Bishop

I’ve found almost no information online about George H. Bishop & Co. or it’s successor Ohlen-Bishop Saws. No catalogs, no type studies, nothing. What I have found is an apparently hard-to-acquire copy of their 1937 handbook: Saw Efficiency. A quality, color scan is available from my Library . I am creating a page of Bishop’s offerings and history starting with this handbook and adding as I can find additional information.

History

According to the ’37 handbook they have been in business for 85 years, dating them to 1852. Bishop medallions represent the company in Cincinnati, Ohio; while the Ohlen-Bishop Co. was based in Columbus, Ohio. Bishop is known to have manufactured saws for other companies, such as C.A. Strelinger & Co.

Note on terminology used on the Bishop pages:

“Width/Wide” is used for the same dimension I describe as depth: the distance from the back to the toothline.

“Lightweight” is a plate that is partial depth, like a Disston D-23.

“Regular” is a plate of typical depth for saws manufactured in the 20s-30s like a Disston D-8 or D-20.

“Thin” refers to the thickness of the plate.