Ray, impressive website. I have been thinking about such a site for a while, and for what they are worth, some ideas: 1) The directory items are great, and I like the cumulative detail. My Filemakers Directory is similar in that respect. One thing I did was to consolidate the references to each maker, only putting in data where it changed. This reduces the text. 2) Catalogue pages are invaluable, if only because they show exactly what was for sale, and handle shapes etc. A comparison of Australia with US/UK will show the small range that actually made it to Oz. 3) I collect adverts from the directories if they are there. I will pull together those that I have that feature saws, as well as files and send them to you. 4) There are lots of saw photos on the Web, Mike Wenzloff has collected heaps, Joel of Tools for Working wood would have many saws, as would have Rob Lee at Lee Valley - of course they are pretty busy. Takes time of course to scan Woodcentral, Woodnet, Sawmill Creek etc. and lets not forget eBay (usually poor photos though). EAIA will soon put out the Chronicle complete on DVD. this will be a great resource. TATHS are planning scanning the Newsletter and releasing that as well. So lots of places to ferret out info .... time. I have a few saws I will photograph and send to you. 5) A popular study would be Spear & Jackson, answering questions like \"when was the leapfrog brand introduced?\". Look like lots of work ahead of you, trust it works out well, and that I can provide some assistance. cheers Peter
Hi Peter, Thanks for the encouragement, I am still thinking about how to organize multiple trade directory entries. The data which is there at present is mostly just raw data from Sheffield, I wanted to get some data to try and visualize the best way of structuring it. I am thinking that a search for a maker would return a summary, with links to genealogy (both family and company). At the moment, you just get the raw data. Agree on the catalogue, the trade directories can make a positive id and indicative date. I am constantly trawling for trade catalogue\'s. But 19th Century British Catalogues don\'t appear that often. Thanks for the encouragement, I would hope that this project becomes a collaborative exercise and we can all benefit. Dig out those saws and send some pictures! Thanks Again, Ray