2023 Garage Sale Thread

[ecotec]

I went back to yesterday's sale to grab the few Husky 1/4" sockets I saw along with a 1/4" Walden Worcester and another Wizard. While there I saw and brought home a K-D No. 130, Distributor and Carburetor Adjusting Tool from the late '50s-'60s. Basically a flexible screw driver, although the original bit was a combination hex key for Delco-Remy distributors and a flat blade for carbs. Serendipitously, I need to adjust the carb on my '99 Harley Fatboy and you can't do that without first removing the air intake assembly. I'm hoping I can snake this tool up high enough to engage the adjustment screw without bothering the intake because, with it off, it makes test drives hazardous from the occasional backfire jetting hot exhaust gasses into the side of my knee.


At my first stop today I scored two 1/4" socket boxes. One, an empty S-K box and the other a good start on a Hinsdale No. 11M set. Strangely, the empty S-K box cost the same as the Hinsdale set--$4 each. The Snap-on G-code socket was also inside the Hinsdale box and I picked up three unrelated 3/8" drive Hinsdale sockets in another part of the house. I found the "Tiny Socket Set" listed in the 1935 & 1938 catalogs with seven 12pt and two 8pt sockets. The set I picked up has the two advertised 8pts, but the remaining three sockets are 6pts instead of 12pt. Along with the fact that the descriptions in both catalogs claim the set comes in an 8" box while mine is only 6-1/2" is making me doubt I'm looking at the same set.
Total on the day was $11.

Here are the before and after shots.



Some may ask why I saw fit to remove what appears to be a cosmoline coating and I don't have a good answer beyond I plan on keeping the set and didn't like the feel.

As a person who has chased down NOS tools for three decades… the NOS packaging that I have destroyed… would make heads explode.

 

[Outlawmws]

$4 10X (I think) prism monocular, & 1/8" Proto combo - that one may be my smallest now? I need to check; $7 Sharp EL-5100 programmable Calculator (Works!

So I do already have another 1/8" combo; an Armstrong, but the Proto is my first this small.

The monocular was marked and I was able to discern it is 60's from Japan, it is a 10X (very clear too) I just need to get the focus working properly - I think someone over-heightened... - and the ocular tube needs some Lock-tight as it slides around and should not. - I like this silly little thing, it easy to point and find things, and does not get the "shakes" like you get with powerful Binoculars, I'm guessing due to its short length?

And the Sharp calculator was an easy fix as I had a bunch of the batteries it uses! Very happy about that too!

 

[seber]

Could the first one be a fid for splicing nylon rope? The one I use is just a hollow plastic point, but I can see how that might work. Referring to the Chinese finger cuff method.

 

[WisJim]

I did find 2 Whatzits" in the sewing stuff. I know what one item is, and one at least is sewing related.

What do you guys thing these are?

Item One:

I've seen tools that remind me of this that were for something involved with rug making, but that's just a wild guess.

 

[mikeinri]

The one I was thinking of here is more of a (very) distant cousin...

1/2 inch drive, and totally different head. Similar handle to yours, though.




Mike

 

[mikeinri]

I was fifth in line on the second day of a two day sale, the garage was “fill a shopping basket for 10 bucks” and I did!
Also got a small red Kennedy hand box that I’m cleaning/painting the top of.
If anyone can use the larger twist drills/carbide tooling let me know!
PS I now have a lifetime supply of 1/4” drywall anchors

How big were the "shopping baskets?" I would have been all over those parts organizers.

Mike

 

[RTM]

I've seen tools that remind me of this that were for something involved with rug making, but that's just a wild guess.

That crossed my mind also.

 

[Madjik Man]

Each of these were $5. $15 total.

I don't use SAE much but couldn't pass up the Proto hex bit set. I believe this is the J4900A set?

Hoping to be able to get the owner's initials off the case (Sharpie). If not I see they sell the case separately.



Then there was this set of drift (?) punches. Also Proto. 1/8 to 5/16 points.



Finally this pin punch set. Best I can figure this was Army issued? I have no idea. This link seems to be the most informative: https://www.armyproperty.com/nsn/5120-00-883-3003

 

[Provincial]

I give ***** to Blue Bomber and 3Jakes.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Hoping to be able to get the owner's initials off the case (Sharpie). If not I see they sell the case separately.

