Vintage Spear and Jackson Spearior 82 saw - advice please

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Evergreen

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I recently acquired this saw in very good general condition. My guess is that it dates from the 1950s but I'd be happy to be corrected by somebody with more knowledge

DSC00495-1.jpg


The handle once had a black paint finish which has now mostly worn off.

DSC00491.jpg


The etch is the biggest and clearest I've seen on a British saw. My photography skills are not good enough to show it very well but the central emblem is the Spear and Jackson Mermaid tademark above the legend "The perfection of quality and workmanship". To the left, it says "Tested for hardness and spring" and to the right it says "Keeps keen edge - SORBITIC TEMPER - teeth won't break out".

DSC00497.jpg


The only problem is that it's very blunt and needs to be reset. My experience of saw sharpening is limited to keeping a few saws sharp by a little gentle filing and I've never reset a saw before. Is there a particular type of saw set pliers you'd recommend, please? Any other tips would be appreciated ( there seems to be a bit of a debate about whether you set before you file or file before you set).

Many thanks.
 
I'd say file then set but only if it needs it. Get it sharp and see how it cuts, then if it needs more set, go ahead.
It looks like there is a fair set on it already. It will only need to enough to make way for the rest of the blade to follow without sticking.
I use an old Eclipse set I got from a car boot sale - but not very often!
 
Evergreen":2ifuvu19 said:
I recently acquired this saw in very good general condition. My guess is that it dates from the 1950s but I'd be happy to be corrected by somebody with more knowledge


The only problem is that it's very blunt and needs to be reset. My experience of saw sharpening is limited to keeping a few saws sharp by a little gentle filing and I've never reset a saw before. Is there a particular type of saw set pliers you'd recommend, please? Any other tips would be appreciated ( there seems to be a bit of a debate about whether you set before you file or file before you set).

Many thanks.

Good lookin' saw. 1950's sounds about right, or perhaps a little earlier.

The saw seems to have plenty of set (perhaps excess) at the moment. Are you planning to reduce or increase the set? What's the TPI?

Here's my (probably later) Spearior:

spearior88.JPG


BugBear
 
Hi guys

Thanks for the quick replies.

Richard - I guess you're right, get it sharp and then see how it goes.

BB- I was hoping to get it back to its original "as new" amount of set, whatever that was. Despite the shine on the side of the teeth, there isn't much set left in the middle of the blade. I suspect the previous user didn't use a very long stroke when sawing. The TPI is 8, confirmed by the number stamped on the heel. BTW, your Spearior 88 looks exceptionally clean. I had a Spearior 88 which I bought in the early 70's and if I remember correctly, the handle was dowelled for extra strength?
 
Evergreen":8fynckl9 said:
BTW, your Spearior 88 looks exceptionally clean.
Yes, it does. doesn't it. :)

I had a Spearior 88 which I bought in the early 70's and if I remember correctly, the handle was dowelled for extra strength?

Yes - some were. I don't have a "time line" for Spearior features though.

Here's a gratuitous shop display model:

display_sj.JPG


BugBear
 
Evergreen":2ah4jm7x said:
I had a Spearior 88 which I bought in the early 70's and if I remember correctly, the handle was dowelled for extra strength?

I think it is one of the S&J marketing gags. The doveled handles were labeled as unbreakable (I found several broken) and I think it was to cure their poor wood choice. Like the extra screw on some saws, that hold the spine in place (instead of fold the spine evenly.)

Spear_JacksonExtraScrew2.jpg


Cheers
Pedder
 
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