W. Marples & Sons Bow Saw

[rxh]

We have all heard of Frankenplanes but this appears to be a Frankensaw, made of parts from at least three saws. I found it in a second hand tool shop as a bundle of bits. Both the uprights are stamped “W. Marples & Sons Sheffield Eng.” but their distances from mortice to blade are different. The “tensioning stick” was a crudely sawn bit of mahogany so I made a replacement of beech. All the other wooden parts are beech except for one of the knobs, which is of boxwood and presumably originally belonged to a superior grade of tool. One of the uprights is stamped “LCC” which I guess may mean London County Council. I scraped off the remains of horrible brittle varnish. It all goes together to make a saw that is useful although rather strange. I can’t complain for £2.

 

[Bluekingfisher]

I have a few Bow saws of varying dimensions. Surprisingly accurate an easy to use. I bought a couple quite recently from the Bay. I think £11 was the most I paid. I suspect if Paul Sellers starts using them in his videos regularly, then the popularity will increase with the price rising accordingly.

The blades are easy to sharpen, just as well as I have not come across a supplier (although I have not looked to hard as I sharpen my own).

As far as he medley of parts are concerned, who knows how the saw came to be prior to it coming into your possession. However I suspect the story would be interesting.

Have fun using it