2024 Garage Sale Thread (13th Annual)

[saukit]

Keep the flea stories coming Lugz! I like hearing about the experience on the other side of the table. I've thought about lugging some stuff up to my flea to try it but if someone stole from me I'd lose it!

A few pickups from this last week...

Random 1/4 box and almost complete inverted G set. $6



First day estate sale, pricing was all over the place. Lots of 1/2 drive sockets marked at $5 which is the same price the ratchets were set at. Then a bag containing all of the sockets in this pic was only $12 Most of a Snap on 3/8 SAE set, nearly complete Craftsman =v= sets and some metric stuff as well. Ended up at $40 all in.




The little vice is kinda cool but I have a feeling it's foreign. Anyone recognize the markings?



Got lucky at this sale, a couple random boxes and some wire wheels for $11. Couldn't believe it when I found this little S-K beavertail hiding in the screwdriver rack! 1/4" and S-K marked no less! Was even happier when they only charged me a buck for it

 

[d42jeep]

You **** on that whole haul but you **** even more on the S-K marked Beavertail!
-Don

 

[Outlawmws]

a couple random boxes

I agree you **** for this haul

But I want to see more detail on the green box.

 

[d42jeep]

I’ve had one of those little green boxes. Check out this Oxwall set posted by four.cycle.
-Don

 

[Stubby1743]

I went to the annual "Eurojumble" motorcycle auto jumble near Southampton yesterday and came away with a few tools.

Three King **** SOEs. I seem to be developing a collection od these.
Vlchek 7/16x3/8 Whitworth DOE.
Stahlwille "Stronger that any bolt" dual size marked DBE.
Gordon 5/8x9/16 DBE.
Athol "High Tensile" 15x12mm DBE. This is Athol of Birmingham UK.
Gordon 7/16x3/8 DBE.
Britool 5/16x1/4 DBE.
Britool 7x6mm DBE.
Britool 7x6mm DOE.
Three Britool EB series 1/2 drive sockets. 12,13&15mm. Unused.
Halfords 3/8 drive 8" wobble extension, unused.

£17 all in from various sellers. I left behind loads of stuff that I would have bought a few years ago.

 

[saukit]

I agree you **** for this haul

But I want to see more detail on the green box.

Here you go. Kinda interesting with the top and bottom. Can’t find any makers marks.

 

[LesserSon]

I was heading to the PA Turnpike (476) this morning, planning on making the 4hr drive to my parents to cut their lawn in the early afternoon. But Cetronia was having a community yard sale, so…
2hrs and $4 snagged a welded wire rack that will hold - in vertical space - the cubish PPE snack jars that I like to keep sockets I’m building into sets, a NIB made in USA 20A outlet, an unidentified drawknife , and two 8” slipjoint pliers - one Utica, the other a frankensteined Bonney (the Bonney half being made by Utica). The nonBonney half is forged in USA with depressed diamonds grip pattern, model no.CD48-C, but I don’t know the manufacturer.
I’m happy enough with the purchases, but the two hours invested will push back cutting the lawn, probably ending with spending the night at my parents’ place and killing a chance to go to Jake’s Sunday morning. WHO KNOWS what wonders I will be missing there? Which demonstrates the nebulous nature of opportunity cost.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Kinda interesting with the top and bottom.

...and the unusual slide clasping system! Looks like it may have been black originally.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Went to a sale that had a picture of a unique mill vise for holding odd shaped objects. It was nice but had been broken in half and welded back. For $250 hard pass. Not to be defeated I tried an over 55 mobile home park community sale. I usually avoid these at all costs but took a shot. The gentleman selling the Coleman 220F (10/69) said he wasn’t sure if he ever even used it. I took one look and figured he must have forgotten a lot of use on it lol. He offered it for $5 I couldn’t pass it up. A free pack of makita trimmer line and a brand new Rhino USA tow strap kit with shackles. I was shocked when I saw what these go for on Amazon. ($15 for me)
The real belle of the ball was this vintage Seahawks, Koozie brand beverage holder. All I need now is a couple wine coolers and a woman with big hair that likes Def Leppard and the formula will be complete. This will be put to use on Sunday!

