Could my Great-Grandfather Have Used this Saw?

June 19, 2008 2:00 PM

Is there a way to determine the date range that this saw might have been made?

I got this saw at a thrift store in South Eastern Kansas. I was wondering if anyone has any idea about the earliest and latest it might have been made. Just a general sense, like what decade a saw like this might have first been produced, and at what point a saw like this might no longer be manufactured.

Here are three pictures.
Side One
Side Two
Handle

Alternatively, does anyone know a better site I could use to date a piece of equipment like this? Thanks!

posted by hworth to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

You can try a book called Hand-Saw Makers of North America by Erwin L. Schaffer if you can find it. Details on the book:

http://www.vintagesaws.com/books/books.html
posted by wangarific at 2:08 PM on June 19, 2008

Well, it's a hacksaw, and those have been around since the 1800s (at least in Europe & North America). I'm not sure when the pistol-grip became a common feature, though.

Maybe someone at the OldTools Mailing List can help you - another possible source of good info might be Rose Antique Tools.
posted by jammy at 4:05 PM on June 19, 2008

It's probably not all that old. The screws appear to be slotted/phillips combo heads which puts them no earlier than 1936 and more likely post war. Can you post a close up of the other side of the handle? The nuts may give another clue.
posted by Mitheral at 7:58 PM on June 19, 2008

If your Great-Grandfather was a butcher he might have used one very much like it. It looks much more like a butchers saw, used for cutting bones, than a hacksaw. There are currently a couple of butchers saws listed on eBay and a GIS located images of a couple of them. Based on handle and fastenings my guess is early 1900's. I can't see the combo phillips/slot heads Mitheral mentions but if that's what they are he's right about the time period.
posted by X4ster at 10:34 PM on June 19, 2008