Hand-Saw Makers of Britain

by Erv Schaffer & Don McConnell

A book very similar in style and content, Hand-Saw Makers of Britain chronicles the history and occurrences of makers found in the British Isles.

The 105 page work opens with a brief introduction of saw making in Britain, discussing the four centers of production located in London, Sheffield, Birmingham and Glasgow. Included is a “style guide” which describes the various design characteristics of saws and the time periods in which they were popular.

Next are 77 pages of the Saw Maker’s Checklist, organized very similarly to the Hand-Saw Makers of North America above. Included is the maker�s name, location, period of documentation and any reference material which backs up the observation. Did you know that organized saw making dates back to the 1660s? Find out who those makers were. Saws from the 17th century are nearly non-existent, but examples do turn up. Do you have a museum quality piece in your collection or basement? This book will help you find out.

After the checklist are a number of pages of advertisements which mainly date from the mid to late 1800s. It is interesting to see the advertisements as one gets a very good sense of just how competitive saw making in Britain was.

Finally, like all good research books, the last pages contain reference materials for further study and investigation.

If you are interested in saws made in Britain, or have some that you need to date, you definitely need this book.