Robert Sorby Saws


DaveT

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I've been perusing ebay for some tools and came across this. It has to be worth a punt at that price but my question is:

 

Are Robert Sorby saws generally good?

 

To be honest, anything has to be better than the B&Q special that I'm using at the moment. I even resort to the saw on my Leatherman every now and then.

 

Dave

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Hi Dave. Robert Sorby were indeed a fine maker of saws but sadly don't make them anymore. However the Robert Sorby company still exist and come under the banner of Flinn-Garlick based in Sheffield.

The saw you linked to has a damaged handle and probably is in need of a lot of attention from a saw doctor. The plate is quite badly corroded but that isn't a show stopper. It is also a rip saw rather than a cross cut saw. The B&Q special you have will (99% sure) be a crosscut saw as purchasing rip saws from big box stores like B&Q is almost impossible. A new quality rip saw will cost in the region of £100 in the 26" length. I've not seen one longer than 26" retailing new for years.

If you are into collecting old tools, prepared to repair the handle and have it professionally sharpened then go for it. Some people like to sharpen saws themselves and there is lots of information on how to do it on the forum and the internet.

Alternatively buy a new one from Flinn-Garlick or if money is no object from Lie Nielson.

 

I use cheap hardpoint crosscut saws nowadays to crosscut rough stock. I had a quality ripsaw many years ago but disposed of it as I thought is wasn't sharp when crosscutting! That was in the DIY days before I took up woodworking and found out what a rip saw actually is. Boy I wish I still had that saw now.

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These saws have the best steel that handsaws have ever had.  They don't have the collector value that other old saws have, so you can often find them fairly cheap.  I use handsaws a lot in what I do for a living. They can be sharpened sharper than any other handsaw, and will hold the edge longer.  The handles are kind of funky, but I don't buy them for the handles.  Once in a while, they can be found in new condition, still in the paper sleeve, but they usually go for a couple of hundred dollars.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Sandvik-Hand-Saw-No-271-Swedish-/111317437359

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These saws have the best steel that handsaws have ever had.  They don't have the collector value that other old saws have, so you can often find them fairly cheap.  I use handsaws a lot in what I do for a living. They can be sharpened sharper than any other handsaw, and will hold the edge longer.  The handles are kind of funky, but I don't buy them for the handles.  Once in a while, they can be found in new condition, still in the paper sleeve, but they usually go for a couple of hundred dollars.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Sandvik-Hand-Saw-No-271-Swedish-/111317437359

Thanks for posting this Tom! I have been wanting to pick up a couple Sandvik hand saws for a while now and added this one to my watch list. 

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Thanks for the feedback folks. I've been reading the links provided and I'm definitely keeping an eye on this one. As long as nobody starts bidding silly money I should be OK.

 

In the meantime I just bought the saws below for £10 including delivery. I haven't got any other info so I'll just have to wait and see what turns up. If nothing else they should give me something to practice cleaning and setting on.

 

 

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Well the two saws above have arrived.

 

The short one has a 12" blade set as a crosscut saw. It has no markings that I can see and is covered in rust with some pitting. A brief test cut showed that it cuts better than anything else I have at the moment despite some very worn teeth.

 

The longer one is a bit of a surprise though. It has a medallion bearing the Triskellion (three legged) trademark of J Tyzack & Son of Sheffield and is 22". Checking all the sources I could find online the only thing I can say for certain is that it was made after 1847. Info on J Tyzack seems to be a bit scarce.

 

The teeth on it are so worn down that I can't see with the naked eye how it has been sharpened and I haven't tried a test cut for the same reason. The blade is in a similar state to the other with slightly heavier rusting around the handle. There is also a brass ring underneath the medallion which has some writing on it but again, not possible to make it out with the naked eye.

 

I plan on firing up the big computer later today and will try to do some scans of the blades/handles/medallions. That should give me the best resolution/chance of making out the text.

 

I'm still waiting to see if I get the Sorby one and I've got to go look at some other old saws next week (they were used by a man in his 90s down the coal mines) so it looks like my workshop that I was planning is now going to become a saw restoration shop!

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Finaly got the Robert Sorby saw. It is a monster. Got some very strange looks walking through the middle of Edinburgh carying a 27" saw with some cardboard wrapped around it :D

 

Back of the handle showing a missing nut. The dark area under the middle nut is what looks like a clamp mark of some kind - there is a corresponding mark on the other side.
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Close-up of the nuts. Not seen these type beforeI'm assuming (?) that they are split nuts. The other side is flat and level with the handle.

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The medallion. Pretty grimy looking and I couldn't get it any sharper. The center is recessed about 1mm and the edges are flush with the handle. The wording around the edges is 'CORPORATE MARK' at the top and 'KANGAROO' at the bottom. In the middle is - yes you guessed it, a kangaroo.

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Makers mark (stamped) on the blade. Can't see it very well in the pisture but is is quite clear to the naked eye (need to learn how to use the scanner properly).

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The blade does have quite a lot of pitting - especially at the toe, but there are only small spots of rust. There are no kinks in the blade and it has a straight back with a nib 21/2" from the toe. All the teeth are there and they do look in good condition but the set on them seems a bit strange. Rather than the whole tooth being bent over, it is only the top 1mm or so (teeth are about 5mm long at 5ppi rip). I thought that the tooth was meant to be bent closer to the body of the blade.

 

The missing piece of handle seems to be relatively recent - no discolouration, and was at least partly cut. The handle also has JAS RODGER stamped into it twice on each side. I'm assuming that was a previous owner. No signs of any insect damage.

 

That's about all I know of it at the moment and I haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do with it yet. WD40 on the blade to stop any further rust but after that (somebody did suggest I learn to play it in a kilt for the Edinburgh Festival).

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