how's it going guys? it has been a while since my last post. my wife gave birth to a healthy baby girl and we had a nasty cold winter here in the northeast us. i got to the shed this weekend and pulled a saw for cleaning and filing. it turns out to be a spear and jackson double refined spring steel. 7 teeth 30 inch plate. no label screw. 3 split nuts with a modified handle? the handle now helps the plate make a perfect 90% straight edge. handle has 4 tattoos that say J.B YATES. any guess on the age?
Hi Robert, Congratulations on your new daughter. The saw looks like a "combination" saw. The handle is likely the original, and is designed to let you use the saw as a square. Usually the top edge of the saw in front of the handle is 24 inches and is marked in inches so you can use it as a ruler. [making it a "combination" saw/square/ruler]. J B Yates would have been a previous owner, marking his saw to claim ownership.. My 1915 reprint of Spear&Jackson catalogue shows their saws to be etched rather than stamped, and none of the combination saws are shown with a lambs tongue style handle like yours, so your saw is pre 1915 My wild guess as to age would be 1880-ish [no solid basis for my wild guess, although I have a vague idea that the "double refined" sales pitch was from that era ]
Hi Robert, It may be a combination saw now, but with the screw hole at the top of the blade and to the front of the current line of the handle, I am wondering whether it is a user adapted saw in that the "sticky out curvey bit" (note the usage of technical language ) at the top front of the handle has been removed and the screw with it. As to age, it may be a little earlier than Joe has guessed. I should really make a note of Simon's prognositications in these threads and not rely on my increasingly unreliable memory, but I think that an italicised Sheffield may be 1860's and that a Sheffield with an upper case "S" is slightly earlier (or possibly later) but not much either way. Although I agree with Joe that the verbiage about the "double refined" may be an indicator of a later saw. But I would still go for around the 1860's. Fred
Hi Robert, I have to agree with Fred about the handle being user-adapted. All the combination saws that I've seen have the screws (most often 4 of them) in a straight line parallel to the straight front of the handle. This one shows only three screws, angling away from the front of the handle. It's that angle that gives me caution. If you could find marks of an inch scale on the top to the saw that would indicate it's a factory-made combination saw. Lacking that, I would think it's just a nicely done owner adaptation. David
Robert, et al Thinking I have to agree with Fred and David on this one. This is what is so good about pictures especially when you look closely at the first one. The hole through the saw and the "shadow" of the front cheek would suggest a user modification. Never have seen a "a hang hole" that close to a handle. Great looking early saw though and I probably might date it to 1850-60s. More importantly, congrats on the new addition to the Family. Joe S.
thanks for the well wishes guys. at some point i'll get the handle off this one to check the underside. it could use a good tightening. i doubt i'll see any ruled lines on this one .thanks for date frame...rob