seeking flea markets for old saws

[Jeff Borges]

Hi fellows creekers, I am looking for flea markets, swap meets or otherwise that I might be able to locate older saws and such.

I live in southern california and haven't really begun to search locally yet, figured I'd just ask.

most of our local swap meets have become grocery stores in a tent or over priced garage sales.

I have been watching ebay, bidding on a few.. but not sure how to set an accurate price.

Ultimately I'd love a Wenzloff or 3, just have to save up...:rolleyes: (btw Mike, you really do have a beautiful product)

Thanks every body

[Alan DuBoff]

You'll need to ask folks in your area about fleas. Unless you find someone on SMC from your area, most won't know. My experience is that even when I've attended some of the local fleas to me, I don't get the luxury of buying saws I want. It's more of a "buy what you find", so it really depends on what type of saws you're looking for, IMO.

If you can't find what you want on ebay, I would think that going to a flea will be less fruitful, but all of our milage will vary. I think ebay is one of the easiest places to find what you want. Or are you saying you want to find saws for $2? Because you will be able to find saws for $2 at flea markets, I'll be curious what you find and how plentiful they are in your area.

The other possibiliy is to buy from a well known used tool dealer, such a Walt Quadrato at Brass City in Connecticut (http://www.brasscityrecords.com/).

You would do yourself some good to decide what type of saws you're looking for, there are many types, and most handsaws are available in both rip and crosscut.

For starters, go to Pete Taran's Vintage Saws website (http://www.vintagesaws.com/), Ralph Brendler's Handsaw FAQ (http://www.brendlers.net/oldtools/handsaws/handsaws.htm), The Disstonian Institute (http://www.disstonianinstitute.com/), Norse Woodsmith (http://www.norsewoodsmith.com/), and a pletorea of other handsaw sites on the web.

Good luck in your journey to find saws, and be careful, they certainly can be addicting! The first time you use one that you've sharpened for yourself and it cuts well, it's a long slippery slope from there...:)

[Jeff Borges]

as a bonafide old tool junkie (tool junkie with a few oldies?:p ), I decided early on I had better build some slippery slope shoes, lol.

Thanks for the links, I love looking and reading. I am learning about the different styles, and want a whole collection (where're those shoes??!). As for types to buy first, I suppose unless I go ebay or a "store" I have to take what comes along.

I have been putting backsaws on my watchlist, not sure I want the longer ones to start?? was looking at say 10-12 inches unless it looked really nice (premium price I know).

Have you had good luck with saws from ebay?

Thanks
Jeff

[Mac Cambra]

I tried going the route you are going and finally gave up, I am buying 2 Wenzloff carcass saws.......... I know they are expensive but I think in this case they are also valuable.

You might want to consider the adage about buying based on value and crying over the cost once rather than short changing yourself to save money and having to buy many times.

[Alan DuBoff]

Have you had good luck with saws from ebay?I've bought a few. I think it's the best for this type of stuff as you can select and choose. I might have one or two saws I may sell, but offered some Disston backsaws recentely (on the oldtools list) and a couple are gone already. I won't say I'm focusing on non-Disston saws, but they're not my empahasis. Thing is, the Disstons go for more money, typically. I haven't been following old saws recentely, since I do have a pair of Wenzloff & Sons small joinery saws I use most of the time. Only because of the joinery I've been doing. Size of the saw is dependent on the work being done, at least for me.

I only own backsaws, I don't own any larger panel or other hand saws.

Go read those sites and figure out what type of saws you want. When you understand the difference between a dovetail, small tenon, carcass, sash, and other backsaws, you'll be in a better positions to find what you want. As it is, if I asked you what type of saw you wanted, you would most likely say "a dovetail", which is what most everyone says. Then if I asked you what a dovetail saw was, you most likely wouldn't know. So, understanding what you want is helpful. You can use a small tenon saw or any of the others to cut dovetails, don't let the name fool you.

[Roger Bell]

You might consider joining a tool club. In SoCal, P.A.S.T is the club to join. It is very well respected. You will likely get a better selection of good tools rather than flea market junk, you will likely get better prices than from dealers (particularly internet-based dealers), and you will meet lots of nice folks from whom you can learn quite a lot.

There is considerable expertise in the collecting community.....considerably more than (IMO) that typically found on message-boards and on websites. Many of these old-boys are top-shelf experts in their respective fields and most do not have an internet persona. Some believe that computers really are not here to stay, but we can't hold that against them, can we?

As a member, you can probably also off-load some of your tools should you decide they are excess to your needs without the on-line auction hassles.

http://www.pasttools.org/

[James Mittlefehldt]

Believe it or not antique stores are not bad either, I have found a few nice saws that way providing it isn't a familier name like Diston you could get a rare one cheap.

My best buy though was at an auction where I bought a lot of three saws for five dollars, two of them were R. H. Smith BAcksaws one a hundred years old plus and the other almost so, and they are the two saws I use the most, as one is rip and the other is crosscut.