First of all may I apologise if I out bid anyone on this saw. Ever since I got my copy of the first edition of the tool chest of Benjamin Seaton I have had a hankering to own a saw by Kenyon. When I spotted this one on ebay I decided my chance had come. I would be interested to know if anyone has any thoughts as to the date of this saw as the makers mark is not giving me any clues as to its age. The mark simply says Kenyon in letters approximately 2.5mm high. Unusually the mark is on the opposite side of the steel back to the norm. The back it’s self has the appearance of wrought iron as opposed to steel. There are quite a few imperfections and striations in it. Having said that this might be normal as I’m not familiar with earlier steel backs The scroll at the bottom of the handle has to be the thinnest I have ever seen. I can’t believe it has survived intact. If anyone can shed any more light on this saw I would be grateful. Cheers from a very chuffed Richard
Hi, I am pretty sure that I was the underbidder on this. I am also sure that Simon will want a picture of the mark and I will leave him to estimate age etc. and otherwise comment on it. The other (unnamed) saw from the same seller that I managed to outbid you on turned out to be a Buck and Co. and I will put it on here later. Enjoy the saw and I am glad to have seen it in more detail. It is not as good as ownership but better than nothing . And it is a lovely saw. Fred
Someone may have removed the spine at some point and put it back on backwards, which would put "KENYON" on the wrong side. I, too will wait on Simon for a date of manufacture. Toby
14inch steel back saw by Kenyon Nice to see who the new owner is! I don't so much mind having been outbid now. A few things are worth mentioning - first, that the back will certainly be wrought iron: steel was not used for backs by Sheffield saw makers until the 20th century, so that what are often referred to as steel back saws were more often iron. As for the name being on the back, rather than the front of the saw, there may be reasons from post-original manufacture change, to it being put on wrong way round (Friday afternoon, maybe?). The screws look pretty well bedded in to the handle, but the rasp finishing marks on the screws would perhaps show that they haven't been out, or at least for a very long time - replacing this sort of screw is a complete impossibility in my opinion, as they never go back in exactly the same way they came out - they were certainly not designed to be taken out. Were there two practices in marking backs - before the saw was put together (this one - bang in the middle) and after being attached to the blade (the common appearance with the lettering tending to almost disappear off the bottom of the back)? The single word Kenyon seems to have been used on his saws of the 1780-1800 period; it is on two keyhole saws, one panel, three backsaws and one fretsaw that I have recorded. The Seaton chest backsaws have the word Spring under the Kenyon, and another backsaw of c1800 has Cast.Steel under the Kenyon, but all these have same style of the letter K - a slightly curly form. I would guess 1780-1800 for this one.
Hi, and thank you for all the info. It's much appreciated. Thanks for clearing up the issue of the back material Simon. Now I think about it, it makes perfect sense as steel must have been an expensive commodity back then. I did wonder myself as to whether the back had been removed and turned round, but my gut instinct tells me that this saw is unaltered in any way. as I try to limit myself to 18th century tools I'm glad about the dating of the saw. I wasn't sure if the stamp was an indication of an early date, or just a case of it being of a lower grade of quality not being marked as London, or spring. Cheers Richard.