AMPUTATION SAWS
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Arguably the finest amputation saw model ever sold -- and still loved by collectors and users alike -- is the No. 12 Amputation Handsaw. Not only is it quick at removing hands, but will make short work of thigh bones. This one unfortunately has seen little use, and no doubt it should last its new owner many lifetimes. I just had to try it out. They don't make 'em like that anymore! At right is the handle of an earlier No. 12 that may well have seen action at Gettysburg. Note the patina. |
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At the height of their popularity, amputation saws came in every size and shape imaginable to best accomplish the task. Ear saws, clavicle saws, toe and finger saws... even two-man crosscut saws for cutting across two men at once! This 1840's model is a backsaw, used to cut backs. |
| This beauty has seen recent action. It is a 30" backsaw, designed to cut miters into backs. |
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| The Acme No. 120 was able to sever bone so cleanly the patient could be fitted for prosthesis within minutes of surgery. |
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The most celebrated model made was the premier D-15, Il Capitus. As name implies, this saw was the head of its class. This Extra-Refined-Water-Cooled-Polished-Superior-London-Spring-German-Strop-Swedish-Massage-Steel, Bloodwood-Handled Surgical Saw will take a man's head off in three seconds. The graphic etch shows the freshly-sawn capo being snatched by the claws of a soaring eagle. | 
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This brief overview of amputation saws is meant to show how common the saw was in society during the 19th and most of the 20th centuries. Although intended for the dismemberment of humans, the widely available amputation saw was pressed into service in the fields of carpentry and cabinetmaking. Although the results were not nearly as satisfying, those trades made do with tools that were obviously made for surgical use. Most households had at least one amputation saw that only occasionally cut bone. Amputation became less popular after WWII, partly due to changing attitudes, a decline in freemasonry, and certainly as a result of legislation. Society quickly forgot the practice and a remarkable number of people grew up assuming these saws were made to cut wood. Conscious of the litigious society in which we now live, The Disstonian Institute does not want to take responsibility for a resurgence in amputation, but public education would go a long way toward fostering a reverence for our cultural history. |
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Every saw is an amputation saw. They have been misused by carpenters, cabinetmakers, butchers, patternmakers and woodsmen, to name but a few. Magicians have the right idea when sawing a female in half, though they never actually do it. This No. 7 Amputation Saw is very good at crosscutting forearms and disecting ankles.