>>> Jim itches for a good tale of gold in the wild<<<

I've actually had some good finds over the last year or so but overall
I guess I've never been much of one to "gloat" as it were.

That said, I've got a favorite fishing hole that I get to a few times
a year but it's pretty well a holding tank for bottom feeders.  If
you've ever seen an old episode of Sanford and Son, then this guy's
place is in the alley out back.  He runs a junk business out of an old
gas station and seems to get most of his stuff from auctions that
appear be the last stop for the remains from house cleanouts.  If
stuff doesn't sell at this guy's shop then it's off to the dumpster or
to the scrapyard.  Usually a trip there will get me a beer flat of
screwdrivers and maybe a chisel or two at best yet when I get a chance
I'll go pay him a visit in hopes of something special.  He gets lots
saws and braces but as mentioned, this is bottom feeder territory.  In
the 10 years or so that I've been visiting this guy, I've never seen a
backsaw that was older than 1980's vintage (think something that Great
Neck would look down on) and even then, usually rusty and munged up.
This past fall I found two old Disston's - one was a 1 son, the other
a double eagle.  Handles are pretty rough on both and spines and
blades are a bit pitted but those were firsts for me on both counts.
Prices were probably about a buck each.

One of the worst days of the summer last year I went there early in
the morning before the owner showed up.  He told me the penalty for
trespassing was a very large ice cold drink...  I laughed and asked
what he liked.  I didn't find much that morning but took him a quart
of gatorade that afternoon and spotted an older stanley miterbox that
I'd missed earlier.  He was pleased to see that I'd made good on my
fine and I think I could have named my price on the box but if I
recall, we both came up with something we could live with.  I was just
there recently but he doesn't really get much new in over the winter
and seemed like the new stock for spring hadn't started coming in.

In all the years of going there I've rarely found a plane - a handful
of lever caps (one from an old Siegley #8) but never much of anything
that wasn't junk or broken.  Not sure if I've got competition or if
they just get picked out at the auctions he's getting his stuff from.

Cheers,
Andrew
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