Hello all, im new here and thanks for having me. my grandpa passed several months ago and ive been working on cleaning out his massive shop and found a couple boxes of BITS (no shanks, or blades. at least haven't found any yet). they are in flat wooden boxes and I would guess from the 1950's-60's.
each box has right and left offset teeth and some numbers written on them. I have not been able to locate the PART# on the box anywhere online OR find teeth with these sizing #'s available by any current bit maker. im sure they must be from a company that went out of business before the interweb came along, and I wouldn't have any idea where to start finding old catalogs to glean info.
im hoping that some of the experienced folks here will recognize brand or other info to I.D. these by the photos. I would hate to toss these with the other tons of scrap metal in the shop if they are a hard to find no longer made item.
heres what I have gathered so far, correct me if im wrong.....
they are BDF style teeth 3/8 and 13/32 wide cutting tip size. im not sure on the current numbering system (BDF-09- 3/8) what the 09 part is? looks like currently only 08 and 09 are made? I appear to have 06 and 07?
help please? and what should I do with them? looking online it would appear I have the only ones left in existence in these sizes ;D
PHOTOS are in my album. cant figure out how to get them to show in the thread. https://forestryforum.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=8280
It's easy just go to the bottom of your post and it will say click here add photos to post click on that it will take you to your gallery then click on a photo then go down and it say do you want to insert photo click yes
If I can do it you sure can
Apparently, they're for a D patterned saw. I've never seen any that were angled like that. I'm wondering if they were used in a cutoff saw.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/48192/20171230_115523~0.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1514737199)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/48192/20171230_115604~0.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1514737219)
I have never seen any like that . I don't think they could have been used as a cross cut . I wonder if maybe they alternated for a wider kerf in frozen wood ?????
Never saw such a thing either. Do they appear to be factory ground, or perhaps someone modified them?
Could they be edger teeth for a wider kerf .
Notice how the teeth are offset. One side has a smooth side and the other side has a notch at the base of the tooth.
They sure are. hmmm.
Several years ago sawmill tool and service could supply l-h and r-h cross cut bits in 2 1\2 style. I don't know who made them. Like Ron, I'd say they are for cut off but style d is very coarse for this type of sawing.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, harleyjason!
Things to remember is that the OP is from the west coast. We're also looking at technology that is 50-60+ years old. I remember seeing logs come into the mills back in the '60s that were 40' long that needed to be cut into merchantable lengths. That's when I worked in Oregon. Thinking back on the technology, they used a cross cut saw to cut to length. I don't see these styles used as a rip saw, like the standards we're used to. I don't know when inserted tooth saws became the standard for headsaws. I do know that offset saws were standard before that
Looks like those teeth were made like that for a crosscut saw. Color coded for the angle. Simonds had a batch of teeth that looked like that but were ground square with the body.
It would be helpful to know where you are located. East and West coast saws are sometimes different.
The old west coast cut off saws that I have seen use straight insert teeth. Yours are curved like a rip saw.
RH Hoe was a west coast supplier of saws and teeth, now gone. If you could find one of their catalog's that might help.
I have old discontinued saw bits. I sell them occasionally and reasonably as they are outdated and very few people use them and fewer use them every year. Better to sell them while you can before there is no demand imho.
What did you grandpa do to have such a collection. Could these be some sort of shaper bit?
Some of the bits are new and still usable. They are of the Simons letter series and will fit BDF saws, only difference is the shank size. I have never seen bits sharpened like that but it may work well for specific purposes. Seems old sawyers can never bring themselves to scrap old bits they always end up in the box or coffee can. Frank C.
hello, and thank you for the replies! ill see if I can get all the Q's covered. thank you for adding my photos to the thread!
I am from the VERY northwest corner of the country in Washington. my grandpa did a lot of logging and surveying type stuff here and in Alaska in his younger days. I don't know what affect it would have on sawmill equipment needs but in my area there were dozens of mills located on piers and shores of the Puget sound (pacific ocean) and a LOT of wood was floated to the mills in rafts by tugboat and drug right out of the water into the mills. if this allowed for extra long or large diameter logs to get to the mill maybe different equipment was needed? bag in the old growth days of my grandpas youth trees in my area were 8-12+ foot thick. theres still a couple stumps around with notches cut in them that you can drive a car through!
the bits ARE r/h+l/h and boxed as sets for alternating around the blade kinda like the teeth are offset on a framing saw 7 1/4" blade. each box has R+L in a matched size. I do know that they are new teeth and not used or re-sharpened, those were separate in a bucket. the surface rust seen in the photos is from a water leak in the shop, I sat these boxes in the corner and didn't realize they were being dripped on for about a month.
upon closer look today there is a S-J stamped on each tooth but no other markings. the color codes I do not think are for size, but rather to idiot proof which teeth are R or L?
I obviously have no use for these bits and don't plan to save them. where would be a good place to sell them and for how much? I don't want to break the forums "free advertising" rules but if somebody can use them please PM me
S.J.= Speer and Jackson , a saw co. from England, once well known but not always liked. Now that I think about it, D bits are the same as B and F and their where F bits made in l\h r\h for cross cutting. Some of the early circle saw fire wood processors used 2 nd. hand mill saws and may have used the cross cut teeth.
Best selling place for odd ball stuff is E-bay....
I sold some of mine for $1 each. Some might think that is really cheap but my view is this. Outdated bit means also outdated shanks, even if you were to put carbide on the bits worn out shanks will eventually make that saw unusable. The time period where you can sell an outdated bit shrinks as people upgrade to more modern stuff.
I would think your bits are more rare which could either be better or worse. My 2 cents.