Thread: I’m having trouble reading this etch....?

The adjacent label might offer a clue otherwise it might be a Victorian era royal saw.
Hope this helps!
Doggie

Love it!
Govt departments love to mark things as theirs. The local TAFE college has Asset Tracking Numbers on everything, including the steel door frames

Hi Fletty,

very interesting saw you've shown us

I wonder if the markings are original or made with
a new water blaster.

If they are original, it would have caused a fair bit
of structural weakness.

The other interesting thing about this saw is the
tooth line, what the f#*k were they cutting with it
and was it a drunken monkey that tried to sharpen it.

Regards

Graham.

"The other interesting thing about this saw is the
tooth line, what the f#*k were they cutting with it
and was it a drunken monkey that tried to sharpen it."

Couple ideas on this, It was supposedly Vic Rail so possibly railway track or it also mentions Glenrowan so maybe Ned's Armour.

Either way they did a hellova job on the teeth.
Cheers, Ian

It never did VIC Rail much good though. Rail employees back in the day were notorious pilferers.

I bought a couple of large chests full of old handtools from a deceased estate a couple of years ago. Really nice stuff, mostly 1900 give or take a decade or two.

About half of it was marked VR, and came out of the old major plant workshop in North Melbourne.

Originally Posted by macg

The other interesting thing about this saw is the
tooth line, what the f#*k were they cutting with it
and was it a drunken monkey that tried to sharpen it.

That one has come up somewhere recently, maybe even here.

Looks like one of the toothing variants for a stone saw

"The other interesting thing about this saw is the
tooth line, what the f#*k were they cutting with it
and was it a drunken monkey that tried to sharpen it."

It's obvious! Vic Rail, it was used to cut rail lines

I love the way some poor diligent soul has even sharpened inside the concave ‘ding’ near the tip!

Originally Posted by goodvibes

... Rail employees back in the day were notorious pilferers.

(snip)

About half of it was marked VR, and came out of the old major plant workshop in North Melbourne.

While not dis-agreeing with the first line - that's not necessarily the case here.

When I started my apprenticeship with New Zealand Railways, I was issued a basic toolkit in lieu of the first year's tool allowance - in other words these tools were mine (if I lasted the first year I guess). Every tool had been stamped "NZR" so a portion of my tool kit, to this day, is marked NZR (and those ones aren't pilfered).

Cheers, Vann.

Alan

I think the government departments were a little possessive about their property (not that it helped a lot ).

This was the first Simonds saw I acquired and the beginning of my obsession, eh.. I mean interest.

P1030459.JPG

It was crudely engraved on the saw plate:

P1030457.JPG

and also on the handle in case some enterprising soul decided to separate the components:

P1030458.JPG

I keep this saw for two reasons: Firstly it was my first ( an option not necessarily available in other arenas ) and secondly because I ruined it and could not with a clear conscience offload it, for money at any rate. It came to me heavily coated in rust and before I knew any better I subjected it to electrolysis treatment. Electrolysis is effective on solid objects such a hand planes, but is a disaster on hand saws. It imparts a grey hue to the plate, which is in practical terms impossible to remove and secondly it may have an adverse effect on the metallurgy.

Apologies for a small (for me) digression but there we have what was probably once a Simonds No.8 1/2, formerly the property of the PMG telephone service.

The ownership identification is nowhere as good as yours.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

It was crudely engraved on the saw plate:

P1030457.JPG

...... there we have what was probably once a Simonds No.8 1/2, formerly the property of the PMG telephone service.......

Hmmmm, 'PMG' for PM(c)G - are you sure this saw didn't come via W.A.????

Ian

This saw in fact has featured in another thread and my namesake did attempt, unsuccessfully, to lay claim. If I recall correctly he maintained it should be sent without delay to Perth.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

maintained it should be sent without delay to Perth.

... still waiting. (just sayin')