Greetings Assembled,
Went to an outdoor estate antique sale just outside of town this
weekend. Two big tents set up, some stuff on hay wagons, in a barn and
garage. I had hopes of finding something of interest, but it wasn't
looking good. The stuff that was there was priced higher than an
antique mall along the interstate and it wasn't looking like a manly
tool to be found. Then I spied two or three saws on one of the wagons
and made a beeline. There I found a Spear & Jackson 14" backsaw
(closed handle) in good shape. Turned it over and was surprised to see
split nuts, something I haven't seen in a coon's age. It was priced at
$2 and everything was 10% off on Sat. (That is to say within my
alloted discretionary income, if only just).

I don't know much about Spear and Jackson, so I was doing some
Googling and found a reference that S&J stopped using split nuts
between 1850-1860. Can anyone confirm that, or is it all wet? That
would be a pretty stinkin' old tool to find in Nebraska, considering
we became a State in 1867. Either way, I was pretty delighted with the
find. The teeth are in excellent condition and straight as can be.

In searching through the archives I found a post by Pete Taran asking
someone to not mess with their split-nutted Disston as odds are that
it wouldn't end well. I suppose the same can be said for the S&J?

Darren Addy
Kearney, NE
-- 
Nothing is sure, except Death and Pentaxes.
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