a saw

hello ,just found some writing on a 26 inch hand saw and am hoping it may be of some interest to some folks .the larger letters spell [ w sargent reading ] this writing has some fancy scroll work around it .to the upper left it reads[fineststeel] upper right reads [london spring] centre lower reads [for uniformity of temper and exellence of finish this saw has no equal] the handle has four brass screws one of which is larger than its mates and has the words [warrented] across the middle [london] above and [spring] below. i fancy this saw has been made for a hardware shop in reading ,by a sawmaker of some size i,m hoping that some of the members that view these pages may recognize the wording and then identify the maker

 

Can you get a photo for us - saw, and medallion? The wording of the self-advertisements is very similar on several different makers' products, so without a picture it's a tough call!

Thanks a lot Simon

 

re a saw

hi simon at the moment that particular saw is amongst about another two -three hundred others plus loads of other tools that are clogging my garage .i have a man coming soon to buy some of the stuff [all proceeds to charity] then i can access the more collectable/interesting and i will try to get some photos up i have lots of very old saws but i find trying to show them on this site difficult although i have put some up .perhaps you would comment on them i only have a basic samsung camera regards pat

 

If you click on the "manage attachments" in the "Additional Options" box below the draft of whatever you are going to post, then click on "browse", all you have to do then is to find your pictures on your own computer, open them onto the browse box and then upload. Finding the photo's on my computer is the hard part for me, but believe me, if I can do the rest, anyone can.

As far as a camera goes, I don't think that it matters much what sort it is. What I think that this site does have problems with is the number of pixels in any one image, and so I always set my camera on the lowest available number. That is 640x480 and it seems to work acceptably.

Looking forward to the photo's,

Fred

 

brotherly encouragement

hi fred thanks for your reply. this image i chose at random .i cannot say what or who made this saw at the moment [my log book is downstairs in garage].so if this little exercise works i will put on the mouson brothers, and later the one from reading thanks again pat

 

brothers

hi fred had a go with camera.snaps no.204_207 are moulson brothers.with london undreneath .snaps 208_210 are for a saw etched. longs underneath are some words not clear i can make out allamshir i guess you could add an e on the end but as for the beginning i,m stumped i still have trouble with control of photos they get uploaded to computer but i don,t seem able to direct where they go to ,so it,s all a bit of hit and miss ,if only my grandchildren lived nearer all for now cheers pat

 

Hi Pat,

I think that on your Moulson I will have to go for a latter part of the 19thC date having seen it. I cannot really explain why, it just looks like a saw that at one stage I would have put in the 1870+ category, but that I have had to amend to 1860 + owing to various bits of opinion/evidence produced on here in the not too distant past.

I think (hope) that I can help you on the "allamshir" one with a little more certainty.

Presuming that it is English (if not all bets are off) the letter preceeding the "a" is probably "H", as in Hallamshire. I occasionally forayed into the Sheffield area for work purposes and was sure that I had seen the name contemporaneously, let alone when your saw was made. If you Wiki it, you will see that it is a historic name for part of what is now South Yorkshire.

With split nuts but without a lamb's tongue, it should be very late 19th/early 20th C. Interesting that it has 2 W/S medallions and two screws. I can't remember seeing that before.

And looking back to your first post here, HSMOB has W Sarjent (intersting conflict with your Sargent) as a merchant, ironmonger tool merchant and cutler at 44 (43) West Street Reading between 1877 to 1915. Any chance of an image of the London Spring medallion. They are very few and far between I think. I have one but it is not on a saw. It would be interesting to compare it with yours. Mine is on this site if you follow the link below.

http://www.backsaw.net/index.php?option=com_jfusion&Itemid=58&jfile=showthread.php&t=101

Hope that it helps and that the WAGS are not too far off the matk

Fred

 

london spring

Hello Fred/Simon
Sorry for all the photos but here goes. 213 - 219 are the photos of the anon. saw made for the Reading Store. Photos 220 - 223 are of an old Sorby.
224 and 225 are a quick look at about one hundred saws and I can find no other that has this spine down the top of the handle. The angle is 35 deg. and the madallion on the anon saw is l inch diameter. The Sorby saw is the same angle but the madallion is only three quarters of an inch diameter. Best I can do for now. Look forward to some replies.
Pat.

 

A few answers - helpful, I hope.
The etch including Hallamshire is from this firm, which has been discussed elsewhere on this forum in the past:

LONG, HAWKSLEY & Co
252 Rockingham Street 1868
Hallamshire Works, 220 Rockingham Street 1871-1895
1879: manufacturers of table, bread, shoe, pen, and pocket knives, razors, scissors, files, saws, edge tools, and electro plated ware.

This mark is another example of the firm's and will maybe have something in common with Pat's:

The handsaw handle with the angled top to it is an arrissed handle, also discussed somewhere not long ago. Not all that common, but not rare; a good quality saw, usually.

 

A bit more.
The London Spring medallion is so unlike the usual Sheffield type that I wonder a bit if the saw could be a US one. The only one I can think of that was anything near in form is this one:

What is the word in the middle?

 

Looks like "WARRANTED"

Toby

 

hi toby/simon yes you are correct it is [ warrented].with that sharp ridge the length of the handle must greatly reduce the possible makers.as i said all the saws i have,have a more or less gentle chamfer,barring the sorby in the other photos.i think like simon said this is a quality saw .but still anon.. cheers pat