I bought 4 old handsaws today, and hoping I can get some more info here about one of them. Its a big rusty 26" with no medallion and a nib. Photos below.
Instead of saw nuts, it has, uh, I'm not sure. It looks to me like little metal pegs that were beaten flat on one end? Is this common? I haven't seen that before. Does it mean its really old, or a really poor DIY?
The handle has obviously been on there a long long time, but to my inexperienced eye maybe not the original handle? I say this partly because of the extra hole in the blade just in front of the top of the handle, partly because the handle doesn't fit that well, partly because it seems small for the blade.
The teeth are cut at 5 TPI for crosscut, with some set, and the size of the teeth (the depth of the gullet) is notably uneven. I'm guessing it was last sharpened by an amateur? The aggressive tooth pattern is paired with what, from listening to Herman's handsaw talk at WIA, I believe to be a non-aggressive thrust pattern (teeth are parallel to ground when I hold out the saw).
Finally, I'm planning to fix it up -- scrape and sand the blade, figure out how to attach the handle, and, if I'm going to use it, send it off to for re-toothing and sharpening. In other words, I'm assuming this saw isn't worth anything except as a user. If someone thinks that's a mistake, I'd like to hear it.
Any insights?