Received from the US ... At first I had taken it as E Preston ... hadn't heard of GP. But then found several references ... There was a GP Preston saw sold in July on ebay, but the hi-(and lo-)res photos are gone in the ether now. http://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/the-lynx-effect-t62759.html "87. A beautiful wheelwrights rounder by VARVILL also marked G P PRESTON TOOLMERCHANT, SHEFFIELD" from a Murland catalogue http://www.antiquetools.co.uk/Toolshop-Mar-2013.pdf Josh @ Hyperkitten ... "Complete Half Set of Hollows and Rounds by Varvill. This is the best complete set of hollows and rounds that I have come across. They were made by Varvill and Sons in York between 1889-1904. They are stamped with the Varvill Ebor Works mark along with the hardware merchant G.P. Preston's mark. The planes all have blades bedded at 55 degrees, ideal for hardwoods. They are also slightly skewed at about 10 degrees. The heels of the planes are stamped "skew" accordingly. The mouths on all of the planes are tight with the planes that saw the least use exceptionally tight almost to the point of absurdity. The irons are all in excellent condition with no rust or pitting. The irons match the sole profiles well and most are sharp and require just a light honing. They are in such good shape that I was able to pick out to and start using them right away on a test molding. The planes all have some bit of patina from age and light use. The set was long held in a collection and all had tags affixed to the escapement side near the toe. The tags left a $1100 This Item Has Been Sold" http://www.hyperkitten.com/tools/ForSale/archives12.php
The Preston one has quite faint the usual 'CAST STEEL WARRANTED' ... and some other letters that I can't make sense of yet ... and now that I look at the photo of the mark above ... possibly a "1" in the to righthand corner? I have a lot more photos of those extra letters ... but maybe it is a no-brainer for someone already? OH OH OH OH ... I started to write that I did think maybe "GERMANY"?? then looked at it again and thought no it looks like "LYNY" ... and only because I just looked at the backsaw picture ... I'm guessing "LYNX". Which is a new one for me with stamped english backsaws. Could this have to do with the "fluff 'em up and export" phenomena? Cheers, Paul
Hi Paul, Lynx is Charles Garlick and Sons (1872 to 1911 in HSMOB and lately resurrected as a current brand). I think it is unlikely although not impossible for it to be an export saw as such. But that is just my WAG. Fred