Hello Folks, Picked this up yesterday from a hard rubbish pile up the street from me. Filthy uncleaned condition but underneath all the dirt it appears to be in pretty good condition. Mr. Google tells me it was made between 1910 and 1930 in Hamilton Ontario. 22 inch blade. Jim
Hi Jim, That is a great find, I'd love to be able to pick up Atkins off the side of the road! Possibly a later model 68 but I'm not 100%. Thanks for posting.. Mari
Thanks Mari, I am not a saw collector as such, more an eclectic collector of interesting things that catch my eye. I must say tho, the more I research these saws the more fascinating I find them. I will soon post a Disston back saw which my Father bought from an allowance paid by the Australian Military when he was discharged from the army in 1946. That will make up my collection of saws. In the mean time I have posted some pics of the Atkins saw that I have started to clean. The handle has turned out OK. The blade has a lot more cleaning work to go (using a chisel process described by a Forum member), but I have uncovered a number "10" on the back near the handle. regards, Jim
Nice find Jim, I don't find many "Atkins-Hamilton" medallions even here in Ontario. (Their secondary brands "Phoenix" "Sheffield" "Columbian", or the "Atkins-Indianapolis" medallions, are all more common) Various sources list Atkins operating their Canadian branch in Hamilton 1910-1930, or 1913-1930. (In 1930 they merged with Shurly & Dietrich and moved all their equipment to the Shurly Dietrich plant in Galt Ontario, where they operated as "Shurly-Dietrich-Atkins Co" with a 1969 purchase by H K Porter, finally closing in 1973) The handle cleaned up nicely, but looks like the blade will be some work. (For cleaning blades I use a custom scraper first to get the lumps off, then various grades of sandpaper, always along the blade, usually with the handle removed, and carefully using a hardwood block with the sandpaper if working around an etch so the sandpaper doesn't blur all the edges of the lettering and logo) The "10" stamp on your blade heel usually denotes the saw was produced with tooth spacing of 10 points per inch, although it looks like your saw's teeth have been filed coarser
Hello Kiwi, Thanks for the info on Atkins history in Ontario. Yes, the blade will require a lot of work, but thanks to your advice on cleaning I will give it sympathetic attention . What is your custom scraper? regards, Jim
I have cleaned the blade using the electrolytic rust removal method. It has come up quite nicely IMHO
It never ceases to amaze me how manufacturers such as Atkins (Hamilton Ontario) made thousands and thousands of saws, yet only a mere handful survive today. Please be very careful if using the "chisel method" to clean up a plate... chisels are harder than saw plates and if the corners aren't relieved they create impossible to remove scratches. Narrow scraping tools promote this issue and personally I'd avoid this technique. A cheap card scraper (or piece of old saw blade) is faster and safer. WD40, penetrene or your choice of lubricant will soften the rust and crud and make life easier for you. I'd also be wary of using electrolysis to clean up a saw... the question of hydrogen embrittlement is a real issue with spring steel and blade etches get rapidly obliterated by this method.
Thanks for your reply Dusty Shed Dweller. Sorry for the delay in responding ; I have been away on holiday. I used the electrolytic method taken from an article in the hand Tool Preservation Association of Australia web site. The article referred to the electrolytic removal of rust by Kevin Chamberlain, a member of the HTPAA. To drive out the absorbed hydrogen and reverse brittleness the article suggests baking the article in an oven for an hour or so at about 300 degrees F. I have used this procedure, so hopefully this will "cure" the metal so to speak. I must mention that I removed the handle before baking in the oven! Jim