Thread: Who made this backsaw? (one for RayG perhaps??)

If the sword handles had been down I would say Wilkinson Sword.With handles up I can't say. Over centuries they have made swords, cutlery, tools and the famous razor blade. They have a range of garden tools these days.

Regards
John

Hi Tom,

Have a look at some 1901 trademarks at ... http://www.backsaw.net/index.php?opt...d=54&Itemid=92

And see if it's there, I am not home at present, (got called out, don't they know I'm retired!) I'll be back late tonight.

Regards
Ray

Hi Ray

Thanks for the link. Cool site.

I removed the handle this afternoon, sanded it back lightly and coated it with some BLO. I did the same for an Ibbotson saw I have. The handles are remarkably similar.

However I have a feeling the handle on this saw is maybe a later addition. It doesn't really have a factory finish.

Re the trademarks... if I was to pick one I would say the Sanderson one. But I'll have another look on the weekend.

Cheers
Tom

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the comments.

Only had time for a quick check.

There is a crossed sword trademark, but it's wide bladed scitmar type swords, from your description, that doesn't sound like it. There are others with crossed pipes, arrows, hammers, you name it.

In the past I have have good success with a flatbed scanner scanning stuff that wouldn't photograph properly, so, rather than a camera to get a picture, any chance you could try scanning it?


Regards
Ray

BTW Apparently, the most famous crossed swords mark is the meissen porcelain mark. (you learn something everyday.)

You could try and darken the etch by applying some gun blue then lightly rub over with some 1200 wet and dry using a hard wooden block ,the gun blue should remain in the etch.
Kev.

Hi Ray

Thanks for the info. Tried the scanner, but to no avail. It is seriously faint. My eyes hurt after looking into the metal for a couple of mins.

Woodlee, I have read about the gun blue, but I live inner city and its not sitting on my shelf next to my.303. Would a gun shop be the only place to get it? And what's it generally cost?

While I'm curious I'm not desperate to know who the maker is. All I know is that after getting rid of the rust, and then sanding the handle and giving it some BLO, its a great little saw. Straight and hefty.

Cheers
Tom

Originally Posted by tomnewby

Hi Ray

Woodlee, I have read about the gun blue, but I live inner city and its not sitting on my shelf next to my.303. Would a gun shop be the only place to get it? And what's it generally cost?

Cheers
Tom

Hi Tom,

Of course, inner city living, you would need an uzi or something with more firepower.


Just on the style of the saw, it looks to be 1930-1960 ish but such guesses are nearly always wrong. Generally shorter DT saws tend more towards being open handled rather than closed handled. So we are looking for a maker that made closed handled shorter saws. The use of 3 screws, rather than 2 for that size would make me think it's later than 1915 at least. (Spear&Jackson made a big thing about using 3 screws in their 1915 catalog)

As you say, the main thing is it's a nice hefty little saw that cuts straight.

Good find.

Regards
Ray

PS. If I come across a crossed sword trade mark that looks close, I will post it here for you to check.

Originally Posted by tomnewby

Hi Ray

Thanks for the info. Tried the scanner, but to no avail. It is seriously faint. My eyes hurt after looking into the metal for a couple of mins.

Woodlee, I have read about the gun blue, but I live inner city and its not sitting on my shelf next to my.303. Would a gun shop be the only place to get it? And what's it generally cost?

While I'm curious I'm not desperate to know who the maker is. All I know is that after getting rid of the rust, and then sanding the handle and giving it some BLO, its a great little saw. Straight and hefty.

Cheers
Tom

Tom

If you are going to do metal-bashing (even flattening plane soles) then some blue marking fluid (try engineers' suppliers) is worth having in your shed - it would work just as well in this case.

In fact you might even use a black or blue permanent marking pen and scribble the etched area liberally(trying to get into the etched out lines) and then use a sanding block gently to remove the black/blue top surface.

Tom ,
Not sure how much the gun blue costs ,I have the birchwood casey stuff , but the best available is Australia is supposed to be Kleen Bore Black Magic.
I havent been able to get any of this stuff up here as yet ,but a shop in Darwin carries KleenBore products ,I have yet to see if he has the blue.
The very best stuff is supposed to be Brownells Oxpho Blue but it is impossible to get here in Oz and a real sh*tfight to get it from the States

The gun blue will darken the etch ,and be more permanent than engineers blue or a marker pen.But id your not worried about a permanent etch then these may work.

Kev.

Update.

Well today I tried the black marker pen. It helped a little but still not enough for me to be able to read it.

The logo design has quite alot of cursive script only about 5mm high, and its highly decorative which makes it hard to read.

As i'm more interested in good user tools than collecting i'm going to give up on the name. As i've previously stated its a great user, better than ones i spent much more on.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

tom