Drabble and Sanderson Handsaw 26" rip

Discussion in 'Forum: Saw Identification and Discussion' started by fred0325, Dec 22, 2010.

  1. fred0325

    fred0325 Most Valued Member

    Messages:
    1,084
    Hello All,

    This is a new aquisition which may fall into the category of "early style/later saw".

    The handle pattern with the London Flat could be from anytime from the turn of the century onwards?? but the 1/2 inch nuts, the number of nuts and the (13/16ths) medallion would indicate more towards the midde of the 19th century than the start. Possibly even later - in other words I don't have the faintest idea. Did D and S ever etch the blades of their handsaws or did they always stamp??

    The horns unfortunately have been truncated and there is a circular mark on the grip as though something has been impressed into it. The teeth are all there and there are nominally 6 points per inch although little else positive can be said about them.

    An unremarkable saw but nice nevertheless,

    Fred
     

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  2. ray

    ray Administrator Staff Member

    Messages:
    671
    Hi Fred,

    Very nice looking saw, Drabble and Sanderson are always good to find.

    I've been looking at it on and off over the last few days, and it's starting to feel like second half of the 19th century (style wise that is) I might have thought it to be a bit earlier, if it weren't for the 4 screws.

    I think it might be possible to construct a rough time line based on number of screws for handsaws.

    Drabble and Sanderson operating dates go from 1825 to 1907, (when they were taken over by Spear and Jackson) Such a long operating period makes determining a date a difficult exercise at best.

    We are seeing more and more stamped saws from the second half of the 19th century, some time after the etching process was introduced. The more examples we see the more the patterns start to emerge.


    Merry Christmas and best wishes to all

    Regards
    Ray
     
  3. lui

    lui Most Valued Member

    Messages:
    77
    Hi Fred,

    Nice saw, regardless of the handle pattern I think it's a later saw, the early D&S saws seem to be stamped "London", also the medalion suggests a later date. The medalion position is also interesting.

    I have never seen an etched D&S, however it was only on this site that a D&S medallion turned up, and I'd never seen one before.

    An interesting question is if the superior medallion is before the D&S own medallion.

    Is the nib missing or was it never there?

    All in all a good saw and I'm glad it's yours.

    cheers

    lui
     
  4. fred0325

    fred0325 Most Valued Member

    Messages:
    1,084
    Hello Lui and Ray all,

    Thanks for the replies. It probably is, as you both say a later saw, but what interests me is just how late they were making London Flats to handles and why when fashions had changed. Was it nostalgia, ease of manufacture, a sort of "quality" mark on later saws or any other of a myriad of reasons that I cannot think of at the moment. I suspect that there was little nostalgia in the industries of late 19th century England, but as for the others, I would not hazard a guess.

    Back to the London Flats. I attach to this a picture of a C Garlick and Sons backsaw with a flat. Now this, according to HSMOB (yes I have finally got one for Christmas ) should be after 1872 as their dates are 1872 to 1911. So flat bottomed handles continued until possibly the last quarter of the 19th century.

    As regards the nib, Lui, either someone has done a very good job of removing it without a trace ( the file striations where the nib should be match the rest of the top of the saw) or there was not one there.

    As for the medallions, both the warranted superior and the D and S one are ground flat and accompanied by the same size nuts. However the handle on the backsaw is "conventional" which may indicate that it was later. But I wouldn't put too much reliance on this as I also have a D and S with an etch and a London Flat handle. I leave this for you all to think over.

    Fred

    NB. The first two photos are of the Garlick, the next three of the rather battered brass backed D and S and the last of the steel backed etched D and S ( with only "cast steel" stamped into the back).
     

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  5. lui

    lui Most Valued Member

    Messages:
    77
    Hi Fred,

    I had forgotten that saw, and you posted it not that long ago.

    That does raise some interesting questions. D&S obviously did start etching at some point, but it must have been quite late. And why etch a backed saw, when you don't need to stamp the blade. In this case they did both, and that seems odd to me.

    How many backed saws have you seen with etched blades and stamped backs? I'm not a backsaw collector so they may be comon, but it does seem odd.

    I'll go away and have a think about this one for a while.

    cheers

    lui