Hello Guys, well now I am getting into the swing of things, this was a recent purchase from a well known site, I was looking for a back saw and I came across this , well I could not resist. It has not landed yet, I know very little about this kind of saw or why the handle is shaped as such, is it possible some one could fill in the blanks, type of saw rough idea of age , why shaped like so, the blade on the saw is 42" long, I will update this post as i get more info on the saw, many thanks First pic of handle only, second pic is the saw in question alongside a more convectional 30" rip saw. Closest match I have found is the Disston No 29 combination saw, but the blade on the Disston is 24" this also has a Beech handle. COMBINATION SAWS By Bob Garay gives some great info on these types of saw.
Well, it is a combination saw, you will probably find inches marked along the top edge. You will have to look for the makers die stamp to ID it, pretty much every saw maker who made handsaws made one or more examples of them.
The handle doesn't look old enough to have split nuts, I'm talking about the shaping of the handle. It could have been replaced at some point.
Very unusual saw Steve. It looks like a combination saw, but I've never seen/heard of one that long. My guess is that it would have been made to special order, or user made for some special purpose. Looks like rip teeth too, also unusual for a combination saw. The handle is shaped to an old "lambs tongue" design, but as Toby noted, it looks a bit "new" (as in 1900s new, not 1800s). [Compare it with Robert's handle on his Spear&Jackson combination saw for definition on the edges http://www.backsaw.net/index.php?p=...ead.php&option=com_jfusion&Itemid=58#post3312 ] Hopefully you can find some identification/markings when you get the saw, to maybe indicate how/when/why this saw was made. Keep us posted.
I think the handle is original. The split nuts on the handle look factory finished to me. They're all filed flush and don't appear to have ever been tightened. The quality of the fit to the brass edge is very good. And I've never seen replacement handles for combination saws listed in any catalogs (although I've by no means seen all of them). The handle has the brass edge which Hiram Smith patented in the USA in 1858 or 59, yet the quartersawn beech handle appears more English than American. For what that's all worth. David
Never get to find out Hello Guys, thank you for all of your input, you have given me some great information to digest. Re the handle, "quartersawn beech handle appears more English than American", thanks David, I had thought the handle appeared to look more English by design more than American. As Kiwi (many thanks) also pointed out, it looks rather new, compared to the rest of the saw. The link given for the S&J Combination saw, well what more can I say, the handles did look very similar to each other, thanks again for your input, as Toby had also pointed out, it was quite possible at some point the handle could have ben replaced. Perhaps the entire saw was indeed a custom made job, what at 42" on the blade this was quite unique. It would appear that we are not going to be able to unravel the history surrounding this particular saw, the seller eventually decided it had not reached a high enough figure in order for him to ship said saw. I did want to offer more for the saw, but on principal alone I did not want to give in to the arm up my back style of selling, I had won the saw fair and square in a public auction. I am sure I will find another one day , again as Toby said most manufactures produced combination saws, so there will still be plenty out the to find.