Steve said....

“You can buy the collectible ones for $100 or more.”

Thomas C ( was he the guy that was known as  “skinflint hardnose negotiator”?)
said..(perhaps with a tad of wishful thinking too....)

“Speaking in general, a used saw is worth about five bucks. Quality doesn't
matter. Condition doesn't matter. Age doesn't matter. Rarity doesn't matter.
Five bucks.”

I’m trying to come to grips with this diversity of opinion. Could one of these
fellas be perhaps slightly  wrong?

I remember asking Erv S how he would go about finding someone to retooth my
panther head saw (years ago when oldtools was still young.)...-his
response....”why would your do that with a a thousand dollar handsaw” I was
flabbergasted that a handsaw could be worth 1k$

So who’s view is more correct?

Well I ain’t votin for TC, but I do appreciate the adamant negotiation
technique. I’d use it (and have) as situation arises.

Trubble is, the rarer, cleaner, sounder saws tend to gravitate towards (more or
less) knowing tool pushers; doncha agree?

Try the 5 buck agenda with even a half assed tool afficianado for a panther head
saw, and up here in Canada, you’d be thankful we got gun laws!!!!

Look at ebay completed items and sort by “highest price” ....

Some folks can’t just seem to wait for the Tool God to decide they are ready for
a particular saw by putting one in front of them (ie...you have to know what yer
lookin for) and have to pay for their lust and desire, sometimes quite dearly.
Others simply don’t want to spend time or effort in rehabiliation or sharpening.

Likely none of us would be so foolish as to do that ,,,,,,,eh?  Nope not a
chance....

I can see it now in the NYT commodities section....Used  Handsaw prices settle
at 5 dollars due to market conditions

Watch for it. 

Eric in Calgary

I really doubt anyone is going to find a panther head saw for $5 or
$10.  Some things can be seen even by blind seeker.

But reading Tom's post, I was nodding my head quietly.  I have at
least three Disston 12 saws, the last of which I bought for $1.  It
ended up at a junk shop after failing to bring in $3 at a yard sale.
My early Disston #4 back saw set me back $4 at a flea market.  The
pre-plywood handle Sandvik was tossed in for free with a bunch of
other tools I bought -- it was "dirty and rusty."  The Civil War
period Richardson rip saw set me back $10.  If you're haunting
garage sales and flea markets, five to ten bucks seems about
right.  The good ones are out there, along with plastic handled
junk, all for about the same price.

> ”why would your do that with a a thousand dollar handsaw”

Ah.  Now you're dealing with a foreign culture -- people who
understand saws.  Five bucks got me a Disston "for metal or
wood" saw, and another five got me a rusty, but seldom used
thumb hole rip saw.  The next week one of the "for metal or
wood" Disstons went for $55 on ebay.

So Steve and Tom are both correct.  It all depends on the
market place where you find saws.

With the average seller, saws have a bad rep.  Scott and I have
said this before -- probably the vast majority of the last two
generations have never used a sharp saw.  They think that saws
are inefficient and hard work to use.  I borrowed a saw from a
kid I knew (sheesh, he would be in his 40's now) and told him
it was dull.  "Couldn't be!" he told me, "I just bought it!"

He took it to the carpenter he was working for and complained
that I had called it dull.  Heh!  He was told "Well, it is.
Take it and have it sharpened."

Mike in Sacto

Sadly, the only way you can have a real saw is to suffer.
I wish it was easier.

  Even if someone hand files a saw for you, its a saw, it needs to be 
filed again soon.
   Then what?
Now you are mailing back and forth at ruinous expense and wasting 
endless time,
  and handling gorillas trounce on your precious cargo anyway.

  Sever a 2X4 with 4 strokes, using a panel saw indoors.
  You should be able to do it in three with a full sized saw and a 
sawhorse outside.
or
Make 6 or 8" distance down a 1X with a ripsaw.  6 to 8 inches per stroke.

  Run right out and buy that for money.

If you want to cut like that, and you want someone else to set it up for 
you, for money?
   You better bring a lot of money.

No, if you want a "lively saw" you have to take the whole saw, with all 
its annoying demands.
  I wish it was easier. But I sure can't figure a way around it.

My favorite tip is to get both a straight and a pistol grip saw set. At 
least you now have 2 different wrist positions to switch back and forth.
       yours Scott



-- 
*******************************
    Scott Grandstaff
    Box 409 Happy Camp, Ca  96039
    scottg@s...
    http://www.snowcrest.n
et/kitty/sgrandstaff/
    http://www.snowcr
est.net/kitty/hpages/index.html



-----
No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2014.0.4716 / Virus Database: 3986/7915 - Release Date: 07/24/14

Snip
From: Scott Grandstaff
>



Sadly, the only way you can have a real saw is to suffer.
I wish it was easier.
>
  Even if someone hand files a saw for you, its a saw, it needs to be 
filed again soon.
   Then what?
Now you are mailing back and forth at ruinous expense and wasting 
endless time,
  and handling gorillas trounce on your precious cargo anyway.
Unsnip

