Lump's Tool Hunt on the 127 Yard Sale of 2016 PIC HEAVY

[Lump]

LOTS of photos, so I will have to add to this thread over several days. Please check back often, if you like this kind of thing.

Once again this year, I drove from my home in Southwestern Ohio to Gadsden, Alabama, to the southern end of the St Rt 127 Yard Sale. (The northern end is in Addison, Michigan, but try as we may, we simply cannot get that far while shopping along the 690 mile long route.) My wife, her sister, and I drove down to Gadsden Tuesday afternoon, hitting the sale route on Wednesday morning. The traffic, the heat, and steam-bath-like humidity made the going pretty rough at times.

In fact, by Friday evening the ladies had had enough, so my adult son met us at a motel in Kentucky, allowing the girls to take his car home in the morning. Then he and I stayed on the road through Sunday.

One of the first interesting tools I found was this high-lift jack. My brother wanted me to find one for him, just like the one I found for $10 at a yard sale last year. But this one was $45. Pass.



I saw LOTS of bench vises, but you have to be really careful, especially if it has recent paint job. I saw some ugly repairs. Someone had tried to hide some of them. But look at the screw head on this one.


Jaw repairs on this one:


Vises, vises everywhere. Lots of post vises at this sale. Priced from about $50 to WAY up.





And more "typical" vises, at every different price range. First up is a Wilton non-bullet-shape vise, for $45. About 3" jaw, I think.




Ok, I need to go ahead and post this, before a glitch happens and I have to start all over again. But if you like this sort of thing, and want to see more of my 127 Yard Sale Adventure, keep checking back. I will add to it some more tonight, and a little more each night until I have posted LOTS of photos. Then I'll make a separate thread of the items I personally bought.

Thanks!

 

[chopper1]

. . . . . .

 

[Lump]

We drove all day each day from Wednesday through Sunday, about 9 am till nearly dark. But we had to pass by about 40% of all the sales we saw, since it is totally impossible to see every sale and make it more than about 50 miles in a day. And you need to go much farther than that between motel stops. Besides, with heat and humidity like that, I require some “seat time” with the A/C on full blast after hitting several stops.


MORE vises. This Columbian was an unusual shape, almost like a tinner's vise. It had tall jaws. Price? $285, if i remember correctly.

The Columbian vise was on a trailer which was being loaded up as a display table, by a vendor in either northern Alabama or southern Tennessee, as I recall. The anvils were pricey, as was the Wilton bullett-shaped vise. Nice stuff, though.

That same vendor with the anvils and vises in the previous photo had a few helpers, and they were unloading LOTS of vises, anvils, blacksmith tools, and more cool stuff. No bargains, but NICE stuff.


Ok, more photos in a few minutes. I don't want to have my computer lock up and lose my work thus far. Please stay tuned for LOTS of more photos...

 

[Lump]

Again this year, I found lots and lots of tools, equipment, and other “man-junk” (as my wife calls it) . Lots of it was overpriced, lots of it was cheapo-junk, lots of it was worn out or missing critical parts….but some of it was pretty exciting to find, as has been the case each year.





[URL=http://s297.photobucket.com/user/Lilump/media/Tools%20n%20Garage%20Stuff/127%20Yard%20sale%202016/20160805_113321_zpsolwyhyr7.jpg.html]

[URL=http://s297.photobucket.com/user/Lilump/media/Tools%20n%20Garage%20Stuff/127%20Yard%20sale%202016/20160805_111444_zpsae1ebjaq.jpg.html]



Ok, I'll break now for a separate post. Lots more photos to come...

 

[Lump]

Ok, more pix now:


I LOVE it when I find those piles of tools for $1 each, etc. Many sellers with displays like this will price their Craftsman brand tools higher, along with Snap On and Mac, but leave Proto, Plomb, Matco, SK, and other premium brands in their dollar piles. When I have the time available, I will root and root through piles like that.








More pix in a minute or two...

 

[tym]

I LOVE it when I find those piles of tools for $1 each, etc. Many sellers with displays like this will price their Craftsman brand tools higher, along with Snap On and Mac, but leave Proto, Plomb, Matco, SK, and other premium brands in their dollar piles. When I have the time available, I will root and root through piles like that.

That's great! When I was still going to coin shows regularly, I loved rooting through someone's equivalent box o' coins in the same way. Found a couple of nice examples that you could tell the seller hesitated to part with for such a low price.

