Subject:     Daddy Has A Saw Problem - was Re: Capitol Saw?
Sent:        5/18/99 8:56 AM
Received:    5/18/99 6:35 PM
From:        Tom Price
To:          Old Tools
 
Bill Taggart wrote:
 
>And we all know how badly Mr. Price needs _another_ saw!  ;-)
>
>For those that don't - take a look at this:
>
>Shop_and_Bench.html#shelfoplanes
>
>If you look closely, you can count about a dozen or so - and this picture
>was taken a while back!
>
>I was there just a few short weeks ago, and I will testify in court that the
>Rack O' Saws takes up more shelf space now...
>
>(heh, heh, heh)
 
Yes my Pile O' Saws has increased and multiplied and I'm afraid I'm 
entering the exponential part of the curve. The Family Unit is concerned 
although they try to conceal it. They wonder if this is some sort of 
whack-o midlife crisis. SWMBOette confides worriedly to her friends, 
"Daddy has a..a Saw Problem."
 
I've crossed some sort of Rubicon. There is no going back. I catch SWMBO 
counting the saws on the rack and shelf when she thinks I'm not looking. 
"What's up?" I say too casually. She smiles that bright forced smile. "Oh 
nothing, dear" she says. "Just..looking." And then casually (oh so 
casually) makes the statement that sends chills down my spine, "Don't you 
think you have enough of those by now?" My reply is always a noncommittal 
"ummmm, I'll probably send some off as gifts in the Secret Santa gift 
exchange" accompanied by a forced chuckle. "Of course you will dear" she 
says with that brave smile, "Of course you will."
 
Still I bring them home from the flea market and garage sales. I think it 
is because I went for an extended period before I saw a decent saw in the 
wild. I was beginning to despair that I would ever find one at all and 
would have to (shudder) pay retail for a Disston D-8. Then I found a D-8. 
Then another. Then some long-forgotten Galoot posted instructions on how 
to raise an etching - you use a hard block of wood, some WD-40 (ah, the 
Galoot aftershave) and some fine wet-dry SC paper (I like 600 grit) and 
gently rub along the length of the saw in the area of the etching. The 
etchings usually magically appear from the murky depths like the words in 
those magic 8-balls you see at the flea markets. The Disston keystone 
logo, "London Spring Steel", "For Beauty, Finish and Utility This Saw 
Cannot Be Excelled" and "Henry Disston" are brought from the depths and 
exposed to the light of day. 
 
Saws don't last long in the hands of the ignorant. One ham-handed move 
and they can be kinked beyond repair. They perish easily. As I posted 
here before, "Saws are ephemeral in nature. Each handsaw has a vast area 
of exposed metal, compared to a hand plane, and that high carbon steel is 
not particularly corrosion resistant. Moderate, widespread pitting will 
render a saw useless as a user, especially for crosscutting, and a saw 
can waste away to junk by simply hanging on the wall in a dank basement 
or garage. So it is unusual to find older saws with reasonably bright 
blades. You can often see the original steel under the handle and it is 
quite a shock to see the difference in the appearance even on a saw that 
has been cared for. I squint and imagine what the saw must have looked 
like when new. I daydream about wandering into one of those huge, 
multistory Philadelphia hardware stores, sometime in the first decade of 
this century, and gazing at the saws. Rack upon rack of new Disston saws 
are before me. The blades are clean and unblemished, the carved and 
polished handles are spotless. The magnificent etchings are readable from 
across the room..."
 
Yeah, so when I see a saw with a reasonably bright blade and a readable 
logo, I'm instantly attracted to it. I stop and wage the battle I'm 
usually destined to lose. Since they are seldom more than a few dollars, 
I end up bringing them home. They usually spend quality time in the car 
while I wait for the opportune time to bring them in the house. About one 
am on the night of a full or waxing moon is an opportune time. Dinnertime 
on a weeknight is not an opportune time. Sometimes I screw up and bring 
them in when SWMBOette is in the house. She averts her gaze as I bring 
the saw through the family room. I know that SWMBO will get home and call 
down to the basement, "Did you find anything at the flea market dear?" 
There will be a whispered consultation and I will hear murmering and 
"Another saw, can you believe it?". I've been had, I've been made. Daddy 
has a Saw Problem.
 
Where will this end?. Perhaps I'll come home from rust-hunting one day 
and find the pastor sitting uneasily on the sofa. He perhaps will fish 
around in the cushions and extract that Disston keyhole saw I've been 
looking for. There will be other people there, from church and 
work. This will be what the 'helping' professionals call an 
'intervention'. They will attempt to shame me into recognizing my 
'problem' with saws. They will want me to enter a treatment program, 
possibly the one for Beanie Baby collectors. 
 
We all know how this will turn out, don't we? Once you have seen a 
Disston #12 with the full factory blade and unblemished handle, you are 
hooked for life. I got a line on a D-95 with a full Victory logo. Think 
I'm going to pass that one up? No way. No way.
 
So Daddy has a Saw Problem. So? There are worse things in life, I tell 
myself. A lot worse. Yep.
****************************
Tom Price (TomPrice@aol.com)
Brakes For Rust

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