Rust Hunting in Georgia 2013.01.17

Both the sales and the local finds on rusty tools have rather dried-up for me as of late so I've been slow to post. The items today are actually from a couple of sources, both a local sale and a nearby junk shop - as usual the prices were extremely cheap as I'm truly a bottom-feeder (as I've noted before).

In the photo above you'll see two files at the top along with an awl in the lower left and a small flat file. I picked all those up at an estate sale. I really got them for the handles more than anything - something about a brass ferrule and old-fashioned turning that does it for me. Also, I've found that you can never have too many handles. Less than $5 bucks so super cheap.

The rest was found at my favorite junk shop and probably most of you would have passed on the bulk, especially the mechanic's tools.

The Husky 1/2" ratchet caught my eye as it was so well made - I've found you can never have too many of these - seems like I lay them down and can't remember where I've left it, so having extras is a good thing. This one has an interesting rotating direction lock - not sure of the era but before they were available at Home Depot for sure.

I'm a sucker for good quality Craftsman tools (interestingly, it's my understanding that much of the mechanics tools marked and sold by Sears as Craftsman were produced by Husky so there's a theme here) - these box-end wrenches are great for tight areas and were too cheap to pass up. The nut driver at the top is MAC and the little punches are great for tiny pins or nails - also too cheap to pass up.

The last thing I found was the Millers Falls tempered rule - it has a little edge corrosion but should clean up fine - this is another one of those things you can't have too many of - a good accurate rule with easy-to-read marks - invaluable in the shop.

I've found just a handful of other things which I'll roll forward into another post.

-- John

How I Spent My Summer Vacation Part 2

(In case you missed part 1 from earlier today)

OK so now were up to yesterday, Friday (July 6) so I grabbed one of the flooring boards and cut it to length. Of course, for some reason I cut it too short by about an inch (no it wasn't a tape-measuring thing - I actually "fiddled" with my table saw and moved the reference mark - Lesson Number 2, if anyone is counting, is to finish "fiddling" before you start cutting the real material.). Fortunately I had plenty of flooring to mess with. After defining the length and making a quick sketch, I started working on the new tongue for the opposite end. I cut all the bottoms first, then the tops. This is a test fit on the floor of my shop:

I then calculated the ripped piece for the end (came out to 2 1/2" wide) and made the rip cuts for the tongue on that side. It took a bit to get everything to line up to within an acceptable limit (still not looking for perfection here). I took the time at this point to bevel all the edges and work down the extended parts of the dovetails (used a flush trim saw and finished with the hand plane). I also worked out all the faces with a Stanley 4 1/2 smoother and hit the whole thing with some 150 grit sandpaper.

After everything was in place I clamped everything together and removed the sub-frame for a test fit. About a quarter of an inch needed to be trimmed from one end. I then marked and pre-drilled holes for 5 screws that will be used to hold the top to the sub-frame. The sub-frame was reattached and then the top moved to the top of the bench - heavy sucker, especially for one person. I also had to pull the cabinet from the wall to access the screws in the back and no, I didn't remove everything from the drawers before doing so - this took a bit of man-handling but wasn't too bad, just time consuming (Lesson Number 3 - get help from a friend before lifting a 100 lb + piece of awkward counter-top):

Next I drilled and counter-sunk 5 holes on the front, Added shims so the top would be tight to the sub-frame and screwed the top to the bench. There are also some hidden shims under the center column and right front to level the bench (no leveling feet on this unit - doesn't even have holes for them).

I hope to put a couple of coats of shellac or oil finish on the exposed wood tomorrow, but I'm calling this project done. I may still fill the holes on the front where I cut the rabbets for the flooring tongues (right now they're ugly and will probably prompt me to wedge and trim a filler strip).

Quick shot of most of the tools used:

So that's about it - not a bad project if a bit more time consuming that I thought it would be. I also got to practice my hand-cut dovetail technique AND free up some space.
-- John

Rust Hunting in Georgia 2011.11.12

Just a few things from a sale I hit on Saturday - this one was well advertised and apparently quite a bit had already been sold by the time I got there. I did miss out on a nice body vixen body file mounted in a tension handle (already have one but you never know). Everything that was left was fairly cheap - actually the stuff I bought was dirt cheap - most of what you see was in the quarter pile.

The larger of these hammers was the most expensive item I bought at $3 - guess no one wanted it. I think it's a useful size - about 2 pounds. The ball pein with a broken handle was a quarter and seems pretty well made - it's marked but hard to read.

I was hoping the micrometer was a Starrett - but no it's a Craftsman and the only one left that wasn't rusty that still worked (I left two others that were basket cases) - for a dollar I couldn't complain. I also got the Craftsman thread chaser for a buck.

