New to me saw.

[David Nelson1]

I bought a R Sorby back saw with 3 1/2 inches under the back for larger tenon work. I was wondering if anyone can tell me a bit more about the saw or direct me to a site that can. I really looking for the age and history of this line of saws. A lot of Disston info but to much on others. I have made a couple of test cuts it seems to follow a line very well with no binding. The pitting in the tooth line does worry me a bit but what do I know LOL


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[Ron Bontz]

Doesn't look to bad at all to me. A little bit of rust remover and a scotch brite pad will do wonders. If it cuts well and runs true that's really what matters. I think 3.5" is the optimal depth. Is it 14"? I would love to have a scan of that handle.

[David Weaver]

I agree, the pitting is not much, and most of it is at the toe.

If it's a rip saw, it really doesn't matter at all. Most of the advice about pitting at the toothline has to do with crosscut saws and telling people to avoid saws that have rash all along the toothline or heavy rust on a plate.

That saw is in better shape than most. I don't think you'll find any spectacular information about it. It's typical for an english saw, a reasonably nice handle vs. the stuff that disston was making once they were in large production. Brass back, too, for whatever reason, english saws are almost always brass. Disston put brass backs on their saws.

If it's fairly thin plated, it's probably early, and if it's got a fat wide plate (.30 or something) that would point to later. It's funny that the early english saws have a very nice thin back and a lot of the stuff made a hundred years later had a fat plate.

[David Keller NC]

The kangaroo mark and handle form would put this saw's manufacture somewhere between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

[David Nelson1]

To answer a couple of questions the saws plate is .030, filed 11 PPI, and 14 inch long. The handle wiggles about a 1/64" I was going to remove it to see if shimming was possible, but changed my mind till after I cut all of my tenons. So I can assume this saw is about 100 years old? What's with the kangaroo? I like to know the history of stuff not just this saw but the company when they decided to quit making saws stuff like that. In this case it's a lot harder than I thought. I goggled Robert Sorby and got nothing of value. LOL

Edit: Guess I didn't look to hard on the Sorby web page. A lot of company history and personnel family accomplishments with a small glimpse into the past pertaining to competition and products. Nothing to discover when they stopped manufacturing saws. Seems they acquired another cutlery business that made ice states for the royal family and others. The skates where a large corner stone of the business for quite a long time.

[David Weaver]

I goggled Robert Sorby and got nothing of value.


That pretty much sums up their current offerings.

[Chris Vandiver]

Robert Sorby very probably had these saws made for them by full fledged saw making firm. Nice saw, by the way.

[Ron Bontz]

I can't speak for others but I made myself a 14" x 3.5" sash saw with a 0.031" plate. In fact I believe I toothed it at 11ppi. The handle is not as nice as the ones I have now. But I still like the saw. Bottom line. If you got it at a good price, you did well. Kudos.

[David Keller NC]

So I can assume this saw is about 100 years old? What's with the kangaroo?


It's hard to date precisely, but I'm going off of 2 things: the kangaroo imprint is an old one, from the era of the I. Sorby "Punch" logo ("Punch" from Punch 'n Judy puppets). Note that I. Sorby is a different company, but many British tool manufacturers from the late 19th century had cartoon-like logos on their tools. One other notable example was a company that had an elephant cartoon on their tools.

The second bit of evidence is the saw handle. Yours certainly appears to have been hand-shaped with a rasp and file. This was common practice before the 1930's, when a lot of saw manufacturers went to totally machine-shaped totes. In fact, that's why Disston saws from pre-1917 go for quite a bit more money than the later ones. The steel in a 1930's - 1940's Disston is really good, but the tote shapes are awful.

That is, by the way, one way to get a really decent saw at a really low price - buy a 1930's - 1940's era Disston and re-shape the tote with files and rasps.

[Jeff Heath]

That saw is in better shape than most of the saws I run into it. The few spots of rust on the tooth line should be no problem at all. Clean it up, get the rust off, and it should make a fine user if the plate is straight. It's basically a no-name saw with a nice handle, a brass back, and I'm assuming since it's stamped "sheffield", it hasn't a good quality plate. File it, and it should serve you well. Some evaporust should eliminate your rust problem......even though many will undoubtedly gasp at the thought. I have a 12" Disston that looked like it was soaking next to the Titanic for 100 years, and I removed the handle and soaked it vertically with the back out of the solution for a day. I refiled it, polished the plate as best I could, and the saw cuts perfectly. Not too shabby for a $5 saw.

[Chris Vandiver]

Hey Jeff,

Do you have a website for your planemaking operation?