OT - old handsaw

Haven't got a clue what "split nuts are", sorry - could be a language problem. ;-)

As for age, tool manufacture in the UK is now confined to a few large companies however even until as recently as the 1960s when the effects of socialism truly began to bite a lot of smaller companies managed to soldier on, often producing very old designs. For instance, in one exteem case I know of one company in Lee (London) that is (or at least was until 1998 - my last visit) still producing gas valves to a design they first patented in the 18 hundreds even to teh extent of hand cutting the gearing and making the springs themselves so the archaic "split nut" my not be an accurate indicator. Remember the engineers maxim, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". ;-)

One place you may try posting is news:free.uk.diy.home there's a reasonable chance a tool collector may be hanging around who's in a position to advise. Out of interest what kind of saw is it?

Sheffield was (and remains) an important center for tool making in Great Britain. In the Victorian England there were literally 100s of small companies producing tools to standard patterns. There is a reference to a razor manufacturer called Joseph Haywood & Co at the Glamorgan Works, Pond St, Sheffield. The company ceased trading in the 1880s. Its not beyond the bounds of possibilty that a razor maker would also turn out saw blades. These may have been sold unmounted as replacement blades or the handles fitted by another company. You didn't say what kind of saw it was.

Les Pickstock wrote: There is a reference to a

This page also refers to dining cutlery being made my J Haywood and Co. so a jack of all trades.

My thanks to you both. That should set the upper limit on the date of manufacture.

For those who asked what kind of saw, once again we're separated by a common language :-). In the US, a handsaw is the 24"-30" blade carpenters saw, either rip or crosscut. Other saws are tenon saws, backsaws, coping saws, dozukis, hacksaws, etc..

As far as "split nuts", it's like a slotted machine screw but the middle part of the slot is missing. The only way to take one out without destroying it is to make an old chisel into a screwdriver and cut a slot in the middle of its blade to fit over the "missing" part of the slot. I have no idea what nut (pun intended) thought that up or what side of the pond he was from :-).

Now I'll wait for somebody to ask me what a machine screw is :-).

In message , lgb writes

That sounds just like the screwdriver used for fixing Romford driving wheels onto their axles, except much bigger (the Romford screwdriver blade is just 1/8" wide).

As for why it was done that way, it was probably for security: I would imagine it could be very dangerous if someone was able to loosen the nuts themselves and didn't tighten them properly again before using the saw.

Mr.lbblanch, you sound like someone who would know a hawk from a handsaw. Regards, Bill.

Think of it like those lose leaf binder book's, The not is long and the screw part fits inside so that its hidden below the top of the Handel.

For those who asked what kind of saw, once again we're separated by a common language :-). In the US, a handsaw is the 24"-30" blade carpenters saw, either rip or crosscut. Other saws are tenon saws, backsaws, coping saws, dozukis, hacksaws, etc..

OK! Now thats what I learned to call a Panel Saw. But what the devil is a dozukis?

A Japanese pull saw and a panel saw is a short about 12" handsaw. and a relatively new addition

The guy that I served my time with always called it a panel saw. It's another one of those little differences that you find all over. A good example is the back saw where I trained they always called those a dovetail saw.

Over here, tenon/dovetail/gents are all backsaws. Any saw with a reinforced upper edge is a back saw.

I've got a 30" backsaw (yes, that's thirty inches) that goes with an old cast iron miter (mitre) box from 1900 or so. I love it for cutting molding - or benchwork, to be more on topic. One stroke cuts through molding and 2 or 3 will cut a 1x2 :-).

One of those backwards Japanese saws perhaps?

Cool! I've only seen one of those once before about 30 years ago. The old guy who owned it used to call it a "coffin" saw because the guy who trained him called it that.

Still have mine somewhere. I assumed the design was to prevent the driver slipping and damaging the wheel face. In the case of the saw it would prevent damage to the wooden handle. My old quality saws have plain slots but the srews sit in brass cups.

Ken.

If we're talking slotted nuts, then the nut is designed to be let into the wooden handle so that it does not interfere with the hand holding the saw. The machine screw goes through the other side and, if the lengths are correct, would come through to be flush with the top/outside of the nut and stop a screwdriver entering the slot in the nut. If the screw is shorter it doesn't engage all the threads in the nut and so is liable to be stripped. A similar nut is familiar to m/r fans in the form of Romford loco drivers.

Regards, Greg.P.

Interesting, and a very plausible explanation. Thanks.

I took one of the screws out of one of my saws today. The slotted nut was a length two-thirds that of the handle thickness and stepped so that the head sat in the brass cup. There is a small axial hole which may have been used to locate the driver or maybe to add oil through if the assembly seizes. The screw was similarly located and sized and screwed into the internally threaded nut. The nut is of similar design and dimensions (except for length) to that holding the handle of my Stanley jack plane, bought around 1958 (I think Stanley still use the same item).

Ken.

Someone with a practical bent thought about that at the design stage! Nowadays, if the rivets work loose the plastic handle splits and you buy a new saw. :-(