 

[Lump]

Ok, more photos that I HOPE I have not yet posted here:
















Vintage signs are a BIG part of the offerings from vendors at the 127 Yard Sale. Keep in mind that, if a vendor has a lot of "vintage" signs which are all the same size and shape....even if they are rusted on the edges or otherwise distressed, they are almost certainly reproductions. That's fine, if you just like the looks of them when hanging on your wall. But don't over pay!

Many of the signs in the following photo are genuinely "old" (and were priced accordingly). But this vendor likely had lots of repro's mixed in his inventory.

There were old signs within this display too. But the case of vintage electronic glass tubes caught my eye. I know that SOME of them are valuable. But I left them there, since it is too risky to speculate on items you know nothing about.


Ok, more pix in another post.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Wow, that looks like a great time.

 

[Lump]

How about photos of more vises? This time, I'll feature some unusual units that I found.

Here is an old corner vise, for making true right-angle connections.


This display featured a lineup of hand-vises, sorted by size order. The only one that had a price tag was listed for $25. You can see its tag in this photo.


This interesting little unit featured a small anvil. Not sure what it was for, but certainly would be for something like a jeweler. I liked it, but it was priced too high for something I would never actually use. Cool, though.


This next photo features a strange-looking small vise. I don't ever recall seeing one quite like it.


I have seen several examples of those old anvil/vises before, but they were almost always broken or worn so badly that I didn't want them. But this one caught my eye. I made friends with the seller (discussing some mutual interests), and hoped that he might make me a fantastic price on it. But his bottom/bottom dollar was $245. It's really cool, but he still has it, as far as I know.


Woodworker's vise. Not priced too badly, really.


Ok, once again, that's enough for one posting. More later.

 

[Lump]

There were also some tools and garage items which were apparently priced as "rare old antiques." I LOVE stuff like that, but only buy such things when I can find them "in the field" at bargain prices...USUALLY.

There were quite a few interesting "antique" garage items on the 127 Yard Sale this year. Following are a few photos of examples:
Following photo shows an advertising sign for Atlas Anvils. It was painted or screen-printed on the backside of a sheet of glass, and mounted in a wood frame. NICE, but pricey.


Interesting old tool box. Unfortunately, I cannot recall the asking price. But I do remember that it was too rich for my blood.


The hardware cabinet in the following photo was really cool. I like that sort of thing for my own garage. But I had never heard of that brand before. Seller said it was very rare indeed, and that I would never find another. Told me that he didn't care if he sold it or not; it would look great in his own garage. Wanted $450, firm. I took a photo, and waved good-bye. About 5 miles up the road, I found another, almost identical cabinet of the same brand name, but with names of different hardware pieces on it. Price? $225...or "best offer." Sadly, I passed on it, too.


Lots of neat stuff in this photo, but nothing that I could afford.


Old mechanical floor jack, anyone? This one was priced at $125 firm.




More pricey goodies in a glass-covered case:




The 4" adjustable wrenches in this case started a $20 each, and went up from there...


The double-ended adjustable wrenches in this case ranged in price from $65 to $95, if I remember correctly. I left them all there.


Ok, more pix in a few...

 

[tym]

^ Those prices are nuts!

Everyone seems to think they have a valuable antique now in this post-eBay, post-Antiques-Roadshow world.

 

[jakemac]

LA LA LA LA !!
I can't look at the pictures. It would only give am an aneurism.

 

[Lump]

This post will feature some, er, "uncommon" things that I saw on the 127 Yard Sale trail.

How about a massive and mobile whiskey still? I'm sure it's just a display, but look at the size of that thing.


And, WTF is that thing? It's obviously old...maybe an exercise bike?


Anyone need a spare engine for your CROSLEY???


Are you missing the steering mechanism and entire dash for your yacht, maybe?


When we stopped at this one little road-side area with about 5-6 vendors, signs were posted to make it clear that we should not be seeking any low-cost items there. I heard several negative comments from visitors, when they first read those signs, saying they didn't, "...like that attitude from a seller." I suppose it would have been alright, except that their exhibit featured quite a few items that no thinking adult would ever have paid a quarter for, much less 50 cents! LOL.


