Tool Talk
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: oldtools on August 28, 2012, 05:38:01 AM
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I got tool boxes full of old (rusted) tools that just needed minor cleaning or fixing from Bulk pickup.
(in Hawaii, the State offers Bulk-pickup each month, they will pickup your bulk stuff & dump it.
old furnature, mattress, appliances, junk, etc. (no tires, battery, haz-material, empty LPG tanks, etc.)
What was your best score? & how?
also see Odds & Ends post for other replies & Poll
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Is this quantity or quality?
Quantity is just too hard to remember. I guess I never got a huge slug at one time. No dumptruckloads or anything. I did give a truckload away once.
The son of a friend of mine found an old bottle in his yard.
I couldn't pay him what it was worth, so I gave him $230 dollars or so (what I could scrape up) and then covered the bed of his pickup with tools. Mostly mechanic stuff because he likes old cars and works on them some, but a few woodworking tools because I always have hope. heh
Since he didn't know the bottle was was worth anything at all, he was pretty happy.
(http://users.snowcrest.net/kitty/sgrandstaff/images/house/valley2.jpg)
I never found a big score of tools all at once, in never missing a yard or estate sale if I could help it, all my life. I try to never even miss a swap meet when on vacation in a strange town!!
But then I have been pretty picky for these last 40 years so I don't see tons of stuff that interests me.
If I come home with 2 or 3 boxfull's, its a big score for me.
Quality??
The great tools in my life have pretty much come by the each. I have a shed and a basement shop and these are both stuffed. But I also have a small glass front display cabinet inside the house. The tools in that box? Well pretty much all of them I can tell a story about.
yours Scott
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While doing an errand for the boss I passed a 1947 DeWalt GP 12" Radial arm saw at the end of a driveway. Sign said, For Sale $125.
Tires squealed and brakes smoked ! It is now restored to better than new and the pride of my shop.
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Since 95% of my tools are new to me within the last year and a half, I remember where a lot of them came from. The absolute best deals came from garage sales followed by flea markets and Craigslist.
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I went to an estate sale way out in the sticks an hour before it closed.I ended up buying the hole contents of the garage for $150.00. I filled my truck and way over loaded it. I had to call 2 friends to bring their trucks and we filled them up. I got a Snap On top and bottom box and piles of name brand tool truck tools.I'm still sorting it out.It was 2-3 years ago.It was my best score of tools.
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Yard sales. flea markets, and what the ole ladies dad left behind.
My new find yesterday was 10 lbs of old brass valves and it was
just in time, going to the scrap yard tomorrow and theres a
good size yard sale at a local church saturday and they always
have all kinds of different stuff donated to them. Yea man :-).
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I suppose it depends how you define 'best'.
The most surprising was walking to the end of my driveway, seeing a plastic toolbox next to the trash cans across the street, thinking, "nobody would throw away a box full of tools". But the box looked decent, so I went over and got it (a whole 10 foot walk) , and surprise, it has a ratchet and sockets in it, and they were SK.....
How do you beat free tools?
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If you will allow me to call log chains, tools........ I was driving to work on swing shift to the test reactor site I worked at in Idaho. It was a 28 mile drive one way. About 9 miles out of town I spotted a big log chain stretched out along the side of the road. I pulled over to the side and while attempting to turn my car around to go back and get the chain, I spotted more chains on the side of the road. In all I picked up 7 heavy chains all about 25 ft long and 3 binders. I had to put some in the front floor of the car and some in the back seat floor and some in the trunk, just to distribute the weight. My 85 Monte Carlo looked like a Low Rider. The guys at work figured they must of fell off a big truck some how. I still have two of them.
Mel
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How was it achieved? I bought it, found it or it was given to me. <g>
What was it? That's hard to say. There's the tool I bought for $40 a couple of months ago, and another one just sold on eBay for $240. That was nice. There's the Jay Sharp hammer I bought for $15 or the Stiletto cross pein I found for $5. Or the Samurai sword blade at an expensive antique store marked "Old sword blade $8." Maybe the fully functional ShopSmith I found at the dump for $40.
There have been a lot of lucky finds reported here. Maybe the best score has been finding Tool Talk.
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Very interesting replies & finds, I am glad I found Tool Talk.
Still learning...