The EDWARD PRESTON JUNIOR spring saw set.

[toolsntat]

Before I start, apologies for not having a good detailed picture to look at yet :roll:
Oh and not forgetting many thanks to Andyt for the tip off :ho2
These are rather attractive little units finished in a lush gold colour .
The main reason for this post is to try and find any reference to this saw set which does not have folding arms, as I am pretty sure this model is an earlier version before the folding arms were added to the support bar.
Yes there are 2 holes on this metal bar but each is countersunk at the back to maybe take a screw thus enabling a wooden bar to be added.
Another couple of things to consider is that there is no built in stop for the arms and the trade mark would be covered by them.
Best pictures at the moment on the listing here....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Carpe ... true&rt=nc
From the information I have, the date could be as early as 1886 when they were mentioned in EP Juniors trade adverts
By 1897 (Henry Osborne catalogue) they have folding arms.
Any picture or references to confirm or dispel my thoughts would be welcome. 8)
Cheers
Andy

 

[AndyT]

Hi Andy

I can't add much if anything, but I think you are on to something.

Like you, all the images I can find online are of the sort that is in the 1909 catalogue, with the folding arms. For example, here https://www.the-saleroom.com/fr-fr/auct ... 310163a411 from a 2014 David Stanley sale (hammer price £120).

But that folding arm pattern has a square edged stop in the middle for the short ends of the arms to pivot up against. Yours doesn't have that.

To be honest, apart from a quick check on the saw set collectors site to make sure that I had identified it correctly, I had not studied the pictures much. I'd assumed that it was missing the folding arms, and so of less interest, not more. Bad assumption!

I know you have the Rees reprint of the 1909 Preston catalogue, but I will repeat some of what Mark Rees wrote there for the benefit of those who have not yet bought their own copies. (Hint! - it's worth getting.) The company history is complicated; it was started in 1825 by Edward Preston, Senior. A second business, also selling tools, was started in 1864 by one of his sons, Edward Preston Junior. Edward Senior retired in 1875 and from 1875 to 1883 his original business was carried on by another son, Henry. The two businesses were eventually merged in 1883 and continued to trade as Edward Preston and Sons.

In the reprint, there is a reproduction of Henry Preston's catalogue of 1875. Unfortunately, there were no pictures, but it did include an entry

Punch saw sets (PRESTON'S PATENT) 5/- [see page xxii of the reprint]

At that price, it cost as much as an iron bullnose or chariot plane, so I think it is quite possible that the listing refers to the sort of punch set we are talking about here. So this is probably an earlier date for a cast iron hammer punch saw set made by Preston - but it is impossible to say what arrangement of arms it had.

However, given that all the easily compared examples are of the same type (ie with folding arms) it does seem plausible to think that the one you now have is an earlier and therefore rarer design and may have been the invention of Edward Senior, unless Henry had recently thought of it. (He was 31 in 1875.)

(Btw, Mark also noted the practice of marking tools as "patent" even if no patent had been registered. He didn't find a patent for the saw set in his searches, and nor have I in the somewhat incomplete digitised records available on line.)

So let's see some more pictures of your own, when you finish wrapping everybody else's presents. And yes, I'm glad it got bought by someone who appreciates it.

 

[toolsntat]

Good on you Andy for putting that info out there for the masses and thanks for the additional snippet regarding possible earlier dating .
After getting to the bottom of another stack of tat, I found the relevant Stanley catalogue for the sale where a massive collection of EP stuff was sold. Unfortunately the pictures in these earlier cats are not that clear and of the 4 offered, 2 may have been without arms. If they are different it was not by model number as they quote the same for them all.
Need to talk to another EP collector I know who may have the answer.
Yes, need to get the pics sorted.....
Cheers
Andy

 

[toolsntat]

Did I forget something #-o

 

[VintageToolsNorthampton]

Hi all! I picked up this Preston Hammer Saw Set for restoration; does anyone have any information on it or a copy of the patent? I want to get it up & running! I think it is missing a spring and the tension wheel. Many thanks in advance!





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[toolsntat]

I wondered where that might show up....
As far as I'm aware up until now this version is undocumented.
I'll come back to this later. Thanks for posting.
Cheers, Andy