Trollhatten No 278 Saw ?
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Anyone know the history or background of this saw? Most of the etch is visible on this 26″ 7 TPI rip saw I picked up at an “antique” (i.e. junk) shop on Vancouver Island, Canadae. Says its made by A.B. Stridsberg & Biork, Trollhatten Sweden. In the center of the etch the is “Tap_____” , then a round circle with a picture of a man?, then “Guaranteed” on the right hand side. On the reverse side near the heel of the plate is 3 over 26 separated by a horizontal line. I’m guessing this was for the export market, as words other than proper names are in English.
Would be interested in when this might have been made, and if these saws are at all common. Will have to make a new handle for it as the bottom horn was completely broken off and MIA.
Stridsberg & bjork made saws in Trollhattan from the 1870s to well into the 1980’s. The man in the circle is sawing wood on a saw buck ( picture attached.)
They started exporting about 1885, but not in volume until maybe 1907. Production peaked until the depression. Their peak for employees was maybe 400.
I think Now the company is just Stridesburg, and relocated to Near Kallstorp and mostly make circular saw blades.
Good saw that should give good service. Show us some pics.
As to the 3/26, it might be a hybrid metric/inch designation for points and length, but that’s just a guess. Sweden didn’t go fully metric until 1889, and I bet there was a longer transition in the trades. I know a couple of Danish guys who still use (danish) inches.
Thanks, Larry. Great information. Attached are some pics as requested: a) as found, b) the etch, and c) the mystery mark on the reverse side of the plate. The plate cleaned up pretty well with some mineral spirits and 800 grit wet/dry paper, then a medium and fine rust eraser. There was actually hardly any rust, and zero pitting. Only two teeth were broken off, so it will sharpen up ok, although it cuts as is. The handle is the part that needs work. It has almost no finish left and the broken horn.
Any thoughts on how to scale a template? The hand hole is giant (3 1/2″ top to bottom) and my hand slops around big time, unless I dig out my old ski gloves (not). Also, I don’t particularly like the handle design. Probably too much to try and convert to a more “traditional” Disston-style handle. I’m not fixated on restoring to a totally authentic state. It only cost $10 and the objective is getting it back to a working state for my use, not for resale. (Tell me this is an incredibly rare find and I might change my mind).
Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.
The saw is probably pretty rare just because their production wasn’t a gnat’s eyelash compared to Disston or Atkins.
That particular handle screams 1950’s or later. Tote grips got big and shaping was done by monkeys running a spindle moulder, not craftsmen.
I think you are right to ditch it and go for an older pattern. TGIAG (two guys in a garage) and Blackburn saw both have extensive pattern libraries to chose from. wexloff and a couple others might also. Just print them out and saw away. You might have to modify the pad if you want to cover up an ill placed bolt hole.
Oh, and don’t be surprised if there are etches on the plate under the handle. They told the guy doing the hammer tensioning how much time the boss wanted him to spend on it. On Disston saws the really good saws got an “X”.
Here are a couple older Stridesurg totes to give you an idea what to shoot for. The “carving“ is a bit different than the US or UK wheat chip carving., but Sandviks was also. Must be a Swedish thing.
The “tunnslipad” on the etch apparently means thin cut. The PÍO supposedly was the top model.
And you got my best guess on the stamps on the reverse. On Disston saws, those marks were PPI and saw length.
The last picture is a museum photo of a stridesburg shift doing hammer tensioning on circular saws. Love that each guy has his height adjustment pad.
Regarding scaling a template:
Do you need to? You say you don’t particularly like the handle as is, so if you’re making a new one, why not find a template that fits?Anyway, here is a few options:
If you want to replicate an existing handle, you could stick it in a photocopier/Xerox machine. That would give you a black silhouette of the handle. The machine can make scaled copies of it as well.
If you are making a new handle from a template file (pdf, dxf, dwg etc) you can either scale the image before you print it, or the printer will be able to do it.If you want the outer dimensions to remain the same, but with a smaller centre hole, print one at 100% and one at 90% (or whatever fits), and lay them on top of each other.
Great ideas. Thanks very much.
Do you also have suggestions on making sure the saw nut holes line up perfectly with a new handle? I’m assuming that’s easier than drilling new holes in the plate, but maybe not? Also, what’s the best way to cut the right indent and curvature in the handle to set the plate? That seems tricky too. Or are the tolerances somewhat forgiving.
You can transfer hole locations either way by using a piece of paper and a pencil ad use the holes in the plate to trace locations for the handle or vice-versa.. If you have access to a drill press ( pillar drill) you have a better chance of getting accurate holes. Keep in mind that with many saw nuts the hole you need to drill on one half of the plate will be bigger than the other side. I drill trough with the small bit and without moving the handle switch to a larger bit and drill halfway. The same applies if your saw nuts need to be recessed.
If you are starting with a predrilled handle, just put a piece of cardstock or cereal box the shape of the saw plate and insert it in the slot. Then prick the hole locations with an awl.
For your first try, do one hole at a time, using saw nuts in the holes you have already drilled to register the next hole.
To cut the saw plate slot, you could just cut to a centered line with a backsaw. I’m sure Paul’s would. If you don’t quite trust yourself, clamp the handle flat to your bench and make a shim to lay a saw on that centers the saw and saw away. It best NOT to use the saw Plate you are fitting but to use a saw with a thinner plate. The shim should be half the thickness of the handle minus half the thickness of the kerf of the saw you are using to cut the slot. Flip the handle over to make sure you are centered.
If you use the saw itself the set in the teeth will make the slot too wide unless the saw has no set.
If the saw has minimal set you might get way with it. Try using a carcass or dovetail saw for a handsaw plate, for instance.There is a pretty good tutorial on handle making here:
http://www.backsaw.net/SawHandles101.pdfIt doesn’t have the guide shim trick, though.
Thanks to you both for the great ideas and resources. I’ve started on a handle mock up in cheap wood, and will move to the good stuff shortly. The plan is to use storm blow-down Madrona, my favorite wood, from the backyard.
It might take a while, but will post photos of the final product (assuming its presentable) when finished.
Finally finished refurbishing this saw. Thanks to all of you who originally followed up with advice.
Top photo is”Before”, bottom is “After”. The plate was cut down a couple of inches so the saw nut holes could be aligned with the handle template and eliminating the old holes. The handle is Madrona (my favorite wood) blowdown from my backyard some years ago. The handle template is from Blackburn, as are the saw nuts. I recut the teeth and filed it 10 ppi rip, “just because”. That filing has proved the most versatile for me. I like his stuff.
All and all a very interesting and satisfying experience, and one I’ll do again with any saw I want to improve and use.
Great refurbishment. Nice choice on the tote pattern and well executed. It even looks like you were able to save some of the etching.
Yes. The etching was somewhat clear. I used some Brass Darkening Solution (4% Selenious Acid) that supposedly “raises” the etching. It worked better on some other saw etchings that it did on this one. Not quite sure why. Perhaps a marginal improvement in this case.
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