I recently acquired this little Gent's saw which is stamped Salmen London. This maker does not appear in BSSM and I have been unable to find any information about him. A B Salmen was a London firm of dealers in sharpening stones operating from 1850 to 1926 when it was taken over by A B Salmen Successors. There does not seem to be any evidence that AB Salmen made or sold saws. The saw is 10 1/4" long overall with a 6" plate which is 1 1/8" deep. 14 PPI. The handle is ebony. The stamp is 25mm long and the letters ascend in size from a 4mm S to a 6mm N. Any information on Salmen as a maker or dealer would be gratefully received.
Hi, I cannot go a lot further than you have found out already. I have traced an entry in the 1852 Post Office directory. Samuel Salmen, pat. cap peak ma. I Castle st. Houndsditcb This is p.968 real page numbering or p. 464 Hist. Direct. And I don't know whether this man is Samuel Salmen or Salmen, Samuel. Neither do I know what the abbreviations mean, but the address is the same as later Salmens. We then go to 1882 where A B Salmen is listed under both Honing and Grindstones But there is also this entry on p 1427 of the Post Office Directory 1882 (p.515 Hist Dir.) tSa1menAlbertB.(tool),1Ca.stle st.Houndsdtch Union street Borough SE (& with patent E C & Salmen st. South gro. )[ile end rd E Note the (tool) reference attached. I do not know if this is significant either or if it implies that the man was a tool dealer/maker. Anyway that is all there is I am afraid. Fred
Hi Fred, Many thanks for this. I found Samuel Salmen, who I think was a maker of peaks for peak caps, but did not find the 1882 entry for AlbertB. There is a trade card on record for this firm but the only "tool" reference on it is as an importer of carpenter's tool baskets. The trade card shows the firm having taken over the business of Samuel Salmen who was Albert B's father. I don't think this was the same Samuel who made the peaks though. Rustyoldion
Hi, There are a number of directories for 1882 for London. The one that I am looking in is Part 3, the Trades and Professional Directory. The Grindstone reference is on p.1637 (proper page) and p. 270 Hist Directory numbering. The honing reference is on p. 1656 (p.289 Hist Dir). The referenced one above is also in this directory. Now Mr Salmen may have been an importer of carpenter's tool baskets, but the question that has to be asked is "Did he sell them empty or full?" If he sold any with contents, this may well point to a saw with his name on and possibly other tools as well. Fred
Thanks again Fred, I had another look at the trade card at https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/evanion/Record.aspx?EvanID=024-000004890&ImageI and it reads "Carpenter's tool and hand basket importer". If the tool is taken as a separate item to the hand basket it seems you are right. Hopefully someone will find another tool with this stamp to corroborate it. Now the big question is where and by whom my little saw was actually made.
If you put "Salmen" into Ebay you will see a number of woodworking tools bearing that name for sale. Just at a glance at the first few listed I can see wooden wood planes. metal wood planes, spirit levels and a very nice mitre block. Some are modern but some could be early 20th or late 19th century. Fred
Unfortunately all the Ebay items relate to A.B. Salmen's Successors Ltd who used the MASTER and Invicta trademarks. Still hoping someone can find another Salmen.London stamp. Rustyoldion
I think that British Plane Makers, 3rd edition, probably has the necessary information. The long-established firm A B Salmen, dealers in sharpening stones, was acquired in 1926 by R Waxman (which is in BSSM), and in 1937 took over the trademark and goodwill of Nurse (well known to us here). I don't think there is much doubt that this saw was factored for the Salmen/Waxman/Nurse outfit, but this example, (which I managed to miss on ebay, but glad it went to a good home) is to me as undateable as most gent's saws. BPM3 says that the firm had stopped making planes by 1967.