zenith hand saw

Re: zenith hand saw

Dave Thompson

>Hey Bob, I've seen a few of their planes. Can't tell you anything specific about their saws though. MWTCA reprinted one of their catalogs a few years back. Some info about the company from their catalog listing:

April 1987 Zenith Tools and Cutlery, Marshall-Wells Hdwe Co. Duluth Minn c 1910. 138 pages. Their major brand name was Zenith. Second quality tools were branded Marswells, Hartford, Superior Northern King. All metal no wood planes.

enjoy,

Dave

Re: zenith hand saw

woodburnbob

>As Dave says, Zenith is the Marshall-Wells brand. MW was a hardware store franchise that was ultimately bought by another franchise called Coast-to-Coast. If you look into it, I think you'll find they had one or another major manufacturer make their tools, with one or another modification, but put the Zenith brand on it (e.g., the lever cap). This would be similar to Sears, Montgomery Ward, and others during those times. Some of these are Stanleys or Sargents. I believe that is the explanation for Kleen Kutter (single K) and Winchester planes being legitimate Bedrocks from Stanely but for the trademark.

I'm sure someone will step in to correct my misconceptions.