Peter,

Pretty little handles. I have heard speculation that the "table"  
referred to is the flat portion of a scarf joint in large ships  
timbers or timber framing. After the joint is cut in say a 8 x 14  
timber and the two pieces are mated, you usually have to kerf in the  
joint for a final fit. The speculation was that this is the job these  
saws were designed to do. I offer this w/ no actual experience, just  
recalling a long ago conversation. That narrow a use has always seemed  
to be a bit of over specialization to me.

Bill

On Jul 17, 2009, at 9:54 AM, Peter McBride wrote:

> Ray, and other Sheffield saw freaks...
> I would love to know what these table saws were used for.
> I've seen them described in Hack's book and he wasn't certain either.
> Never seen saws like these in person, only in pictures and books.
>
>
> www.petermcbride.com/temp/images/table_saws.jpg
> www.petermcbride.com/temp/images/table_saws1.jpg
>

------------------------------------------------------------------------