2026 Garage Sale Thread (15th Annual)

[d42jeep]

No sales today but when I went to the dentist today to have a couple fillings replaced, my hygienist spotted me and gave me some picks she had saved for me. They are really useful for cleaning up tools!
-Don

 

[Jayman17]

I've picked up 3 of those at an ES once, they are handy to have around

 

[ctuai]

Damnit! Now I need one of those, too!

What used to really get my goat on the jobsite was guys who'd show up with fancy pencil sharpeners for their carpenter pencils. They obviously didn't understand the point behind a flat-point pencil.

If only it had flat-point sharpening

 

[Beerhippie]

If only it had flat-point sharpening

Just needs a little jig-building!

A bit steep for my tastes. I have a perfectly good utility knife for that....

 

[3baygarage]

Some Saturday morning finds.

-A nice Armstrong 3/8” drive box for a couple bucks
-Mac 5/8 x 11/16 from a seller from Indiana. He had a box of wrenches with this gold color plating from a race mechanic. This was the only interesting wrench there.
-Snap-On torx screwdriver
-Boker gas burner pliers
-Craftsman “Button” pattern pliers
-Irwin Vise Grip
-Interesting stubby hammer no markings visible yet.
-small cast iron skillet. Lodge I believe.

The row of tools were a box lot from antique mall. They’ve been there for at least a couple years since the last time I was there,lol.
- 4 Walden Spintites being the draw. Vise-Grip missing spring. Wiss, Hyde, Craftsman carpenter pencil, Gunnard jar opener, misc. junk..

 

[Beerhippie]

Hit a TOO on the way back from lunch today. Estate sale, first day. I followed the signs farther and farther up the hill to where the McMansions live and my hopes declined with every gain in elevation. Folks in fancy houses rarely have anything I'm looking for.

But it wasn't a bust:



$25 for all--first day pricing--actually, the nut drivers were $25 and the pliers were "buy me a beer sometime".



Craftsman -H- Made in USA SAE fractional set, 3/16"-1/2".



Metric, 5mm-11mm. I'm guessing that both are complete as there are seven of each, but 12 and 13mm would be awful useful on a Vanagaru.





Ceetee Co, Jamestown, NY US 10". Now the largest set of slop-joints I own.

 

[RTM]

Metric, 5mm-11mm. I'm guessing that both are complete as there are seven of each, but 12 and 13mm would be awful useful on a Vanagaru.

My set is only 5-11 also. But my SAE sets go to 5/8". Guess the US design team had better faith in our hand strength.
Did look mine up in a catalog from a while back, confirmed that as a set.

One set I saw online had a 1/2" - 13 mm nutdriver in it.

 

[Beerhippie]

My set is only 5-11 also. But my SAE sets go to 5/8". Guess the US design team had better faith in our hand strength.
Did look mine up in a catalog from a while back, confirmed that as a set.

One set I saw online had a 1/2" - 13 mm nutdriver in it.

Mine has the 1/2", but metric ends at 11mm.

 

[stonesfan68]

I was taking care of some personal business while scanning the local Buy Nothing Group on Facebook. This lady was giving away these tools to the first person who stopped by as long as a garbage can that she had was picked up as well. They were 10 minutes from my house so I zipped over there.



The Dewalt Bluetooth radio/charger is what caught my eye. I don't own any Dewalt battery-powered tools but my best friend does!

 

[Outlawmws]

SAE sets go to 5/8"

Mine has the 1/2", but metric ends at 11mm.

I have nut drivers up to at least 3/4" and 13/16 (a Walden wood handle on that last)

In metric I have a singleton 5.5mm nut driver. that's it...

 

[LesserSon]

I was taking care of some personal business while scanning the local Buy Nothing Group on Facebook. This lady was giving away these tools to the first person who stopped by as long as a garbage can that she had was picked up as well. They were 10 minutes from my house so I zipped over there.



The Dewalt Bluetooth radio/charger is what caught my eye. I don't own any Dewalt battery-powered tools but my best friend does!

No human remains in that garbage can, right?

 

[zanyad]

Nice grab, @stonesfan68! You ****!

