The
majority of handsaws in the Firethorn collection were passed
down by previous generations of woodworkers in the family
of Jonathan
R. Distel. However, some of them found more unusual ways
into our collection. In fact, the saw Jon carries in his toolbox
was discovered trapped under layers of tar on a warehouse
roof. After freeing the saw, Jon took it back to his workshop,
stripped years of roofing tar from it, cleaned it, sharpened
it, reset the teeth, and made a new handle for it. Only then
did he learn it had been manufactured by the Henry Disston
Saw Works of Philadelphia in 1880.
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