Thread: Woodrough & McParlin Panther head saw

I’m still surprised, maybe I’m unique but I still can’t understand the attraction too the Panther saw.
Personally I think it’s equivalent off mating a Mini minor with a Motel T ford.
Now the real dig, I’ve never viewed one other that on the Net, but the carving looks a bit ordinary, maybe I’m just being grumpy,I don’t know but.
I’m certainly not racing out too sell a kidney too buy one.
Sorry Paul [emoji3064],

Cheers Matt.

Matt, you just haven't been bitten by a virulent strain of the collector virus!

Indeed, the carving is not netsuke standard, but it's pretty clear what it represents from a couple of feet away. The bloke wot carved it probably had it down to a minimum number of cuts with a single carving tool. I'm actually impressed that someone could have churned these things out on piece-work day after day - he probably got a whole 10c extra per handle for the panther-head, & thought he was on a good wicket!....

Cheers,

The Panther head saw is not everybody's cup of tea by a long stretch. I find it one of those quirky offerings and have to confess that it is on my list to copy one day along with various other unusual handles and I plan to add it to this thread when I finally get myself into gear.

However, my point in starting the thread was to highlight the elevated price despite the shortcomings of the handle and particularly the saw plate. While the carving admittedly could have better definition, I think, as Ian has pointed out, that is quite creditable on a semi mass produced basis and there is no mistaking what it is. Usually, in a particular model range at the top end, there would have been at least three sizes of handle: large for the rip saws, particularly if they were 28" or lomger, medium for the 26" saws and a smaller handle again for the panel saws. The biggest range of lengths is in the panel saws and in this instance there were five sizes. The saw in the listing was the second smallest.

What I don't know is to what extent this was done with the Panther Head saws. The saw in the listing at 18" is pretty small and because it looks to be in proportion to the saw I assume the handle indeed has a scaled down version. In fact if there was no mention of the size, from the picture I would have assumed it was a 26" saw.

The other surprising aspect, to me at least, is that no mention is made in the catalogue of the unusual handle. Perhaps they thought it spoke for itself.

I was also looking for some input as to when this saw was marketed, when the two different carving styles on the flat occurred and possibly the significance of being a No.12 (Did that mean it came into being during the Disston ownership) ?

I believe the design may have dated from 1870, but was not patented until 1879. This easily pre-dates the Disston ownership, which did not occur until 1893, but when were they first placed on the market?

Regards
Paul