Hello all, If this is any of the Powells listed in HSMOB, then the latest that it can be is 1835-ish and the earliest is 1736 (ah! if only). However I suspect and fear that it is a (what is for me by now becoming standard) 1880+ cheapie brand named saw. The steel back is only about 1/4 inch thick, the handle a little over 3/4 inch and it has three screws. The handle is a London Flat and lip service only has been paid to the carving of the the lamb's tongue. And perhaps most telling of all there are signs of the dreaded orange/yellow varnish on the handle. It just smacks of being a less-than-first-rate saw, and that is putting it politely So, does anyone know who the maker was that purloined the name of Powell and put it on this particular specimen. Fred
Hi Fred, No luck with searching for who might have used the name Powell in later years. But, to my eye, that handle shape looks like a later style, so I think I can invoke "Fred's Law" and say it's more likely to be later than 1880, than earlier. That said, the simplicity of the struck mark on the spine, would be consistent with an earlier date. I wonder if it has been re-handled? Regards Ray
Seem to remember that there was a Powell in Birmingham, and this would certainly do for a B'ham saw of 1870-1890ish - London pattern handle, and especially the single word maker's mark, which I've seen on saws by Squire, and others. I've so far paid no attention to style of varnishing, and feel I've maybe made a major omission. Do others feel it may be like tooth pattern, likely to have been altered post-manufacture, and hence tending to be unreliable? Will post again when I'm home.