Thread: Yet another saw to ID

That's a beauty

In 1845, the works was listed as being occupied by Hoole and Brooksbank. Abram Brooksbank, a Londoner who moved to Sheffield in the 1840s and was related to Hoole by marriage, invested in the business after it had fallen on hard times, and became Hoole's partner. The company was listed as “merchants, steel refiners and file, saw, scissor, table, shoe and butchers knife manufacturers”. William Hoole died in 1849, and Brooksbank took over the business, specialising in table knives and the more common types of folding cutlery.

Abram Brooksbanks manufactured cutlery and other items in Sheffield's Malinda Street Works between 1845 and 1925. Brooksbank's trademark was a cannon and the word 'DEFIANCE'.

from here ? the same maker

If you google 'english warranted superior medallion' you will get many bits of information to help date the medallion, which will in turn date the saw.

Toby

Thanks Pac Man, thanks Toby. I'll look into it and see what I can find.

Cheers

What do the nuts look like on the other side? If they were split nuts (I don't think they are) then the front head would be sanded flat. I assume they are regular slotted nuts which puts it after 1880 (roughly). The crown appears to be a kings crown (yes they changed the crown depending on who was the figurehead leader at the time) which may help you narrow down the date. I don't know the Brit history off of the top of my head, so I'll leave some of the sleuthing to you.

Toby

I read a link that started kings crown vs queens crown ...

I'm not sure it was this one:
Kings and Queens crowns - Saw Discussion Forums

Cheers,
Paul

It gets mentioned every now and then on different forums, and I think it is a valid way of narrowing down the date of manufacture of English goods. But only to a certain extent. You need other evidence to give you a time frame, and then the crown type can tell you before or after.

Toby

Hi guys. You're correct in assuming the screws to be slotted, Toby. I'm a little dubious about the crown as a dating method but when considered with other elements of design such as the degree of stylisation of the coat of arms, the use of serif/sans-serif fonts in stamps or etches it could help build a case for one century or another.

I'm going to guess based on bits I've gleaned that the saw hales from before WWII and after 1900. Not really a birth certificate but until I see ANY other Abram Brooksbank saws with a known provenance it's going to be hard to refine it.

Thanks for the clues

This is the only one I can find, and it has no useful information. You can see the flat sanded saw nuts, indicating split nuts.

Toby

Well...I did find this, but again, no info and this is the only pic that's left.

Toby

That is the same listing as your first link - 4 photos in the first + 1 in the second.

I'll put the rest here too for the sake of preservation.

Paul

Hmm, judging purely on graphic design, i'd say mine is older than that one. Simpler stamp, full name, no mention of Melinda Steelworks...

Split nuts came first.

Toby

But I see what you mean.

One of the pics has disappeared.