Check out this strange and cool old pipe wrench. Apparently it wraps around the pipe with multiple hinged pieces, and apparently doesn't need teeth to grip the pipe. Neat item! If it had been really cheap, I would have added it to the Lump's Garage OddBall Tools collection.


And last but not least for my "oddballs of the 127 Yard Sale" photo essay...how about a Corvette with a trailer hitch. I suppose, if you're going to take a Corvette on a yard sale voyage, you NEED a trailer hitch, in case you buy something too big to fit on your lap? LOL.


Ok, it's late, and I'm headed to bed. I will add to this thread tomorrow, with a final few photos. Then I will go over to the GARAGE SALE 2016 thread, and post the items that actually bought on that thread. I hope you'll enjoy both threads.

Thanks!

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Lump, you must have found all the tools that I didn't. We picked up the 127 sale just north of Chattanooga on Signal Mountain and traveled north. Found very few tools and nothing like lots of the pics you posted, unfortunately.

 

[3baygarage]

Love it love it love it.

Makes me want to get out there Lump.

That's a lot of tools.

 

[thehorse13]

Television has eroded the good old days of junk picking. I can see that by the insane prices on busted up garbage.

The rule of thumb is that when coming across glass display cases, it's already overpriced.

Did you see any vintage tool boxes? I can only imagine that you would need a mortgage to buy them based on the pictures above.

 

[LB-1911]

LOTS of photos, so I will have to add to this thread over several days. Please check back often, if you like this kind of thing.

Once again this year, I drove from my home in Southwestern Ohio to Gadsden, Alabama, to the southern end of the St Rt 127 Yard Sale. (The northern end is in Addison, Michigan, but try as we may, we simply cannot get that far while shopping along the 690 mile long route.) My wife, her sister, and I drove down to Gadsden Tuesday afternoon, hitting the sale route on Wednesday morning. The traffic, the heat, and steam-bath-like humidity made the going pretty rough at times.

I will add to it some more tonight, and a little more each night until I have posted LOTS of photos. Then I'll make a separate thread of the items I personally bought.

Thanks for bringing us along for the ride.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Interesting old tool box. Unfortunately, I cannot recall the asking price. But I do remember that it was too rich for my blood.


Lump,

That's a WWII-era toolbox used by the US Army Ordnance Dept and made by Duplex Mfg Co in Sherman, NY. Patent 1675484 1926.

 

[timbitca]

I look forward to your thread every year Lump, and once again you didn't disappoint!

 

[drivesitfar]

Lump: it sounds like you make this an annual trek so are there some sellers that you always stop at or how do you decide which ones to stop at?

also are you just picking for resale, your own use or for friends or all of the above?

love the pictures and if you have the time post up the gems you bought on this thread for those of us that are not looking at the garage sale thread that moves pretty fast.

thanks for sharing.

 

[CoogarXR]

I got to go for a few hours on the lincoln highway sale last weekend. I only got to go Saturday (the last day), and it rained all afternoon. I friggin hate working full time first shift. I miss out on everything cool.

 

[Lump]

Lump: it sounds like you make this an annual trek so are there some sellers that you always stop at or how do you decide which ones to stop at?

also are you just picking for resale, your own use or for friends or all of the above?

love the pictures and if you have the time post up the gems you bought on this thread for those of us that are not looking at the garage sale thread that moves pretty fast.

thanks for sharing.

Ok, I'll try to respond to all 3 comments/questions.
First, I certainly do have spots where I like to stop, based on past experience. Some of the same yard sales are open every year...some of them with the same worthless junk. So I avoid them. But there is no real "science" to it. It's mostly luck. When I'm too hot and tired, I keep driving. When sales look like all clothing and glass, I keep driving. I avoid some spots where I know everything is gonna be newly-made imported **** like electronic flyswatters and feather dusters, or where the crowds are simply too intense. But when I've cooled down and see a shady spot with several displays in it, and especially when I see "man junk" there, I stop and hustle through it.

2nd, I love to treasure hunt. Always have, since I was a kid going to junk shops with my parents in the 1950's. And the joy of treasure hunting is buying a super bargain on really cool stuff. Yet I have no room to keep it all. So the answer is I buy some for myself, give lots away to friends and family, and resell occasionally. (And my garage is overcrowded, so I NEED to be selling more. LOL).

