Advice on a Manual Miter Box

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
Looking for some advice on this vintage tool I brought up from the cellar. It didn't look very good when I first got it out:

miter saw.jpg

But it the box cleaned up pretty well. The saw is probably beyond redemption - the blade is very rusty and when I tried to clean the handle it started to crumble (not surprising being in a damp cellar for decades). It is a Craftsman, though, but probably miter boxes are all electric now.

saw1.jpg

Any suggestion on what it's worth (as is) if I put it in with my yard sale items?
 

Unfortunately, the market for vintage anything is drying up fast. Future generations just aren't interested in it. :( Myself... while it's a cool piece of hardware, I still have the old (but not very old) wooden homemade one that I use, plus a more modern plastic one. Then of course modern contractors mostly use a powered angled saw for any trim work because time is money. :(

miter.jpg
 
No "value" on something like this. If a person wants a manual mitre saw, they sell for 20 or 30 dollars, tops. This old frame, with no saw, would be worth virtually nothing...scrap it.
 

I'd drill a couple holes in the lumber, bolt it down to a workshop table and use it! The metal part will still give straight cuts.
But that's just me.
 
Gaer said:
I'd drill a couple holes in the lumber, bolt it down to a workshop table and use it! The metal part will still give straight cuts.
But that's just me.
Click to expand...
True, but she would need a special miter saw to use it.
 
Any crosscut saw would work in that type of miter box. It may not work to as high a degree of precision, but it will work. Also, if it went to someone who would use it, back saws are still available new, and certainly availble used. One last option is cleaning up and having the original saw sharpened and rehandled, although these days it would be difficult to say how easy it would be to find a saw shop or the handle. Keeping the saw and its handle screws would make it fairly easy for a budding young woodworker to make it servicable. Having said all that, I would give it to a charity thrift store, if there wasn't a youngster nearby who was interested in carpentry. I had my first real saw when I was about 5.
 
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debodun said:
Looking for some advice on this vintage tool I brought up from the cellar. It didn't look very good when I first got it out:

View attachment 115219

But it the box cleaned up pretty well. The saw is probably beyond redemption - the blade is very rusty and when I tried to clean the handle it started to crumble (not surprising being in a damp cellar for decades). It is a Craftsman, though, but probably miter boxes are all electric now.

View attachment 115221

Any suggestion on what it's worth (as is) if I put it in with my yard sale items?
Click to expand...
SD reply in post #6 answers your question. $19.99 on ebay. https://www.ebay.com/c/1617963774

Not much but at least you have the pleasure of cleaning up that piece.
 
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