Hello all, A little away from the mainstream and also a bit of pre-Christmas sillyness. But I do like these even though I paid a stupid amount for them. In style they could be anywhere from 1750 to 1950, but alas, I think a lot nearer 1950. There is not enough wear or dirt on the handles for them to be much pre WW2 (unless seldom used) and the collet looks to be mild steel sheet. The Americans would call them "Primitive" ( seems to carry a cachet over the other side of the Atlantic ). I think that I would use the word "vernacular". They cut on the "pull" stroke as they have no locking mechanism for the blade and they must have the same problems as Lui's sword saw with reverse taper. No name of course and so I will never know their source - which is a shame. Fred
Alan, Another photo for you. One saw fully open and one saw fully closed. You may well have something about them being Japanese but their source is no help as I got them on U.K Ebay and assumed that they were British. But I can think of no part of the U.K. that would have this style. It would have to be the one of the maker's idiosyncracies if UK made, as I am sure that they are a couple of "one offs" if that is not a contradiction in terms. Anyone else any ideas. I do like the Japanese one though the more that I look at the saws. Fred
Hi Fred, Alan, If my memory serves me correctly, there was a period in the UK when pull saws were referred to as "Turkish Saws". The modern version of a "Turkish Pruning Saw" is still available. That image is from http://jeffpeachey.wordpress.com/2009/01/05/a-few-turkish-tools/ I've looked in Smith's Key to see if there was a standard pattern we could refer to, but either I flipped past it or it's not there.. The "Japanese" or "Eastern Look" could be a clue to the origin, it may in fact be Turkish in origin, or a the very least a home grown copy of a Turkish design. Either way, it's a great Christmas present! Regards Ray PS...Just noticed... It looks right at home against the patterned carpet
Thanks Ray, One thing that I like about this site is the extent as well as the depth of knowledge. So I can change my date estimate from 1750 to 2011. I still don't know the date of mine but I would still hazard a guess at post WW2. I wonder how long this style of handle has been in production? I suspect that I shall have a fair amount of Googling to do over Christmas. Fred
Fred, I've been having a heck of a time trying to view video and pics, my connections seems fubar for the past few days...when I click on the pics, I don't get the enlargement, the pointer just spins... Anyway, Ray could be right, but the handles are kinda crude like some of the old Japanese handles were. Looks like the blades are pretty rusty, if they were Japanese there would be a maker's mark somewhere on the blade most likely in Kanji. Very cool saws!
Hi Alan, I don't necessarily go for cleaning saws and particularly not if they are old. I don't think that these are old, but I will have to be absolutely sure before I start to clean the blades. And I definitely will not touch the handles. As I said in the previous post, I will have to do a lot of Googling over Christmas. I have started already, but there seems to be little information on such saws or handles except for the website that Ray got his information from. They may well not get cleaned for some time. Fred
That is your preference but I would use a scotch pad with mineral spirits to get the rust off of it. I personally can't see how rust would be of help in any way, but that's me. EDIT: After looking closer at them, I would use some simple green on the handle, and kerosene or mineral spirits on the blade. If you have kerosene I think it's the best to use for cleaning as it doesn't bother your hands like mineral spirits do. Diesel fuel is the same, you can wash your hands in it, just that it stinks like fuel (as does kerosene). Couldn't hurt to *gasp* sharpen it either...