Replies

1. 
   Napie | Mar 06, 2007 05:09am | #1

   I’m not sure of the dates but they were invented by a Shaker women, a Sister Tabitha I believe.

2. 
   BruceS | Mar 06, 2007 05:22am | #2

   The first circular saw blade is credited to Samuel Miller of England in 1777.   In 1813 Sister Tabitha Babbitt of the Shaker Community set up the first large saw mill with a circular blade. 

   Work Safe,  Count to 10 when your done for the day !!

   Bruce S. 

    

1. 
   gmoney | Mar 06, 2007 07:09am | #3

   this is the way i heard it too.

3. 
   hammer1 | Mar 06, 2007 08:41am | #4

   Actually, the first patent was to Samuel Miller in England 1777. Waterpower beam type saws were in use widely before this time. The circular saw must have been in some type of use before these dates. Eli Whitney's cotton gin referred to circular saw like combs in 1797. Sister Tabitha Babbitt is credited with the first circular saw used in a saw mill in the USA, circa 1813. She also invented a nail cutting machine which became a cottage industry during the long winter nights in Maine. Prior to this, nails were forged one at a time.

   The earliest reference to circular sawn wood was around 1815 in the US. A home in Concord Massachusetts, "The Wayside" had sawn lath installed with cut nails. The walls were also covered in a paper that is consistent with the 1815 date. An advert with an engraving for George Smart's circular saw mill appeared in Philadelphia in 1816. Scholars think saw mills were more advanced, earlier than first suspected. Some building materials may have been imported from Europe. Given Miller's patent, it's reasonable to assume that circular saw mills in Europe pre-dated the US.

   I think you would be safe to say that, circular saw marks, along with cut nails, won't be found before 1800 in the US.

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

1. 
   BruceS | Mar 06, 2007 10:57am | #5

   If memory serves,  I believe there are two or three saw mills at the Greenfield Village in Dearborn Mich.   One of which is circular and I believe the other is reciprocating. Anxious to get back there.  There was also a nice collection of hand tools at the Museum.Work Safe,  Count to 10 when your done for the day !!

   Bruce S. 

    

2. 
   Rooms | Mar 06, 2007 05:09pm | #7

   Hammer1,

   Thank you for the great background information, and to all other who have responded. I have learned a bit of history in the process.

   Thanks again,

   Rooms

4. 
   joinerswork | Mar 06, 2007 04:39pm | #6

   Rooms,

   According to Myrna Kaye, in her book, "Fake Fraud, or Genuine", by the 1840's, circular sawmills were common in the U.S.

   Regards,

   Ray Pine