Ebay Droppings Thread.

[desert oak]

Butt chisel?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Ma...0AAOSw14xWJWXd

[Bushmiller]

Desert Oak

On the positive side, it wouldn't take much work to clean up the back!

Regards
Paul

[pmcgee]

Butt chisel?

If you sit on it.

[Bushmiller]

If you sit on it.

You'd have to be very careful not to feel a little prick!

Regards
Paul

[Bushmiller]

I thought this was an interesting comparison of two Atkins 400 saws up for sale at the same time by two of the master saw restorers and sharpeners, Michael Merlo and Darryl Weir.

The bidding was level pegging for a while although the Merlo saw seems to have surged ahead recently. Also despite being similar models, they are not the same with the offering from Michael being a little more covertable particularly because of the etch, which so often is absent on Atkins saws. The Merlo saw:

Merlo Atkins 400 10ppi.jpg

UGLY E.C. ATKINS No.400 ELITE 26" 10PT FINE FINISH CROSSCUT SAW - HAND SHARPENED

The Weir saw:

Weir Atkins 400 9ppi.jpg

1920's Rosewood E C Atkins No 400 26" 9PPI x Cut Hand Saw Custom Hand Filed | eBay

The saws are similar in being 10ppi and 9ppi and both sharpened with sloped or undercut gullets.

Both sellers are accomlpished in selling their skills .

However there is an interesting comment that the Merlo saw supposedly has silver plated saw nuts. Hmmm.. I looked into this and the 1907 Atkins catalogue ( courtesy of Darryl Weir ) seems to support this.

Atkins 400 1907 catalogue.jpg

However, I wonder if Atkins used some licence here. For example, Atkins made wide use of their "silver steel" blades: There was no silver in the steel. Could this also mean there was no silver in their sawnuts either? Nickel plated brass was common in the high end saws, but silver?

Regards
Paul

[homesy135]

However, I wonder if Atkins used some licence here. For example, Atkins made wide use of their "silver steel" blades: There was no silver in the steel. Could this also mean there was no silver in their sawnuts either? Nickel plated brass was common in the high end saws, but silver?

Regards
Paul

I do not know the answer. Surely, pure silver would rapidly tarnish and one would end up with blackened saw nuts in a beautiful rosewood handle?

Silver or no, I'd be happy to own either of the saws on offer. The saws aren't even sold yet and my moral compass is tarnishing with a good dose of pure green envy of the new owners.

[ch!ppy]

i have some Atkins, had quick look, not at each one but one i noticed was a REX and it has silver or nickel plated brass nuts. by looking at them my guess is they are nickel plated, seem to have that look to me. i am not a betting man but if i had to a lay money i say that they are Nickel. in the old days (heck even up till the 80's and now sometimes people would call it "nickel silver" or "german silver" its a combination of alloys and doesn't contain any actual pure silver at all (i.e sterling silver). then people shorten it when they advertise and just say silver, or german silver. nickel silver is the more sensible thing to put on a saw nut imo anyway

[aldav]

Electro Plated Nickel Silver (EPNS), there's heaps of things made out of it and they are generally decorative; trays, cups, goblets etc.! Sterling silver is only 92.5% silver so is not pure silver.

[ch!ppy]

Electro Plated Nickel Silver (EPNS), there's heaps of things made out of it and they are generally decorative; trays, cups, goblets etc.! Sterling silver is only 92.5% silver so is not pure silver.

was speaking in lay terms, just trying to help in regards to whether the nuts are "real" silver or Nickel silver plated. didn't realise someone would look to poke holes, but there ya go, one must be precise . in general is i meant nickel silver doesn't have "any" pure silver (or so i have been told), compared to sterling which has at least some. as you mention 92.5333333333333%


on topic of silver but not saws is i have these two champagne ice chillers (almost identical), one is no doubt stainless of some type but the other one is strange because it looks to have some parts stainless or nickel and other parts definitely appear to have some amount of silver content. at least it appears that way from the tarnishing on those parts

[Bushmiller]

I think if the screws are silver plated, they would have to be an EPNS process, but that implies nickel plated brass. As I said, there is some ambiguity here. It distinctly says silver plated as you can see if you enlarge the pic:

Atkins 400 1907 catalogue.jpg

Compare to the Atkins No.66 "Rex," which has no mention at all of the saw nuts so they are probably brass.

Atkins Rex No.66.jpg

Incidentally the Atkins "Rex" saws are very highly regarded with the No.67 being the straight back version, but Atkins is not a brand I am so familiar with.

Regards
Paul

[ch!ppy]

yeah i see how they highlight the feature in the text, i just think its what they called nickel silver or german silver, often when they described things that were plated in those process they just said Silver plate.

i have few Atkins, they are ones that work for me very well, the straight backs suit me, my rex is a 69 different to the one you have pictured with carving etc and plated screws and nuts. some of my other atkins from slightly different years 300 etc have the same sort of plating, on some it i thick and lushes, on other the brass is starting to show throng in one or two spots. still i don't think they are just silver though. same sa they used a creative description on their blades calling them silver steel

[aldav]

was speaking in lay terms, just trying to help in regards to whether the nuts are "real" silver or Nickel silver plated. didn't realise someone would look to poke holes

on topic of silver but not saws is i have these two champagne ice chillers (almost identical), one is no doubt stainless of some type but the other one is strange because it looks to have some parts stainless or nickel and other parts definitely appear to have some amount of silver content. at least it appears that way from the tarnishing on those parts

Hi ch!ppy,

No intention to poke holes, just trying to explain what these parts are probably really made of. My apologies if any unintended offence was taken. Silver, whether Sterling or pure, would be too soft to perform this job. EPNS does have a very thin silver coating which is deposited using an electroplating process - bloody thin though! The base metal is likely to be an alloy of a number of metals; copper, zinc (brass) and nickel being the most common. Metal recyclers routinely throw all EPNS in with the brass. Electroplating is the same method used to chrome all the old zinc alloy and steel car parts; door handles, bumper bars etc.

Your two wine chillers sound interesting. Is the stainless one magnetic? If not does it appear to be pressed or spun? If pressed is there any magnetism evident at the tighter bends? Work hardened or pressed austenitic stainless steels (generally those with a nickel content) can have their crystalline structure altered to make them noticeably magnetic. The other one could be just about anything, maybe some EPNS, silver plated or even Sterling silver parts along with stainless, pewter, monel (copper and nickel) or a number of other metals. Very interesting subject the properties and alloys of metals.

Cheers,
David

[ch!ppy]

i'll check out the wine chillers, having a bit of clean out anyway and had them next to each the other week and noticed, was curious as i saw them side by side but put them away. i'll check them out with a magnet when i get the chance but didn't think stainless or silver was magnetic, though from memory low grade stainless has some magnetism i think i read somewhere once but i could be wrong (probably am). from memory they look spun for the most part, except for the carving (!) parts, the correct word for the shaped/moulded metal parts escapes me at the moment

[Bushmiller]

The saw nuts might as well have been silver. The Mike Merlo saw sold for US $764 (A$1100) and the Darryl Weir saw for US$465 (A$670). Hmmmm......Might have to polish up my saws .

Regards
Paul

[ch!ppy]

really! WOW. i'd part with mine for that, incredible! i honestly believe my 69 REX (from an earlier year i am assuming as it has more work in the handle, blade is still high polish. when it was new i imagine very high mirror like) is a much nicer saw than either of those