A pair of early 19th.C. saws

[george wilson]

These saws are copies of my 2 favorite Grove saws,which I was lucky to find several years apart. The larger one had a big curve in the blade,but I jerked it straight.(I mean the original). They had steel backs and beechwood handles,though. I think the closed handle they used is one of the most artistic I've ever seen. The open one is,too,but not as unique as the closed one. The old handle has some nice details,though,which I included.

I have said I don't like to copy,but some things are just so nice that they have to be copied.Now,you see,I have them,but in new condition! Some other time,I'll post both the originals and copys together.

These have faceted backs of 260 brass,and cast screws of the same. The backs were folded,then freehand ground on the belt grinder to get the facets. I left the blades blue.The dovetail saw is .015" thick,as is the original. It cuts to a very thin line,and makes very accurate work easier.

[Jameel Abraham]

It's such a pleasure to look at fine work...

[Rick Mellin]

Those are absolutely beautiful, great job.

[Brian Kent]

Beautiful wood and beautiful work. Why do these two saws have such radically different handle angles? Different work positions for different jobs?

[george wilson]

The originals were thus. I must photograph the old with the new copies.

[Clay Thigpen]

If I had 2 saws like that in my shop I don't think I'd get any work done, I'd spend all my time trying to decide which one I wanted to use. I'll be the first to say that I know very little about the different saw makers that have existed in the past but I had never heard of Grove. That's closed Handel IS very artistic I love the tongue on it.

[Ray Gardiner]

Hi George,

Beautiful work, I really like those early Richard Groves handle patterns. I like the way you've done the faceting on the folded brass backs, that treatment gives it a look that's a bit reminiscent of slit brass backs. A good comparison to make would be to compare with the Lie Nielsen DT saw, since it is also based on the Groves handle pattern and uses curly maple.

I note that you used cast screws, I'm intrigued, did you cast them yourself?

Regards
Ray

[Tony Zaffuto]

George,

As the others have said, those saws are drop dead gorgeous!

Question: In your opinion, did the 18th and 19th century sawsmiths put as much effort into the aesthetics of saws as the modern makers do?

Thanks,

Tony

[Ken Werner]

Wow George. Wow. Thanks for the inspiration.

[george wilson]

Tony,I am sure the clientele was more used to high quality,and the makers were too,and had to compete with each other. Artistic standards were simply higher at the time in most things. Today,technological standards prevail. Electronics can do amazing things,but design is suffering. Maybe that is a reason why "retro" designing is popular.

[Gary Herrmann]

Wow. Tools as art.

[george wilson]

Thanks,Gary. I am glad you liked them.Personally,I regard planes as the "king" of tools,because,as a designer,I can do so much more with them. They are more 3 dimensional,and have more parts do deal with to create an overall harmonius blend of features. On a saw,the handle is mostly what you have to expound upon.

[Jim Kountz]

George your work is just ridiculous!! They just keep getting better and better. If a saw of that quality could be bought somewhere I cant imagine what the price would be!! Well worth it though Im sure of that.

[Zahid Naqvi]

George, I too have enjoyed seeing all the planes and saws you have posted recently. Most of them are now linked to the FAQs sticky at the top of the forum.

[george wilson]

Zahid,that was very kind of you. The trouble with these threads is that they soon vanish as more posts are added. There will be more,and much better work to see,once I figure out how to get photos from the scanner into the Mac. Also,I need to get some of my slides onto a disc. Then,I have to take more photos so I can reduce their file size,because they exceed the forums limit.