to say some of these odd saws are coming out of the wood work would be an under statement. today's find is a saw that gives up only the name spear. that's it so far i have a few bad photos. i still don't have a new camera for the wife. 1 thing i'd like to know is a good way to fix the handle to the saw plate. this one looks to have square nuts with peened over all thread. the photos will show that.
http://www.backsaw.net/index.php?option=com_jfusion&Itemid=58&jfile=showthread.php&t=268&highlight=spear Toby That handle doesn't appear to go with that blade.
Hi Robert, your saw looks a bit rough, like many of my finds . The handle looks like a replacement, and fitted not quite at the right angle, and its hard to know if the blade is special enough to expend a lot of work to clean up. The name "SPEAR" by itself is a bit tricky as it seems that it could be old (from the original John Spear), or newer (from Spear & Jackson, or from later issue tradename John Spear). There's a bit of discussion in http://www.backsaw.net/index.php?option=com_jfusion&Itemid=58&jfile=showthread.php&p=536#post536
Yes, it's been sharpened several times without jointing. It wasn't done that way on purpose. Most of the old saws that I've acquired were that way. (maybe not that bad) Toby
As Toby says, sharpenend without jointing. Worker in a hurry, and blade not cutting well... So sharpens the blunt teeth... Because many/most people use the middle of the saw mainly - the teeth in the middle of the saw are the bluntest... And so get sharpened... and over time = concave (or a sunken breast?). I have a very old Groves rip that is hugely concave.
Hey Robert I don't know if you were trying to get an idea of what an older "Spear" handle might look like but this one is probably the original. If there were any brass screws holding this in place they are long gone. (very long gone). I don't see any indents where a conical or wide brass top might have displaced the wood so where these iron peened rods fit into the history I have no idea. This has been a well loved saw and unfortunatley someone decided also to put a "hang hole". In it's 200 year history the handle has been shortened a bit but it will give you an idea. Under the stamp I think there is a Shefield lightly impressed but I wouldn't stake a lot of money on that. Enjoy Joe S.
thanks joe. just today at a local market i was showing lucy the dreaded blade hole. why put a 5/16 hole in something that has a 4 inch hole in it already? kind of like the chicken and the egg question. we will never know the answer...robert
I can add (or I could if I could handle the technology) a Spear mark like Joe's. And putting on an additional mark, later in the manufacturing process, was quite common - called a bright struck mark, because impressed when the saw had been hardened, tempered and ground and glazed, so that the mark didn't go as far into the steel as when it was put on in the annealed, early stage. The whole mark was sometimes bright struck by some firms (no idea why), but of course an early mark could also sometimes get partially ground out.