In the olden days, What did they use to amputate a body part?? An axe or saw or what?

Surgical instruments have hardly changed since ancient times, though standards of asepsis and anaesthesia have much advanced.

As today, a sharp knife (scalpel) was used on soft tissue. A bone-saw was used where necessary. Needles and catgut were used to sew up the wound, and severed arteries were bound up with silken or gut threads. A surgeon of the 19thC would not be totally lost in a modern operation.
 
First the patient was given loads of string alcohol. Then their limb was cut off with a saw/knife/axe. Then a hot iron was pressed on it to stop the bleeding.
 
The referenced site shows a picture of "Original Scalpels from Civil War Amputation Kit".

I think this site will help to answer your question.

I hope this information is helpful in your research.
 
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