I just got this saw online. I think it may be a Kenyon based on the handle, plate shape and the stamp on the blade. The stamp has two crowns above the name, and there isn't much of the left crown. I didn't see a third crown in the middle. The handle looks like it has very old, but non-original hardware. Any guesses on the date? Pictures are from the online seller, except for the stamp which I took after taking off a little rust. Thanks, this forum is great! Bill
Hello Bill, I saw that saw also and came to the same conclusion as you have. The handle shape, blade shape and what remains of the stamp all indicate a Kenyon saw. You can pick out the angled downstroke of the K, the E and the N, and the down stroke of the Y and perhaps the bottom curve of the O. As to dating I can't offer anything conclusive. I'd always like these saws to be pre-1800, but Simon always firmly says that he's not seen stamped crowns from before about 1810, and in these matters he's certainly our most knowledgeable source. It's a wonderfully old thing, nonetheless and has had a hand in two centuries of making things. It's original owner probably wore a linen shirt and a stock and it's recent owners probably wore open necked flannel shirts. The saw didn't care, it simply cut wood for us all, mile after mile of it. Cheers, David
Kenyon with 2 crowns A lovely old thing! Agree, the struck name can't really be anything but Kenyon. The dating problems start here: Is the toe profile original? So many old saws get corroded or dropped or otherwise abused and the worst of these damages seem to affect the toe, so as a dating clue it's sometimes dodgy. The Kenyon handsaws in the Seaton Chest have this toe profile, and are dated 1797, but as far as I know the marks on the plates do not include crowns. David has sent me pictures of a Kenyon handsaw which I tentatively (when was saw dating ever anything but tentative??) dated at around 1800, and this has three crowns, but I think of different pattern to this one with 2 (at least with 2 surviving to be seen). I've not so far been able to get a time line on crown design, so the difference isn't helpful yet. Smith's Key (1816) shows saws with a much less pronounced curve to the toe, for what that observation may be worth. The handle is certainly pretty ancient, and from its profile isn't likely to be later than 1830-1840, I think. But its fasteners have been altered a lot, and look also very old, so could the handle be contemporary, or cannibalised from another saw? The teeth have been recut, I'd guess from the way they end at the heel. Without having the pleasure of holding it in my hand, I'd tentatively (of course) put it at around 1800, and the confidence of the 1810 date for the earliest crowns looks as though it's tottering.