GGs-

It seems like a long time since I had anything to contribute, so I'll
at least post a word of encouragement to my fellow bottom feeders. As
someone said recently - the tools are out there. This may not be prime
yard sale season; even here in our most populous state it has been
raining almost constantly, and everyone has had holiday things to do.
But all activity has not yet reached a standstill...

This past weekend, I headed over to an estate sale that had an ad in
the paper with a list of what they had, and TOOLS was in upper case
boldface type. The bad news was I had only about $12 in my pocket and
I lost my ATM card, so no chance of getting more on a weekend. As it
turned out, not a problem. Not much woodworking stuff, but he had some
really cute tools that were fascinating to look at. For example, I'd
never seen slip-joint pliers in a 4 inch size before. Unfortunately,
most of the tools were in bad shape and I found only three things
worth acquiring:

1) A compass saw with a 16 inch removable blade. I didn't have a 
compass saw, so even with a slight bend in the blade (which I later 
took out) it was useful. No name on the blade that I can see yet.

2) A scratch awl, only marked "Made in England" - I didn't have an 
awl either.

3) An adjustable auger bit, this one bright and shiny but with no 
maker's mark at all. Have some of these, but why not?

I guess this guy didn't like tools with names on them for some reason.
"How much?" I asked. "$2 for everything." Well, OK.

Now last weekend, I went to a different sale, and spotted a Disston
D-23 5 1/2 point rip saw hanging on the wall. I have a D-8 rip saw,
but it's 8 point and I sometimes need something a bit more aggressive.
It was marked $5, I offered $3, and we settled on $4. In very
reasonable shape, and even sharp (although that's not a problem I
can't fix). It's now hanging next to the D-8, and the two are getting
acquainted. Funny how last year I only found boring equipment, and now
I'm mostly finding saws. Things run in cycles.

And speaking of boring, I went to a serious estate sale in late
December. It was pretty much crawling with people, some of whom were
looking only at tools, so I didn't hold much hope of scoring anything
big. I did pick up a brace and a few bits. But in an old dirt-floored
building where the owner had kept supplies for his 27 hobbies, I saw a
box marked "wood vice." Now wood is certainly one of my greatest
vices, but this turned out to be a NIB twin-screw vise. OK, so it was
a Ward's. If you saw how primitive my shop is, you would understand
what a great improvement this is. I have it attached to my genuine
particle board sorry excuse for a bench, but it is a great incentive
to get going on a real bench real soon now. I asked the sale guy what
he wanted for the vise plus the boring stuff. "$15?" "OK." "I must be
doing something wrong," he said. "Everyone just says OK, no matter
what I charge them." I assured him he was doing just fine, and hauled
a very heavy box a quarter mile back to my car. But I sold the brace
and bit on FMM for $15 and effectively got my new vise for free.

So keep scavenging, all you bottom feeders. There is stuff to be had,
even in the winter time. In my case, most of it is even stuff I can
use, for a change.

Ken, suffering from bench envy after all the recent discussions.
Ken Greenberg
IT #321; Blue Galoot #82