Finally, YES, I'll post photos of the items I found on this thread. I've grown very picky, due to that overcrowded garage, and because I do a lot of "picking" each year. Yet I still found quite a few items which I thought were great buys. Pictures this evening.

 

[leg17]

About what part of the 127 sale did you come across these tool heavy sellers? Somewhere in Kentucky?

 

[Lump]

Television has eroded the good old days of junk picking. I can see that by the insane prices on busted up garbage.

The rule of thumb is that when coming across glass display cases, it's already overpriced.

Did you see any vintage tool boxes? I can only imagine that you would need a mortgage to buy them based on the pictures above.

It no longer bothers me when I see ridiculous prices. It's just part of the game, and it's a good thing that the great bargains on great items are few and far between, or my garage would explode at the seams!

As for the glass cases, I agree...sorta. But no one can know the value of everything. So if time allows, I scrutinize every piece, looking for items that I might know better than the seller. Example, once I found a case filled with old small adjustable wrenches...(sometimes called "bicycle wrenches.") Each one carefully cleaned & polished, all about $30 each. WAY too high...except one of them had a logo. It was a straight arrow symbol going right through the word "Pierce." Of course, I recognized that it was from the "Pierce Arrow" company, which famously made first bicycles, and later big wonderful classic cars. I bought that wrench and planned to keep it. But someone learned that I had it, and wouldn't leave me alone until I sold to them...for over $100.

I did see vintage tool boxes. But honestly, I have bought many tool boxes over the years to get the tools inside, and found it near impossible to sell the boxes afterward. At one of the FEW flea markets I set up in each year, I finally put up a pile of steel tool boxes for $1 each. Only sold about 3, and left the rest of them lying by a trash can. Therefore, I almost never buy boxes, unless they are marked "Snap On," or "Mac," or "Cornwell," or "Plomb." Thus I don't pay attention to prices of most old tool boxes on the 127 sale.

 

[woody 73]

lump great pictures

Wife would kill me if I took off for a few days but I would be so happy just drooling over all the items...

 

[Username already in use]

Did you see any vintage tool boxes? I can only imagine that you would need a mortgage to buy them based on the pictures above.

I caught a piece of the 127 sale in northern Kentucky and found a nice vintage POWR KRAFT stack. I think he wanted $120 for it loaded with tools, but I was able to talk him down to just $50 for the stack.
I posted a pic in the Vintage Toolbox thread HERE.

Thanks for the posting the pics, Lump. I only caught about 25 miles of the sale on Saturday. You were WAY ahead of me by that time!

 

[Lump]

About what part of the 127 sale did you come across these tool heavy sellers? Somewhere in Kentucky?

Found some of them in every state but Georgia. Tennessee was very good source for the big old anvils, bench vises, etc, but MOST were overpriced.

Kentucky has lots of good spots for tool hunters. But there are several poverty-stricken areas where folks are trying to sell rusted scrap metal, peanut butter jars, and soiled clothing. I always feel sorry for them, and applaud their efforts to raise money by digging through old scrap piles, etc. But I rarely ever find anything I would buy, or even take home if it were free. So you must pick and choose the areas where you like to shop.

Experience is the best teacher, so don't be so disappointed when you stop somewhere with nothing of interest. Just make some notes, and remember it. Then you can avoid it next year.

 

[Lump]

Did you see any vintage tool boxes? I can only imagine that you would need a mortgage to buy them based on the pictures above.

It occurred to me that I might have failed to answer your question fully. IF you were meaning the big, tall metal tool chests which cost hundreds of dollars from the tool trucks...No, I did not really see any of those this year (unusual). I saw plenty of mid-size Craftsman tool chests, most of them damaged or "tweaked" out of shape, and loads of those cheapo "Homak" and other little chests of the type that sell in discount stores for less than $50.

On the other hand, if you were referring to antique wooden tool boxes and chests...yes, I saw quite a few. But these have become popular with NON-tool oriented antique enthusiasts, and many of them are too high to buy... especially the old wooden tool "trays," with built-in handles in the middle. Old, heavily worn trays in small sizes are sought by decorators who fill them with dried flowers, plastic fruit, etc, and this drove the prices up.

Cheers!

