Hi 
first let me say that I will be pinging Pete later to finally order Erv's boo 
but in the mean time my curiosity is running wild. 

Does any one know who or what about a carcass saw by " Barber & Genn " brass 
back with nice mark accompanied by a cast steel mark ? Not in the greatest 
shape but for $4 what the heck.

Thanks

Jim Parker 
Montgomery Alabama

I take issue with your degrading remarks re Ken Robert's book on "Some
19th Century English Woodworking Tools"! 
	 Ken does not deserve your deprecating "criticism"! 
	 By and large, it's still the best, and was the first, comprehensive and
detailed works regarding late 18th Century and "19th Century English
Woodworking Tools" available!  Yes, there  are some "errors", but by and
large the info reflects the "best available information" derived from 
the TREMENDOUS volume of stuff he went thorough  and the extended  time
he (and his wife) expended in England!!!!!!!   
	Thank you for your most useful contribution, Ken, wherever you
are!!!!!!!!!!!!!
--ErvSawwwwwwwwwz
BTW: A recently available second "hard data" source (1787 Directory)
pushes Barber & Genn's operation back to 1787.  
On Sun, 4 Jun 2000 14:05:13 -0400 (EDT) reeinelson@w... (Robert
Nelson) writes:
> Hi Again:
> 
> Jim Parker asked about a saw marked Barber & Genn; Don McConnell 
> cited
> Ken Roberts as showing Barber, Genn & Co. working in Sheffield
> -1797-1817-. FYI, the EAIA DAT lists Barber & Genn with an estimated
> date of ca. 1870. It's quite probable that this was a British maker 
> who
> shouldn't be in the DAT, but I wonder about the dating difference. 
> Did
> B&G maybe work much longer than cited by Roberts or ???
> 
> All of which leads to a pet peeve I have with everything Ken Roberts 
> has
> written. His books are so full of so many obvious typos that you 
> can't
> believe anything they say about anything else that's not so obvious. 
> I
> have one of Ken's books, but it drove me so mad that I've never 
> bought
> another - including the one Don cites from. Considering Ken's track
> record, the second date should maybe be 1917 vs. 1817 or something 
> else
> like that. I can not understand how/why Ken could spend years
> researching data and then not be willing to take a few more weeks to
> proof read the results. I've also heard that Ken discards all his
> research notes as soon as he publishes, so there's no source to go 
> back
> to to recheck the possibility of one of his tyos. It's a crying 
> shame.

Jim Parker asked:

>Does any one know who or what about a carcass saw by " Barber & Genn " brass
>back with nice mark accompanied by a cast steel mark ?

Ken Roberts, in his checklist of Sheffield sawmakers (_Some 19th
Century English Woodworking Tools_), shows:

Barber, Genn & Co    - 1797 - 1817-

Seems like you might have a fairly early saw.

Don McConnell
Knox County, Ohio

Hi Again:

Jim Parker asked about a saw marked Barber & Genn; Don McConnell cited
Ken Roberts as showing Barber, Genn & Co. working in Sheffield
-1797-1817-. FYI, the EAIA DAT lists Barber & Genn with an estimated
date of ca. 1870. It's quite probable that this was a British maker who
shouldn't be in the DAT, but I wonder about the dating difference. Did
B&G maybe work much longer than cited by Roberts or ???

All of which leads to a pet peeve I have with everything Ken Roberts has
written. His books are so full of so many obvious typos that you can't
believe anything they say about anything else that's not so obvious. I
have one of Ken's books, but it drove me so mad that I've never bought
another - including the one Don cites from. Considering Ken's track
record, the second date should maybe be 1917 vs. 1817 or something else
like that. I can not understand how/why Ken could spend years
researching data and then not be willing to take a few more weeks to
proof read the results. I've also heard that Ken discards all his
research notes as soon as he publishes, so there's no source to go back
to to recheck the possibility of one of his tyos. It's a crying shame.

Best Wishes,
Bob