8 Attachment(s)
By popular request. The Back Saws
Stew
You are quite right. I have not delved into the realms of the backsaw.Very remiss of me indeed. It is actually quite a simple line up in the Simonds brand and remarkably consistent throughout the twenty five years of production.
The No.95 mitre saws were made in lengths 18" through to 32". All were available with 4" under the back, but the saws larger than 24" could be had with either 5" or 6" under the back. They had an apple handle.
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The saw at the back in the first pic is a 28" with 5" under the back so you can imagine how massive a 32" saw with 6" under the back would be.
The saw in the second pic has a replacement handle made hurriedly when the I realised the 28" saw would not fit in the mitre boxes. The only Simonds saw to have a lambs tongue handle was the No.10 made during the first era utilising the crescent moon logo.
In the standard back saw range Simonds put their own name to two models, the No.96 and the No.97. They were identical except that the No. 96 boasted an apple handle as against beech for the No.97. The 96 could be had in sizes from 8" up to 18". The 97 went from 8" to 22". The larger sizes can be distinguished from mitre saws (in the absence of an etch) as the saw plate is cut at 90 deg while on the mitre saws they are curved towards the toe.
Below are a 10", 12" and 14" and a comparison pic with the mighty mitres.
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Simonds also made the No.98, which was marketed under the Bay State name and featured a naive handle without the cleft (shown below) and the No.99 which was called the Babbitt and was the budget model.
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There was also an open handled model, the No.170, being a back saw with a Prof. Ball Pattern handle.
I am afraid I don't have a 98,99 or 170. Originally I was only going to collect hand saws (not even panel saws) but I caved in on that maxim :rolleyes:.
I was nearly able to show you the Simonds No.68 Dovetail saw which was a "gents" style, but another collector wanted it more than me :( .
All the Simonds back saws and mitre saws had a blued steel back. I personally really like brass backs, but it is a little late to offer advice to Simonds on that aspect now.
This is a clearer pic of the No.97
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Stew, thank you for bringing the omission to my attention and I hope that this has not only answered your question, but possibly whetted your appetite too.
Regards
Paul
10 Attachment(s)
Simonds Carpenters Guides
Macq and Chippy
You two blokes are going to get me shot. I am supposed to be outside painting the house and I am three quarters of the way through sharpening a D-8 rip saw for another forum member and I am making up a set of kitchen knives for a neice's engagement party. But it's too damned hot to do any of those things for about another half an hour so I will post these hurriedly taken pix.
Firstly these little Carpenters guides are my booklets: I have not really thought of them in terms of a library, but on reflection I suppose they are, although in this case a very small library :) .
I have three of these guides. Umm. Make that four, but the last one is still in the US as I only purchased it yesterday. The first is undated but I put it at 1910 or earlier. The fawn coloured guide is 1923 (the one in the US is 1924) and the other as mentioned before is 1926.
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The 1910 guide is a delightful booklet bound with string, rounded corners and a high quality coated paper. The pictures are letterpress photos. It was produced with the same care and skill as their saws. The second booklet is less fussy, stapled together with a poorer quality paper but still has photos of the saws. The third booklet clearly indicates that all enthusiasm has gone from Simonds for hand saws. The booklet is stapled together, the paper is only one grade up from newsprint and the pictures are now line drawings instead of photos.
These are the pages requested from the 1926 edition.
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Please bear in mind these booklets are not their catalogues so are not the entire range.
More to follow:
Regards
Paul