Bought a Nicholson hand saw

[Philip Duffy]

Did not know they made hand saws but when this one came into view it looked brand new so I tested it and it cut like a dream. How common are Nicholson saws? Philip

[Deane Allinson]

I bought a set of 3 in 1988-ish. They were the best ones available at the time locally. I still use them for utility work. The hold an edge a long time. Is yours marked silver steel?
Deane

[Brian Kerley]

Didn't know they made saws. I do know they are a shell of their former greatness. Their files and rasps are basically junk. Not to mention they are the purveyor's of the WTF tool of the decade.... The Woodchuck

[Chris Vandiver]

I would venture to say that "Nicholson" saws were made by a major saw manufacturer like Disston or Sandvik and branded with the Nicholson name.

[David Weaver]

I'd agree with Chris. I've seen their saws around, and they look like rebrands of saws from someone else. I'm pretty sure I've seen current hard-tooth offerings as well.

Philip - is your saw a resharpenable saw. What's the finish like on the plate, is it a high polish, or is it a fairly coarse brushed finish look?

[Joshua Byrd]

Didn't know they made saws. I do know they are a shell of their former greatness. Their files and rasps are basically junk. Not to mention they are the purveyor's of the WTF tool of the decade.... The Woodchuck

On a curious whim, I bought one of those just to see if it did either task - rasping and chiseling - with any proficiency. I can attest that the chisel will take a surprising edge, but it doesn't hold it all that long. Fortunately, that's not a noticeable detraction, since your fingers get ripped to shreds by the rasp long before the chisel dulls.

[brian c miller]

I am not really surprised as both Disston and Nicholson are owned by the same parent company. The modern saws are total crap: sounds like you got a decent vintage one.


It is sad to see the best of the best run into the ground by mega companies outsourcing to Low Cost Regions: Lufkin, Crecent, Disston, Atkins, Nicholson, Plumb... and that's just one company.

[lowell holmes]

I think a photograph would be appropriate.:)

[Jonathan McCullough]

I think Nicholson/Cooper Tool Group bought Atkins and sent the manufacturing from Indiana to ?Greenboro SC? in the late fifties, where they proceded to make mediocre saws. Toward the end I think they dropped the Atkins name. A lot of people would be surprised to know what famous brand name is associated as the corporate descendant of Millers Falls.

[David Weaver]

Ingersoll Rand? I know I've seen MF style miterboxes that say ingersoll on them somewhere. Unless I'm remembering the wrong name.

[Jonathan McCullough]

Ooh ooh ahh ahh.

[David Weaver]

pratt...it was something pratt, goodell and pratt. I don't know why i thought of ingersoll rand. never mind.

[Bill Houghton]

pratt...it was something pratt, goodell and pratt. I don't know why i thought of ingersoll rand. never mind.

Actually, I think Millers Falls bought Goodell Pratt, not vice versa, and M-F dropped the Goodell Pratt name some years before their decline as a good hand tool maker.

According to Wikipedia, Ingersoll Rand did indeed buy M-F in 1962 (points for you, David!), but then sold it to a company in 1982, clearly one owned by people who wanted to resurrect the glorious name. Not successfully, it seems; it's been a while since I've seen a new No. 2 eggbeater drill on the shelves.

[Philip Duffy]

I will see if I can clean up the saw today. There is some surface corrosion that needs a bit of elbow grease to make it go away. If the saw was made by some other company it will be well hidden as there are no other markings on the saw and the handle nuts seem to be original. No pictures; just hold the saw in your mind. If I find something on the blade in the way of a clue I will post that info. Thanks all, for the inputs.

[Michael Ray Smith]

Getting far afield here of the original post, but the discussion of the history of Millers Falls and Goodell-Pratt is of particular interest to me because one of my all-time favorite tools, the MF #1 spokeshave, a.k.a the cigar shave, was invented by Albert Goodell while he was an employee of M-F. Albert and his brother first started their own company which they soon sold to Millers Falls. They worked for MF for several years, then left and started a new company, the Goodell Brothers Company, which eventually became Goodell-Pratt, which MF then bought when its stock tanked after the '29 crash. More details here: http://oldtoolheaven.com/related/goodell-pratt-history.htm

It's really interesting to try to track the mergers and acquisitions of the great American tool companies of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Those companies were bought and sold, merged and spun off, almost as often as banks have been in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Well, maybe not as much as banks. . . maybe more like airlines.

[Philip Duffy]

On a personal level, my wife's whole family, 2 generations worth, worked for one or both of the companies, as well as Greenfield Tap & Die. All those folks have passed now but the quality of the work those men did lives on and on. I am privileged to own a few of their tools Philip