This saw is in rough condition, but it has an interesting mark, so it came home with me this weekend. The blade has been worn down to the handle and is now 19" long. The back of the handle has a noticeable depression where the Carpenter's forefinger has worn a dent about 2mm deep. A testament to the many hours of sawing that this saw has seen. The mark is unusual in that it has a lone crown above "Millington & Co", and a 6 point asterisk between that and a faint "cast . steel". Also, "Sheffield" seems to be stamped at an angle to the rest of the mark. (mark measurement; "Millington & Co" is 24mm wide) [see also the Green, Pickslay & Millington thread http://www.backsaw.net/forum/index.php?threads/green-pickslay-millington.447/ ]
Hi Kiwi, Isn't it fascinating how most of the mark has survived extremely well, yet the "Cast Steel" is very indistinct. Would this have been taper ground and the grinder let the wheel go a little too far, or is there some other reason for the contrast in mark quality? It might be worth giving Simon a nudge as the asterisk -y thing make as nice variant to a similar that he has in BSSM. Fred
Hi, I think the makers mark and location was stamped before hardening & tempering, when the steel is softer, while the "Cast Steel" was stamped after tempering, when the steel is harder, which I think is called a "bright" mark. Here's another example showing the same effect. Like Kiwi's it's smaller than when made, now being cut down to 11 1/2 inches. The mark is German Steel. David
I do like the handle on your saw David, with its arrised top and nicely pointed horns (and they got the "Sheffield" stamp aligned with the rest of the blade stamp too) I tried to get some pictures to show the finger wear indentations on my handle, with the thumb wearing a groove on one side and the forefinger wearing a dent on the other side
A couple of v interesting saws. The star/asterisk is an unusual decorative mark – I can think of it on only a very few saws. Taking Kiwi's handsaw mark and enlarging it, it's plain that several of the letters are incomplete, and some (the first I of Millington) are almost absent. I'm trying to think if this result of the uneven-ness of the original striking of the mark, followed by the grinding (which would erase, partly or completely, some of the letters), or whether the mark punch was getting towards the end of its useful life, with some small pieces of hardened, hence brittle, steel having broken off through repeated striking into steel plate (even if, as David says, it was at the earlier stage of manufacture, before the plate had been hardened and tempered up to its final degree. It's also possible that at this date (pre-1840, I think) the steel was of uneven hardness and would take the impression of the punch less clearly in some places than others. I don't know enough about metallurgy to take this any further. Any real experts out there? The deep finger indentation is unusual too, in that it is of a smaller area than I've seen – as though there may have been only one owner, and a man who used his saw with a very very consistent grip for – as Kiwi says – a staggering number of hours (or maybe he had a skin condition with an extra hard finger end). Simon
Hi all, To keep these Millingtons together, I will tag onto kiwi's post with this 16" backsaw. The maker's stamp, complete with cast(dot)steel and reclining ampersand, is nearly identical to one in BSSM dated 1820. The only difference is that the LONDON mark is absent from this saw. For apparently being 200 years old, the saw has survived pretty well. Bob