Another rusty saw (Thos B Hawksworth)

[ajmacleod]

As mentioned in another thread I was inspired the other week to rescue this little saw from a trip to the bin - I've seen it hanging uselessly on a very salty wall for several years now and always thought it far too rusty, bent and wormy (not to mention small) to be worth saving. Reading a little bit about saws recently though, I noticed the nib on the back suggesting it was a fair bit older than I'd first imagined.

What convinced me to try and rescue it was simply picking it up and holding it - the handle is incredibly comfortable, a different league to the (much more modern) saws I've used; it really does just feel like a made to measure extension of my hand.

Apologies for the pictures, poor fluorescent lighting partly to blame (incompetent photographer mostly to blame)

As found (picture actually makes it look better than it was!)



Straightened, significant rust removed, teeth levelled a bit, sharpened and set, and handle refinished (picture naturally now makes it look worse than it is)



The best shot I could get of the etch (I was amazed that the etch was still there, given how bad the rust was)



As you can see someone has replaced one of the screws with a nut and bolt (they had the class to use a brass nut!) but as there was no chance of me removing the handle without destroying it and everything was nice and tight, I was happy to leave well-ish alone.

Now the questions... the plate is 10" long and was sharpened with 10 TPI - I don't have calipers here but it's against a rule it's around 0.5mm thick. What is this type of saw called and what would it have been used for? I've seen small saws like this called pruning saws but can't imagine it being much use for that based on my experiences of pruning trees.

Does anyone else have a Hawksworth saw? I see from this http://www.backsaw.net/index.php?option=com_fireboard&func=view&catid=5&id=30&limitstart=10 thread on backsaw.net that the name seems to stretch between 1856 and 1887 ish.

I was most surprised at how well the terrible bends in the plate came out with nothing more than careful reverse bending; the teeth are still a wee bit uneven in height (given the limited depth of the plate I was reluctant to take too much off) but it cuts well and leaves a very clean, narrow kerf.

Not entirely sure what I'll use it for but if nothing else the handle is a perfect pattern for me to copy...

 

[swb58]

I've seen them referred to as Grafting saws. Available in 10, 12 and 14 inches.

Don't know whether 'grafting' refers to the saw or the sawyer! Looks like it's in a better place now though, nice job.

 

[midnightlunchbox]

I can't lend much to the thread as far as restoring or identifying the saw but my dad has an old Disston panel saw which has been sharpened so often it is a similar shape to this one, very pointy. He used to cut curves out of ply for shuttering with it! Once you get this cleaned up and sharpened I'm sure you will use it loads.

 

[AndyT]

Well, that's a worthwhile rescue job, well done!

I've looked in British Saws and Saw Makers and this is what I have found. Thomas Buxton Hawksworth was a partner in the Sheffield firm of Wilson, Hawksworth and Ellison. Simon Barley writes

Probably the son of a filemaker, even though on the face of it he would be more likely a relative of the founder [John Wilson Hawksworth]; he is listed first in 1841 as a clerk and then in 1853, still as a clerk, but without any indication of where he was employed, and living at an address adjacent to Joshua Moss... In 1884 the firm was named with him as first partner; he died in 1888. Saws with his name alone have been recorded in the USA.

So yours is an unusual example, not exported!

As to the type of saw, the book contains a useful survey of the types of saw shown in old tool catalogues, and looking at the pictures, I agree that your saw is probably a grafting saw. The terminology is muddled and can be confusing; Simon Barley notes that it is hard to see the difference between illustrations captioned as Pruning Saw, Table Saw, Grafting Saw and even Egg Box Saw! He does also note that although the term 'grafting' could refer to the horticultural practice of grafting one sort of tree onto another's rootstock (as is commonly done with apple trees) a small, fine handsaw seems an odd tool to use on wet, living wood. He points to an explanation in Salaman's Dictionary which says that the term 'grafting' is also used by some tradesmen to refer to the action of inserting new sound wood as a repair, where presumably a small handy saw would be suitable.

