Thread: Tate Hand Saw

I think I can help with this one.

It is a Bay State No.25, which was a saw manufactured by the Simonds manufacturing giant. This has the later style logo and I think would place it around 1910 - 1926. Although it was nominally a secondary line, it in fact was priced exactly the same as the Simonds branded No.10 and No.10 1/2. One unusual feature of the Bay State saws is that the handle is made of Birch ( I think a very early version may have offered Cherry) rather than Beech. I will check my catalogues for more information.

Regards
Paul

A bit more info:

I think your saw dates between 1905 and 1912 as it has wheat carving on the flat as well as the grip. Before 1905 the No.25 had five saw screws. This pic (sorry, I can only get it as a attachment at the foot on this computer) is from the 1916 catalogue and shows the No.26 as well. The No.26 was a straight back saw.

Bay State No.25, No.26.jpg



Under the Bay State name there were only three handsaws. The No.24 was short lived and a skewback very similar (too similar) to the No.25. I don't have my 1907 and 1910 catalogues to hand but I may be able to narrow the timeline further.

There is some Bay State information in this thread. See post #144:

The Simonds Saw Story

Regards
Paul

Thanks so much Paul.

Jason

Jason

This is the same No.25 from the 1907 catalogue. Note the extra wheat carving on the flat:

P1040841 (2) (Medium).JPG

You may be able to clean the saw plate in the etch region to confirm our suspicions.

I use wet and dry paper with a lubricant. The lubricant can be almost anything, (turps, metho, WD40 etc). I use water (it's really cheap ) but if you use the same be very careful not to leave it for even a a few minutes without thoroughly drying it. I dry with a cloth and then either leave the plate out in the hot Aussie sun or at night time put it in the oven on about 50 - 60 degs. Our oven is large enough to accommodate a full size saw, but a standard oven is too small for a 26" saw. I normally remove the handle for cleaning the plate and I would not recommend putting the handle in the oven: A fire in the kitchen would quickly cancel out the savings on the excellent purchase you have made.

Regards
Paul