W Roper

Hello all,

This saw came from America and the person who sold it (and who sells a lot of tools) has no idea of the origins of the marked maker..

He thinks that the handle is apple and dates it to 1870 +/- 10 years.

Me, I haven't the faintest idea. Were it to be British I would put it at very late 19th or early 20th century, but cast (hyphen) steel on such a saw would be out of the ordinary.

It would be possible of an American saw with split nuts of a pre 1870 - ish vintage.

Does anyone have any ideas. I have searched the British Historical directories for the 1900's but can find no W Roper. But then again, such a name without a place attached could indicate a brand as opposed to a manufacturer.

Fred

 

This is the first "sort of" success for Simon's book. He has a William Roper listed in Sheffield in 1868 and 1871. But if the handle is of that date, and the cast (Hyphen) then Mr Roper was very forward looking (handle) and backward looking (cast Hyphen)..

There are two basic options.

It is a completely different W Roper (possibly American).

or

Mr Roper (Sheffield) of said date made a saw for export which would look more in keeping with its American counterparts of the time, but forgot about the fitting of split nuts. Although to be fair, the new fangled saw screws had only been introduced in 1868 and so split nuts may not have been all that passe (even if he knew about them and even in America).

A variant on the second option is that Mr Roper was a brand name of one of the more major saw exporters at the time, but Simon ascribes to him addresses of Highfield Terrace and Division Street and so this bit of my WAG may not hold water.

I am still no further forward really, but at least a W Roper is catalogued.

Fred

 

Hi Fred,
I may be all wet in my theory, but if I saw your Roper saw lying around, particularly lying around in the U.S., the handle shape would lead me to believe it is a later model American made saw. The CAST-STEEL is reminiscent of marks on Disston backsaws, and we know that Disston made saws with many different names for many different customers. A look at the backsaw page on Disstonian Institute, reveals that the Disston CAST-STEEL was a different font than your saw until the early 20th century, when it changed to be similar to your saw. A google search for William Roper produced a man of that name who lived in the early 20th century in, of all places, Philadelphia, home of Disston. Volume 75 (1918) of The American Artisan And Hardware Record lists William Roper as having filed for a patent for a metallic sash. So we know he had at least some connection to the hardware trade. So my theory, then, is that your Roper saw was made about 1920-ish by Disston for his fellow Philadelphian William Roper. That said, my theories have been wrong before.

Bob

 

Thanks Bob,

That is the sort of WAG that I like. And it may have many elements of truth in it.

The problem is the split nuts, which in my mind rules it out as an American saw after about 1870, unless there are examples of late 19th/early 20th century saws with split nuts. But the rest of it points to that dates that you do.

A conundrum indeed.

Fred

 

Hello all again,

When I saw this current Roper for sale I had forgotten that I had one and was directed here from Google!!!!

It does solve one of the questions above although, of course, the handle is of no help as it is brand new. However, the enormous USA stamp is a bit of a pointer as to its country of origin.

You were therefore spot on Bob as to nationality and probably date as well judging by the similarity of the two stamps. I still cannot reconcile the split nuts with a later saw, though.

Fred

The new handle is really comfortable and well made, but spoilt just a little by the misfitting of the saw screw.