I have good luck going over the sharpie with a dry erase marker and wiping it, maybe a few passes.

 

[3jakes]

Hoping to be able to get the owner's initials off the case (Sharpie).

Carb cleaner & a paper towel works most of the time depending on the plastic.

 

[Raineman]

BlueBomber vise and 3jakes $25 haul = you guys ****.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

...a good start on a Hinsdale No. 11M set.

That's a neat find. I don't recall seeing one before. Note that the spinner doubles as an extension. A fairly common feature in midget sets from many mfgrs, but again, I don't remember seeing a Hinsdale before.

 

[gearhead1960]

Each of these were $5. $15 total.

I don't use SAE much but couldn't pass up the Proto hex bit set. I believe this is the J4900A set?

Hoping to be able to get the owner's initials off the case (Sharpie). If not I see they sell the case separately.



Then there was this set of drift (?) punches. Also Proto. 1/8 to 5/16 points.



Finally this pin punch set. Best I can figure this was Army issued? I have no idea. This link seems to be the most informative: https://www.armyproperty.com/nsn/5120-00-883-3003

Try lighter fluid. I've had success with that for removing Sharpie marks.

 

[LesserSon]

Not alcohol?

 

[ForrestT]

Tub of towels or goop wipes get the sharpie too.

 

[Madjik Man]

Not alcohol?

I was going to try rubbing alcohol first as that’s the trick to getting ink out of clothing.

 

[Old Man Roger]

I’ve had good luck with WD40 for removing sharpie.

 

[jeffmoss26]

How big were the "shopping baskets?" I would have been all over those parts organizers.

Mike

Just a normal size grocery basket you carry

 

[Old Radar]

An angle grinder makes quick work of Sharpie marks.

 

[bryanrj]

Many brands of the RB810 box end ratchet are out there, but I cannot identify this over scored S logo. Anyone recognize it? Checked Alloy artifacts, and other places with no luck.

 

[Old Radar]

That's a neat find. I don't recall seeing one before. Note that the spinner doubles as an extension. A fairly common feature in midget sets from many mfgrs, but again, I don't remember seeing a Hinsdale before.

My first also. The depiction in the 1935 Hinsdale catalog actually "points" to the 9/32" recess in the handle.
As noted in my original post, in my find, there are 8pt & 6pt sockets vs. the advertised 8- & 12pt, along with a 6-1/2" box instead of the 8". Because of that and the cosmoline, I suspect mine may be from the war years when specs were changed to reduce material and possibly manufacturing effort. I don't know if switching to 6pt would have saved anything, but who knows?

EDIT: I didn't think about it until re-reading the ad, but my Forged Extension Bar with Hard Rubber Screwdriver Type Handle doesn't really look like hard rubber. It looks (and smells a little) like that deterioration-prone material, although it is still sound. I wasn't alive for the rubber drives of the war years but that change might also point to this set being from that era.

 

[Outlawmws]

The solvent for Sharpie and Marks-A-Lot is alcohol - I've removed those marks from almost every surface with the exception of unfinished wood (porous and soaks in...), and even there, it will fade it. Both DNA and Isop. will work

Not only will it remove marks, it can be used to resurrect a dried out marker.

Generally, unless an exact chemical match is known, always start with the least volatile chemicals. Carb cleaner, at least old school carb cleaner, will often melt plastics, so not a good first choice.

 

[Outlawmws]

Haha! Saved that "Tiny Tools ad! Love it

 

[Snip's]

Today's small find...

Vintage Schrader Tire Valve Cores... Everything pictured was MADE IN THE USA, even the box.....
Cardboard box in nice condition...
Two interesting valve tools....




It's nice to see these old companies are still in business...


Patent No. 1819852


Patent N0.

