Simonds Handsaws
Below is the 1919 lineup of the Simonds brand woodworking handsaws. At this time, Simonds was producing the greatest variety of saws. Simonds made several second-quality lines of handsaws, which I am not including on this page. The 1889 catalogue does not list any handsaws. According to Erv Schaffer in Hand-Saw Makers of North America, Simonds manufactured handsaws at least between 1910 and 1926. However, he also includes an ad from around 1903 that shows a very early looking version of the #9 saw. Based on my research, it is believed that Simonds produced handsaws between 1901 and 1926.
All of the following saws have Simonds Warranted Special Crucible Steel, Simonds Patented Temper, and are taper ground. Simonds did not make distinctions between cast steel, refined cast steel, London spring steel, extra refined London spring steel, etc., like Disston did, but clearly the more expensive saws, especially the "Blue Ribbon" saws, used a higher quality steel than the cheaper saws. The 61 and 5 look identical, but the 61 was $36/dozen, while the 5 was $29/dozen. It seems most likely that steel quality and possibly the amount of polishing, etc. accounts for that difference.
I have included pictures of saws from my collection under the drawings.
Someday I hope to have one saw of each model (or at least a picture of each!)
|
Model
|
Style
|
Handle
|
Carving
|
Finish on Blade
|
Cost for 26" (per dozen)
|
|
61
|
"Blue Ribbon" |
apple
|
flat and grip
|
high gloss
|
$36
|
|
|
|||||
|
361
|
"Blue Ribbon"
narrow straight back |
apple
|
flat and grip
|
high gloss
|
$36
|
 |
|||||
|
62
|
skew back
"Blue Ribbon" |
apple
|
flat and grip
|
high gloss
|
$36
|
|
|
|||||
|
362
|
narrow skew back
"Blue Ribbon" |
apple
|
flat and grip
|
high gloss
|
$36
|
 |
|||||
|
71
|
straight back
"Blue Ribbon" |
apple
|
grip
|
n/a
|
$30
|
 |
|||||
|
371
|
narrow straight back
"Blue Ribbon" |
apple
|
grip
|
n/a
|
$30
|
  |
|||||
|
72
|
skew back
"Blue Ribbon" |
apple
|
grip
|
n/a
|
$30
|
|
 |
|||||
|
372
|
narrow skew back
"Blue Ribbon" |
apple
|
grip
|
n/a
|
$30
|
 |
|||||
|
4 |
skew back
|
apple
|
flat and grip
|
high gloss
|
$29
|
 |
|||||
|
5
|
straight back
|
apple
|
flat and grip
|
high gloss
|
$29
|
|
 |
|||||
|
7
|
straight back
|
apple
|
grip
|
n/a
|
$22.50
|
|
 |
|||||
|
7 1/2
|
narrow straight back
|
apple
|
grip
|
n/a
|
$22.50
|
 |
|||||
|
8
|
skew back
|
apple
|
none
|
n/a
|
$22.50
|
 |
|||||
|
9
|
narrow skew back
|
apple
|
none
|
n/a
|
$22.50
|
|
 |
|||||
|
10
|
straight back
|
beech
|
none
|
n/a
|
$20
|
|
 |
|||||
|
10 1/2
|
skew back
|
beech
|
none
|
n/a
|
$20
|
|
|
|||||
All drawings are from the 1919
catalog, which has been reprinted by Roger K. Smith.
This is an absolutely wonderful reprint, with 195 pages of everything Simonds,
and I highly recommend it.
If you are at all interested in Simonds, you have to own this catalog!