Author: Lost Art Press

When saw sharpener Tom Law died in 2012, he left behind more than a thousand vintage saws that he had fixed up and filed – ready for use. Some of the rare saws went to collectors. But many of these saws would not interest a collector. They were vintage but common working saws – like the Disston D-23.

Josh Clark, the all-around-good-guy tool seller at Hyperkitten, has obtained these saws and is now selling them at user prices on his website.

If you just want a saw and not the whole backstory, go here. Don’t walk, run.

All of the saws are sharp and ready to use. And because it’s Josh with Hyperkitten, you know the tools are going to be well-packed and sold at a more-than-fair price. The saws range from $20 to $55, with most going for $30 to $40.

And did I mention they were sharp?

How did this happen? Here’s Josh:

When Tom passed away in 2012, he left behind more than 1,000 handsaws, all restored, sharpened and ready to use. For years his wife, Sandra, would bring boxes of saws to the yearly PATINA tool meetings in Damascus, Maryland. Over the years I got to know her and we’d joke about her saw horde. I always looked forward to seeing what saws she would drag out of the stacks to sell. 

Tom didn’t discriminate between the rare and the common, they were all just good sharp working saws which meant there was always something interesting to discover. It was clear there was something different when I saw her this past spring. Sandra told me she was ready to get rid of all the saws and reclaim her living room. She wanted to find someone who would buy all of the saws and get them into the hands of people who would use them. It was a tough project because of the scale (500+ saws) and the fact that the collection had been cherry picked over the years leaving behind nothing collectible or sexy, just good quality working saws. 

These are just the type of saw I love to sell so I committed to buying the collection. We came to an agreement on a price and she was pleased to allow me to sell them as “Tom Law” saws. Earlier this fall I rented a moving truck and brought the collection home (driving ever so slowly, dreading every pothole). Sandra was equally happy to have her living room back, and to know that these saws would be put to use again.

So if you want to do a good deed, and get a good saw in the bargain, visit this special sale page that Josh built.

We have six of these saws here in the shop, and I can attest that the sharpening is excellent.

— Christopher Schwarz

While visiting the Rochester Guildhall to see the Benjamin Seaton Tool Chest, I had to pass through some other exhibits (the tool chest is way at the back). The Rochester area was known for its prison “hulks” in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. 

The hulks were decommissioned ships – some damaged – that were moored and used as overflow to house prisoners, especially prisoners of war. The hulks in Rochester housed many American and French prisoners of war.

During their time on the hulks, the prisoners would spend their time in a variety of ways, from carving bone to making straw work marquetry.

This surprisingly intricate craft involved making a pine box or cabinet then veneering it with pieces of straw, some of which had been colored.

The Rochester Guildhall had several examples on display, and they were a beautiful almost folk type of marquetry. Check out the photos.

— Christopher Schwarz