I just got my hands on a pre-1928 Disston D8 rip. Wow! This saw seems to glide right through wood. The handle is a revelation of ergonmics. I have a 1950s vintage D8 xcut, it's good, but the "low cost" handle is not nearly as comfortable and it just doesn't have the nice, balanced "feel".
It dawned on me after using this saw, most of us have grown up in the dark-ages of hand tools. Following WWII, power tools and low-cost manufacturing methods took over. Until recently, every handsaw I'd ever tried was a toolbox abomination that I pulled out only when it was cut I didn't care about and it was too much trouble to setup a power saw.
My electric bills should be going down now because except for my PC Router, most of my power tools are sitting on the shelf. No dust, no high-pitched whine, just lots of sweat