Old saw suprises?

[Jack in omaha]

I have been amazed at how well even old dirt covered and rusted saws will retain the ability to still be useful.
I had a friend who collected saws so I would always buy the ones I saw. I never paid much around a buck never more tha 8-10 dollars. Then he stopped collecting and I think he sold his entire collection.
But I for some odd reason kept buying.
 Last year I had a series of estate sales (8 over about one year) and my estate sales people made fun of me for having so many. They were everywhere. Finally I asked "have you sold many',
she said she had sold about 300 or more at $10 oe so. So I asked her to count them 737 remained. At about 380 saws remaining I got an offer for all that remained but it must have been too much for him
 In the end I could never sell any more so I probably now have a lot maybe 3 or 4 hundred. The thing is at random most saws i grab perform well regardless oif age or condition.
I have some real nice saws that are sharp like new. I is  much much better but upon reflection I am suprised by the cutting ability even abused saws retained.   
Why do very old saws still cut so well?

[hbmcc]

And I thought I was out of hand with 6 or 7. However, mine are not in the best of condition. In fact, I grabbed most for salvage loaners to fix a couple to usable condition.

[5thumbs]

I have about 10 old saws that a friend of mine bought for me several years ago. Cleaned them all up and had them sharpened by a local professional. I don't use them much, having a table saw, a circular saw, and a kig saw. so mostly they hang on the wall, looking good. Since they don't lose their sharpness on the wall, I'm guessing they will cut just as well in 25 years as they do today.

I do remember my grandfather spending a lot of time sharpening his saws, in the days before power tools were common.