A Hand Saw Story

Have you ever had the feeling that the past catches up with you?

It happened to me at one of the last Saturdays.

So it comes that I have got a little story about hand saws today.

Since a while I'm looking for an old, small hand saw (means a short one).

Meanwhile I had to realize that the usual saw for German cabinet makers was the frame saw and not a panel or hand saw.

Nevertheless I can remember that my grandfather had got a panel saw in his basement for cutting wood to size. So I thought that it should be possible to find one on the flea market or online. But with no luck till today.

All I could find were dead ugly hand saws, most of them hard pointed which is impossible to sharpen, and with plywood handles, in bad and rusty condition.

At the last flea market visit I found such a model once again. But something was different when I discovered it.

What caught my attention was the tote which was peeping out of the dealers box. It looked pretty unused.

I grabbed it and pulled it out of the box. The saw blade was nearly stainless and it had teeth in good condition.
Okay, sharp feels somehow different, but they were good in comparison to what I have found usually in the past.

And then I discovered something that told me this saw is a must have. The engraving.

Engraving on the saw blade

The engraving is from a local hardware store of my hometown which is closed meanwhile. 

"What is special with this?" you will ask. Now listen.

This hardware store was closed long ago. I did not exactly know when, but the last time I have been there is more then forty years ago. It was one of these stores were you can get everything, starting from a washer and not ending by professional tools.

In my area these kind of stores are all gone meanwhile and replaced by big box stores.

In my childhood I spent a lot of time with my grandfather. He was early retired. So it came that he spent his time with me when I was a little boy. But you know, being retired will not mean doing nothing.

My grandfather was busy every day, doing repair work for elder ladies, garden work and so on.

And I was with him all the time. And if he needed material or tools then we went to "Eisen Schneider", because if you couldn't get it there you couldn't get it nowhere.

I did not know that they had got an own tool range and I think that the saw is from one of the former German tool manufacturers. I believe due to the medallion on the tote that the saw was made by "Koch & Pohlmann" which was a saw manufacturer in the past (it was founded 1898 and closed 1992).

Maybe that is the type of saw my grandfather had in his tool tote. It's so long ago that I can't remember. But for sure he would have bought it at this dealer.

All this above described things came immediately to my mind as I was holding the saw in my hands and looking at it.

So, I was standing in front of the lady, which was owner of the booth, with a grin in my face and sure that I must have this saw. We haggled a bit about the price. Honestly, I would have payed every price to get it (naa, not really every price).

I could get it cheap. She was glad to get rid of it (old tools were only bought by oddballs like me), I was glad to get it. A classical win win situation.

The saw is 350 mm long and a perfect hand saw as I find. The handle is a pistol grip which fits perfectly my hand.

The saw how I have found it

 

I didn't like these plywood handles, but this one looks somehow good and is made out of several layers of Beech. It has a nice medallion which promises extra guarantee - whatever that means (if it is from the above mentioned manufacturer then this is the trademark of their craftsmen saw range).

Guarantee Medallion

Plywood handle

And the saw teeth have been in good condition. I gave it a quick sharpening, which means two rounds of filing. It's pretty sharp now and sawing fine. I just would like to have a tad more aggressive cut. As I'm not pretty good in saw sharpening, I would be glad about every hint. From what I can see it is a standard rip saw geometry (60/90°).

This saw will get a special place in my shop and will not be my daily user for two reasons.

The saw at its new home

First of all, I will keep that saw in memory of my grandfather. 

And second, it will remember me of a long gone generation of specialized local dealers.

Call me sentimental - You are right. Finally that's another aspect of "Why are we collecting tools?".

Anyway, that is the perfect type of a bench saw. Why the heck is no one manufacturing these nowadays?

Stay tuned!
Stefan