Sheffield Saw Company - What Was it? Etch identification needed.

[David Weaver]

Picture of a saw that I got in a lot from mjd a couple of months ago. Came with a backsaw that I wanted, but I do sort of like rip saws (because I sort of like to use them instead of powered saws if I have the time).

Picture of the etch as shown. Medallion says "sheffield saw company" or something like that, no maker's name. The handle would lead you to believe that it's somewhere around 1900, but the english can fool with that stuff because they held on to making nice handles longer than we did over here.

Saw's got tension similar to a disston D8, and is good and hard, maybe slightly harder than a D8, at least as hard if not. Very pleasantly surprised with its quality, cuts a treat, if not a little rough with 4 1/2 points (3 1/2 teeth) per inch, but it will work well in thick stuff.

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Searching "sheffield saw company" doesn't provide much help since there were what seems like hundreds of different sheffield saw makers, and I'm not convinced this isn't an american saw despite the name.

[Zach Dillinger]

David, it might just be a trick of the spots on the photo, but is there a blade stamp just to the right of the etch, roughly even with the phrase "Royal Steel"?

[David Weaver]

If I recall, it's just a generic comment about how the saw is guaranteed to outperform all others. I'll eyeball it tonight, I don't remember it saying anything about the maker, though, just some horn tooting type stuff.

What's bizarre to me is the way it's touted as "royal steel" instead of a more common term like london spring or london silver steel or some other such thing, and the american flag on something made by "sheffield saw"?

I don't have a good picture of the handle, but it has the fine early wheat on it that disston and some others put on early saws. Seems tilted toward domestic manufacture.

[David Weaver]

Little bit of google work on the term royal steel seems to suggest Supplee Hardware. I'll read the script again tonight to see if it says William Supplee at the end, might've missed it (looks from the attached picture like I did, can't make out the name at the end but there is one - never a great idea to take a picture with a fluorescent light right overhead).

I wonder who actually made it. It's got a deep etch.

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[Michael Ray Smith]

When I saw the title of the post, I assumed it would be from a line of Atkins saws that carried the brand Sheffield and sometimes the name of the Atkins plant where they were made, Sheffield Saw Works. But the Atkins Sheffield saws were a second quality line, and I don't recognize the etch at all. . . .so I doubt that's what it is.

[Jim Koepke]

the american flag on something made by "sheffield saw"?

If you go by the flag, it was made around the time of the Civil War as W. Virginia was the 35th state.

That is doubtful.

The American flag is one of the most often misprinted/misrepresented images in use. Most often the number of stars do not match with contemporary reality.

jtk

[David Weaver]

Yeah, it's definitely not that old. It's probably 1900 or so, just as a guess.

Could very well be a second line saw. I'll measure the taper tonight. That'll give a good idea how much tapering there is in it compared to an identically speced turn of the century d8 thumbhole.

[Jonathan McCullough]

That is a Woodrough & McParlin saw made for the trade. The "SPRING STEEL X WARRANTED / Patent Temper Patent Ground" etch is very distinctive. I've got one made for a Waterbury hardware store but they included the bottom half of that etch on some of their W&M branded saws. I rather like the steel and the taper grinding on mine.

[David Weaver]

Thanks for the assistance, Jon. It does, in fact, say William W Supplee at the bottom of the message, which basically has a horn tooted message about the saw being guaranteed to be as good as anything else.

Bottom at the back of the plate is 42 thousandths, top back is 36, front bottom is 32 and top is 27 thousandths. Double tapering, a bit heavier than the d8 thumbhole with more taper top to bottom in the back and less in the front.

What is the regard of W&M as a maker, similar to disston?

Strangely enough, My D8 is 35 thousandths at back bottom, almost 30 at the top, and in the front it's 35 thousanths at the bottom and 25 at the top. probably 3/4" of the plate has been run off of it, and almost none on the saw pictured above.

[Jonathan McCullough]

I rather like Woodrough & McParlin saws. I think they started off as Montague & Woodrough in Chicago using imported Sheffield steel, then when the tariffs went into place on imported steel Woodrough & McParlin used domestically produced steel from Sheffield steelmaker Jessop. Atkins probably(?) got their steel from the same supplier, but that is just conjecture and inference. I find that the steel is tempered a little harder and that it has a peacock sheen; these are more likely to be missing teeth and are difficult to sharpen. They also seem to have a lot of tension. Interesting about the taper grind--it's one of those things that can vary quite a bit between sawmakers. W&M is one of the off-brands from the golden age that I favor over Disston. They often have "Warranted Superior" medallions so I can have them all to myself. Ooops . . . .

[Kim Malmberg]

With experience from only one W&McP saw I can only add to what Jonathan says. Mine is a crosscut saw (http://www.flickr.com/photos/77333663@N07/sets/72157632596042223/) and a formidable worker. The tensioning is excellent just as Jonathan says. My W &McP clearly tops the D8s performance wise and it's right up there with my Sandvik 270 and Disston 7 and 12.

[David Weaver]

I agree now. Made a couple of more cuts last night with each of them. I intended to clean up the saw and dump it because the lot had a backsaw that I wanted, and a fine tooth rip saw that wanted, but I think i'll dump the D8 thumbhole instead.

The W&M saw seems to be a little better. I'm glad I wasn't imagining things about the tooth hardness. I had to do most of the file work cutting with a little bit of up attitude with the file and then level it out once the teeth were where they needed to be. Otherwise on a big regular taper file, it was just skipping. I have a 42x, so the teeth are safe when setting.

The whole thing is a pleasant surprise.

Now, if I can just find a bakewell medallion for another old very coarse saw that I have.....

[Kim Malmberg]

I think i'll dump the D8 thumbhole instead.

How about dumping the D8 on me? :-)

[David Weaver]

This saw is a bit too mediocre to make it worth the cost of shipping international (3/4 inch or so of the plate has been filed away, I had to hammer it straight(er), etc). I'll probably dump it on peebay.

[Brian Deakin]

I live in the UK, and I thought you may find this site interesting

http://www.flinn-garlick-saws.co.uk/index.html


regards

Brian