 

[Outlawmws]

Looks like it may have been black originally.

Or someone sloped black over markings inside the cover.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Or someone sloped black over markings inside the cover.

That's possible! @saukit would be able to distinguish the layers in person. If it's OD, it could be Signal Corps. It smacks of Signal Corps oddness. I have a couple weird ones. Maybe @saukit could rub it ever so lightly with 0000 steel wool dabbed in paint thinner.

 

[3baygarage]

Or someone sloped black over markings inside the cover.

Those latches look really familiar. I know I’ve messed with them on something.

 

[Stubby1743]

I have a box with that type of latch and the same green crackle finish but it is only a simple shallow box. I am pretty sure that mine is of military origin. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

 

[saukit]

I’ll take some steel wool to the black stuff this afternoon and report back🫡

 

[Outlawmws]

Those latches look really familiar. I know I’ve messed with them on something.

I've used those before in designs, and once on a project. Commonly used in Aircraft electronics applications IIR. Later for mainframe computer cover plates where quick access was wanted. I think I have a couple still? Somewhere.

 

[GarageHobbyist]

Hit a couple garage sales this morning with nothing I had to have.

Left a little early to hit an estate sale a few minutes from an appointment I was taking our daughter to. Did ok there.

Poorly done Railroad track anvil (was going to use a chunk I had for working copper, but this one just needs some cleaning up, and I can keep my big piece of track!)
5 tubes of grease (I went up with 3, she said take all 5 for the same money)
Oilers
Stanley square
Naval Jelly
A bunch of other odds and ends
And the best find was THE STUMP!

I was carrying all this stuff in a box too small to the lady running the sale and figure out what I owed (nothing was priced). The lady said set it anywhere, so I put it in the stump in the driveway. We agreed on $20, then I said “wait a minute, this stump is in the middle of the driveway, do you want to get rid of it?” She said yes, didn’t charge me any extra, and then said I could take the block too.

Worked out perfect for me, as I need a new stand for my 65lb anvil and had been looking for something suitable. I didn’t find a larger anvil anywhere, but it must have been used for one in the past because there is a level spot flattened out in one end.

 

[Outlawmws]

We agreed on $20, then I said “wait a minute, this stump is in the middle of the driveway, do you want to get rid of it?” She said yes, didn’t charge me any extra

Suckage score!


Slow day for having both a Flea market and a real estate sponsored block sale with close to 30 sales, (but for one - nearly the last, that was a bust)

The Flea had a couple interesting finds First up was a solid brass/bronze vise - only a couple parts are steel. Only $10 so I grabbed it 1-3/4" wide jaws and a 2-1/4" open.

The Star washer on this side is steel, and the square head bolt and spring are:



The "Cable clamp" and screws on this side are also Steel. Everything else is "Non Sparking" and I suspect some of the steel parts were added after it left the factory.





The other Flea finds: A "Dale Carnagie" mechanical pencil "Award" - still in bx - for a buck. The wood handled Ratcheting Driver is Miller's falls, then a Proto, and the small "water pump" Pliers are Montgomery Wards "Master Quality".



A buck at a Yard sale: carpenter's pencils and a small PH #0 Craftsman:




This one ind at the block sale: 3 Jorgansen Pony clamps Small Utica Lineman's, and a Coleman Peak 1 222A backpacker's lantern - $8 all in




And a Buck ad an estate sale, 2 very large Kerr (Ball type) canning jars and a Brass Mortar and Pestle. I was shocked at what they get for these in brass! The jars will likely go into the Nickle plating setup I'm working on.

 

[SC Fly Guy]

Wait one G@! damned minute. Isn't that a Starrett level?

Looks suspiciously like mine, but not sure who all used similar shapes.

