Hello All, Aren't Groves like London buses, none come for ages then three come at once. I got this yesterday at an auction. One of the beauties about auction houses that think they are a little better than the rest is that they do not like to root around in the rust, dust and cobwebs of boxes of tat. So I got this for a very reasonable price. (I phoned my daughter the night before and told her that I was thinking of re-mortgaging the house in order to buy this. She was devastated to think that her solid inheritance of bricks and mortar would turn into a pile of rusty metal. Luckily I didn't have to so she is happy.) Anyway, back to the important thing - the saw. It is brass backed, 171/2 inches long from blade tip to the tip of the bottom horn, and 43/8 inches deep, so in looks and dimensions it could be the rather dishevelled twin of the one that Joe posted first off. The reason that I haven't attched this to Joe's original topic is that there is just a chance that this is a Greaves or any other "ves" that you can think of. But I am pretty sure that it is a Groves. Again from the debate over Joe's saw, it is probably 1820's to 1850's ("and Sons" to the USE!! of the medallion). It also has the magic words "London Spring". Any other comments gratefully received. FRED
Hi Fred, Nice saw, definately worth mortgaging the bricks and mortar for that one .. I would think 1820's just on look alone, of course if we can determine if it's Greaves & Sons or Groves & Sons, that might help. I did a comparison of the marks with Joe's Groves Joe's is the mark at the top, yours is underneath. I was hoping that they would line up identically, but sad to say they don't The font is different, and the thickness off the lettering is different, the center of the "D" in London is stamped out in Joe's In and of itself, those differences don't tell us one way or another, marks wear out and get replaced on a regular basis, and may not always be made by the same mark maker. So the comparison, while interesting, it's a bit inconclusive. There is a Neaves and also a Jeeves, but neither graduated to the '& Sons', the only ones I could find are "Greaves & Sons" and of course "Groves & Sons" Here is a comparison of the handles, for interest I keep changing my mind... The differences in chamfering, and the top horn shape, are sufficient to make me uncertain that it really is Groves & Sons, what we need is a Greaves & Sons sash tenon from the same era for comparison. The other unanswered question of course is when did Groves use use usefully..... That might put a upper bound on the date. Again, another beautiful saw. Regards Ray PS I ordered your T-Shirt today!