Rust Hunting in Georgia - March 12, 2011

It's unusual for me to find more than one sale that has old tools - I guess when it rains it pours - I scored at two separate sales.

I saw an interesting ad on CL regarding tools and whatnot from an estate - seems the owner used to train horses and there were some dark, rather vague photos of bench vises. I shot off an email asking about any anvils or blacksmithing tools and got a reply back that there were some items. I arranged to take a look and found two anvils - both marked Fisher and about the same size. I bought the better of the two (the second had a back corner busted off near the hardie hole).

While looking around I found an older, cast-frame Workmate. I've been jonesing for one of these for a few years - I currently own two (a 79-001 type 4 and a later model 425 with a vertical clamping surface - both were found at yard sales, the former for $5 and the latter for $10). The cool thing about the very early models is that there are a number of cast metal parts. In this case, the "H-Frame" supports are cast metal instead of sheet steel. The Type 1 had orange-painted plywood "jaws" and cast aluminum supports (the type 2 is pretty much the same other than stamped metal supports and natural "wood"). In any case, I've been hoping to find one for some time - the Workmate is incredibly versatile - you'd have to own one (or three!) to understand completely. This example was in a long chicken house used as a stable - the Workmate was buried in about 10 inches of straw and wood shavings. Here are images after a quick hit of compressed air:

 

Original label

Has both sets of "feet"

Plastic knob over metal core

A bit rusty

Still visible Type 2 stamp

Complete with plastic bench dogs

There's quite a bit of info on Workmates and a Type Study to be found here: http://kirkhmb.smugmug.com/Woodworking/Workmate-Type-Study/

An here are some detailed photos of the anvil and a handful of other tools also acquired at the same sale. The anvil is marked "Fisher 6" and "1892" - it should clean up nicely and be ready for use shortly. Interestingly, the other anvil I passed on showed up on CL about a week later for $150: http://atlanta.craigslist.org/wat/tls/2261318630.html
 

This is the handful of miscellaneous tools I also picked up at the sale - nothing special but a good Stanley hammer, Stanley chisel, Stanley "Yankee" screwdriver, nippers and some type of air gauge.

The second sale I also found on CL - in this case the seller had a bunch of home woodshop tools listed with some photos - the inexpensive Craftsman pedestal grinder caught my eye. The base is the same as the 50's Craftsman shaper I currently owned. I emailed and got a reply the next day (Saturday) and was able to go right over and scope things out. Seems the seller had inherited the shop from an uncle and didn't really have the space to set up a proper shot, thus the sale. While there I also spied some other items that I was also able to purchase.

So as I was looking over his other items I spotted this drill press vise - as I've always wanted something better than the cheap Taiwanese thing I currently use, this is a welcome addition. It was also made in the USA which usually indicates a better quality item. I like that it tilts, however the bracket looks a bit lame.

I also spotted some 12" Craftsman wood-screw clamps - these are as good as any Jorgenson's I've seen and have long screws for extra capacity (at least they're longer than my Jorgys). There were also some "made in US" metal "C" clamps (the small one is marked "Wilton") and an old Vixen file holder with an aluminum Craftsman grip - from back in the day before Sureforms became the norm in doing body work. I like the tensioning turnbuckle - you can really bend the file to get at an inside radius...

In all a very successful day of rust hunting.

-- John