In case nobody else has mentioned it, the level looks like it might be a Starrett. The name would be stamped in small letters on the chromed inset holding in the spirit vial. The japanning will probably clean up nicely.

Here is mine that I believe is Starret
-Don

Well, GJ comes through again. Thanks to the eagle eyes of several loyal viewers, I applied a lot of elbow grease to the level that I picked up in my $10 screwdriver haul. As many have pointed out, it is indeed a Starrett. Not the greatest photo, but it is clear that there is a stamp that reads ‘The L S S Co Athol Mass USA’


As you can see, there is quite a bit of pitting/dirt/gunk on the chrome and the japanning is worn. But, it clearly makes my $10 purchase even better. I will likely continue to clean it and will consider restoration.

Thanks for the help GJers!!!

 

[GarageHobbyist]

Well, GJ comes through again. Thanks to the eagle eyes of several loyal viewers, I applied a lot of elbow grease to the level that I picked up in my $10 screwdriver haul. As many have pointed out, it is indeed a Starrett. Not the greatest photo, but it is clear that there is a stamp that reads ‘The L S S Co Athol Mass USA’


As you can see, there is quite a bit of pitting/dirt/gunk on the chrome and the japanning is worn. But, it clearly makes my $10 purchase even better. I will likely continue to clean it and will consider restoration.

Thanks for the help GJers!!!

Nice score!

 

[Southern83]

@Outlawmws i think you found a type of ground clamp. Think high voltage applications in power generation.

 

[682bear]

We went junkin' again today in a few more antique malls... I picked up a Cole Tools #7 drill attachment...



And a Reed-Craftsman 5180 vise...







And a rough Prentiss Bulldog no. 56 vise with a non-original handle and a badly broken slide...





The Prentiss might end up as a doorstop if I can't find a way to rebuild the slide... but it was cheap... so it came home with me.

-Bear

 

[Outlawmws]

Nothing about this says ground clamp to me, but who knows? Its certainly not your average vise or vise mount...



I went to two late starting estate sales - who starts a Sat sale at 1:00 PM? - both were supposed to be first day, the first was bare bones and not a lot left, so either the families/friends picked it over, or it wasn't' first day... The other was more of a moving sale as only the few things in the yard were actually for sale. Nothing there for me at all...

I did pick up an electric power washer for $10 there in a ratty box. I didn't realize how ratty until I got home and pulled it out. it had a rats nest or very large mouse nest in it. Not populated thankfully.

The bad news was the urine small and the power cord in three pieces, and the pressure hose is missing the end for the gun... I'm initially thinking this was a wasted $10, But I patched the power cord with wire nuts to test and connected a hose and fired it up.

It works!

OK so it needs a cord, and my old dead PW may be able to contribute its pressure hose and gun OR I may be able to reconnect the hose inside the original gun.

I cleaned it up with SG several times and hopefully the smell is gone. I'm waiting til next week for my sone to bring the remnants of my old power washer back.

Its not a huge one at 1400 PSI, but my old was only 1500 or 1700 PSI - Perfectly adequate for what I need which is my driveway, occasionally, the vehicles on a diffused spray, the occasional part and the like. I'm not trying to power strip painted walls and such, and its fairly light to move around.

 

[saukit]

Still no makers mark…

 

[Outlawmws]

But it is OD green...

 

[bmwrd0]

I hit the most interesting estate sale I have been too all year. Sadly, do to getting over a cold, I wasn't able to make the first couple days, but lets go over what I found before my thoughts. Top is a Goodell Pratt push drill, Blackhawk double square drive wrench, P&C wrench, and then a USN rivet set:

almost complete, it is missing one of the sets.

a rather standard '20s ignition set. And the Belle of the Ball:

A 20's Western Auto tappet wrench set. I paid $30 for all of that.

