| The Davistown Museum |
| Center for the Study of Early Tools |
| Scattered throughout The Davistown Museum are tools by important manufacturers who are also the subject of |
| information files compiled by the museum. This is a listing of our holdings for: |
| Henry Disston & Sons, Inc. |
| | Status | Location |
| Historic Maritime III (1800-1840): Boomtown Years & the Dawn of the Industrial |
| Revolution |
| Saws |
| 71401T2 | Hand saw (rip saw) | bio | DTM |
| Steel, wood and brass, marked with the telltale eagle medallion of an early factory-made Henry Disston saw. |
| Historic Maritime IV (1840-1865): The Early Industrial Revolution |
| Measuring Tools (Except Machinist Tools) |
| 81101T18 | Try square | bio | DTM |
| Steel, 2", signed "DISSTON" and "A. MORSE", probably the owner. |
| Henry Disston (1819 - 1878) was making saws in Philadelphia as early as 1840. See DATM (Nelson 1999, 227-9) for a |
| complete listing of the Disston clan and their tool manufacturing operations. |
| Saws |
| 10700-T1 | Back saw | bio | DTM |
| Cast steel, brass and wood, 15 3/4" long with 12" blade, signed "POOLe"? and "STAN FORTN & CO SHEFFIELD" and "Double |
| refined spring WARRANTED" with the brass signed "H. DISSTON & SONS PHILADA". |
| English-made spring steel has been processed by Henry Disston & Co. into a saw. The marks on this saw are a puzzle |
| because H. Disston & Sons is a later signature and by this time Disston was producing his own cast and spring steel. |
| The Industrial Revolution (1865f.): Other Factory Made Tools |
| Loggers' Tools |
| 112704T6 | Chain saw | bio | DTM |
| Drop forged steel and wood, 44 " long, 9 1/2" long handle, signed "DISSTON USA". |
| A portable saw used by the military and others in isolated locations where it was not practical to carry stiff one or two man |
| saws. It predates the portable chain saw. |
| Miscellaneous Tools |
| 121805T28 | Wire gauge | photo | DTM |
| Steel, 4 1/2" long, signed "No. 1 DISSTON STANDARD PHILA.U.S.A." and then with sizes 1 - 26. |
| A rare Disston gauge for "measuring sheet stock used in making saws. I believe this gage goes back to the time when there |
| were no national standards for sheet, requiring individual companies to establish their own standards." Ray Larsen. |
| Saws |
| 913108T28 | Saw | bio | DTM |
| Silver steel, brass trim, wooden handle, 22" long, signed "CHANDLER & BARBER" "SILVER STEEL WARRANTED" "BOSTON |
| , MASS." and with a circle with an eagle in the middle and "WARRANTED SUPERIOR". |
| Chandler & Barber were hardware dealers who marked this saw with their trademark. It was made by Henry Disston, whose |
| eagle trademark is also on the saw. |
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