produced in large numbers and
are not sought out by collectors. However, the following three
saws with Warranted Superior on the label screws are early and
unusual.
The first saw is by the uncommon maker W.
Stevens of New York circa 1860. It is a 10 PPI crosscut, 16”
panel saw with three Warranted Superior label screws. The large
center label screw is ¾” in diameter and the two smaller ones
are ½”, which are the smallest size label screws I’ve ever seen.
If anyone knows any of the history of this maker, please contact
me.
|
|
Peter
A. Frasse & Co. - New York, NY
Peter A. Frasse and Co. began as a mechanical shop and tool
import business owned and operated by Henri Frederic Frasse, a
Swiss immigrant to New York City.
Frasse's shop was located at 95 Fair Street, later renamed
Fulton Street. During the first decades of the nineteenth
century Frasse's business prospered and his reputation grew due
in large part to the assistance he was known to have provided
Robert Fulton in perfecting the steamboat and other inventions.
Upon Henri Frasse's death in 1849 the business was taken over by
his son Peter A. Frasse and the company's name changed
accordingly. The name of the business was changed again in 1868
to "Peter A. Frasse & Co." when John M. Montgomery joined Frasse
as a business partner.
|
|
My Mallets in Russia
by
James D. Thompson 
A while back I got an email from the assistant
editor of the Russian woodcarving magazine in Moscow, asking for
permission to take information about my mallets to use in an article
they wanted to publish. I gave permission and asked for a copy of
the magazine. I just received my copy.
I took my copy to a store to have it scanned so I could
send Wiktor a copy, but they refused to scan it citing copyright laws. I
pointed out that it was my copyright, but to no avail. I wound up
shooting pictures of the whole thing on my very old copy stand.
|
|
Carving a Simple Flower by
P. Michael Henderson
Some time ago, I did a tutorial on a woodworking
forum on how to carve a simple flower. In an attempt
to make that tutorial a bit more widely available,
I'm putting it here.
Note that I use the Swiss system to describe carving
tools in all of my carving tutorials.
|
Bed, Night Tables
and Stereo Cabinet
by Mark Singer
I just
finished a bed and night tables for our bedroom. Our Wenge
bedroom (see later in the article) set that I made was moved to
the guest house.
This bed is
quarter sawn white oak. All wood is solid, no veneers. The headboard
is detailed to expand in a dado for wood movement and there is a
reveal that acts as an expansion joint near the bottom.
|
|



|