 

[LesserSon]

Tagged along w MrsLS to Pittsburg this weekend. Of course it turned quite cold, so whatever outdoors markets there might be at this time o year didn’t manifest. I did poke around Point State Park, Fort Pitt Museum & the DAR’s Bouquet Blockhouse, which was interesting from a Seven Years War perspective.
Today, we lingered over coffee until 11am to hit Millers Crossing Fleatique. Meh. There were (very) few tools, either too pricey or too blah. This unpurchased Danielson-made 10” Plomb Stillson (marked $8.50) was as close to interesting as I saw. Same booth had an unbranded, rusty bitbrace marked $40…ha ha ha.
Navigated to North Versailles to check out Rossi’s I/O Flea. I think it must be potentially good in outdoor weather, but the inside booths presently little of interest to me. Missed a couple other antiques stores along rt30 and hopped on the PA Turnpike. Probably dismount to check out a couple more places.

 

[NYBODYMAN]

Hit an estate sale nearby that advertised tools. Got all this for $30. My son made me take the ALSIW jack too lol.

Heavy rubber chock
ALSIW 1 3/4-10 jack
Dorman tray for nuts and bolts
Lisle speak plug gapper
Klein needle nose
Barcalo Buffalo pliers
Power Kraft nippers
Snap on black handle screw driver
Snap On yellow handle screw driver
Blackhawk driver
Unknown USA stubby Phillips
Singer driver (sewing machine?)
Stanley USA Bell System
Stanley USA flat blades
Snap On F-71-C 3/8" ratchet
Craftsman V 1/2" ratchet
SK 1/4" ratchet
Cman V 1/2" extension
VG No. 10
VG 7WR
VG 6LN
VG 4WR
Plvmb 8181 1/2"x9/16"
Mac H2 3/8x7/16 6 pt
Bonney 19mm
Herbrand 13 mm
Plvmb 1224 3/4" combo
Fleet 1/2" ratchet
Duro 1/2" ratchet

Two pieces of steel that I will use for metal shaping.

 

[Raineman]

I had an interesting morning. I hit a couple flea markets and buttoned up a classified from a local website I’m on.

First flea netted the following:

Thorsen 1/2 moon and Bonney wrenches. $1


SK 1/4” tin and 6” extension. $3


A 1/2” and two 3/8” Blackhawk ratchets. $10


A bag of Bonney. $15



Then I went to pick up from the classified ad. I got 4 30” Husky top boxes for $75 each new in box. One of them and possibly 2 are claimed by the sons in law, one I’m using for a deck of cards raffle for a car show I run, and 1 I’m not sure about yet.




Final flea market produced the following:

Craftsman 3/8” ratchet and Excelite nut driver. $2


And this massive Cornwell wrench roll. $10. Goes from 11/16 to 1 1/2.

The roll is crispy and I’m not yet sure if I’m keeping it or flipping it. Likely keeping.

 

[Outlawmws]

Two pieces of steel that I will use for metal shaping.

Better pics? Those may be for sheet metal an IIR crimping a pitsbug seam? - Too many years adn I learned the SM stuff second hand I wasn't on the trade directly

Also better pic of the Singer driver? very likely Sewing machine, but not a dead certainty.

R-man - Suckage - on so many levels...

 

[zanyad]

Next stop was a downsizing sale, with the owner out in the garage.
...
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.

@BlueBomber *****!

You know how when someone advertises "cheap prices, must sell" that they are usually "priced to not sell"?
This morning was an exception.

@3jakes *****!

I was fifth in line on the second day of a two day sale, the garage was “fill a shopping basket for 10 bucks” and I did!

Nice finds, @jeffmoss26. You ****!

Hit an estate sale nearby that advertised tools. Got all this for $30. My son made me take the ALSIW jack too lol.

@NYBODYMAN *****!

I had an interesting morning.
...
Then I went to pick up from the classified ad. I got 4 30” Husky top boxes for $75 each new in box.

@Raineman great deal. You ****!

 

[NYBODYMAN]

Better pics? Those may be for sheet metal an IIR crimping a pitsbug seam? - Too many years adn I learned the SM stuff second hand I wasn't on the trade directly

Also better pic of the Singer driver? very likely Sewing machine, but not a dead certainty.

R-man - Suckage - on so many levels...

No markings and one of them is broken. No idea what they are for but the broken one was definitely used as some sort of punch as the one end is mushroomed from being struck with a hammer. They measure about 5 3/4" long tip to tip.

