Atkins No 53

[Larry McGarrah]

I got this 53 at the local antique mall for $8.00. It has light rust, the etch is nice and readable and it has a great wheat tote. The saw looks never to have been touched and is a factory 4 1/2 ppi and still very sharp. It is now number two on my list of to do saws to clean up behind my 1890s Disston No. 7 that has a beautiful factory quarter sawn birch handle.

[Jim Matthews]

Finding one in this excellent condition, with the top and bottom horns still attached is rare.

Straight plate?

[Larry McGarrah]

The plate is arrow straight. The saw is much more rigid than any of my Disstons. This is the first Atkins I have bought and the stiffness surprised me.

[Kim Malmberg]

That's a nice catch. The no 53 is a very good saw and the steel was excellent.

[Cody Kemble]

It is now number two on my list of to do saws to clean up behind my 1890s Disston No. 7 that has a beautiful factory quarter sawn birch handle.

I see I am not the only one with a queue of saws to be restored. All of the current talk about saw restoration is putting a strain my marriage. I now not only have the box of old plane parts, but a pile of saws and an electrolysis tub waiting for carbon electrodes (Thank you Christian Castillo). SWMBO just looks at them and shakes her head when she comes in the shop.

[Jim Koepke]

SWMBO just looks at them and shakes her head when she comes in the shop.

I would bet she is like my wife who shakes her head in my presence. Then later I overhear her talking to a friend about how her husband took a hunk of rust and restored it into a beautiful swan.

jtk

[Kim Malmberg]

Larry
After further inspection, your saw seems to be one of those Atkins saws with the patented Glover saw nuts, but without the patent date (Dec 27 1887). I used to own a gigantic 28 inch Atkins no 53 ripper with the same medallion. I can't say for sure, but the absence of a patent date on this kind of saw nuts could mean that your saw could have been made when the patent was pending but not yet granted.

THe patent can be found here: http://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?id=7397

The saw nuts also seems to be solid brass rather than the more common nickel plated brass nuts which were typical to Atkins.

[Mike Allen1010]

Larry
After further inspection, your saw seems to be one of those Atkins saws with the patented Glover saw nuts, but without the patent date (Dec 27 1887). I can't say for sure, but the absence of a patent date on this kind of saw nuts could mean that your saw could have been made when the patent was pending but not yet granted.

The saw nuts also seems to be solid brass rather than the more common nickel plated brass nuts which were typical to Atkins.

+1. Great saw. I like the position of the sawyers hand withe Perfection handles on the Atkins 53 & 65. Also consistently good steel throughoutmthe whole lifespan of the Atkins brand.