 

[coachwash]

Went to an estate sale this morning only 2 miles from the house. Once I made it through the line of people waiting to get in, I headed to the garage. The man overseeing the garage said, “if it is not marked, then fill a bag for $6 bucks.” I grabbed a bag and headed to the bin with most of the tools. There really wasn’t much to choose from, most was Taiwan or China made. I did find a few items that interested me, filled my bag and paid my $6.
Many of the tools were very rusty and I could not see any maker marks, I ran them under the wire wheel And cleaned them up. The 15” tongue and groove pliers, I could not find a brand. The only marks were a 5 on the inside of one handle and a C on the inside of the other. Any ideas on the maker would be appreciated.
Here is what I got before cleaning and after.

Sears 3/4 chisel USA
Sears 1/2 chisel USA
Sears 1” chisel USA
Stanley 12” 84-140 tongue groove pliers Japan
Unknown 15” tongue groove pliers
Fuller 9” 197-9 slip joint pliers Japan
Ford box offset 01A-17017B
Dubl-Hex box end offset 183 3-4, 25-32 Canada
Wire wheel for drill
Fiber wheel for drill
6” Try Square unmarked
Unmarked DOE wrench
Yellow Jacket 60613 ratcheting wrench 1/4, 3/8 USA
Sharpening stone
Sharpening stone with wood grip.

 

[coachwash]

I was taking care of some personal business while scanning the local Buy Nothing Group on Facebook. This lady was giving away these tools to the first person who stopped by as long as a garbage can that she had was picked up as well. They were 10 minutes from my house so I zipped over there.

FREE Tools!!!! Always nice. You ****!

 

[GarageHobbyist]

Hit two estate sales today.
One was a dentist who had some interesting stuff, but the company running it tends to be a bit higher priced on most things. There were some dental boxes they wanted market values for, and I laughed hard at a taxidermy Largemouth bass with dentures they wanted $75 for. I was on the fence about it but someone else must have grabbed it.

Left with a small file set (it was complete, gotta check the car for the missing one), an Elgin lock, and some other small odds and ends


Second sale was a huge house, but newer. Not much garage/shop stuff, but I did find this neat kit:


Picture of the Bass with a grill:

 

[Outlawmws]

Went Antiqueing out of town today with the family. they bought at one place, (a large place with lots of individual shops) and spent more than $140 bucks. I got nothing. (I passed on a pretty cool wood box full of dental tooling at almost $800...)

So all in all, I got skunked.

 

[JMP]

Starrett pin vise set and other bits. $40 for all.

 

[RTM]

Picture of the Bass with a grill:

Now there is the stuff nightmares are made of, in sooo many ways.

 

[RTM]

Here is my haul from today, a rare Friday with decent stuff for sale. One ES started yesterday, but the chaos was just way too high at work to slip away. Several of the sales showed up late yesterday, so I had to alter plans on the fly. These spanned ending times from 230 to 4, and of course the earliest end time was the Mechanic’s tool richest, and the furthest away. Then, bonus pain, the first and closest was a no sign of life, no signs, no real address, and the second started advertising weeks too early. So now there is no chance of making the 230 end time, but I persevered. The next stop was day one of an ES, and the garage looked only slightly disturbed. They had moved in cases of cleaning products, so a bit of odor. The hand carry boxes looks like a once thru had occurred. A RAS sat disassembled in a corner, and some tool hangers on the wall were empty, but looked like they had been for years. Guessing the family cleared stuff out years ago.

My finds included a couple of bench clamps (left of center), made to work with bench dog holes, one with about a foot of throw and a quick release, and the other had a 3” throw. Other goodies R-L included a 12” circular saw blade, wrong arbor size , two oil cans, one is a Singer, 7wr IOB and 10r visegrips, another lifetime supply of single edge razor and utility knife blades, 3 stainless giant toothbrushes, a Nicopress 17-2 tool, 2x MKE hole saws, hose end protector, cheap fret saw, tiny scissor and Adjustable clamp, unused Starrett hacksaw blade, a giant cast clamp on base, will try to adapt for a desk lamp, older fixed blade knife, screw hole starter, MAC gasket scraper, and a vacuum hose adapter. Out the door for a reasonable price. The other day 2 sale offered tools, and apparently most left yesterday, a box of cheap **** left. Oh, and this Cleveland twist drill box, very paint spattered and spilt on the exterior. But imagine my surprise when I opened the box. No way this wasn’t coming home with me. Some of the drills are thrashed, but the box and internal removable holder are magnificent. See it in the Drill index thread on the vintage side. That lump in front left is a tapered curved chunk of aluminum, thought it was a body work dolly at first. It has an airplane etched on it. See it in the VB Official Whatzit thread.

