As a new member of this forum I'll jump straight in with a question. I recently bought a rust covered rip saw and after some light cleaning found the engraved or stamped name of Geo. Atkinson & Co. on the blade. Despite searching the internet I can find no mention of the name. Does anybody know if this is the maker or the distributor?
Hi, HSMOB has George Atkinson and Co. as being in Cardiff at Mill Lane from 1907 to 1914. They don't say whether he was a maker or a retailer but the Western Mail's directory of 1909 (page 75) has said George Atkinson down as a toolmaker. So it is likely that he took some significant part in the manufacturing process, although whether he made the plate or not is a question that I suspect Simon may be able to answer. Unless there are any other purveyors of Welsh industrial history who get in first. I also suspect that Welsh "makers" are not that common. (Possibly in the hen's teeth category). I only have one Welsh saw and that was stamped with the name of a Butcher's suppliers. There are Atkinsons listed as ironmongers on the same page and so it is pretty likely that he was not primarily one of these if the directory has any consistency in its listings. Hope that it helps Fred
Hi Fred, You mentioned "Atkinson" HERE, is it related? What about "Atkinson Brothers Limited, Milton Works,"? Toby
Hi Toby, You really have me scratching my had over my Atkinson. I don't think that I have an image of it and I suspect that it is currently in a box buried under piles of "absolutely necessary and essential items that will one day be indispensible" AKA rubbish, in one of my sheds and I am not tempted to go and root it out until the weather picks up. From the post it looks to be one of the original batch of saws that I bought that got me hooked on this particular form of collecting I went for George Atkinson and Co. from HSMOB because it fitted the saw's mark exactly. You are right, there is an Atkinson Brothers (1879 to 1884) at Milton Works, Milton Street but the first names of these Atkinson's are Edward and John Furniss. Perhaps I could ask if Will (I am assuming that that is the poster's name) could put an image of the saw on so that we could see it. With a bit of luck the handle or some other feature will mark it out as the later Atkinson rather than the earlier ones. Fred
This may or may not be related. Look HERE. whiskywill, you could help us a great deal by posting some pictures. Toby
Welcome Whiskywill interesting first post, always good to have a mystery.. The only thing i can add, is that Atkinson is a current brand.. might still be made in Sheffield for that matter? http://www.atkinson-walker-saws.co.uk/handsaws.html Thanks Toby, that advert is a great find... 1951 according to the blurb in Grace's Guide. Regards Ray
Thanks for all your help. Fred0325 could be correct. I bought the saw for £1 at a car boot sale less than a mile from Mill Lane in Cardiff. The mark on the saw is nothing like the later Atkinson mark. I will clean it up a bit this weekend and try to get a photograph. What is HSMOB? Anthony
Hi Ray, I had looked at the "Atkinson Walker" page that you linked to, and it pretty much says that the factory was taken over by the Walkers in the early '40s. Are we assuming that "George Atkinson and Co." became "Atkinson & Co. (SAWS) LTD.? And does "a Cardiff company" mean anything other than location? Toby
Hi Anthony, HSMOB is Handsaw Makers of Britain by Schaffer and McConnell. My particular copy is by Osage Press(Illinois) and cost me about GBP16 and postage from Canada Until Simon's book comes out (possibly this year) it is the only single reference work that I have found to British saws, although a lot of information can be gleaned (I am told because I cannot afford it - the last copy I saw cost in the GBP300 region) from Goodman's British Planemakers or some such title. The other indispensable source is the online Historical Directories, but these can take an enormous and sometimes prohibitive effort especially if the name that you are looking up is a common one. Fred
Hi Anthony, Your Geo Atkinson sounds like an interesting saw. Looking forward to seeing the pics. You should be warned that it STARTS with a £1 saw from a car boot sale, then a few more (because they're so cheap, and so interesting, what could be the harm in that ? ), and before you know it you have a shed full, and you're talking saws with a bunch of other saw addicts. Welcome ! Fred, Goodman's British Planemakers (2nd Edition) is only $29.95 from Astragal Press, http://www.astragalpress.com/british_planemakers.htm or even cheaper for a used copy on Amazon [The 3rd Edition is a bit more spendy though] I don't have a copy, (but that's partly because I know how much space my saws are occupying, and I certainly don't want to be drawn deeper into the plane collecting abyss and have to find space for all those pretty planes too ) Rob
Geo Atkinson & Co Good start, Anthony - and a good example of how this site pools knowledge from so many places. As so often, it's taught me something I didn't know (the ad in Toby's post). The Atkinson-Walker saw factory still goes, now making industrial saws only, but with an on-site sawsmith (a dying breed!) for circulars repairs. Their history goes like this: ATKINSON, George & Co CARDIFF 9 Mill Lane 1906-1954 Taken over by Walker (Sheffield) during the second World War, at a time when their chief manufacture was band saws. WALKER, Son & TINGLE SHEFFIELD Meadow Works, Well Meadow Street 1923-1925 Charlotte Lane 1924-1933 WALKER, R.H. & Son Ltd Falcon Works, Charlotte Lane 1933-1974 ATKINSON-WALKER (Saws) Ltd Bower Street 1975- Founded by saw makers who had been employed by Colver Brothers when that firm was bought by the Neepsend Steel & Tool Company in 1920; Walker and Tingle were evidently senior members of their firm, representing it at the funeral of Robert Colver in 1916. Atkinson was the Cardiff firm gradually absorbed into the Sheffield operation . In 2012 it remained as one of the two surviving saw manufacturers in Sheffield (specialising in circulars). Best wishes from one who has become seriously afflicted, Simon.
Geo Atkinson Those pics throw up several interesting points - so thanks v much. The saw is one of those that I find difficult to date to before or after 1939-45. Appearances did not change all that much, and in the early post-war years there was huge shortage of steel domestically, because it was all going into materials and products for export (I remember my father waiting over 5 years to replace his pre-war Ford 10 that was a lethal rustbox by 1950). The Sheffield industry was seriously restricted in saw production. The etch is extremely deep - it's one of those that I have sometimes wondered whether it was actually a punched stamp, but it can't really be, mainly because it is much too ornate. On balance I think this is probably a saw of the 1930s - not originally very high quality, although in the hands of a really good saw doctor it could be tuned up to a very respectable performer. At the risk of pushing you too far, could you get a pic of the entire mark? I take the most useful pictures in overcast sunlight, but it's never easy to get a good one of a large etch. Good luck!
Could have been a roll stamp, with the image on a cylinder, and the blade fed under it, pressing the "etch" into the blade. Also, the handle looks very machine made, and very flat sided. And it has steel saw screws, there was a shortage of brass after WW2 having been used for brass cases for ammo and artillery shells. I am thinking after 1945. It is a skew back blade, when did they stop using those in the UK? Toby
Geo Atkinson They haven't stopped yet, Toby. But current hardpoint saws seem to be mostly straight backs (when I can bring myself to look at them).
I will try. The photograph I posted is the best of about ten attempts. The scrolls end just beyond the CAST and STEEL and seem to fade a bit at their ends
After a bit more cleaning I found some more of the mark. I am able to see the words THE ATKINSON in an arc above the scroll. It ends about three quarters of the way across so I suspect there is something more. Below the scroll, again in an arc, are the words LITLE SHEFFIELD WO. I assume the full word is WORKS. These words are only visible if the light is in a particular direction and impossible to photograph. I did try, many times. When I get a chance I will try scanning the blade.