Stainless steel tenon saw

[Cheshirechappie]

I'm not sure what the situation was in 1930, but today there are a great variety of grades of stainless steel available. Some grades of stainless are used for springs; it could be that they would make decent saw blades, too. I can see the potential attractions in - for example - a marine or outdoor site environment, but other than those I'm not sure there would be any real benefit.

Given the very conservative nature of the average British workman, I'm not surprised they didn't really catch on, but it's good to see that at least some examples have survived.

 

[JIJ]

I sold a SS panel saw very similar to Andy's one recently, except the maker was T S Kaye, Hull. They were a cutlery maker. It had the same 'Finest quality Stainless steel Keeps an excellent edge' stamp. It had a stamp on the right side of the makers mark too, something about 'For beauty of finish, workmanship and quality this saw is unequelled' . I regret selling it now as it went for peanuts, it looked great on display.

 

[AndyT]

Snap! Mine has the same words as yours on the right hand side but my photo was out of focus so I didn't include it.
I guess we've just provided yet more evidence that a relatively small number of actual makers would add any factor's or retailer's name to their saws. If they were only offered for a short period I guess it's quite possible that there was only one maker using stainless steel.

 

[AndyT]

I've just got round to checking the 1938 Marples catalogue for stainless steel backsaws like the one in the original ebay sale.
I can confirm that they were listed on p 72 as joiner's saws, definitely not in with the butcher's saws.
They were the most expensive option, costing more than what was listed as "best quality" with a brass back.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I'll have a guess they went out of production during WW2 (saving scarce materials for the war effort).

The nearest I've seen to a stainless steel saw since then was reference in a small booklet by Spear and Jackson entitled 'Concerning Saws' - no date of publication, but it looks 1970s ish - which refers to their top-of-the-range New Spearior R88, which has a 'special abrasion and rust-resistant hard-chromed blade with teeth that cut faster and stay sharp up to three times longer than a conventional saw.' No undue modesty there then!