Can you Buy These Proper Vintage Mitre saws in UK?

[Friedrich]

I see they are quite popular in USA and very plentiful , However I have searched whole UK ebay and can't really find anything like this.
I'm after a nice properly made vintage one with nice and thick castings and with an actual saw like that not the flimsy parody nobex-type ones.
They are called '' mitre box saws'' , but I'm really having a trouble finding even 1 for sale over here.

 

[D_W]

That right there is a very USA scene. A chevy caprice, some beat grass and gravel and lots of stuff in the background that could really use a fence around it.

(and yes, they're common here - miter boxes that is).

 

[bugbear]

The frame type (Ulmia, Nobex) have MUCH greater capacity in depth, helpful when installing deep Victorian skirting board.

BugBear

 

[ED65]

I've passed over mitre saws of the type you've posted I think four times, three at car boots and one on our equivalent of Gumtree, so you can definitely find them over here if you're patient.

These are a rarer item so you have to bide your time and grab 'em when they do show up.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Those Stanley mitre boxes are large. They are really carpenter tools. I have a Miller's Falls 74C. It is used with a 26" long x 5 1/2" deep saw plate. That is monstrous and really unwieldily for the smaller mouldings we make for furniture.

I searched patiently for an inexpensive Miller's Falls #15 1/2. They are expensive thanks to Chris Schwarz. But eventually I found one that could be restored. It is pre-restoration below along with the #74C ...

Here is the rebuilt #15 1/2. I needed to make a new saw for it. This is modelled on the original, which has a 16" long x 2 1/2" deep saw plate ...

These mitre boxes are not available in Australia. The larger Stanley are reasonably so. I imagine that the situation is the same in the UK.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[AndyT]

I have two of these. One is a little Stanley which works with any saw. The other needs a long backsaw - which I have. I can't remember the model.
I'd seen them on US forums and wondered if they were any good, but couldn't find any on eBay.
I bought mine at a David Stanley auction. They weren't in brilliant condition but were under £40 iirc.
I really ought to build something which exploits their features. For simple mitres on planted mouldings I've used a plain old wooden mitre box or a cheap no-name frame type mitre saw, both perfectly good.

So in my experience, they are not worth chasing.

 

[Corset]

I might might have a couple or 16 i lose a count depends whether the wife is watching. I keep seeing them at auctions going cheap and then feel sorry for them and buy them.
In my experience you need two to get a working set but they are superb. They need a well sharpened saw i prefer them rip filed or near enough with very little set.
I fing the bigger stanley ones very taxing to work as the saw is very heavy and as such a smaller millers fall is my go to mitre box.
Personally i tend to use them for smaller pieces and complex angles and a powered mitre saw:
a scares me
b takes up space
c makes loads of dust and is noisy.

There is also virtually no guarantee any parts are cross compatable, i have quite a lot and very few parts seem to match in virtually identical mitre boxes.
They are remarkably hard to find online outside the US as i think there is little tradition here for them as we have the wooden mitre box. The saws need looking after and there are a lot of teeth to file,
People seem to loose the saw, the boxes are cast iron and hard to post. They are heavy to take site to site...
Probably the main point is that the NOBex are quite light, pretty good and have a replaceable blades ( no sharpening).
I do have an ulmia i am doing up, seems well made but not to the quality of the millers falls etc however first opinions can be deceiving
owen