I threw in the fret saw which I actually purchased at another sale for $5 - it's not as good as my old Millers Falls but I figured it would work as a backup. The real prize from the sale was this Atlas Steady Rest:

This was in the quarter pile. That's right, I found an Atlas steady rest that fits my 6" Craftsman-branded Atlas metal lathe for a quarter. Never would I have imagined ever, EVER finding such an odd-ball item that I can actually use so cheap. If you look you'll see that one of the "fingers" is missing. I believe I can find a replacement relatively easy (or fab one up if need be). I checked it on my lathe and it fits perfectly.

I asked about the lathe while I was at the sale - the guy said it was long gone and in really rough shape. The buyer claimed everything would need to be rebuilt (going from this part it just looks very dirty). No telling what it went for but I would have liked to seen it. Funny that the buyer missed this part.

Well, that's it for me - fairly slim pickings but I've had so much luck so far this year it's probably time for things to settle down (running out of space!).

-- John

Rust Hunting in Georgia - July 20, 2011

Well, finally getting a full time gig has certainly curtailed my hunt for rusty items. I did hit one sale and picked up the following though this past weekend:

One of the best things about going to rural sales is how cheap everything can be - in this case I spent very little money - less than $15. I always pick up wet/dry sandpaper when its very cheap as it keeps going up at the supplier.

The 000 and 0000 steel wool I bought as much for the packaging as for the nearly full boxes. Love the "Sun Ray" box!

The small shaped-rasps were cheap and I thought had the potential to be useful - I don't think I've ever seen them before so I'm not sure how they were offered in the stores?

As usual, I always pick up US-made clamps that are a couple of dollars or less - they don't shatter when they hit the floor like some of the Chinese-made clamps you buy these days, plus the little swivel-heads usually don't wear off (and the old clamps don't tend to twist when you torque them!). I think I've given up most of my newer clamps in favor for the old ones. I also like these old scrapers - this Craftsman one doesn't have any wear on the metal - I don't think it's ever been used.

The surprise find was this old Buck timber-framer's chisel - the handle is shot but the blade still has a few inches of usable cast steel left on it - it should refurb fine and for a two bucks couldn't be passed.

Both the metal squares are Stanley, a US-made No. 68 in steel and a 70's No 45-300 in aluminum - felt weird picking it up as I expected it to be heavier.

First aluminum Stanley I've found - then a couple of days later I came across another of the same model - weird how that works.

That's it for last week - now that I'm fully employed I won't be finding the exceptional deals as most of those are found on the Thursday-start Estate sales. Fortunately (or not depending on how you view it) I was able to root around sales while I wasn't working. Fun to do but bills have to be paid.

-- Best, John

Rust Hunting in Georgia - April 28, 2011

I stopped at a well-published estate sale on Thursday and picked up just a few items - most of the goods were outrageously over-priced (as usual these days) but I still managed to find a couple of good items. When I walked them up to pay I thought I would end up putting them back after hearing the prices given to those in front of me. Somehow Ye Ole Tool Gods were with me - the lady said "How about $15 for everything?" - SCORE!

First up is the set of mechanics tools - the Proto ignition wrenches are a nice pair to find, as is the vintage SnapOn ratchet - it matches the quarter-inch ratchet I found last year. I also like these 90 degree drivers and the Craftsman example was nicely made (they come in very handy).

The second set of hand tools includes a Stanley Hurwood #20 wood-handled driver, a pair of Porter Cable tool wrenches (which always seem to be missing) and a set of Klein dikes (the identical pair I already owned have part of the cutting edge blown out from a hot wire - don't laugh - so I was glad to find a replacement).

Stanley Hurwood - my favorite Wood-handled Screwdrivers

But the real find of the day was this 1935 Simmons "Keen Kutter" full-line hardcover catalog. This is the first of this quality I've found in the wild. With a whopping 2118 pages this book is a real beast having illustrations on just about every page and color plates. Besides having the expected full-line of Keen Kutter tools, there are also many Stanley tools, hardware of every size and description, Bicycles and replacement gun parts - you name it. It's an amazing book!

I'm not yet sure what I'm going to do with the book - at minimum I think it would make a good trade item - seems like it would also do very well on eBay, having a lot of cross-collecting appeal.

Oh I should explain the extra items in the photo - we've been slowly replacing all our storage containers for food with glass - preferably Pyrex - as we're trying to get away for storing food in plastics or metal. Those are two glass containers with lids, and an extra pair of lids I got in the deal. I did manage to score one extra item at a sale on Saturday - a "Power Rake" for $4 (it looked well made and was about the only reasonably priced item at the sale) - I found the rake on Lee Valley's website - seems it goes for about $40 or so - hope it works as good as it looks!

-- John

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