Hello, all! My long dry spell came to an end today, thanks to a road trip to Virginia, transporting a pickup truck down to my brother. There has been an absolute dearth of estate sales near me with the kind of stuff we all like and even the auctions I had resorted to had come up dry. For this trip, there were a few promising sales advertised across Connecticut and New York, and I targeted two privately run sales, both close to my path of travel.
The first was a family cleaning out Dad's house after he'd gone into an assisted living home. The ad said lots of tools and car parts, but they must have been open days earlier because there wasn't much left. I was poking around an old tote box full of tools when one of the daughters walked into the garage with "Does anyone know what this is?" I immediately recognized a zip- tied bundle of Chevy small block rocker arms and told her so. She thanked me and whipped out a ziploc baggy--"What about these?" "Push rods," I said, probably for the same engine. Her: "Are they valuable?" Me: "Sadly, they are extremely common, and anyone rebuilding a Chevy small block will probably buy new ones. "
She thanked me again and said her Dad would have liked me. I helped them identify a few other old tools in the tote that I didn't want, and they took $5 for the six I did.
6" putty knife, older unbranded w/ a press-formed metal handle
20-ft Stanley tape measure, beat up but functional
50-ft Wards Powr-Kraft white tape measure
Stanley Surform No 296 wood rasp
Kobalt square-notch margin trowel, new and unused
Goodell & Pratt No 135 thread gauge
Next stop was a downsizing sale, with the owner out in the garage. I thought I was going to come away empty handed when I spotted a bench vise in the shadows behind a large garden cart. When I asked how much, he said "Tell me what you want to pay." He took my $40 offer without hesitation, and even brought tools and invoked it from the bench for me. While he was working on the bolts, my gaze slid down the bench to another prize. "How much are you asking for the grinder?" He gave me the same answer, and after we confirmed that it worked like a charm, he again accepted my $40 offer.
Cha's Parker No 88 bench vise with pipe jaws, w/ patent dates of 1906 and 1910
Craftsman Commercial crowntop-logo 1/2-hp bench grinder with tool rests and light, missing only a quench tray. It ran very smoothly and the bearings took a loooooong time to spin down, so it's in great shape.
I was a little stumped as to what I would do with my finds, as I'm returning to Mass by train and my last two treasures are too big to bring as carry-ons, until I remembered I'd be driving right by my in-laws place and my wife was coming this way next month for a visit. A quick phone call assured me a welcome space in a large garage until SWMBO can return with them. Yay!