Handle for wood-sawing machine

The machine this handle attaches to was patented by Samuel Bentham in 1793 (no. 1951). It was a prelude to Bentham's later work mechanising the manufacture of wooden pulley blocks for the use of the Royal Navy, which culminated in the world's first suite of special purpose machine tools - in effect, a production line - built at the Royal Dockyard, Portsmouth, after 1804.