Thread: Old Little saw

Nice find.
Saws and Tools : Catalogue No. T2 : Spear & Jackson Ltd. : Spear & Jackson Ltd. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.
Regards
John

Martin

The price was pretty attractive .

John is certainly on track with his link to S & J Table and Pruning saws. That type of saw is very difficult to identify as that shape goes under the name of Table, Pruning, Compass and Grafting and were made in sizes from 12" through to 20". Martin's saw in that shorter size could even be a child's saw, although with the fish tail lower horn I think it is a little too ornate, although there is a pic in Simon barley's book "British Saws" of eight children's saws and they all have fish tail style on the lower horns.

The only thing that makes me hesitate is the depth of the blade, particularly at the toe. It looks deeper than most of the types mentioned above, with the possible exception of early Grafting saws. Grafting saws don't seem to be mentioned after about 1900 or maybe even earlier. I do have a saw that is similar to the one posted and I had always assumed it was a child's saw. It belonged to my father, although I never saw him use it. It was just there.

The saw plate is 12" with a Beech (English) handle held by two split nut saw screws of different sizes:

P1090212.jpgP1090217.jpg

It has a nib, which I had not particularly noticed before!

P1090213.jpg

and is stamped, as opposed to etched, with "Cast Steel." No other identifying marks.

P1090215.jpg

I am thinking out loud now: The children's saws looked similar but were shorter being only six to eight inches long. Martin, I am also thinking that the ppi may have some bearing on intended use coupled with whether the teeth are crosscut or rip. My saw appears to be a rip profile, which is either unusual or it could have been converted.

Regards
Paul

Hi Paul,

My saw seems to be a Rip saw as well.
It seems to have 7 teeth per inch. Mine does
not have the nib.

Martin.

Hi all,

Have just cleaned the saw up which has revealed
a name. It reads Wn Kent Hibernia Works Sheffield. Have
done a quick look and he joined Edwin Henry in 1840 which
became William Marples and sons.He died in 1883.

Martin.

Originally Posted by old workshop

Hi all,

Have just cleaned the saw up which has revealed
a name. It reads Wn Kent Hibernia Works Sheffield. Have
done a quick look and he joined Edwin Henry in 1840 which
became William Marples and sons.He died in 1883.

Martin.

Martin

You did well to track that down as there was no separate entry in Simon Barley's book. However, under William Marples there are two depictions of an etch one is c. 1910 for W. Kent & Co and the other c.1920 is plain W. Kent, Sheffield. Both are stamps not etches. William Marples was a significant firm in Sheffield, but did not make saws themselves. They did sell saws made under other names from companies they bought out.

Regards
Paul