Short form: Drove to Chicagoland, met some cool guys, bought some
cool tools, went home happy.
Long form: On Saturday morning I drove from Fort Wayne to Pierceton
(town motto: Follow your nose to Pierceton) to pick up Scott Post.
Scott and I were the sole representatives from the Hoosier state, even
though neither of us were born here. We drove to Ralph's house, met
Alan Graham, had a quick tour of Ralph's shop, then drove to the Flea
Market. And drove. And drove. And drove. The market was lots of
fun and I snagged a real nice Stanley No. 32 folding caliper rule with
the sweetheart logo and some goodies for SWMBO. Turning ten galoots
loose on a flea market is comparable to turning a group of Vikings
loose in a Convent - suffice it to say there was very little iron left
at the end of the day. Alan won the award for the most booty - he
actually had to purchase a satchel to carry his goodies. I heard that
in future fishing disputes between the U.S. and Canada, the weight of
iron Alan took home with him will be figured into the equation versus
pounds of fish caught.
Anyway, the evening at Russ' house (thanks for having us, Russ) was
great. Good food, good beer, good tool talk - life is good. The next
morning at the MWTCA meet was even better than the flea - I found a
nice No. 12 scraper, No. 7 jointer, a fence for my No. 78 duplex
plane, some assorted auger bits, and some much needed saw nuts that
were still attached to a beat up handle and sadly overused saw blade.
All user stuff, but at good prices.
As I said earlier, a good time was had by all. Thanks to Ralph for
his efforts and demos - what a guy.
Joe Palazzolo
Fort Wayne, IN
P.S. Does anyone have the phone number for the Stanley Spare Parts
Department? I tried the 800 directory, but they couldn't find
anything. Thanks.
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