back for more help with an id. it is a simonds saw 28 inch plate has a nib and a handle plate. also has a hardware etch. the hardware etch is hard to read. the saw no. is gone. i know the hardware store etch reads "drissel & eberts south betlehem pa." http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/cdm4/beyond_viewer.php?DMTHUMB=1&searchworks=search_0__181&CISOROOT=/postal&ptr=2586 the first link is a photo of the store.
That's a cool pic of the hardware store, Robert. I've not seen another Simonds with a plate on the bottom of the handle like that. Here is a link to the 1923 Simonds catalog. Perhaps you can find a match there.
Hello Robert Sorry this is only ten months late. Your saw is most probably a No.8A. The "A" designation was only given to those saws with the metal guard beneath the handle. However, although I have five different catlogues of Simonds saws, I am still to find a reference or picture of the saws with the guard. I have two saws with the guard and one of them has No8A etched on the saw plate. I am not sure at this stage which other models were available with this feature. I am gradually piecing together the timelines of Simonds' handsaws. Your saw with the manufacturing medallion would be between 1907 and 1923. It could even be a year or two earlier. You had me worried with the Atkins etch there for a moment until I saw your second post. Regards Paul