Rust Hunting in Georgia - June 21, 2011

I was kept too busy last week to do much hunting for tools at tag sales - actually I only stopped at one and ended up leaving empty-handed - when the weekend came along and I was too swamped and/or tired to do much searching. Then I got "the call" - one of my oldest friends in Atlanta lives several blocks from me and is also named John - when I think about it I've known him for over 15 years, having originally met him online as we both collect Japanese toys - it was only later that I discovered that we both had an interest in Mid-Century Modern furniture and design. A few years ago he was looking for a new place to live and somehow ended up in my neighborhood, which is a haven for Mid-Century Modernists due to the architecture. Most recently he's also been setting up a small workshop so he's also developed the tool bug. In any case, late last week John called - he was in front of some items in one of our favorite junk shops and wanted to know if I might be interested in some of them. Wow - it's great having friends. When he said "Glue Pot" my ears perked up - then came the price, $5.75 - I immediately said "Buy it!" I picked it up at his house a couple of days ago...

Remarkably, the pot appears unused and is missing only the optional lid. Now I can trash the old mini-crock pot I'm currently using.

It also came with what looks to be an unused pound of hide glue.

Cheered by this fantastic find - I stopped by a small sale earlier this week and found just a couple of items.

I got the trio of basically unused cans of solvents for a total of $2. Paid $1 for the Stanley Sureform and $5 for the unused 30' x 50' tarp - now I have no idea what I need that tarp for, but considering what you'd normally pay for one that large I thought $5 a worthwhile investment. At least now if one of the huge trees all over my yard falls on the house I might be able to temporarily cover the damage...

So the next day I thought I might swing by the same junk shop where John found the glue pot, to see if there was anything else interesting. I picked up the following for a total of a little over $10:

(That's the same glue pot, just grouped with the other items). When I spoke to John about the glue pot I said something about hide glue being used by traditional veneer users - so I wasn't surprised by the veneer saw - I was surprised by the $1.50 price though - this one is lightly marked "Made in West Germany" with no manufacturer's mark.

There was also this small wood burner with additional tips and a rheostat for $3.50 - hey I know it's not a Detail Master but its not $100 or more either.

I also picked up this router letter/number template set. I don't think it's great but the $4 price sticker sucked me in.

And finally there were these 3M paper holders - I think they probably originally held sandpaper - very heavy duty and they have a cool feature that allows them to hang from peg-board.

Not really much there that would qualify for "rust hunting" - more like bargain shop tool hunting, but since I didn't expect anything last week I'm glad to get what I did. The lesson learned here is to have friend's that look out for your interests - thanks to my old buddy John!

-- John