 

[drivesitfar]

Lump: thanks for the 411. also the advice and thoughts you are sharing are RIGHT ON.

hope you were able to find a few good gems. also if your garage is busting at the seams like mine is you might want to read the new ORGANIZING 201 thread because i'm on the lookout for any good ORGANIZING ideas so i can GET ORGANIZED and not buy something that i need just because i can't find the 2 or 3 or more that i already own.

here's the link for the ORGANIZING 201 thread if you haven't seen it yet and already has a few good ideas for storage and putting things in their place.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=335623

i'm also with you that just finding homes for some of our cool stuff to go to members isn't always enough so i too need to sell or let a few things i own go to somebody else.

 

[Lump]

Lump, you must have found all the tools that I didn't. We picked up the 127 sale just north of Chattanooga on Signal Mountain and traveled north. Found very few tools and nothing like lots of the pics you posted, unfortunately.

Galaxie, I love that area, but the larger market spots there are always heavily picked over, and populated with "antique dealers" who aren't shy about posting heavy prices. But I did buy a nice small Wilton "bullet-style" vise on Signal Mountain this year.

Photos of the items I bought on this sale will be posted tonight. Stay tuned!

 

[Lump]

Interesting old tool box. Unfortunately, I cannot recall the asking price. But I do remember that it was too rich for my blood.


Lump,

That's a WWII-era toolbox used by the US Army Ordnance Dept and made by Duplex Mfg Co in Sherman, NY. Patent 1675484 1926.

Thanks, Lug! I think of you when I see old military tool items. I think I even set aside a couple old sockets for you (and/or wrenches maybe?) I recalled seeing a "wanted" ad you had written long ago.

 

[DuroChrome]

Great thread and interesting reading.

Thanks for posting the organizing thread! I seriously need to get my tools organized.

 

[jhn9840]

Lump, I look forward to this thread every year. Thanks for taking the time to document the 127 sale. I hope to make the trip some year myself.

jhn9840
John

 

[Richard Cranium]

Thanks for posting Lump, always look forwards to you pictures. Rich

 

[Lump]

More photos tonight, I hope!

 

[Rileysan]

Great pix, Lump. Thanks for sharing!

Television has eroded the good old days of junk picking. I can see that by the insane prices on busted up garbage.

The rule of thumb is that when coming across glass display cases, it's already overpriced.

No truer words were ever spoken!


Brian

 

[garthg]

How about photos of more vises? This time, I'll feature some unusual units that I found.

This next photo features a strange-looking small vise. I don't ever recall seeing one quite like it.


I have seen several examples of those old anvil/vises before, but they were almost always broken or worn so badly that I didn't want them. But this one caught my eye. I made friends with the seller (discussing some mutual interests), and hoped that he might make me a fantastic price on it. But his bottom/bottom dollar was $245. It's really cool, but he still has it, as far as I know.

How many times would a seller want to haul this thing back and forth before he might reduce his price to a more reasonable level? When I think of how heavy that is, my price would be dropping at least $50 each day it didn't sell.

 

[Lump]

How many times would a seller want to haul this thing back and forth before he might reduce his price to a more reasonable level? When I think of how heavy that is, my price would be dropping at least $50 each day it didn't sell.

Sorry, Garth. But my caption for the $245 price tag belonged to the vise photo BELOW the caption. It went with this photo:


Yet, your point is still quite valid. I tend to be much more willing to negotiate when items in my booth are very heavy or bulky.

 

[garthg]

Sorry, Garth. But my caption for the $245 price tag belonged to the vise photo BELOW the caption. It went with this photo:


Yet, your point is still quite valid. I tend to be much more willing to negotiate when items in my booth are very heavy or bulky.

Yes, I tried twice to draft the post to include the right picture. I didn't want to copy the entire post, but the point is the same. Heavy items, you'd think the price would drop.

Looking at that vice again, it looks like it would be perfect for a farrier. Maybe some horseshoes were shaped on it in the day.

 

[thehorse13]

Sorry, Garth. But my caption for the $245 price tag belonged to the vise photo BELOW the caption. It went with this photo:


Yet, your point is still quite valid. I tend to be much more willing to negotiate when items in my booth are very heavy or bulky.

Thanks Lump. You answered my question about large boxes and then bonus answers about small boxes as well.

I know where there is an identical vise in the same shape for $100. It looks interesting but then I thought about practical use in my shop after restoration and I left it behind.

Great pictures of your crawl. It seems that most people that I speak to have struck out at these large events this year. Even so, just scouring over large piles of rust sure beats cutting the lawn.