Hello all, Most of the Barber and Genns that I have seen on Ebay have originated in North America. This one, however came from the UK. It is a monster by British saw standards - having a 20 inch blade and I can see why someone would have put a handsaw handle on when the original needed replacing. I suspect that it was done quite early on in its career, or perhaps later but with an early handle. The things that attracted me to it, however are the two dots between Cast and Steel and the reclining ampersand. There is a mark in BSSM which is very much like mine in style but a little smaller (20mm long as opposed to mine bring 23mm) and with a hyphen in place of the dots. It is dated at around 1790 and I would hope that mine would be around that date, possibly a little later. Fred
That's a neat saw, Fred and the replacement handle doesn't detract from it at all for me. I wonder if the original handle had a nice early round cheek? I have a B & G with (I think) the same two dot mark. It too has a strange handle. I was of a mind that my example is around the 1790 that you mention, so I'm with you on your proposed date. We'll see what wiser heads suggest. David
Hi Fred, That is THE brass back saw to beat all, what a monster, what a beauty! Possibly for cutting tenons on the Cutty Sark or similar? And that's a nice saw of yours too David, I do like Barber & Genn's saws, they made a good well made quality product. Regards Mari