 

[Outlawmws]

Yep those are definitely metal working tools, well abused of course. I'm surprised they don't have any makers marks.

 

[Outlawmws]

@lugz - can you please takw a look at this post on the vise thread? https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/the-vises-of-garage-journal.44782/post-10047721

Its suggested my anvil vise above was also issued to military repair kit/truck in WWII?

 

[3baygarage]

Pexto and Niagara and others have made those, but those are deeper than I‘ve seen, if that’s what they are. Hand seamers???

Edit: Hand groover

 

[3baygarage]

That Cornwell set!

Rainman YOU ****!!!

 

[NYBODYMAN]

Yep those are definitely metal working tools, well abused of course. I'm surprised they don't have any makers marks.

That was my thought. I figured they were good for any homemade tooling I would ever need to make.

Pexto and Niagara and others have made those, but those are deeper than I‘ve seen, if that’s what they are. Hand seamers???

Edit: Hand groover

Correct^^^

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Because of that and the cosmoline, I suspect mine may be from the war years when specs were changed to reduce material and possibly manufacturing effort. I don't know if switching to 6pt would have saved anything, but who knows?

Specs for midget sets were changed from a mix of 12-, 6-, and 8-point sockets to all 6- and 8-points in April 1945. I don't think it had anything to do with steel conservation. I have never found anything that rationalized the change, I just assumed it had to do with 12-point sockets being rounded-off more than 6-point sockets.

 

[chenry318]

Wish I had a dollar for every time that's happened to me...

The worst thing is, thinking / feeling like you've bought something, can't find it when you need it, assuming you either didn't actually buy it or threw it away, buying another, then finding the first one in untouched condition...

Mike

Or you buy another and then your friend or relative returns one that you forgot you loaned out.

Yard sale/estate sale of a woman emptying out her folks home. I went for the grinder and found the Reed 204 and a handful of wrenches that I'll give to my step son who just started apprenticing as a mechanic. $55.00 total. Cleaned up the grinder today.

That's a suckworthy haul @wmb67

Here is a fun story. I went to a sale in Brazoria, TX this morning. Somebody died (RIP) and the family is taking care of his things. Big shop with some tools, but mostly rusty import stuff. He did have a rusty gantry crane and a small lathe. He was using the lathe for woodworking as it was covered with sawdust. I picked up a few things and was literally in my truck with the motor running and I thought, maybe i should take another look at the lathe. I ended up getting the lathe and the giant gantry crane (W4's) for $100! The lathe is an early Craftsman - 2 Jacobs drill chucks, a Dunap 4 jaw, all the threading gears, and some associated HSS tooling. I already have a Monarch, so I guess I'll just clean it up and sell it.

@cmccuist1 you gut a **** as well.

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 unbolted 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!

Another usuck for @BlueBomber for the vise and grinder.

 

[d42jeep]

Specs for midget sets were changed from a mix of 12-, 6-, and 8-point sockets to all 6- and 8-points in April 1945. I don't think it had anything to do with steel conservation. I have never found anything that rationalized the change, I just assumed it had to do with 12-point sockets being rounded-off more than 6-point sockets.

Really kind of an odd change. They did away with the ratchet and extension(s) as well. Here are some late war spec matching Walden sets.
-Don

 

[chenry318]

Stopped in my local tool store and found a few more screwdrivers. I really like the feel of the red and black craftsman professional ones. I will be hunting for more of those now.
Also a brand new set of 3/8” craftsman deep sockets, 2 complete Allen wrench sets that don’t appear to have been used much and a few torx bits as I always seem to need these.
$30 for everything.

This morning I talked the wife into a trip to a local antique store that we have never had a chance to stop at even though we have driven by a lot. Quite a few vendors but not much in terms of tools.
I did find one tool heavy booth which had these 5 screwdrivers wrapped together for $8.
I bought the bundle for the red and black handled ones (see reasoning above) and didn’t even notice that the clear acetate handled ones were not the kind I’m used to seeing.
I guess I will be searching for this type as well now.

Finally, in the “left behind” category.
This Mosssberg set. I know I have seen others pick this brand up but I know relatively little about them. Price was $22