Ray Et al This saw has escaped me for some time in finding any info regarding its maker or date of construction. I saw a chisel by the same manufacturer many years ago and when I questioned the seller of the tool if he had any info he suggested it may have been a secondary line of a larger firm. This is all I have and hope someone might be able to fill in more of the blanks. As to the saw, it is a 16\" steel back with CORSAN DENTON in a semi circle over the BURDEKIN and Co. on the steel back. The beech enclosed handle is in the London pattern but to me looks like a later vintage. The blade tapers from a 2 3/4\" toe to a 3 1/4\" heal. The most unusual feature of the saw is the three steel or iron 5/8\"x1/4\" high domed bolts that are threaded into a similar sized slotted domed nuts. The handle was fitted to the nuts because the threaded insert fits exactly the recess that was drilled. I don\'t know if this was done as an artistic statement or for function. There is absolutely no movement in the handle for such a heavy saw. I have never seen anything similar in all the saws I have seen and wonder if it was a one off product from this particular manufacturer or a very clever adaption by an individual a very long time ago. Here are some pictures and I await anyone\'s input. Cheers Joe Steiner
Hi Joe, Interesting looking saw, I have had a quick look for Burdekin & Co. Nothing in HSMOB, and not in Simon\'s lists of known Sheffield or London saw makers They are known Sheffield maker of knives and straight razors however , so I am hopeful that a bit of digging through trade directories might turn up something.. Judging by style (risky business at best) it looks too early for domed saw screws. I would guess first half of the 19th Century by the \"look\" but the screws appear anachronistic. Later replacements perhaps. I will do some digging, see what turns up. Ok, quick result.. it appears that Joseph Burdekin was a merchant, so quite possibly outsourced manufacturing. That directory entry is from Whites 1852 Gazetteer and General Directory of Sheffield, so a mid 19th Century date would seem appropriate, makes the screws more interesting... More to come... Regards Ray
Earliest entry I can find is 1852 latest is 1862 Joseph Burdekin, Joseph Denton, William Carson Corsan. 1852 Whites Corsan Denton Burdekin & Co Merchants 105 Eyre Street 1856 Whites Corsan Denton Burdekin & Co Merchants and Manufacturers 105 Eyre Street 1862 Whites Corsan Denton Burdekin & Co Merchants and Hardware Manufacturers 105 Eyre Street Note the addition of manufacturing to the directory listing. There are a lot of Burdekins who were involved with cutlery, knives etc.. So it\'s not clear what they were manufacturing. They appear to vanish sometime after 1862. Regards Ray
Hi Joe, Summarizing, What we have is a saw by a previously unknown saw maker, they never identify themselves as saw makers, so the saw itself becomes the evidence that they made (or at least sold) saws with their brand. A date of 1852-1862 would seem consistent with the look and style. But those screws are giving me a headache. Either they were 30 years ahead of their time, or they are late replacements, given your comments as to how the screws are fitted, I am reluctant to be dogmatic one way or another. What is needed is to see some more saws by Burdekin Corsan Denton & Co.. They are better known as knife makers, bowie knives, razors etc. The information that keeps coming up on the knife forums seems to suggest an 1845 to 1864 timeline. From: http://www.straightrazorplace.com/forums/razors/18614-george-butlers-whistler-razor.html Quoting \"One of the biggest cutlery makers was Butlers, they were taken over by the Andrews family, and moved into the premises formerly occupied by Corsan Denton Burdekin & Co in 1864, and renamed the premised the Trinity Works. By 1890 the company employed over 400 people and manufactured all forms of cutlery, using modern steam-powered machinery\" This is somewhat relevant as it would indicate that the premises at 105 Eyre Street was probably a manufacturing operation. It is further evidence that they were probably out of business by 1864. Regards Ray
Fabulous Ray! and thank you Great detective work on this saw because the manufacturer has escaped me for a while. It might make sense that they got into some sorts of tool or edge tool manufacture with their experience because I had seen a marked chisel some years ago (which I failed to buy because I just really didn\'t need another chisel). Silly me in hindsight. I loosened the nut and removed it from it\'s hole and photographed it to give a little more perspective. I measured the outside diameter of the interior section of the nut and it measures 9mm or 11/32 \". As you can see the holes haven\'t been messed with to suggest a traditional brass slotted nut had been removed or replaced.Most of the small nuts on saws I have are usually 11mm - 7/16\' or larger. Maybe it was style of attachment for their business. Here are the pics. thanks again Joe Steiner I will post another mystery saw manufacturer from my collection shortly that also shows an interesting anomaly.
Hi Joe, It may be that they were the true inventors of the \"improved saw screws\", I can imagine that, after seeing some of their spectacular knives and other products that making those sort of screws would have been pretty simple for them. One possible way of finding out would be to locate more examples, if we can find more examples from the same maker with the same screw style, that would be a good indication that they are factory fitted screws, and not a later replacement screws. There is a few of the patents issued for saw screws, and label screws here.. http://www.wkfinetools.com/hUS/saws/z_reading/hSaws-Screws/sawScrews-index.asp The one which is of relevance is probably the 1887 Disston improved saw screw (C Glover) Regards Ray