Well I said I would get off my rear, start getting along to some car boot sales, perhaps even some auctions. As the years have drifted by, I have more & more relied on fleabay for my tool fix, with a very rare purchase else where, ie from a friend or even a relative, who for what ever reason have decided to pack it up, I am not complaining, one persons loss, anothers gain. I started to get up on a sunday and get along to the boot sales, wow what can I say, best move I ever did, I have not been to an auction yet, I keep missing them, I have a nasty habit of finding out about the auction on the day of, or the day after, patience, I will crack it. Another reason is cost, ebay, where on earth do they get the prices from, even at the official dealer auctions, none of these tools fetch any where near some of the record prices fetched on ebay, I have no idea how they do it . I would like to include a couple of pictures of a group of saws, I bought from the same seller, I wished I had met the chap years ago, he has a skill with wood & paint that I have seen very few demonstrate, he produced Ducks & water birds. I had arrived at his location, rather blinkered, I was there to purchase a few tools no more, I had not traveled far, about 1hr 30 mins, along the A roads. As we concluded business, he suggested a price, I fell over, after picking myself up, I paid before he changed his mind. Just before I was about to leave, I had noticed the water birds and decide to ask, as well as, for the first time taking a better look, they could of been the real thing, I noticed a Curlew, as well as a flock of ducks none of which I recognised bar one, that I could identify as an Arctic Goose, I could of chatted for hours, but I had other plans, or rather my children had other plans for me, this week I could not persuade them to come along to watch me buy rusty tools, I wonder why ? Here is the set of Saws that I bought that day,
Hey Steve Was this set actually designated as a "Spear and Jackson Professional" saw. It is hard to read the etch and you may be better able to give us some more info. I am very interested as to how you find these as a "comfortable saw" and would you be willing to work all day with them. A true Minimalist handle. It would seem that they have also been sharpened a few times and might be in need of some touch up soon. Maybe some one has a catalogue and can date them accurately. And a pic of the birds? enjoy those saws Joe S.
These saws are from the redesigned range that was released as part of the 200 year anniversary, which was in 1970 or thereabouts. The date should be on the plate surrounding the medallion.
Hi Guys, First of all thanks for your interest. I was worried there that I might get some one complaining for putting up such modern stuff. The point I was trying to make, was how lucky I had been, it is a shame, the guy I got them off is not a member on here, I think he thought I bought them to try and make some money on them, Joe I hope this answers your question, I have no intention of parting with them what so ever. They were promoted to the bench in order, first of all to test them out as they are. I was going to say fettle them if necessary, other than giving them a bit of a clean, mind, I have only completed one test cut with one saw, the Panel saw 189 7 tpi 24 inch, I did not want to clean the plates if I could help it, these modern etch's are only just printed on, or at least that is what it seems like. I was hoping to clean the plates cutting some rough stock, what a dream to use, a long time back I used some of them disposable Spear & Jackson Predator saws, I could not get over how well thy cut green timber, knife through butter, is no stretch of of the imagination (hardwood as well). Joe to my knowledge I do not think they were sold as a set of three, but yes in answer to your question "Spear and Jackson Professional" saw, Dusty is bang on the money there in every bit of the information he has been good enough to share, thank you. I have a 1974 pamphlet , sorry it is a catalog, I have been trying to save the relevant page to put on here. I am not sure if you have seen any of the other posts I have done on spear & Jackson. The reason I bring that up is I hope an answer to another of your questions, the top saw is I guess, the Spearior R88, I have another one of these perhaps several, I had mentioned how I thought it was strange that the same model saw had many different types of steel used for the blade, I was always under the impression, if its not broke leave it alone, bettr still, if you have a good recipe, leave exactly as it is, but having said that, are they in fact the same saw, other than the fact they share the same model number / family, they are very different. the proof will be in the cutting I suppose. On closer inspection, these saws resemble the saws we thought they were very closely, they all have an exotic hard wood as the handle, very redish, Mahogany or Rosewood, all the screws are chrome plated, including the medallion, they look to be an even more modern version of said saws, the R88, R189 and of course the 52, if I can reveal the etch perhaps that will tell us more. It does quote the 200 years in the business, it would appear to be Black & Silver there is the word professional in the etch on the saws. Get out to the Auctions & car boot sales, ebay is a very strange place, prices on there are not a true reflection of there value, its a shame it does not only show completed business on the bay (we can all tell tall stories) , bids mean nothing, stumping up the money afterwards is everything, Happy hunting guys