Pass me the Eclipse, lad

No votes so I went with saws. What can I say? I like saws.


I regret to say there's not one saw here that isn't unhappy in one way of another. The inevitable "nest o'saws" with the inevitable bent-to-blazes blades, a rip saw that's virtually worn to the nubbin (never thought to see the like in a rip saw), Disston D8 (yawn, yawn, boring, etc ;-) in something of a wibbly condition and also not a little worn. What else, well my first wooden handled hacksaw (hard to believe); naturally it's an Eclipse, a 60B in fact. Hmm, that's another "B" model in tools there. Anyway, what I don't understand is how it is in Britain we still call hacksaws, well, hacksaws. Eclipse ones are so ubiquitous I'm surprised we didn't go the same way as "Hoover" for vacuum cleaner. Of course the saw set's an Eclipse 77 as well, so maybe that answers my question. No good saying "pass me the Eclipse, lad" 'cos it'd be 50/50 whether you'd get a hacksaw or a saw set... But I digress.

The backsaws are slightly more promising but still require TLC. The 14" I Sorby has evidentally had its nuts tampered with (oo-er, matron) and the handle's a little loose, while the 8" dovetail has lost a split nut and the handle's a little messed-up. Stamped Williams, London, which is exercising me somewhat as the only one in Hand-saw Makers of Britain seems a little early. On the other hand he/they've popped up elsewhere which suggests to me that maybe they were a dealer or rebadging outfit of some sort. I dunno though, maybe things are a bit older than I suppose? Diving deeper into the evidence as we go along is half the fun. In a way it'd be better for the saw to be younger because then I'd have fewer qualms about doing what's necessary to get it back to being a fine saw. Assuming it cleans up okay...

Lastly I'm sure a few readers can identify the saw bottom right - go on, we know you want to tell us. Given the roofing material of choice for farm buildings in these parts it's a surprise I don't see them more often. Anyone used one in anger?

And finally, belatedly I've noticed the visitor counter went over the 50,000 mark sometime this week so a good moment to thank all those people who've been at a loose enough end to read these Musings, especially those who've commented either on here or via email. It's nice to know I'm not just talking to myself :)

On the other hand maybe it's horribly embarrassing that someone else is reading this...