Mystery Handle Info

I just purchased this handle with rather new blade that was obviously added recently. I am considering adding a proper blade (10" brass back) to restore it properly. I am no expert in British saws but I doubt this is from anywhere else.
The handle has a few features that I feel separate it from the rest. The "hook" although not common state side is indicative of an earlier saw. The lower "tongue" that is adjacent to the pinky finger as you hold it is long and has a graceful curve. The chamfers on the cheek area come to a point which is echoed into the hand hole in front of where the index finger would be located.

My question is this. Does anyone have a similar handle? Could anyone venture a guess on the maker or date of manufacture?

I am also looking for new bolts that seem to be around 13/32' in diameter (metric?) I may be looking to install a new blade and back to fit.

any info would be appreciated.

Mark

 

Hi Mark,

I am not going to be an enormous amount of help as I do not have a handle like it (I only wish that I did)!!

Looking at the handle I am going to make an extreme WAG and hazard that it is either from a quality saw, or an early saw or both.

I can give no rational explanation for the assertion, but the handle just looks too delicate, complex and well made to be off a cheap later saw.

It is silly to try to ascribe dates, but I have said some silly things on here in the past and there is no reason to change old habits.

Pre 1835 and very possibly pre 1825. Or a very very good quality slightly later saw.

Fred

 

Hi Mark,
What a strikingly elegant handle! It certainly deserves to be on a fine brass back saw. I tend to agree with Fred that it seems probably from around 1830 or so. And I agree with you that it's probably English.

The nibs at top and bottom of the handle are not as low and wide as earlier saws tend to be, which indicates less an 1800 saw and more one from 1825-35. On even later saws the nibs get smaller and smaller and sometimes are even pointed, so it's probably not later. The chamfer angle where the cheek meets the blade is not 90 degrees, but pretty close. That angle seems to increase more in later saws. And the 13/32 split nuts you want to find for it seem to show up most commonly on earlier saws. That's why I vote for sometime around 1830.

The little birdsmouth at the end of the top chamfer, just before the hook, is much more common on English saws. I've seen something like it on only a few American saws; an R Williamson / Cincinnati from about 1839 and an early Johnson & Conaway. And the fragile delicacy of the handle bottom just seems more English than American.

All this is very fuzzy though, as handle styles aren't hard, fixed indicators and can last for quite a while. And I've certainly no clue as to who the maker might be.

That's my opinion to add to the mix, for what it's worth. I'd love to see the finished saw when you're done.
David

 

Hey Mark
I would pretty much agree with everyone here but I always loved Simon's comment some time ago when he said dating an open handled saw by the handle was a "Mugs Game". I have come to agree lot with this now.
It is a wonderful handle. Gonna be a great looking saw when you get it finished.
Cheers
Joe S.

 

Hi Mark,

I don't have any handles with such a long curvy front lower fishtail (lovely !), but I do have a couple of English ones with the lower cheek chamfer carried on into the front of the finger grip.
My pictures show both an open handle (Robt Sorby), and a closed handle (E Hughes), with this feature. Interestingly, both these handles have the hook, and upper&lower nibs to the grip, like your handle.
For a timeline: the open handled Sorby has a label screw (the smallest warranted superior I've seen), so I'd guess its age to be mid 1800s at the earliest. And Hughes operated c1842-1886. Perhaps others can add timeline info on their saws with this feature, to see if it is time specific, (or not).

 

Mystery Handle Update

I decide that such a beautiful handle deserved a nice blade.
I worked with Blackburn tools and they provided the necessary materials that I needed to complete the work.

I am more than happy with how this turned out. I sharpened it in a rip configuration (14 TPI) and the 10" .020 blade really glides through would.

I recommend working with Isaac at Blackburn tools. His attention to detail and willingness to help are a great asset to the new age of hand tools.

Mark