I have two Taylor Brothers back saws which are in regular use. the first is a brass backed dovetail saw, the etching reads Taylor Brothers Warranted Best Cast Steel Adelaide Works Sheffield England. The saw is also stamped on the back Taylor Brothers Sheffield Warranted cast steel. The second saw is a steel backed tenon saw, the etching if any is completely indistinct, the back of the saw is stamped Taylor Brothers Sheffield Warranted Cast Steel it also has the Pascal Lamb/advanced mark. However the style of this stamp compared with the dovetail saw is completely different, the tenon saw also has a medallion in the handle that reads Warranted superior. Would both of these saws have been made in Sheffield perhaps in the same works or not? what would be the age for each of the saws? Both have similar handles but the position of the nuts is somewhat different. Both tools are an absolute joy to use and they have been in my possession for many years
One again, this is a complete guess, but in the absence of anyone else putting their necks on the line, I will have a go. The handles and screws (I don't think that number is a great issue here as the larger number of screws are on the brass backed {better quality?} saw) have more similarities than they have differences and I would say that, on screws alone they are just pre or post WW1. The impressed mark on the back of the first saw could have been done at virtually any time during Victoria's reign, and the etch (or what I can see of it and in the absence of a catalogue with an example of it) is not a great deal of help in dating either. The mark on the second saw has, to me a very "Art Deco" influence to it and which would put it to a time during the 1920's/(30's at the latest). The "Warranted Superior" medallion could have been put on the steel backed saw to raise its status in the eyes of the buying public. (Steel backed = generally lesser quality than brass backed??) The problem is that this looks to me to be more of a Queen's crown than a King's Crown - but we won't go into that!! I would assume that if they are close in time, then they would probably have been made in (or ascribed to) the same Sheffield factory, assuming of course, that the brand remained in the same ownership in the intervening period. HSMOB has Taylor Brothers ending in 1915, but that cannot be right as we have had references on this site to them being in existence until 1925 (at least). So, the saws are probably within 15 years of each other in time (providing that the handles and screws are original to each saw) and hopefully made in the same place in Sheffield. I would put the brass backed one as the earlier of the two. But it is just a feeling, I cannot really support it with anything. My neck is on the block. Does anyone wish to wield the axe? If so please do it with as little pain as possible. Fred PS It is very hard to click the "Submit Reply" button on this one.