(To me, this is all further evidence of what a useful book BSSM is. If you need to know about other makers, trace the changes in handle design or learn how to tell a Monkey Saw from a Jungle Saw, you need this book!)

 

[ajmacleod]

Hmm, that is interesting, thanks - I never imagined it might be anything more than slightly common as I know roughly where it came from and there were very little "good" or unusual tools along with it. Quality-wise, am I right to suppose it'd have been considered decent but not special when it was new?

I did see the book on sawmakers advertised and it does look like an interesting work - however I was hoping to avoid becoming some kind of saw anorak and I fear the book may have a bad influence on me! Probably better that I practice using the things to better effect!

I like the second explanation for grafting, and it makes a lot of sense when holding and using this saw - it has that low nose which allows better access into tight spaces than, say, a similarly fine toothed backsaw and I can see how the fine kerf it leaves would be ideal for "surgical" woodworking. I'm glad I rescued it now!

One other thing I forgot to mention was a mark above the main etch, some sort of crown mark (almost like a less stylised version of the crown in this one

, without the halves of the crown being splayed out) Is that part of the maker's etch or does it signify something else?

 

[AndyT]

Again, repeating what I have learnt from the book, the use of one, or sometimes three crown marks was very common on Sheffield saws throughout the nineteenth century. It seems never to have been part of any formal or informal quality grading, just something that was always done.

 

[Mr_P]

Excellent job you've done =D>

Mr Pot here, first name Crack so time for another theory.

Chances are you've all seen the odd antique programme on TV and chances are they picked up a piece of silver with an anchor hallmark which means it was made in Birmingham but did you know the silver hallmark for Sheffield is a Crown.
Coincidence ????

 

[AndyT]

I bagsy one of those silver saws! No rust!! ;-)

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Holtzappfel ('Turning and Mechanical Manipulation' Volume 2, 1847, page 699) gives a table of the types of 'Taper saws, mostly without frames'. One type he lists is 'Chest saw (for tool chests)', having a blade 10 - 20 inches long.

From the photos above, the 'etch' has the appearance more of a stamp. If that's the case (slightly deeper indentation), it would suggest a saw made earlier than about 1860, which makes it not far off contemporaneous with Holtzappfel's book. The saw has the look of that era about it.

PS - I agree wholeheartedly about the ergonomics of these mid-19th century saw handles. Far better than most modern ones. Why it is that the design of saw-handles went steadily backwards for a century and a half until the old patterns were revived recently by the bespoke makers must remain a matter for wonder and speculation.

 

[ajmacleod]

I did manipulate the etch/stamp image contrast and sharpness a little bit to bring out as much detail as I could but I think you could be right, it possibly is a stamp. The rust was certainly so bad that I could hardly believe there was any marking to be found underneath so a more significant stamp impression might well explain that...

 

[bugbear]

...I think you could be right, it possibly is a stamp.

Sorry all; to me it was so obviously a stamp, I didn't mention it explicitly :-(

BugBear (with very few stamped saws, and I didn't know the date implications)

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Simon Barley writes on the WK Fine Tools site that acid etching was first used in Sheffield on a saw in 1849, and taken up fairly enthusiastically during the 1850s. The reason for using the (fairly complicated, but relatively unskilled) etch was, I think, twofold - firstly, it avoided the need to smith the saw flat again after stamping it (a skilled task), and secondly, it allowed far more elaborate and artistic marks. Thus, a fancier product with fewer skilled and expensive manufacturing operations.

http://www.wkfinetools.com/hUK/z-UKRead ... Simon1.asp

 

[bugbear]

Worn stamps are hard to photograph but with axial lighting I get:

Looks like a second stamp has been used for initials to the left of Kenyon - "P K" "R K" or "F K" perhaps?. The spacing
of the crowns seems to indicate that this second stamp is contemporaneous with the rest.

BugBear