Now, this estate was of a Model T restorer, and parts/tool/antiques squirreler of epic proportions. The amount of stuff still there, and the quality of it, on the third day of the sale was amazing. The lathe (Logan) and mill (HF) were still there, plus a vintage bench press, valve surfacer, and other shop tools. And every bench was still covered with stuff. In other words, it was priced too high, and they were just starting to move (barely) on prices. Tomorrow will be 50% off, and I expect there to be a gold rush but it will still leave a ton. I overheard someone ask if they had advertised this sale nationally, which would attract vintage parts dealers and such, but no. And the family agreed to them walking away at the end of Sunday, with no more to do. I have the feeling that a lot of good stuff will go to scrap, and a lot of history will be trashed. Every time I turned around, I saw something cool, rare, one of a kind, and I had missed the first three times I walked past that spot.

 

[d42jeep]

We decided to go to some sales listed in Gardnerville and Minden Nevada today since nothing looked very promising locally. The first sale was a little overwhelming with many shallow bins of tools to go through. I went through three or four and finally decided that I’d had enough. The neighbor pointed out a S-K set that she spotted on a shelf that I hadn’t gotten to yet. Best of all, the prices were quite low. Here are the tools from that sale.
S-K tools
Craftsman tools
Walden itemsSnap-on related tools
The second sale was in Minden and it was the second day so the tools were kind of picked over.
Craftsman items. Some Proto items
The last sale was the third day of a TOO estate sale in Minden. I was surprised that so much was left.
The red plastic in the partial =v= was in surprisingly good condition. Plenty of Craftsman.
-Don

 

[Stubby1743]

Still no makers mark…n old

My box has also got black residue on the inside of the lid. I am sure that it is the remains of an old 'Bostic' type glue that had been used to fix some sort of protective padding to the lid. My box is over 60 years old and so the padding would have been either thick felt or rubber.

Pictures will follow later to-day.

 

[d42jeep]

Some of today’s estate sale finds cleaned up this afternoon.
-Don
Barcalo
Thorsen
6” Diamond adjustable
Powr-Kraft adapter
Lectrolite shorty DBE wrench
Armstrong spinner
Blackhawk 3/8” drive ratchet
Starrett rule from a square
S-K set almost complete. insert dated 12/74.

-Don

 

[Stubby1743]

My box has also got black residue on the inside of the lid. I am sure that it is the remains of an old 'Bostic' type glue that had been used to fix some sort of protective padding to the lid. My box is over 60 years old and so the padding would have been either thick felt or rubber.

Pictures will follow later to-day.

Here they are.









As can be seen, there are four threaded stand offs in the base and BX-40 is stencilled on the lid.

The green crackle paint finish and methods of construction are similar to Saukit's box. I'm sure that mine is of military origin and probably dates back to WW2 or just after.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I'm sure that mine is of military origin and probably dates back to WW2 or just after.

Signal Corps, as I suspected. "BX" is Box and BX-40 was the crystal box for the BC-1335 transceiver. That box had about 100 crystals in it, one for each 100 kHz channel between 27 and 38 MHz, its freeq range. Those clasps are meant to help keep all moisture out. @saukit 's might be a BX-42 for a bigger radio, more crystals, more freeq range. As I said, I have a couple somewhere. I'll have to dig them out.

 

[Stubby1743]

Thanks for that Lugs. I've no idea how my father got the box. He was in the Royal Navy.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

a USN rivet set:

Terrific find! Made by Phila Mfg Co, located about 7 miles from Navy HQ and the shipyard in Philly, the same company who made and supplied the U.S.N. midget set I have, linked here! (You also sent me an empty box from them recently...)

A 20's Western Auto tappet wrench set.

Believe it or not, completely different "Wizard," Beemer. This one is Wakefield's brand and TM (issued in 1920, first use 1919!), used on all kinds of wrenches and pliers. If this is not a keeper, please put it in the Future Trade Pile for me. I would dearly love to add it to my not-so-small Wakefield "Wizard" collection! (That is in a drawer in my 'Never Sell' cabinet, with the Braunsdorf-Mueller tools, the Indian Motocycle kit, early K-D, and other treasures. )

EDIT: I've talked about this down on the VB before, but the two completely different TM's for the same term - Western Auto's not coming until 1954 (claiming first use in 1937), and used on the same kinds of products, is bizarre.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks for that Lugs. I've no idea how my father got the box. He was in the Royal Navy.

