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Arthur Jones of Chicago, Illinois, sought to address this
problem with his first patent (#598,729) issued on February
8, 1898. He claimed that by having an endless cable or cord,
the blade could be rotated to facilitate sharp turns, eliminating
the awkwardness of turning the frame. The saw frame was a
three-sided bent piece that sat over the blade and allowed
for the cable or cord to pass through it to each end of the
saw blade. The blade could be manipulated by rotating the
handle. Keeping the blade taut was achieved by the natural
springing of the frame after the blade was inserted. His other
claim was a set screw that held one end of the blade in the
handle. The other forked end held a rolled section or a pin,
as found on the small blades available at the time. Pushing
the cover up or down as needed provided tension in the cable.
Mr. Jones was apparently a committed and gifted tinkerer.
On January 10, 1899 (11 months later), Mr. Jones filed patent
# 617,440 after changing the protective cover over the cord.
It was now a solid tube with slots to facilitate the threading
of the cord. At that time, all the other features stayed the
same. Not content, Mr. Jones filed a further patent (#686,227)
on November 5, 1901, in which he called this version a coping
or scroll saw. The cover tube and cord were eliminated, and
the holders rotated the blade after releasing the blade tension.
Formed detents allowed for blade rotation. There's more—in
patent #803,694, filed November 7, 1905, Mr. Jones reverted
back to his second patent and succeeded in making the construction
even more complicated.
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