advice needed, selling 1946 Stanley W8 worm drive saw

Have you tried searching for similar/same saws in the advanced search
area, and specifying completed auctions only? You can see there what
other comparable saws went for during the last month. Should give you
an idea.
There's controversy over wether reserves help an auction or not. Some
say they scare off bidders. Personally, I think letting the market set
the price is the way to go, stuff usually gets a reasonable price this
way.
Good luck.

On 31 May 2005 18:00:58 -0400, [email protected] (Roy Smith) wrote:

><[email protected]> wrote:
>>I recently was given a 1946 Stanley W8 worm drive saw, w/original
>>blades, metal box, paperwork, even the tube of grease. It cut through
>>a stud easily, even with the old blade. However, I have no use for it,
>>so I've decided to sell it on Ebay.
>
>Maybe PBS could do a cross between "New Yankee Workshop" and
>"Antiques Roadshow". I can just see it now...
>
>"Well, Scott, what you've got here is a classic worm drive saw, made
>by the Stanley Tool Works, circa 1940-1950. We can tell who made it,
>because if you turn it right side up, you can see that it's got
... snip of some funny stuff
> Do you have any idea what this is worth at
>auction today?"

I think *that's* what he's trying to find out. ;-)


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If you're gonna be dumb, you better be tough

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[email protected] says...

> Have you tried searching for similar/same saws in the advanced search
> area, and specifying completed auctions only? You can see there what
> other comparable saws went for during the last month. Should give you
> an idea.
> There's controversy over wether reserves help an auction or not. Some
> say they scare off bidders. Personally, I think letting the market set
> the price is the way to go, stuff usually gets a reasonable price this
> way.
> Good luck.

I have to agree with that. You will get far fewer bids with a reserve
than without one. The bids will quickly ratchet up to a fair value, or
sometimes more than fair. If a bidder really wants an item and places a
bid that is more than customary, that bid can hold right through the end
of the auction without any more interest. If an item goes down to the
wire and is still a pretty good deal, then the bid will be run up in the
last few seconds. Either way, it is unlikely that anybody would ever
get less than fair market value for a desirable item from Ebay, unless
the seller just put together a crappy auction.

<[email protected]> wrote:
>I recently was given a 1946 Stanley W8 worm drive saw, w/original
>blades, metal box, paperwork, even the tube of grease. It cut through
>a stud easily, even with the old blade. However, I have no use for it,
>so I've decided to sell it on Ebay.

Maybe PBS could do a cross between "New Yankee Workshop" and
"Antiques Roadshow". I can just see it now...

"Well, Scott, what you've got here is a classic worm drive saw, made
by the Stanley Tool Works, circa 1940-1950. We can tell who made it,
because if you turn it right side up, you can see that it's got
"Stanley" cast into the metal in big bold letters right on the front.
This is a wonderful example of mid-century New England industrial
production, and was probably made in Connecticut.

You can still see the wonderful teeth on the blade, and here's this
absolutely lovely example of a power cord, which became very popular
after electricity was invented. This was probably used by a homeowner
or professional craftsman to cut large pieces of wood into smaller
pieces.

There is some damage; if you look carefully, you can see the black
plastic tape wraped around the cord where somebody probably wasn't
watching what they were doing and cut right through it. That brings
the price down a little, but most saws of this age have had similar
damage during their lifetimes, so it doesn't hurt the price as much as
you might expect.

Even more exciting is what you've got to go with it. You've got the
original blades, the box, the tube of grease, and most important, the
paperwork that shows where it was bought and how much it cost. That
kind of provinance makes a tool like this even more valuable to the
experienced collector. Do you have any idea what this is worth at
auction today?"

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Roy Smith)
wrote:

> <[email protected]> wrote:
> >I recently was given a 1946 Stanley W8 worm drive saw, w/original
> >blades, metal box, paperwork, even the tube of grease. It cut through
> >a stud easily, even with the old blade. However, I have no use for it,
> >so I've decided to sell it on Ebay.
>
> Maybe PBS could do a cross between "New Yankee Workshop" and
> "Antiques Roadshow". I can just see it now...
>
> "Well, Scott, what you've got here is a classic worm drive saw, made
> by the Stanley Tool Works, circa 1940-1950. We can tell who made it,
> because if you turn it right side up, you can see that it's got
> "Stanley" cast into the metal in big bold letters right on the front.
> This is a wonderful example of mid-century New England industrial
> production, and was probably made in Connecticut.
>
> You can still see the wonderful teeth on the blade, and here's this
> absolutely lovely example of a power cord, which became very popular
> after electricity was invented. This was probably used by a homeowner
> or professional craftsman to cut large pieces of wood into smaller
> pieces.
>
> There is some damage; if you look carefully, you can see the black
> plastic tape wraped around the cord where somebody probably wasn't
> watching what they were doing and cut right through it. That brings
> the price down a little, but most saws of this age have had similar
> damage during their lifetimes, so it doesn't hurt the price as much as
> you might expect.
>
> Even more exciting is what you've got to go with it. You've got the
> original blades, the box, the tube of grease, and most important, the
> paperwork that shows where it was bought and how much it cost. That
> kind of provinance makes a tool like this even more valuable to the
> experienced collector. Do you have any idea what this is worth at
> auction today?"

Very funny stuff. Thanks for the laugh.

Or: Do you have it insured?

On 2005-05-31, Roy Smith <[email protected]> wrote:
><[email protected]> wrote:
>>I recently was given a 1946 Stanley W8 worm drive saw, w/original
>>blades, metal box, paperwork, even the tube of grease. It cut through
>>a stud easily, even with the old blade. However, I have no use for it,
>>so I've decided to sell it on Ebay.
>
> Maybe PBS could do a cross between "New Yankee Workshop" and
> "Antiques Roadshow". I can just see it now...
>
> "Well, Scott, what you've got here is a classic worm drive saw, made
> by the Stanley Tool Works, circa 1940-1950. We can tell who made it,
> because if you turn it right side up, you can see that it's got
> "Stanley" cast into the metal in big bold letters right on the front.
> This is a wonderful example of mid-century New England industrial
> production, and was probably made in Connecticut.
>
> You can still see the wonderful teeth on the blade, and here's this
> absolutely lovely example of a power cord, which became very popular
> after electricity was invented. This was probably used by a homeowner
> or professional craftsman to cut large pieces of wood into smaller
> pieces.
>
> There is some damage; if you look carefully, you can see the black
> plastic tape wraped around the cord where somebody probably wasn't
> watching what they were doing and cut right through it. That brings
> the price down a little, but most saws of this age have had similar
> damage during their lifetimes, so it doesn't hurt the price as much as
> you might expect.
>
> Even more exciting is what you've got to go with it. You've got the
> original blades, the box, the tube of grease, and most important, the
> paperwork that shows where it was bought and how much it cost. That
> kind of provinance makes a tool like this even more valuable to the
> experienced collector. Do you have any idea what this is worth at
> auction today?"

Unfortunately the cosmoline has been removed. Did you try and refinish
it yourself? If the cosmoline had been left intact, it would be worth
roughly ten times it's value, but as it is, it's not worth that much.