Picked up a neat 8 1/2-foot A&F Touradif, SN 1308, without an X or an A. Looked at it, drooled, and, drooling, bought it. I mean, I know, I mean, I've
read Campbell, I KNOW Hawes was involved in the Touradif at one point or another - even though I have a Touradif heavy baitcaster with a Terry patent reelseat
that Hawes wouldn't have touched with the tip of his viola bow.
At first glance, everything seemed right - Varney-influenced rail-less reelseat, concentric circles on the butt, Hawes welts on the females, winding check with a single scribed line, wasp-waisted ferrules with double scribed lines, delicately knurled sliding band, English twist guides, snake stripper, three-part males - wait a minute, TWO-part males? Machined shoulder and barrel, with a drawn slide? Something is not right here.
So here is the archaeology of a mistake (warning! what follows is graphics-intensive!), and what may be a guess at the real author (although it could still be Hawes I guess ...)
In the photos that follow, the blue background is a signed A&F Hawes, the red background is the new Touradif.
The concentric circles (same on both rods - less than a millimeter of difference in diameters) on the butt plate:
The reelseat hood - rounded instead of squared:
The sliding band - different knurling, and an extra row:
The winding check - deeper and less angled on the Touradif:
Same female ferrule profile, although the Touradif's ferrule is slightly longer:
Same male ferrule profile (slightly beaten up on the Hawes - photo was pre-restoration), but again, longer in the slide:
But the Touradif never heard of soldered waterstops - the slide is formed and drawn, with a nearly square shoulder and minimal doming:
So what is it? Still could be a Hawes, maybe, but I'm thinking Thomas.
Dave
At first glance, everything seemed right - Varney-influenced rail-less reelseat, concentric circles on the butt, Hawes welts on the females, winding check with a single scribed line, wasp-waisted ferrules with double scribed lines, delicately knurled sliding band, English twist guides, snake stripper, three-part males - wait a minute, TWO-part males? Machined shoulder and barrel, with a drawn slide? Something is not right here.
So here is the archaeology of a mistake (warning! what follows is graphics-intensive!), and what may be a guess at the real author (although it could still be Hawes I guess ...)
In the photos that follow, the blue background is a signed A&F Hawes, the red background is the new Touradif.
The concentric circles (same on both rods - less than a millimeter of difference in diameters) on the butt plate:
The reelseat hood - rounded instead of squared:
The sliding band - different knurling, and an extra row:
The winding check - deeper and less angled on the Touradif:
Same female ferrule profile, although the Touradif's ferrule is slightly longer:
Same male ferrule profile (slightly beaten up on the Hawes - photo was pre-restoration), but again, longer in the slide:
But the Touradif never heard of soldered waterstops - the slide is formed and drawn, with a nearly square shoulder and minimal doming:
So what is it? Still could be a Hawes, maybe, but I'm thinking Thomas.
Dave
