Hey Ray et al. Simon got me thinking when he responded in the TIME LINE thread "No saw makers' business documents are known from any place other than Sheffield (and there are precious few there), although the online Tyzack family history (good, but many inaccuracies) shows that the Tyzacks of London did make their own saws, as did a few other London makers like JVHill, Fitchew, Copley and Fletcher." Maybe there weren't a lot of true "Saw Makers" but a lot of what I will call "Assemblers". Get the parts together, put them together and stamp your name on a spine. These assembled saws fill out the public buying needs that YOUR tool making business provides. To the specifics. This is a steel back 14" closed beech handled saw with two 1/2 inch split nuts. It has a 2 7/8" depth to the blade. Everything is standard to what we have seen. There is a nice rounded cheek and what I see as unusual, a very tastefully rounded chamfer and stop. Most chamfers are hard and angular. The Straw chamfer is similar to the chamfers on a plane, and maybe this is where I am going with this. The HSMB has William Straw At 68Leman St., Goodman's Fields London from 1827-1852. My other go to guide, Goodmans' Planemakers continues on to expand the dates of existence to 1878. "1827: Sawmaker. 1837: Saw and Tool Maker." and includes a picture of the mark. In this particular case, do we have a primary sawmaker/assembler turned Tool maker and where might this saw fit in the grand scheme the Straw line. 50 years in the business and we wonder how much the style of a particular maker changes over that time. I might guess this would be in the early part of the makers career but as we are finding in time lines the particular nuances of a time frame can be a little confusing. Enjoy Joe S
Hi Joe, We might have to wait for Simon to get back from sunny California to get much further than you already have with this one. Simon lists two overlapping London sawmakers... Straw, Alex 1832 1852 Straw, William 1832 1875 Not sure which one we should be looking at. Regarding "real" sawmakers, the only evidence we have to go on is actual saws, and directory entries. To delve further into some of these requires research into more detailed business records, what they purchased and who they employed etc.. In the abscence of these primary sources we can only speculate, the pity is that many of these records have been lost in time, and in some instances we may never know for sure. I haven't yet searched for Straw, that might help resolve whether we are looking for William or Alex. Regards Ray
My searching of the London trades directories produced the following: STRAW, Alex LONDON 1 Poplar Row, New Kent Road 1832-1853 6 Park terrace, Chelsea 1857 The connection with other London makers of this surname is not known. STRAW, Peter & Co LONDON 28 Saffron Hill 1811> Saw and file makers. The connection with other London makers of this surname is not known. STRAW, William LONDON 91 Leman Street, Goodman’s Fields 1826> 5 White Lion Street, Goodman’s Fields 1832-1836 68 & 69 Leman Street 1839-1840> and <1852-1857 68 Leman Street 1862-1878 Saw and tool maker and dealer. The connection with other London makers of this surname is not known. STRAW, William LONDON 2 (3,4) Wellington place, Greenwich road 1870-1878 34 Greenwich Road 1882 Saw maker. The connection with other London makers of this surname is not known. Talking to Mick Selby, a dealer who has intimate knowledge of (especially) south London tool dealers, I've learned that ironmongers of this surname had shops south of the river Thames within the last 20 years. Attributing a saw to one of the above is difficult, given that the usual London style of marking their saws was just the surname plus the word London. Hope that helps!