 

[Patrickm82]

Pretty good weekend so far. Hit up a retiring blacksmith yesterday and grabbed this German made LES vise with 80mm jaws in very nice condition and this small hammer head made by the guy. Don’t know much about the vise but I have wanted one of these rear moving jaw vises for a while. It’s very smooth and tight, $70 for the vise and $20 for the hammer.


Then had a guy reach out to me from market place. I had bought some nice sets of craftsman professional stubby wrench’s from a while ago. He asked if I was interested in anything else he had. I said sure I’ll come take a look. He told me he was retired from Polaroid and is down sizing. All his stuff was in very good condition, I will be going back for more soon. Here’s what I got today $60 out the door.

Big *** Lixie dead blow
Craftsman 4oz ball peen
3/8 craftsman flex head -V- ratchet
3/8 Armstrong 11-972 ratchet
Proto professional gasket scraper
New never used Eagle 66 oiler
3 Kant twist 401 1” clamps
10LW & 7LW vise grips
Schroder long ratcheting tap handle, made in Germany

 

[genog]

Found some Big Ammo cans today
and Season 1 of Columbo, which I bought for the first Pilot movie

 

[RTM]

Here is today's haul, from hopefully the first of several weekends at this house. Unfortunately, its in the SF, so parking took half as long as I spent hunting. AS I was leaving, they promised more tools in a few more weekends. Grampa and great grampa's tools were in the queue. I only looked thru the garage, as it was too hot, and the dogs were in the truck after their hike today. Left several tolerable boxes behind (Kennedy 620 and others), just too diverse a collection of tools inside, did not want to deal with all of them.

Left to right
Versamatic #2, with a 1/4" square drive on the front end. Now to look for tapping sockets. Diamalloy 4" adjustable, sockets from Snap-on, Herbrand, Indestro (another 11mm), several Britool and Craftsman, SK. *1/2 Chrome Alloy* ETA SK Brazil and maybe a partial set of Protos. A crank handle, Williams NM-51 Pat'd, Proto 1?4" extension spinner, Carborundum stone, Scorp or label scraper, big drill bit, fret saw made in Germany, Big Eklind metric hex set, and some Sterling Steel and other hacksaws in a box. Finally, a 10r Vise Grip again. Turned down 2 6" Ridgid pipe wrenches that they wanted $20 each for.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

Hit a couple second day estate sales this morning. For some reason this German cigar mold told me to bring it home. Along with three full cans of cleaners. Not my best haul.

 

[Levaughn]

I picked up these items today at an Estate sale today for $30.

- GTD No. 4 Adjustable Bar Tap Wrench
- Guardair Air Gun
- Petersen 8” Vice Grips
- Petersen 6” Needle Nose Vice Grips
- Brink & Cotton # 142 C Clamps
- Walworth 6” Pipe Wrench
- Kastar # 28 Feeler Gauge
- A&E FG-151 Feeler Gauge
- Taps & Easy Outs
- Union Drill Co & Putnam Drill Bits
- Machinist Bits & Tools
- Camco # 450 Knife
- Lok Blok Screw Driver
- ILCO Lock
- Master Mechanic Heavy Duty Staples
- F. L. Grobet File
- Nicholson File
- HJJ Co. Screwholding Screwdriver

 

[brockmub]

Out picking today and found a lot of the normal stuff. Cream cans, crocks, pulleys and lanterns. Here’s what I brought home, a couple of cans and a Fish carburetor mileage tester. Only knew what it was because of a Hagerty article from a few years back. Can’t imagine hanging that thing up in my car to see how efficient my carb was operating.



Here’s a few things I’ve never seen before that we also picked up. A Quaker State branded lubester and a GM wartime antifreeze barrel. Anyone have more info on the GM barrel?

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

Got these things today along with a wheelbarrow and a full size ladder too. These were from my late Boy Scout leaders estate. A few months ago I had went there and his wife gave me a bunch of stuff and today she had the official sale and while there wasn’t much left I still wanted to get a few tool items to remember him by so that’s why I got these. She said $50 for the toolboxes, ladder and wheelbarrow as well as a vintage Craftsman hammer and some license plates. Most of his high quality tools were already sold but I was able to snag these. Theres a couple Snap-on an MAC items in the black box. I believe the red box is a machinist box. It’s a Yorktown box.

