Spearior 88, a few questions

[ED65]

I got a later Spearior 88 (with red medallion) as an early birthday present a couple of months ago and it's been propped in a corner for the handle to have a good chance to dry out. Started work on it last night and I have some questions related to the handle.

The handle is in a sorry state, without a trace of finish remaining and grey from lots of water exposure. Remarkably the saw plate isn't too bad at all, on one side at least, luckily the side with the etch so there's a chance that won't be erased during the refurb.

So I presume due to the saw being wet repeatedly or for a long time the dowel loosened and it popped straight out with gentle persuasion. Presume these were glued in originally?

Two other things that aren't important, I'm just curious about:
the button pinned to the top of the dowel, anyone know what these were made from? This one is past saving and I can't tell what it might be from how it currently looks.
Lastly the wood, did they use mahogany for some handles? I was thinking that or possibly sapele but it's very hard to tell in its current condition.

 

[nabs]

the later spear & jackson saws do not seem to be very fashionable, but I like mine - I *think* it is an 88. Assuming yours has a 'futuristic' handle (the 88 still had a more traditional shape in the 60s) then I'd be interested to hear if you find it comfortable.

The handles are great, IMO, although I have heard people say they are no good if you have big hands. People with hands of Trumpian dimensions should be fine though!

The 1961 catalogue (traditional handle) say beech, the 1974 catalog just says 'hardwood' - I think mine is beech though.

Here it is - the dowel seems to be held on by a metal rivet at the top. I was surprised to discover the idea for the 'non break' dowel originated in the 1930s. Incidentally, do saws handle really break at this point when dropped? Someone should invent 'non break' horns!

https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publica ... cale=en_EP

 

[Sheffield Tony]

the later spear & jackson saws do not seem to be very fashionable, but I like mine - I *think* it is an 88. Assuming yours has a 'futuristic' handle (the 88 still had a more traditional shape in the 60s) then I'd be interested to hear if you find it comfortable.

The handles are great, IMO, although I have heard people say they are no good if you have big hands. People with hands of Trumpian dimensions should be fine though!

The 1961 catalogue (traditional handle) say beech, the 1974 catalog just says 'hardwood' - I think mine is beech though.

I have a Spearior 88 here, with the red medallion. The dowel has a wooden plug at the bottom, and a plastic one like nabs shows at the top. The handle does not look like beech to me, the finish is worn through at the corners and it does look like a lighter "mahogany" of sorts or Iroko that's darkened ?

Here it is - the dowel seems to be held on by a metal rivet at the top. I was surprised to discover the idea for the 'non break' dowel originated in the 1930s. Incidentally, do saws handle really break at this point when dropped? Someone should invent 'non break' horns!

It seems to me that the current trend is quite the opposite, posh saw makers seem to be determined to make the most fragile horns possible. I think it has a lot in common with natural evolution, e.g. peacock's tails and birds of paradise. If a feature is successful in attracting the right sort of attention (a potential mate, or a well moneyed tool collector), then there is an evolutionary pressure for them to beome ever more prominent, up to the point of them becoming impractial or preposterous.

 

[ED65]

Thanks gents.

the later spear & jackson saws do not seem to be very fashionable, but I like mine - I *think* it is an 88. Assuming yours has a 'futuristic' handle (the 88 still had a more traditional shape in the 60s) then I'd be interested to hear if you find it comfortable.

Haven't sawn with it yet (teeth are very worn) but testing out my grip on it as part of cleaning off the weathered surface it felt fine to me. I have radiused a few transitions from how they come from the factory but that's something I nearly always have to do, other than that no issues with it.

...I have heard people say they are no good if you have big hands.

Now my hands aren't the biggest but I did clock that there was ample spare room in there even with all four fingers wrapped around the grip. With the index finger pointed I think you'd have to have sausages for fingers for there to be any sort of fit problem!

The handle does not look like beech to me, the finish is worn through at the corners and it does look like a lighter "mahogany" of sorts or Iroko that's darkened ?

This one is most definitely a mahogany-alike now that the surface has been taken down.

 

[ED65]

Here's what it looked like when I got it:

From the state of the teeth and the wear and tear on the handle I've become convinced this was used as a site saw, which is exactly what it was originally intended to be according to at least one of the S&J adverts you can see online.

 

[bugbear]

It seems to me that the current trend is quite the opposite, posh saw makers seem to be determined to make the most fragile horns possible. I think it has a lot in common with natural evolution, e.g. peacock's tails and birds of paradise. If a feature is successful in attracting the right sort of attention (a potential mate, or a well moneyed tool collector), then there is an evolutionary pressure for them to become ever more prominent, up to the point of them becoming impractial or preposterous.

I like it!

BugBear

 

[bugbear]

Here's what it looked like when I got it:

From the state of the teeth and the wear and tear on the handle I've become convinced this was used as a site saw, which is exactly what it was originally intended to be according to at least one of the S&J adverts you can see online.

They're pretty fancy for a site saw:
post807213.html?hilit=spearior#p807213

BugBear

 

[ED65]

They're pretty fancy for a site saw:

Sure are, even fancier when that ad came out.

Looking around for pics of what these should look like I found an old ebay listing of practically unused one and it is indeed very swish looking!

 

[Bod]

Here's what it looked like when I got it:

From the state of the teeth and the wear and tear on the handle I've become convinced this was used as a site saw, which is exactly what it was originally intended to be according to at least one of the S&J adverts you can see online.

post807213.html?hilit=spearior#p807213

Look how the handles have changed!

Bod