Fairchild Electic drill kit w/ all attachments

[randy]

Attached are some photos of my Fairchild "Householder" drill kit in original metal box and with all attachments. Best guess is that it is from early 1950's. The on/off is a toggle swith above the handgrip. It is a screw on 1/4" chuck with handtighten chuck. It has all the attachments; 2 drill bits, 6 fluted countersink, 4" round sanding discs, lambs wool buffing pad with backer, grinding wheel, wire wheel, and my personal favorite... a paint stirrer, which is the white paint coated matal attachment in front of the lambs wool pad. The model number is F149. I have no idea of it's age or value, since I have never seen anything even close to this. It was a gift from a friend who knows I love old tools. And yes, I still use it fairly often as an extra drill for countersinking and drilling small holes and it works perfectly.

[Papaw]

A nice little homeowner's kit! It will be a good backup.

[Nolatoolguy]

Not bad at all. Nice to see a good old tool still getting use. As papaw said its a good backup.,

[ron darner]

Hi, Randy!  I did a double-take when I saw the photos, 'cause they sure looked familiar.  Took a couple of seconds for it to sink in - they're the ones rejected by another site because they don't fit into the defined territory covered there.  No problem with them here!
Value (pricing) of power drills, especially older ones, seems to be almost by whim.  Go on "that well-known on-line auction site", and you may see two of the same model, with one showing a starting bid that's 20 times the starting bid on the other.  And the cleaner, better-kept one, with at least a chuck key, but up to and including ones with a full kit of accessories [like yours] may be the more attractively priced one.  There was a Model 149 offered for parts recently, with a starting bid of only $5.95 at http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Fairchild-Model-F-149-Corded-Electric-Drill-/181153012295?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a2d8f9a47.  It's missing the chuck, and may have other issues.
I think that the biggest reason for such drastic variation, aside from what some vendors are smoking, has to do with the lack of an established market.  I have met exactly one other drill collector in person, and know of another in Australia, and one in the Netherlands.  There are no periodicals, no reference books, and insufficient history of sales to define a price level.  Further, there are so many manufacturers (I know of over 200), and so many models, that it is hard to find a "comparable", as antiques appraisers might say.  Condition usually matters, and at least in my mind, presence or absence of a case, accessories, and whether I've seen dozens like it (or HAVE five like it!), or it's one totally new to me, changes my evaluation.  In many cases, drills were sold under numerous names, even though identical except for the nameplate.  I'd generally go higher for one that was sold as a house brand by a regional department store chain, than for its cousin that was nationally distributed right from the manufacturer.  There's a PET (Portable Electric Tools) model with some variation - likely running changes during the production run - that was sold under AT LEAST ten different brand names!  I have at least four of the brands of that one - but others must be far less common.  Your "Fairchild", by the way, was likely also made by PET.
I have two* power drills within arm's reach at this instant; one identical to the larger one was on eBay a few weeks ago with an S.B. of $149.99; mine has a paper tag asking $8.00, from a flea market where a friend of mine haggled it down to $6 a week or so back (and there was no shipping!).  The other came from the same flea market last weekend.  It's a near-twin to one offered at a buy-it-now price of $49.95 - but this one's tagged $3.50, and that same friend picked it up for me.  Too good a price to bother haggling!
*well, two that I wanted to mention - I can touch at least ten without getting out of my seat.

[scottg]

Yeah, portable power tool collecting is still in its infancy. Nobody knows what is rare or what is common on a national scale. Nobody knows what will be valuable and what will be so, so.
There are a few tools making waves. But mostly its a free for all out there.

You drill is a delightful classic. Especially considering the box and its label. It will definitely be on the hot ticket list. When we --have-- a hot ticket list... heehehe
I bet that outfit cost nearly 1/4 as much as the price of a new car when it was made.
They were scandalously expensive once.
  I have had old magazines  that showed a 1/4" drill, and a 9" Southbend precision metal lathe
      at the same price!
    yours Scott   

[Bill Houghton]

I have two* power drills within arm's reach at this instant; one identical to the larger one was on eBay a few weeks ago with an S.B. of $149.99; mine has a paper tag asking $8.00, from a flea market where a friend of mine haggled it down to $6 a week or so back (and there was no shipping!).  The other came from the same flea market last weekend.  It's a near-twin to one offered at a buy-it-now price of $49.95 - but this one's tagged $3.50, and that same friend picked it up for me.  Too good a price to bother haggling!
*well, two that I wanted to mention - I can touch at least ten without getting out of my seat.

So it sounds like a key element in getting started as a drill collector is getting to know your Personal Shopper.  Does he shop for others, too, or just for you?

Bill, no room for a drill collection, and saved by a lack of space

[ron darner]

He's not REALLY my Personal Shopper, but both of us know enough about the other's collection(s) to pick up items if the price is low enough - or we'll make a quick phone call and ask about buying something.  We both do the same for at least a few other people, one a mutual friend.  If we know of something you want, and see it at what seems to be a good price, you might be able to join the informal group . . .