I have used hand saws from a young age. 
Dad’s saws were relatively sharp. I don’t remember a specific distance expected
per stroke but then I was about 11 when he got his first circular saw. We didn’t
use hand saws much after that.
I did have a brief reintroduction to their use when Mr. Reeg had us use a cross
cut in middle school shop class. If I recall correctly that saw cut well.
Straight and to the line with an easy run across a 1 x 4.
After falling down the rabbit hole called the Old Tool mailing list I drug out
the saws Dad gave me and learned to sharpen them. Can’t say I can get through a
2x4 in three strokes but I can get as good a line as I remember from middle
school.
If I built more projects I could dull a saw. As it is I’ll have sharp saws when
I die from the last batch I sharpened.
As far as prices I had visions of selling saws with hand sharpened, finely set
teeth. I can buy saws for $10.00 all day that are good enough to sharpen and
use. We’ve had the “How long to sharpen rant before so let’s not go there.” In
my case I did the online search routine and found saws for hundreds that boasted
hand sharpened English Spring Steel and proprietary tooth conformation. I also
found painters saws.  You know the kind where pitting is so severe that you’d be
hard pressed to find a spot without one.  Two bucks and that’s only because they
have a usable set of screws.
After cleaning and sharpening a moderately good saw I’ll have about 4 hrs into
it. With my skill level I’d think the saw is worth about $20.00 as a saw.
Collectors have their own criteria. They are not always connected to my plane of
existence.
So if I had to price a saw I would bracket them:
Painter saws: not willing to purchase. 
User in as found condition: $10.00
Sharp user: $20.00
Collector ready: whatever the market will bare. 


All the above boils down to:
a. Painter saws: not worth the trouble. 
b. Users as found: If I can pick it up for $2.00 I’ll clear $3.00 after sale.
Not worth it.
c. Collector ready: I have a few that I’ll keep because they were my relatives
saws. The rest of my saws are too far down the road to perdition to be
collected.



--

Michael and GGs,

It is interesting that you mentioned this. A couple of weeks ago at the M-WTCA
meet at Tillers, a guy from Fort Wayne, IN brought a Panther head saw that he
just bought at a garage sale for $4.00.  The etch was gone but the handle was in
good shape.  it was lumped together with 3 other nondescript saws in a bucket.
He was pretty excited about it.

It reinforces John Ruth's recent post, if you want to find old tools, you have
to go looking.

Jim Crammond, in Monroe, Mi.

> I really doubt anyone is going to find a panther head saw for $5 or
> $10.  Some things can be seen even by blind seeker.
> 
>

Yikes!!

 >It is interesting that you mentioned this. A couple of weeks ago at 
the M-WTCA meet at Tillers, a guy from Fort Wayne, IN brought a Panther 
head saw that he just bought at a garage sale for $4.00.

Gracious Galoots,

Okay, so I buy saws.  Are they pretty and ready to go?  No, but man, I just
can't stop thinking about all the dreck that's available in what passes for
the typical hardware (local) store, much less the BORG or your regional
variety of big-box store.  Are these classy, the ones that follow me home?
 No, but I like to clean them, restore the handles, and sharpen them to the
best of my ability.  Then I play musical chairs with the other saws in my
saw tills, trying to decide which ones to have at hand.  The few of you
who've been to my shop know that I have some saws.  (By the way, you are
all welcome, anytime.  Seriously.  There's a cold one or two in the fridge,
coffee can be put right up, and I have a place we can sit and contemplate
the vagaries of sloped and non-sloped gullets.)  I have some favorites that
I reach for and others that are going to become favorites, soon.  Why do I
go through all this?  Hard to say.  I just like bringing a decent tool back
to beauty and renewed life.  Some might be worth more than others and I
know I can work myself into quite a lather if I wander over to Daryl's ebay
site or Pete T.'s saw sale page, thinking that that 11 tpi D-23 is going to
be quite the sale...maybe.

Last saw I bought at the flea was a nice crosscut D-8 (8 inside the D) for
$5, just like Tom C. said.  And I went home happy...

Regards,

Dwight


On Sat, Jul 26, 2014 at 11:15 AM, branson  wrote:

> Yikes!!
>
> >It is interesting that you mentioned this. A couple of weeks ago at the
> M-WTCA meet at Tillers, a guy from Fort Wayne, IN brought a Panther head
> saw that he just bought at a garage sale for $4.00.
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> OldTools is a mailing list catering to the interests of hand tool
> aficionados, both collectors and users, to discuss the history, usage,
> value, location, availability, collectibility, and restoration of
> traditional handtools, especially woodworking tools.
>
> To change your subscription options:
> http://rucku
s.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
>
> To read the FAQ:
> http://swingleydev.com/archi
ve/faq.html
>
> OldTools archive: http://swingleydev.com/archive/">http://swingleydev.com/archive/
>
> OldTools@r...
> http://rucku
s.law.cornell.edu/mailman/listinfo/oldtools
>