The P70 Hand Saw

Estimated Production Dates: 1883/4 through 1895 (?)

Features: Extra Refined London Spring Steel, Highly Polished Blade, Carved and Fully Polished Apple Handle, Patent shaped hand-piece, four Brass Improved Screws, one Embossed, Nickel Plated Re-Inforce Plate, Taper Ground, Thin Back, Warranted. Without exception the Finest Saw Manufactured.

The P-70 was offered in both a striaght-back (someimtes featuring a nib) and in a skew, or "hollow", back.

The "Patent shaped hand-piece" refers to the relief carved in the handle where the thumb of a right-handed user would be placed in use. This feature was patented by Frank A. Buell in Jul. 17, 1883 and awarded patent number 281,447.

I finally found a P-70! After more than 10 years of looking, I finally found one and it was by accident! I got this one in a large box lot of saws at an auction. This is a 20 inch panel saw. Interestingly, it does not have the Buell patent handle on it, perhaps because of the small scale handle on the panel saw. This example has the two-part Munger patent saw screws as clearly shown below. The etch is light, but the P-70, "London Spring Steel" is clear. Some pictures:


Here are some picutures of a beautiful P-70 found by Robbie Field. Thanks for the photos, Robbie! Note the patent date on the handle, and the secondary etch noting the hardware store it was made for.

Copyright (c) Joshua Clark 1997-2009