GWA at the 2013 Woodworking Show

Every year the GWA attends and displays at "The Woodworking Shows" and this year was no exception. For 2013 the show moved to the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia (formerly it was at the North Atlanta Trade Center). I'm not quite sure why but there seemed to be a heightened sense of excitement this year. I also got to attend a seminar by Paul Sellers (someone who I've found quite interesting online - he's just as gracious and charming in person as he is in his popular videos). 

The GWA booth was near the center of the large room down the main entrance. We had many items on display and also had stations for lathe and scroll saw work with volunteers in attendance. For the first time Ricky Alexander and some others set up notebook computers and demonstrated the work the SketchUp SIG has been getting into. We've found that doing these shows is a great way to meet new people, discuss new methods and garner potential members. Here are the photos I took at the show.

GWA Member Ted Baldwin doing a demonstration at the Woodworkers' Guild Booth...

Ted Baldwin at the Woodworkers' Guild Booth

Some of Ted Baldwin's Work

In the main lobby area was this table for the "Show Off Showcase" - not many entries this year...

New signage at the GWA booth this year - normally we're against the wall so this year we chose to do tall vertical banners...

Hans Meier at a scroll saw station...

 

Gerry Jones at a lathe....

 

A shot of one of the new banners...

Mickey Hudspeth demonstrates his skill at chip carving...

Steve Carmichael's fantastic "Kiss" weathervane...

Some puzzles by Karl Taylor...

Some of George North's segmentation work if I'm not mistaken...

Ricky Alexander doing magic in SketchUp...

GWA founder Ron Brown had his own booth this year...

Some beautiful club-made boxes (Rob Brokaw I believe, featuring a bit of marquetry)...

Some turned items by the Turners SIG...

A whimsical intarsia piece...

I spotted this chair in another booth and had to take a couple of stills...

And that wraps up the photos that I took...

-- 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 Estate Sale

Like any old tool nut, I like to visit estate sales that show images of interesting tools. In this case it was a well-advertised sale up in Cuming Georgia - the images showed several pieces of equipment and many hand power tools so I thought I would give it a go. When I got there the prices were fairly high - there were several larger pieces of equipment and each was listed at $800 or more - included from memory were: Delta 14" floor standing drill press, early Delta scroll saw (with retirement lamp), late 40's Unisaw, very early four-footer Delta Heavy Duty Shaper, early Delta 14" Band Saw (with retirement lamp), Delta 6" Jointer and a nice early Delta Lathe. There were parts and attachments hanging everywhere, most weren't with the tools they belonged to. There were also many hand tools piled on tables, a fairy decent saw till full of hand saws (no super early - more like post 1900), old routers, hand drills, etc and piles of veneer, scraps and hardware. It turned out the guy used to restore antiques, so everything he had was geared toward that task.

As I moved around I slowly accumulated a pile - the problem was that everything was priced fairly high and I'm basically a cheap bastard (or bottom feeder if you will). I already have so many tools it's hard to justify buying unless the price is fair to super cheap. Anyway, this is what I ended up with:

1. Rosewood, brass bound level priced at $30 - this is the nicest level I've ever run across "in the wild" and the price seemed very fair - obviously used but not abused. Marked Stratton Brothers, Greenfield Mass dated late 1800s.

2. Two rosewood handled gouges.

3. Two Split-nut Tenon Saws (one at about 15 tpi, the other around 12) at $15 each marked Sheffeld England

4. Large Starrett compass - got this as it was well made and one of the largest I've ever seen - got home and then noticed the manufacturer.

5. Two 14" Delta Drill Press spindles (mortise and shaper).

6. Extra Long Delta Lathe Rest (this was $10!)

7. Delta Motor condom (never know when you might need one!)

8. Stanley aluminum bodied min-router

9. Jacobs chuck key

10. Wire and thickness gauge

11. Small bag of ebony and rosewood scraps

12. Small pile of teak (looks to have been salvaged from a bench or something but already cleaned up/planed to 1/2" or so)

Like I said, I got the stuff relatively cheap but not totally bottom-feeder priced - the pile was $130. The most interesting thing in my opinion was the level, but the extra long tool rest isn't something you come across every day.

LatheFront

LatheFront
Originally uploaded by johnnyapollo

My latest find is this late 30's Boice-Crane 46" Gap-bed lathe. This one is rather special with what looks to be the original paint (complete with labels), tail stock, tool rests and extra spindles. This is the first I've seen with metal legs and it's pretty much a user (after a little clean-up).