 

[Etchase]

Got these things today along with a wheelbarrow and a full size ladder too. These were from my late Boy Scout leaders estate. A few months ago I had went there and his wife gave me a bunch of stuff and today she had the official sale and while there wasn’t much left I still wanted to get a few tool items to remember him by so that’s why I got these. She said $50 for the toolboxes, ladder and wheelbarrow as well as a vintage Craftsman hammer and some license plates. Most of his high quality tools were already sold but I was able to snag these. Theres a couple Snap-on an MAC items in the black box. I believe the red box is a machinist box. It’s a Yorktown box.

Glad you could grab such a fine remembrance. Treasures.

 

[Tom "Python" Aycock]

Finally escaped south FL today (Looong 22 days). Travels took me from Homestead (below Miami) to Jupiter (above Miami on East coast) to Tampa (West coast) and then back to Jacksonville (East coast at the GA/FL state line)...along the way found a huge flea market in Okeechobee FL. Due to travel commitments I had limited time but found a great couple who were selling tools. The haul is Walden, S-K, SnapOn, Thorsen, Proto, PowrKraft, Napa, Huskey (CM and knurled H series), Herbrand, D-I, Duro Chrome, Craftsman BE and H, Sargent, Bernard and K-D. Several items that will help get some socket sets closer to complete! All pictured for $20.

 

[bmwrd0]

Friday, I had errands to run, so I hit an interesting sale and the Restore, finding a few things

From the Restore, a 1/4" woody nut driver and a lamp glass (to replace what one of the cats destroyed), while at the estate sale I picked up an <SK> ratchet, unused Disston #4 file handle (look closely and you can see the original markings) and a Stanley sweetheart bevel gauge.

The Bonney single offset and Stanley chisel were picked up at a garage sale on Saturday, before I headed off to the (seemingly) every weekend sale I had done so well at, as it was 1/2 off day again. Which is where I found all of this:

another box of Xcelite hex drivers, Armstrong spinner/extension, Plomb and Williams extensions, Jo-Line torque wrench head (all of which are 9/32" drive), Plomb puller arm, Proto impacts, Herbrand sockets with an odd banding, Walden deep, and in a box lot, this:

the box was originally marked $45, but as it was discounted by 1/2, I could not pass it up. Jacobs chucks on MT arbors, v-block, machinist clamp, various other MT tooling, and so on.


I had also picked up this book on diesel electrics at that sale, and the other two books were at a stop at my local used book store: a book on pubs catering to the sporting crowd in England 100-200 years ago, and one one housing lot design from 1929.

 

[alinc100]

First hit on the South Carolina tour. I had seen these while still home in Michigan, by sheer luck I was traveling through the right city and was able to grab this small lot. 2nd generation 1/4" drive Craftsman box head ratchet, -vg- series 1/4" ratchet,-v- sliding tee and a 5/16" 6pt deep socket. Quick trip while out today I made it to Harbor Freight ,grabbed SuperLube and a small pair of needle-nose/tweezer pliers, cleaned and re-lube both ratchets.

 

[zanyad]

Starrett pin vise set and other bits. $40 for all.

You ****!

Hit up a retiring blacksmith yesterday and grabbed this German made LES vise with 80mm jaws in very nice condition and this small hammer head made by the guy.

Super cool!

Neat old cans and drum, @brockmub! That lubester is cool, too.

 

[Stubby1743]

Bought these on Saturday at a motorbike at Kempton Park horse race course.

AT 8068 11/16" Whit SOE from the Packard Merlin tool kit. Very pleased to find this.
0Three metric Hazet spanners. The bottom DOE is 8/10mm and marked with its sizes and DIN895.
8mm SOE marked SSM and G in a circle. Also marked "Studer" below the jaw. Studer make machine tools and there is/was Studer-Revox the makers of reel to reel tape machines and domestic Hi Fi equipment. The spanner doesn't seem to be a good fit to either of them.

Total cost £7.



Bought these on a quick visit to a local car boot sale early on Sunday morning.

Halfords 3/8" drive spinner with through tang and female 3/8" sq in the end of handle. Appears unused.
Halfords 3/8" drive universal joint which also appears unused. This and the above £2.
An unusual flat blade screwdriver with and anodised solid aluminum handle. Says "MACROME BRAND" and "PAT APPL FOR". I can't find any info on it but I assume it was UK made.
12mm Draper branded spline bit. I always pick spline bits up if going cheap.
a "FASTNUT CYCLE No10" ratcheting spanner. Dates to the 1920's and is the first of this type of spanner that I have. Pleased to get it.