My pleasure. WWII stuff traveled! And a lot of it in the ETO didn't travel very far from Europe when the war ended. Things like seal-tight steel boxes were put to good other use.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

@saukit Your box is a CS-137. ("CS" for Case.) Before I go hang my head in shame for not recognizing it more definitively and sooner, I found one back in 2018, and reported it on the 2018 GS thread, linked here.

That's a terrible photo. I would find it and drag it out for better photos, but, believe it or not, @MercLSU found one a year later, back in 2019, he took better photos, and his was loaded with crystals! Linked here.

 

[saukit]

Thanks Lugz! Appreciate all the detective work! If anyone out there is into collecting this sort of thing I'm happy to pass it along. I was just gonna fill it up with sockets

 

[Private Lugnutz]

If anyone out there is into collecting this sort of thing I'm happy to pass it along.

If it was all badged up, I would say you might could flip it to an SC collector. I have several boxes I plan to flip at the annual MVPA East show in Aberdeen one of these years, including the CS-137, and a wooden chest I get biannual email offers on. But SC boxes that have been stripped and re-purposed are very common.

I was just gonna fill it up with sockets

An honorable and worthy use that has been their 2nd (and 3rd and 4th and...) lives since 1945! One thing for sure, the sockets won't get rusty!

 

[3baygarage]

Nice finds guys.

This is what I came home with after one yard sale and a late flea market stop yesterday.

Spotted some signs and decided to stop at a sale en route to the flea. There were tools, but not in great shape. After an initial wipe down here they are.
-long cutters, maybe Mac? Too damaged to see a logo
-Eifel Plierench
-Taiwan crow SAE crowfoot set with a Snap-On 18mm on the end. These rusted together but I freed them up.
-Blue-Point wheel lock remover set. Looks unused, also got rusted. I had to wipe that down as well.
I was happy at $12 for all that.

On to the flea. From two different vendors:
-Snap-On 5/8 drive 8 pt. Socket
-Bonney socket
-Harrold adjustable
-P&C dbe
-Action combo
-Wizard adjustable
-old Mayhew punch
-Brown and Sharpe punch
-Cal-Van magnet
-Mac 8mm deep socket, think I need for a set
-Barcalo pliers

 

[LesserSon]

There I was, feeling sorry for myself yesterday, but then I noticed an Outdoorsman Flea Market was going to set up at Lazybrook Park in Tunkhannock Twp, about halfway home from my parents’ place. I don’t think I’ve ever been here, for all the times I’ve driven past Tunkhannock. The lenticular truss bridge is one of four surviving in PA.
MrsLS&I used to meet my parents at a BK 5mi from here when our kids would spend a week with them on vacation. It should have been here: nice park.
Late start getting out, delayed by pulling their rowboat and a kayak out of the lake they live on, so I missed whatever crowds were here at 8am. But I found some venders set up and looked over fishing, trapping and hunting gear and related ephemera, pelts, etc. A couple guys had mechanics tools, so I pawed through those, paying $2 total for an old 1/2dr Snap-on breaker bar, ratcheting adapter, 5/8” Blackhawk socket and Bonney RF12 female 1/4dr sliding tee, which all need derusting before I can try seeing dates.

Unlooked-for bonus: $6 bbq chicken thigh w mac&cheese - supporting local outdoors org - mmm.

 

[3baygarage]

That find deserves a big YOU ****!
The type of find that keeps me on the hunt.

 

[Shergar]

Todays necessary* purchase - I didn't need it but was intrigued, and picked it up for a look “£2 ($2.62) and its yours” said the seller…. so now I own an aluminium Stanley English cast vice (vise!)