Hello all, I put this saw on, not because it is any great shakes as a saw now (although it may have been at one stage), but because I cannot find a thing out about the firm whose name is on the back. It is a monster with the blade being 24 inches long. The teeth, as you may notice have seen better days as has the handle which has its complement of now deceased woodworm (and and which are forever encased in wood hardner). The only Goodman Brothers that I can find in Cardiff are butchers outfitters and I suspect that it is not they who are the makers/retailers. Any ideas? Fred PS The saw is courtesy of another forum member who found it and realised that it was my sort of saw. But as he only puts classy saws on here, I will spare his blushes about this one. Unless, of course he wishes to out himself. Please also note that I have broken one of my own rules and have given it a good clean. Otherwise even I dare not have put it on.
Hi Fred, Nothing to add just yet, other than to note it looks like a mitre box saw, so somewhere nearby there might be a mitre box or parts therof. Regards Ray
Hi Fred, Simon emailed me with the following.. Which answers very neatly a question I was pondering, and that being 24 inches is a bit too short for a mitre box saw, butcher's saw would make more sense. Regards Ray
Hi Fred and all, Very nice restoration/clean, I have to say the saw looks much better now than the last time I saw it, especially the handle. What I do find interesting is the lack of sawmakers in south Wales, they had all the steel making facilities to hand and the docks for exports. I'm glad the saw proved of interest, I can confirm that there was no box frame present, but that is not to say it didn't exist at some stage. When you cleaned the saw up, were there any parallel scratch marks or wear on the blade that could indicate use in a frame? This is a long shot as the condition wasn't great. regards lui
Hi Lui, There were no back to front striations on the blade and are none that I can see now. When I first saw it I thought mitre box, but the only ones that I have seen have been on Ebay (not any in real life), and, as Ray implies they are a little longer than this one is. Perhaps the British (Welsh) were more modest in their outlook and expectations than our North American cousins? Who am I to doubt Simon, but I have never seen a butcher's saw anywhere (and they appear with monotonous regularity on Ebay), with a back to it. Having said that, I cannot find any credible alternative to the afore-mentioned Goodman Brothers being the purveyor (almost certainly, alas, not the maker), of the saw. Perhaps they had sideline in general ironmongery. Just to note that the "Cardiffians" website came up with the same conclusions as Simon. But I shall keep on looking! Does anyone know why the Welsh did not make saws? As Lui says, they certainly had the steel and the ability, but no saws. Curious! Fred
Fred There were English steel makers and coal miners in Wales. The _workers_ were Welsh, and probably too poor and worn out to make anything much (my grandfather went down the pits at 10 years of age - but in Lancashire, he came from the mountains of North Wales). There is a reason why so many Welsh emigrated. Cheers Peter