Hello all, Before I start this, I would like to give a round of thanks to the National Library of Scotland for providing such easily searchable Post Office (and other) directories, and for providing so many of them. It has been possible to pin this search down to a single year when events happened. Anyway, now back to the saw. I have just bought it at auction today and on first glance I thought that Hughes was probably a retailer/ironmomger as I had never heard of him before. And it may well be the case that he was, but if he was he kept the pretence up for an awfully long time and over 2 or 3 generations. You may wish to skip this next bit, as it confuses me and is possibly of little interest to anyone else. It all starts in 1838/39 (I think) when a William Hughes (presumably father of E Hughes) began his listing as a sawmaker at Leith Sawmills. P.O Directory p.56. The last listing for him is 1841/42 after which he is replaced by Edwin (my saw maker???) (1842/43) p.59 In 1865/66 Edwin is still at Leith sawmills but also at 66 Tolbooth Wynd and where he stays until 1884/85. p.119 In 1885/86 there is a Hughes - Wm. E. (sawmaker) recorded (p.123) Possibly a son of Edwin?? at 323 Leith Walk (and possibly a home address) but Edwin is still recorded as a sawmaker at 67 Tolbooth. The same applies in 1886/87. In 1887/88 William E is still a sawmaker at 323 Leith Walk, but there is now a Hughes and Hudson, sawmaker at 6 Links Place. p.129. I presume that they are connected but it is, of course possible that they may not be. There is no E Hughes. Ditto for 1889/90. In 1890/91, William E. is no-longer listed but a Miss Emmeline is listed in his stead at 323 Leith walk. Hughes and Hudson are still at 6 Links Place. 1911/12 is the last directory available, with Hughes and Hudson at 16 Links Place. p.183. So, looking at the reign of Edwin in this dynasty, the saw could easily date from 1842 to1887 and possibly later if Edwin's mark was used after his listing (death??) ended. I suspect that it is at the latter end of this time period if only because of the dreaded orange/yellow varnish on the handle. It is a decent sized saw. The blade is just over 13 3/4 inches and it does have a rather nice blank label screw. The bonus for me is that it is Scottish and the added bonus is that the blade is very, very nearly straight. Fred
Hey Fred et al: Nice saw Fred. I would probably tend to agree with you on the date there except for the larger "blank label screw" that might push it up into the 60's. I was wondering though if the saw has the two slashes that mark the bevel on both sides of the saw. Precisley cut? If so, was this an owners distinctive mark of a handle makers distinction? I have seen a few examples and am wondering if this might be another tool to use in some indentifications. enjoy it Joe S.
Thanks for the reply Joe, I hadn't seen the cut stripes until I saw the photograph on here. I often notice more on photo's than I do on a saw in real life. I have taken a close-up of them for you. You may well be right about an owner's mark. They look very purposeful to me. If they are an owner's mark, then I am assuming that the saw has had at least two, because Mr. (I presume) A Taylor certainly wanted everyone to know that the saw belonged to him. Fred
Here's another Edwin Hughes backsaw for you Fred. It's a 9 inch dovetail saw that I got at the auction last week in a cardboard box of tools and dross, a bit rusty and paint smeared and blunt (like most of my finds ), but showing pretty lines. In looking for the history of this saw I followed the same research path as Fred, (and was quite pleased with myself, before finding this thread, where all the work had already been done ) I think I agree with Fred, that the long period of time that the Hughes' were listed specifically as sawmakers (and not as Merchants nor Ironmongers etc), indicates the saws were likely made by them and not just retailed. The Owner's name "Js Calderwood" is engraved on the back of my saw. Edinburgh Directories show several Calderwoods, though none that seem especially employed in dovetail sawing. There are also Calderwoods in this area of Ontario, so the saw may have arrived here with a Calderwood immigrant. I decided to clean it up a little: - scratched out the gunk from the grooves in the split nuts to allow the screwdriver to grip (using one of the probes I salvaged from my dentist's discard pile) - tapped out the screws (couldn't find the brass punch, so used a cut off nail and the hammer side of a sawset) - used paint stripper to get the paint off the handle, then washed and lightly scrubbed the wood in soapy water - put the blade in the vice and, using a hardwood block, tapped off the brass back so it would be easier to clean off the rust. (This showed that the apparent cant in the blade was entirely due to the back being installed on a skew. Common in my experience, probably from User actions) - cleaned off the worst of the rust with sandpaper, and used a scrubby pad on the brass back - treated the wood with some oil, steel wool, shellac, steel wool, then wax - reassembled the saw, filed the teeth somewhat (17ppi, I need to find one of my finer files to finish the job), and cut a couple of lines in a wood scrap I especially like the handle, the overall shape and the figure in the wood are very pleasing to my eye, and the grip feels good with three fingers entirely filling the finger hole. (I'm not so happy with the brass back. I can't seem to find a satisfying cleaning between the unacceptable extremes of the original dull and dirty grime, and shiney clean brass) The diagonal mark on the bevel of my saw is made by two raised bumps, separated by a single saw cut. A quick look at my backsaws showed single bumps are on several of my Sheffield backsaws, but the only other double bumpers I have are on a Jackson Stacey & Smith c1845, and an Alex Marshall c1880s (not really definitive for a dating or regional feature, ....although I did find all 3 saws in Ontario )