RH Smith small tenon backsaw

I would had normally include its history here, but it was a tad convoluted, and I ended with a post on the saw makers gang instead...

So here is the little saw that started that last post, while researching it

The vendor had identified it as a St Catharine saw from 1887, based on the medallion.

I paid Cdn $20 for it and was quite happy :-)

It is not from 1887, that patent date is for the Glover saw nut, used by many makers

We know that RH Smith started in 1870 by buying J Flint saw works in St Catharines On.
They were bought by Shurley Dietrich in 1893 then operated under that name until 1914
when it was changed to TF Shurly Co.
The patent date is telling us that this saw would had probably been made between 1887-1914.
Patents last about 17 years back then, so that script about the patent would had been gone no later than (1887+17= 1904) Early 1900s would be my best educated guess, judging from the beaver on the medallion

Tenon backsaw from Shurly-Dietrich 1902 catalog, 

who was operating the St-Catharines plant at this time

Looks a bit rough, but it fits my hand perfectly... like a glove

The plate measure 12 inch long X 2-3/4 inch deep

Making it a small tenon saw

There is some green paint remains on the handle, 

The saw plate and the steel back have lots of superficial rust on it.

The teeth line is amazingly in good condition, filed at 11 TPI

The top saw horn has a small chip, but its location 

does not affect its handling in the hand.

If I ever fix it, I'll just graft a new piece of wood and shaped it

Looks like a poor candidate? Au contraire, looks marvelous....for its age :-)

Unscrewed the handle, scraped then sanded the saw plate, paying attention to the saw back also, but being very careful not to erase the faint etch I saw on the plate. Very hard to impossible to photograph, but its there all right.

I scraped then sanded the handle, then gave it two coats of Howard Restore A Finish, golden oak
Once dry, wiped then hand buffed a coat of Howard Feed N Wax.
The handle really pop back to life and I'm happy with the coloring imparted, just about right.

The final look for now. Blade has been given a wipe on coat of WD 40 to protect it.

Not bad for a 100 years old plus saw

 Like I said the saw tooth is in very good shape, it cuts pretty good as is, but it will eventually get a tuned up.  She is a keeper

Bob who has a seemingly never ending pile of tools to restore...

Go figure :-),