Thread: Old Brass saw.

Graeme's mention of minesweepers made me think of other environments where a non-sparking tool might be used and I thought 'mining'. In fact, anywhere you might come across a hazardous (i.e. flammable) situation above or below ground including storage of explosives that you might find in mining locations.
I can't see the saw being intended for display purposes as has been suggested. It seems a lot of trouble to go to to get a finish that could be easier achieved by powder-coating or painting a steel saw for example. Also the replacement handle suggests it was a 'user'.
Pete

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

... appreciate I am being a little negative here and not really offering a credible alternative.

Regards
Paul

Nah ... just keep questioning until the answer emerges.

The lack of identifiers might indicate that the saw was tradesman made and using available bits and pieces. Probably way too early to hazzard a date.

It reminds me of that famous quote from Winston Churchill: "You can always rely on the Americans to do the right thing ..... after they have exhausted all the alternatives."

We still have a bit of exhausting to do.

Originally Posted by woodhutt

Graeme's mention of minesweepers made me think of other environments where a non-sparking tool might be used and I thought 'mining'. In fact, anywhere you might come across a hazardous (i.e. flammable) situation above or below ground including storage of explosives that you might find in mining locations.
I can't see the saw being intended for display purposes as has been suggested. It seems a lot of trouble to go to to get a finish that could be easier achieved by powder-coating or painting a steel saw for example. Also the replacement handle suggests it was a 'user'.
Pete

Pete

Mining saws were quite common in their own right and ordinarily very few sparks are produced sawing timber. A hundred years ago most mining would have been underground. Really to produce sparks we need ferrous metal and I feel the brass saw would not have done a good job there. Hammers and spanners work passably well, but not nearly as well as their ferrous counterparts.

My suggestion of a display saw is more for the eye appeal in capturing an audience. It is also suggested in the absence of any other plausible explanation. There are a number of flaws in the theory including, but not limited to, the fact that there have been attempts to sharpen it. It could be somebody just decided to try it. The replacement handle is a worry too.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Nah ... just keep questioning until the answer emerges.

The lack of identifiers might indicate that the saw was tradesman made and using available bits and pieces. Probably way too early to hazzard a date.

It reminds me of that famous quote from Winston Churchill: "You can always rely on the Americans to do the right thing ..... after they have exhausted all the alternatives."

We still have a bit of exhausting to do.

Churchill did come out with some pearlers.

Yours in exhaustion.
Paul

Hi all,

Have posted it on wood work forums UK
77 views so far but no comments as of yet

Martin.

Originally Posted by GraemeCook

Does anyone have info on Navy mine sweepers ????

A fair chunk; I spent 7 years in a frontline Engineering Support Unit looking after the damn things!

Allowable tooling onboard a ‘sweeper consist mainly of non-mag (alu or bronze) or min-mag (stainless steels) with some “normal” ferrous tools where adequate alternatives don’t exist. A couple of saws are kept in the Damage Control Equipment lockers for cutting up 4x4 timber used for shoring; these are normal hardpoint items you can buy anywhere. There are a couple of reasons why normal one are held; firstly non-mag saws are somewhat thin on the ground. Secondly; non-mag tools are... rubbish. When you’ve got a water coming in and you need to erect shoring you need to be confident that the saw will cut without breaking or going blunt after the first piece of timber.

I still have a bronze cold chisel... makes a good drift but is second only to a bronze Philips screwdriver in the category for “most useless tool ever invented”.

That confirms my skepticism concerning the efficacy of such tools...

There was a reason the Bronze Age gave way to the Iron Age....

Bit slow on the UK forum, eh Martin? There's been 99 views but no nibbles yet.
Cheers,

Originally Posted by IanW

That confirms my skepticism concerning the efficacy of such tools...

There was a reason the Bronze Age gave way to the Iron Age....

Bit slow on the UK forum, eh Martin? There's been 99 views but no nibbles yet.
Cheers,

106 views now, but no guesses or thoughts on it yet.

Originally Posted by Chief Tiff

... I still have a bronze cold chisel... makes a good drift but is second only to a bronze Philips screwdriver in the category for “most useless tool ever invented”.

But it was much better than a screwdriver made from flint ?

Can we now get back to talking about saw nibs or is that inappropriate.[emoji6]

Cheers Matt.

H All,

There have been two replies on the Brass saw.
It could be an ice saw for cutting commercial blocks of
ice before fridges were made. They were made by Simmonds,
an American maker. This is according to Simon Barley's British
Saws and saw makers but not sure if they were made of Brass.

Also for use in a non-sparking place such as a coal mine,
or a Flour mill, or Gun Powder works. So as they say
The Plot Thickens.

Martin.

Originally Posted by old workshop

H All,

There have been two replies on the Brass saw.
It could be an ice saw for cutting commercial blocks of
ice before fridges were made. They were made by Simmonds,
an American maker. This is according to Simon Barley's British
Saws and saw makers but not sure if they were made of Brass.

Also for use in a non-sparking place such as a coal mine,
or a Flour mill, or Gun Powder works. So as they say
The Plot Thickens.

Martin.

Martin

It is good that they are stepping up to the question, but I don't believe either supposition is correct. If you go back to post #20 you will see an extract from Simonds 1912 catalogue depicting their ice saws, which were very different and we have discussed and pretty much dismissed the specific mining saws which again were characterised by their large teeth for fast cutting (typically 4½ppi), although not as large as the teeth on the ice saws.

As you say, the plot thickens and the question continues.

Regards
Paul

Further to Paul's comments, all the Simmonds saws have very prominent logos. The lack of a logo suggest that it was not made by a prominent saw maker, but by an artisan.

Originally Posted by Bushmiller

... As you say, the plot thickens and the question continues.

And gets more interesting.

Martin

I noticed you found an old thread (Old Hand Saw Help) which had a brief discussion on brass saws. However, they emanated from Crete and Egypt and dated 1000BC-1500BC.

Still nothing pointing to more recent usage.

Regards
Paul