Old coping saw, but how old?

[ED65]

Very slim pickings at last weekend's local car boot but I did manage to find this for not too much:

No blade-fitting mechanism, the blades simply slip into one of a pair of slots & recesses:

Which I believe means the saw uses loop-end blades. Anyone have any info on when this style of blade stopped being produced?

 

[AndyT]

I'd never heard of looped blades before, but I think you are right. I reckon it could be a Millers Falls No 40 which I found in the 1935 Buck and Hickman catalogue*. Here it is in the MF catalogue of 1939:

It could be earlier or later than that of course, but this should help your search for info.

* The ordinary pattern for pinned end blades was the same price, 2/6.

 

[MusicMan]

Doesn't it just use blades with a small rod (peg) inserted across each end, the tension being provided by the bending of the frame? We used to have one that took blades like that.

 

[AndyT]

No, the MF No 50 blades did indeed have loops at the ends. Apparently they used to be available as an alternative to the ordinary sort with transverse pins but a quick search shows a few bits of old stock on eBay and people wondering if it's time to change their favourite old coping saws...

 

[MusicMan]

Thanks, Andy, a fount of knowledge as usual!

 

[Rhyolith]

All hail the mighty Andy!

 

[AndyT]

Here's a picture showing the looped blades, from the same 1939 Millers Falls catalogue. Maybe people liked them for being a bit slimmer and so better at cutting tight curves.

Looking at the Buck and Hickman catalogue from 1953, the Millers Falls frame and looped blades are no longer listed. There is just the familiar Eclipse brand, with only one size of blade, at 16s per gross.

I've also found a 1912 MF catalogue (from Gary Roberts) which shows the model 40 frame, so Ed's frame could be as old as that. It's not shown in a 1904 catalogue, which did include fretsaws, hacksaws, turning saws and piercing saws.

 

[ED65]

Thanks Andy, you're a gem. I was thinking I'd seen something with the right silhouette before in an old catalogue and had a vague notion it was an American catalogue but a check of my best guesses, the Disston and Sargent ones, drew a blank and ditto all the others I had including my last hope, Goodell-Pratt.

Doesn't it just use blades with a small rod (peg) inserted across each end, the tension being provided by the bending of the frame?

It did in its day (at least one type, their nomenclature the type 60) but modern coping saw blades have pins that are too long. And in the case of any wider blade the pins are set too far from the back edge so even if ground shorter they wouldn't engage in the recesses.