Can anyone identify this old saw?

[Sandyn]

I am refurbishing this old saw. Can anyone suggest what it might have been used for originally?

Every part of it is substantial cast iron. It is coarse industrial design, but comes to bits very easily. It's a bit quirky. It is made for a much larger blade than the one fitted. The table top is hinged at the left hand side and there is an adjustment knob at the right side, so by turning the knob, the table tilts, which effectively changes the blade height, but that doesn't make sense as a blade adjustment? There is about 9 inches of adjustment.
The large bit on the top is the fence, which attaches to the round bit on the rail at the right side. There's a knob on the end of the rail which gives about 2 inches fine adjustment on the fence. There are no manufacturers marks, apart from the motor.

The motor is single phase 1.5hp and massive.

 

[Adam W.]

It looks like a masonry saw.

 

[Sandyn]

Thanks, Hadn't thought of that! That would possibly account for how strong it is made, but the top doesn't show signs of wear I would expect with stone. It has the typical coating of thickish black crud from years of wood passing over it,

 

[clogs]

nice find....wish it was mine.....

 

[Adam W.]

Thanks, Hadn't thought of that! That would possibly account for how strong it is made, but the top doesn't show signs of wear I would expect with stone. It has the typical coating of thickish black crud from years of wood passing over it,

I was thinking bricks, not stone, as that would need a much larger saw. The 9"x 2" is a bit of a clue.

 

[Sandyn]

9X2 never thought of that. Definitely a possibility. If a sled was used, there wouldn't be wear on the table anyway. I have seen one other image of a similar saw, but still searching.
From the design of the fence, it seems to be designed to have an initial set, with about 2 inches about that point. Every time you do the initial fence set up, you would have to check it is square to the table, but once that's done, you can move it +/- 1".
By adding one tapped hole the fence would stay true over the full width adjustment, so it was never designed to be easy to change.

 

[cowtown_eric]

???Printers saw. To cut lead slugs for filling out set type.

Look for little shards of lead in the corners underneath.

Used to have a printers saw, but not with that angled attachment

Eric

 

[Sandyn]

Thanks. An interesting idea. I looked and no sign of any lead on the saw, but it could have gone years ago. I have taken it to bits and examined how it all goes together. It's pretty crude manufacturing. Not designed for precision. The fence is about 1 degree off the blade. I have seen other example of saws where the blade height is adjusted by sloping the table. Taking all that into consideration, it could be an early Asian copy of a British saw.