Eary Harvey Peace/Vulcan saw maybe a No. 40

Hello,

I found this local to me and wanted to see if anyone on the list might have more info. I've contacted Josh at hyper kitten already and he felt it was from around 1860 and an early Peace saw.

http://www.backsaw.net/cpg/displayimage.php?pid=401

http://www.backsaw.net/cpg/displayimage.php?pid=402

http://www.backsaw.net/cpg/displayimage.php?pid=403

http://www.backsaw.net/cpg/displayimage.php?pid=404

http://www.backsaw.net/cpg/displayimage.php?pid=405

http://www.backsaw.net/cpg/displayimage.php?pid=406

Very sorry for making the images as links but for the life of me I can not figure out how link the images from gallery to the thread.


thanks

Joe

 

very sorry I should have said also it's 18" plate and tip to end of handle is 20"

Joe

 

Hi Joe,

I can't add anything as I am not sure of the features of American saws, but having looked at the Hyperkitten website if the man says that it is 1861-ish then I would stick with that.

And having gone to the Harvey Peace section of the website and the handsaws bit, yours for all the world looks like a No.40. He has an exact image of your blade stamp that is a little bit clearer and the "Vulcan" medallion.

I see that he puts it 1861 to 1884 i.e commencement to the 1884 catalogue.

I presume that Peace followed Disston in the adoption of domed nuts so that should put it pre 1876-ish.

The only thing that I would query about it if it were a British saw would be the use of varnish on the handle. I don't know when it was first used in America. It might be a pointer to an earlier or later date than 1876. It may also be a complete red herring as handles can be varnished at any time in the life of the saw. But it does look pretty original on the photo.

On reading the History of Peace, it seems that he moved a number of times in the first few years.

"Accordingly. in 1861, he commenced, in a small way, in Center street, New York, taking a younger brother as a partner. Finding their location not a good one, at that time (it was just a t the beginning of the Civil War), they removed, the next year, to Johnstown, Fulton county, New York, where they remained about a year. By this time, business -in some directions, and the manufacture of saws was one of them- had greatly revived, and was much better in the seaports than in the interior. Once more, therefore, they removed, and this time, to what proved a permanent location, to Ainslie street, Brooklyn. At first their quarters here were small and narrow, and proved so inconvenient that they moved to a better location on the same street, in 1867; the times were favorable for the development of an extensive business, and though averse to"


It would be interesting to know whether all his factories were called Vulcan Works, or whether it was just one, and if so which one as this may give a better "earliest" date for your saw.

On homepage it has an image of the Vulcan works in Ainslie Street and it is a fair sized factory so that may put the saw to 1867+.

Complete speculation or WAG, but I hope that it may provide some areas for further research.

Fred

 

Hi Joe,

Thanks for posting this interesting old saw. I've never seen the "Vulcan" medallion before. Sorry I can't add any additional information on dating it, but Josh's guesstimate seems logical.

Harvey Peace was an interesting sawmaker in that he seemed always ready to introduce the latest innovations in saw design. I have a couple of Harvey Peace saws, both with interesting innovative handle designs.
One is a P26 with Peace's "perfection handle", (not to be confused with the much later designed "Perfection Handle" from E C Atkin's ), made for right handed carpenters http://www.hyperkitten.com/tools/hwpeace/saws/handsaws.php , one of a few handle designs I have that are not ambidexterous.
The other is a Vulcan 15 with its unique riveted brass and wood handle (later copied as Disston D24 and as Atkins 44 pruning saws )

[for posting pictures,
I go to the "additional options" page directly below the "thread" page,
then hit "manage attachments"
"browse" to find a picture file on my computer, and click on it to list it on this attachments page (repeat for next picture)
hit "upload" to upload the selected picture(s) to the post
check "preview post" to confirm success before submitting ]

Rob

 

Thanks guys for the info. I may meet up with Josh in Feb as he doesn't live that far from a class I will be taking.

Also thanks for explaining how to attach. Hopefully I can get the hang of it.

Joe

PS the image has nothing to do with this. Just wanted to try one. ;-)

 

Early Harvey Peace

Adding a couple of minor extras -
The Peace family was enormous in Sheffield, and am I right in thinking that Harvey was part of it? (There is a copy of the very limited edition of the history of the family on the website of a bookseller in north Yorkshire - a snip at £135...)

The strong-arm logo is identical to the one used by Wheatman and Smith.