The last three items plus four blues CDs including a quad box were only £2. the seller would have given me more CDs but I didn't need them. Very pleased, I will check out the seller again.

 

[zachgeo]

Picked these up at an estate sale. The garage was full of amazing professional machinist's tools of a variety of vintages, but they were all for things that are well beyond my skill level. I didn't get there until Sunday, and the sale started Friday, so probably all the best DIY stuff had already been sold off, and I found these laying around among the bigger tools. But for $15 I'm not complaining! The lineman's pliers are "Klein & Sons," the diagonal are US made Crescent, and the little (10 oz?) hammer is Stanley "Hercules" (I had to stare long and hard at the worn out handle to find that). I might never really use the old Lufkin tape measure, but it sure looks nice!

 

[jeffmoss26]

Donated some old corded power tools to the restore and picked these up

 

[four.cycle]

a few recent acquisitions...


two glass paperweights, a full, un-opened can of Pennzoil SAE30, and a new, in-the-box-although-partially-assembled 1968 Plymouth Roadrunner model kit.
The place in Sequim got a whole mess of these in - all old muscle car models - so I grabbed this one for my buddy.

 

[BD55]

Went to a local estate sale - unbelievable amounts of stuff. Got a lot of oak, maple, and walnut shorts and rounds, steel and aluminum sheet, Lexan and acrylic sheet, lead ingots, nails, a ton of sandpaper, Kennedy tool box, metal stand, Delta 18” scroll saw, squares, tapes, tools, blades. They were pricing stuff to move which was awesome. Got all this for $175.

 

[BD55]

More pics

 

[gearhead1960]

@BD55 You ****!

 

[RTM]

I went to an ES today, the one I thought was last weekend. Got there about 20 minutes after opening, lots of people leaving, a huge line to check out, and a packed garage, both tools and people. Quick look showed lots of Harbor Freight brands, other Chinese and Taiwan made stuff. There was lots of woodturning stuff, including lots of pen blanks, pen guts kits, turning tools, etc. lots of sharpening equipment, both manual and powered. A Craftsman two box stack, packed with China and HF stuff, but I was about third in line to dig thru it. Found a New Britain and Circle H Craftsman 1/4” drive sets, mostly complete, missing like 2 sockets each, but both had Tommy bars included. Couple of loose Sliding Tee handles turned up, one Plomb 4785, the other Craftsman =v=. Digging deeper, I found a little cardboard Plomb box, with 8 like new 3/16” cad plated sockets, and one looking slightly used. In all the HF stuff, it was quite a surprise. I grabbed a set of 4 hex shank drill chucks, probably HF. Lastly turned up a Makita drill/ countersink / drive set for 6,8,& 10 wood screws. Wandering around a bit, the pile of HF NIB calipers was revealed. I grabbed a dial caliper at $5, and used it several times sizing things for friends who asked. Then I set them down somewhere, and forgot them. Grabbed a high grit water stone, pocket sized high grit, passed on a pile of Diamond like sheets of various grits, not sure why. The pile of turning tools were now exposed, and I grabbed three with replaceable carbide bits, and a Robert Sorby parting tool. Next up I hit the pile of spare chucks, pen parts and completed pens. Friend of a friend was asking about the 4jaw chuck he had, would it fit his Atlas lathe. I looked for a few minute, could find no specs (only ok cell service). I then used the caliper to measure the chucks threads, said it looked like a 1”-8. He wasn’t convinced it would fit his, so I took it. It was sold by PSI, so figured it was decent. Then started talking Morse taper sizes with a different friend, did not know he turned, and figured that several of the centers and drive spurs would fit both our lathes. Grabbed a pen mandrel, couple of chunks of wood, and a bigger gouge sharpening jig. Somewhere on there is a hex bit holder for a 1/2” drive, wonder if it’s impact rated . I was pleased to get change from $40. May go back tomorrow on my way to a dog rescue event, see if I find the dial caliper still there, and grab more wood.

 

[Itinerant]

Went to a local estate sale - unbelievable amounts of stuff. Got a lot of oak, maple, and walnut shorts and rounds, steel and aluminum sheet, Lexan and acrylic sheet, lead ingots, nails, a ton of sandpaper, Kennedy tool box, metal stand, Delta 18” scroll saw, squares, tapes, tools, blades. They were pricing stuff to move which was awesome. Got all this for $175.

First of all, you ****.

Work kept me away from that one, but I’m headed up there in the morning for the last day. I grew up four blocks from that sale, you from that town?