#7
Topic Summary:
   Just as the Patrick's Blood and Gore page has reduced market value on Bailey No. 6 planes and transitional planes, the Disstonian Institute page has reduced perceived desirability of the Disston Porter D100 saws.  Not all users agree
Smile

In recent tool rescues I focused on some Disston No. 12/112 saws.   A particularly fun project was merging two No. 12 basket-cases to make one very nice panel saw.  I got to work with wood-cuts, epoxy, plate-hammering, abrasive Dremel wheels, Tru-Oil, files, and all that good stuff.  See here how it came out, and what proved to be a most difficult sharpening / performance benchmark alongside it:

[attachment=16843][attachment=16844]


That Porter-era D100 is one of two I've had for myself this past year, and I just think they're the tops.  They are very sharp, they are perfectly comfortable for me, and they love to work either on vice-held boards or bench-stop-held boards (my favorite way to get a super-clean crosscut).

I wanted to dig in on what might make them special.  Just a few notes here....

The aluminum casting is *not* a cheapo handle.  Particularly after de-burring and buffing the pieces, it's a nice piece of bling.  The screw fasteners are very discrete, and there are additionally some internal casted posts which add greater accuracy to the holding of the drilled saw-plate:

[attachment=16845]


For my "Trump hand size", I have not complaints on how the saw grips.  There is a lot of meaty wood to grab, and the aluminum part is comfortable to rest a guiding finger on:

[attachment=16846]


Digging in a bit scientifically, see here the saw weighing about 2 pounds.  I'd say it's at least 1/2-pound heavier than most 26" saws, and I really think this saw makes the best of the mass and inertia:

[attachment=16847]


Also, tooth-Rake is a very empirical matter.  What can work with one tote-hang doesn't work with another, etc.  For most crosscuts I've seen people succeeding best with 15 degrees of rake and 25 degrees of fleam.   Well, here I just for the first time realized the D100 goes more aggressive.  The rake angle is closer to 10 degrees.  With the aggressive rake and heavy mass, this saw gets wood out of the way!

[attachment=16848]


I hope you've enjoyed this... you may on the other hand (like the rest of my household) think I'm "touched"
Smile

Chris
Chris
Reply

#8
That's interesting.  I've got one of those, with a slight chip out of the aluminum, purchased because $1 or so seemed worth it.  I've never used it, but your paean to yours makes me think I should clean it up and try it.  Nice to know that not all newer (relatively) tools were junk.
Reply
#9
hmm..afraid my Disston D-100 is old enough to have a wood handle....and the "100" is set inside the very large "D" in the etch...
Rolleyes 
   
1920s era?
   

Cool
Show me a picture, I'll build a project from that
Reply
Study after 1 year with Disston Porter D100 "Avanti" Saws


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)

Product Recommendations

Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.