Lunch time find Hand saw R. H. Smith Catharines

[Jacob Nothstine]

At an estate sale for lunch, told myself over and over again this year I would not buy any more hand saws. So here is the saw I pick up, It's a 26" 5 TPI R.H. Smith & C.O St.Catharines #51 still still has a lot etching you can make out. The saw medallion has pat dec. 27 1887. Anyone have more information on this saws.
Thanks, Jacob257910257911257912

[Jim Koepke]

The saw medallion has pat dec. 27 1887. Anyone have more information on this saws.

That is a patent date for the saw nut design. It is found on saws of various makers from that time period.

As far as the saw itself, I know nothing. Looks to be a keeper.

jtk

[Joe Bailey]

I believe R.H. Smith was bought out by Shurley-Deitrich who continued to use the beaver logo on their medallions.
Search using the later firm name and you'll probably find answers.

[Jacob Nothstine]

Thank you will try the new search.

[Jim Matthews]

The simple solution to the TMS (too many saws) problem is fixed-volume storage.

I put all my project saws into a 13 gallon garbage can; the rectangular kind.
When I can't jam another in, or pull out just one because it's full - I clean a few and find new homes for them.

A water heater failure prompted a shop clean up, and it has revealed far more tools (saws included) than I knew were in storage.
I had contemplated a shop expansion, when what I needed was to put away my toys.

[Rob Paul]

Nice saw Jacob.
The R H Smith "Beaver" medallion with its wierd looking beaver is maybe my favourite medallion.

The etch shows this as the "Gold Coin" model of R H Smith Co's saws, showing both sides of a gold sovereign with King Edward VII on one side and George and the Dragon on the other. Since Ed VII sovereign coins weren't issued until 1902, and RH Smith Co became T F Shurly Co Ltd in 1914, your saw dates from 1902-1914
(The T F Shurly Co continued this model of saw for a while, only substituting "T F Shurly" for R H Smith" in the etch, before embarking on "The Arrowhead Saw" series, and finally closing business in 1920s)
The saw was made during Shurly & Dietrich ownership as R H Smith retired in 1893 and Shurly & Dietrich then increased their partial ownership to full control of the company, although they continued business under the R H Smith Co name until 1914. (The later T F Shurly Co was operated by T Fred Shurly, the son of Cosmos Shurly the co-founder of Shurly&Dietrich)

[Jacob Nothstine]

Jim - I have a box of saw in the attic that keeps getting bigger, going to add another saw to the box soon, but not this one.

Rob - Thanks for the great information, I was thinking the saw was close to 100 years old. I need to give it a good cleaning and see if I can make out any more of the etching. This there a good web page with information about this company?

Tested the saw out tonight it does a great job ripping, nice clean cuts and fast. With 5 TPI it's a little hard to get started, I'm not use to such a low tooth count.

[Jim Matthews]

Cut a little notch at the beginning of your rip cut, as a "starting block" for your saw.
I score a line with my knife, the length of the cut. It helps me see better than a pencil mark.

A little wax on the plate will help, too.

[Jim Koepke]

With 5 TPI it's a little hard to get started, I'm not use to such a low tooth count.

Don't feel bad about the trouble with starting the low tooth count. One of my old saws was re-toothed to about 4 ppi. Unfortunately the saw plate was rather thin. To make a long story short, one day while sawing the plate buckled and snapped.

Starting a saw for me seems to be all in how to keep the teeth "floating" while lowering them in to the work. As Jim M. says, a starting notch helps.

In my opinion, this is why saw handles have horns. Pressing the bottom horn with the heel of my hand while pushing the saw helps to lift the tooth line and "float" the teeth across the point of entry.

Pulling the saw has never given me a good start to sawing.

Tooth count has a bit to do with all of this. A higher tooth count saw for me is often started with a quick back and forth movement coupled with them floating over the starting point.

There are other ways of starting a saw that others may share and the object is to find the one that works best for you.

Once this technique got worked out, starting a saw has not been a problem for me. Well except for my chain saw. If that isn't started up every few weeks, it is very hard to get started when it is needed.

jtk