# Information on old tools?



## Zantosa53 (Jan 8, 2014)

I just grabbed an old looking sears craftsman miter box and saw model number 881.36302 off craigslist for ten bucks. I was curious to see how old it might be. It even had the manual but I don't see a single date on the darn thing. So I was wondering if anyone out there knew a website I could punch in the model number and it could give me some basic info?


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## john sayles (May 27, 2013)

Alas - I know of no such site. As you might guess, the greatest body of information available is that applicable to Stanley tools.
Sears woodworking tools (especially Craftsman) were made by others and branded for sale by them.
The point is that you can sometimes figure out what you have by looking at sources from Millers Falls, or Sargent.
Most of the desirable Craftsman miter boxes are probably Millers Falls products.
One other thought: you can go here (bottom of page) and see the history of the Craftsman logo -- that might help you bracket a date of manufacture.


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## Zantosa53 (Jan 8, 2014)

Thanks I'll give that a shot and see what I can come up with.


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## amckenzie4 (Apr 29, 2010)

Looks a lot like my old Millers Falls miter box... You can see some information on similar tools, including setup and tuning, here. I found that site to be quite helpful.


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## markerman268 (Jul 13, 2014)

john sayles said:


> Alas - I know of no such site. As you might guess, the greatest body of information available is that applicable to Stanley tools.
> Sears woodworking tools (especially Craftsman) were made by others and branded for sale by them.
> The point is that you can sometimes figure out what you have by looking at sources from Millers Falls, or Sargent.
> Most of the desirable Craftsman miter boxes are probably Millers Falls products.
> One other thought: you can go here (bottom of page) and see the history of the Craftsman logo -- that might help you bracket a date of manufacture.


I just found one of these at a local thrift store. When I got home I looked it up on ebay and found several of them for sale. I also saw one exactly like it manufactured by a company called "Hempe". Here is a link to the auction. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-lar...901?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35cac13f05


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## timetestedtools (Aug 23, 2012)

See if this helps. http://vintagemachinery.org/craftsman/manufacturers.aspx

It looks like it was made by Hempe, which means its 1943 or newer. That's a start.

Also, this is a Fulton article, but has links to some Craftsman history.


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