I'd like to share with you this backsaw, 15" long plate, stamped with what looks like "Parkes" toward the top center of the plate, its a very worn 10ppi crosscut. The spine is 30mm wide at the handle & 20mm at the toe & the canted plate is 105mm at the heel & 60mm at the toe, the plate is 25 thou thick. The handle has a very rounded boss with 2 x stout fasteners & has some worm holes. The gentleman from whom I purchased the saw from was selling his late fathers collection of tools. The saw looks to have been shortened at the toe as no saw maker would terminate the spine in such a rough fashion. An interesting feature (to me at least) is that the spine has been trimmed back on a sharp angle where it's covered by the handle, & sighting through the rebate in the handle for the spine, its angled in the same fashion. Regards Mari
Hi Mari An absolutely lovely saw and it is nice to know who bought it. I was well beaten into 4th place in the bidding and I bid more on this saw than I have on any other, as another one will probably never see the light of day again. It is truly unique. I was going to put it on here myself as it is so important that it should be in the public domain, but now I am glad that I delayed for so long. A marvelous piece of history. Fred
Well, Mari, that's just a terrific saw. Surely it's the 1780 Daniel Parkes from Birmingham who's the maker? I wonder if Simon has an image of that mark? Congrats to you on getting a real grandfather of a saw. I've seen that same angled cut at the end of the spine on an early Kenyon, so perhaps it isn't just idiosyncratic to this saw. David
Hi Fred & David, Thanks for your replies... Fred, my commiserations on missing the saw- it's always in the back of my mind whom I may be bidding against on a particular saw- sorry for that! David, yes I do wonder if it may be by Mr Daniel Parkes, there's also an entry for a Mr Thomas Parkes but pre 1784 in BSSM known only from a notice for creditors in the London Gazette & the BSSM entry is for West Bromwich- Birmingham again. Thanks for posting the information about seeing an early Kenyon having a similar treatment to the spine inside the handle, it was something thing that I was unsure of. Regards Mari
Congratulations on a great saw, it's heart warming to see such important saws get picked up by people who appreciate them. Thanks for posting, it's yet another Birmingham saw stamped on the plate, I wonder if any Sheffield makers ever did that? The taper in the blade is interesting, I wonder if there is a dating clue, more taper == earlier? Ray
Thanks for your reply Ray, its certainly got some taper on it, it does make me wonder how long it was originally, the makers mark is nearly central length ways in the plate. Regards Mari
Catching up with a big backlog, Mari, and full of admiration for your canny purchase: a real beauty. Like Fred, I wouldn't care to put all my money on Daniel P of Birmingham, as Thomas P of nearby West Bromwich must have made saws that looked very like this at the same sort of date. A tiny point of interest to me is the curly letter K – so very like the K of early Kenyons: presumably a stylistic quirk of the late 18th century. I've taken screen shots of the saw for the updating of BSSM, which is now in its very last stages (hence the backlog.......), and have plumped for Daniel. Thanks, Mari. Simon
Hi Simon, Good to hear from you & it's nice that the saw mark will be making it into your BSSM update. The arching K in the stamp is indeed similar to the early Kenyon K, you are right on the money there... Kind Regards Mari