It's something of a truism that it is impossible to identify the real maker of a factored saw, unless of course the maker gives it away with his name or his trade mark. These pictures show the first one where I think I've been able to point to the maker, even though there is nothing so directly identifiable. The saw came up on ebay recently as made by William Spencer, and it interested me because I've not seen another definitely by this firm, who were actually file manufacturers, descended by some route or other from one of Sheffield's oldest and finest firms (Mathias S, 18th century origins). The vendor dated it too early, using misleading information from a certain large book on saws which gave the dates 1864-1887 – dates when these file makers claimed to be saw makers, after which they ceased to be so self-declaratory. The saw has a black painted handle of a much later, and less distinguished, pattern than a 19th century maker would have used, and the very elaborate etch, which unfortunately I have been unable to photograph at all well, proved to be far too easy to erase (which I did with the word Sheffield, in capitals at the very bottom) – again, not something which I would expect from a 19th century etch. The best way of showing the etch is in fact to show the nearest comparable example from a catalogue, which is from the Taylor Brothers 1932; this has the identical coat of arms in the centre, and the same style of wording on each side of it. So I think this saw was made for Spencer by Taylors – not very exciting, you'll probably all say, and certainly not 100% proof, but it's something a bit new at a time when the supply of interesting other saws seems to be drying up a bit. The other thing to be said about this is that the handle has been messed about with, with three properly speaking flat medallion screws put on the wrong way round. I don't think this means the handle is a replacement, but I'd be glad to hear others' views.
Hello Simon, It is nice when something comes together like this. For what it is worth I would agree that the probability is that it is a Taylor Bros. offering. About the handle, I am not so sure. It looks from the photo that the split nuts shown stand a little proud of the handle, perhaps a little too proud to be the original ones taken off and replaced. Is there any chance of an image of the medallions on the other side? Even if the handle is not a replacement, it would still be possible to take the original screws off, drill out the other side and replace the screws with medallions. If you feel sufficiently adventurous to take one of them off, it would be interesting to see what size the shank is and what size the hole in the plate is. I suspect a thin shank and a larger hole of a more modern screw. You may also be able to form some opinion (by the colour of the wood) - are we talking maternal progenitors and eggs here??- of the relative ages of the hole for the medallion and the hole for the nut. Fred
Thank you, Fred. I'm not adventurous enough, or maybe just not motivated to attack a handle, which I almost never do, to take this one off, but I can show the medallions and how they are just not right for this saw. One can never fathom the motives of the person who changed these screws, or why they are on the wrong way round, or what saw on which they were originally used. I'm sure the saw left the factory with raised screws, but not raised like this. r...