2021 Garage Sale Thread

[RTM]

Back when I was a kid in the LA area, we had an army surplus store that had a ton of new tools, still wrapped / cosmolined (it was a long time ago, I don't remember the exact packing), but looked brand new. So I suspect now it never left the US warehouse.

 

[mikeinri]

Thanks guys, that's sort of what I thought (regarding the old military stuff).

Thanks.
I remember seeing frames in Miami too.

One semi trailer leading place lost a bunch of tires and rims off trailers.
The midnight shoppers place glass coke bottles under axles and let the air out of the tires. Evidently it was enough to remove the tires/rims. The manager showed me a Polaroid of it after it happened and I read in news story.

Thanks Threebay, now you got me thinking I should maybe go back a get one of the wheelless carts.

Honestly, I didn’t really pay attention to two as they were already upside down.

Wow, they didn't even bother with a jack and cinder blocks? That's impressive. Ballsy too, especially if the Coke bottle let go while removing the rim...

I always wondered how someone could strip a car to its frame on a major highway in a major city, without being caught. Apparently, they essentially have a roaming "pit crew" (my term), a team of guys in a box truck loaded with all the tools needed to pull this off in just a few minutes. Crazy...

As for the cart, maybe you can get it at a discount, since "someone" already removed the wheels, LOL...

Mike

 

[Peter Burritt]

Picked up these 3 items today for $8. Can anyone identify the age & brand of the sockets? They both have a "Q" on their side with a slash going through it.

I picked them up on a hunch that they might be worth more than what I bought them for
https://photos.app.goo.gl/gLN6ppVQqeB9D4TE9
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ydkxRkm3oahotpi58

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Snap-on. That's an "S" and an "O". Called the "overstrike" logo. Their earliest production.

 

[Peter Burritt]

Snap-on. That's an "S" and an "O". Called the "overstrike" logo. Their earliest production.

Hey I guess I should call myself lucky!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Yessir. They are not rare, but they are not common, either. The one on the right is obscured by rust. But it's funny how much the one on the left really does look like a "Q". I can see why you thought that. It wore in a way just perfect for forming a "Q."

Here are a few of mine, including a fairly intact example (far left), so you can see what the marking is supposed to look like.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I'm very curious why you're not asking any questions about the combination wrench and keyhole saw?! You're in a very small club of 2 with that tool here on GJ, as far as I know, and I am the only other member! Thread linked here. Seriously.

 

[JimDon]

OK, PVT LN,
Being the historian extraordinaire that you are, do you know who did the cartoon of the GI shooting the Jeep? (This one should be easy for you.)
Cheers, Jim Don

 

[cbacres]

Thanks guys, that's sort of what I thought (regarding the old military stuff).




Wow, they didn't even bother with a jack and cinder blocks? That's impressive. Ballsy too, especially if the Coke bottle let go while removing the rim...

I always wondered how someone could strip a car to its frame on a major highway in a major city, without being caught. Apparently, they essentially have a roaming "pit crew" (my term), a team of guys in a box truck loaded with all the tools needed to pull this off in just a few minutes. Crazy...

As for the cart, maybe you can get it at a discount, since "someone" already removed the wheels, LOL...

Mike

Mike, they sell by the pound, it works out to a decent price for casters and any steel I’ve bought.

 

[Old Radar]

OK, PVT LN,
Being the historian extraordinaire that you are, do you know who did the cartoon of the GI shooting the Jeep? (This one should be easy for you.)
Cheers, Jim Don

You know he does, since he labeled the photo with the artist's name.

 

[Peter Burritt]

I'm very curious why you're not asking any questions about the combination wrench and keyhole saw?! You're in a very small club of 2 with that tool here on GJ, as far as I know, and I am the only other member! Thread linked here. Seriously.

It's funny because I actually found the wrench a week ago in that antique store. That same day, I read through your lugzonian thread (I love your collection btw) and I saw it hung in your curator's corner. I did more research and found the thread that you just linked as well. That's what compelled me to go back and get it

I didn't ask about it because I figured I wouldn't put you guys through explaining its mystery again.

 

[JimDon]

Whoops, did not enlarge photo on my IPad. My bad! Jim

 

[mikeinri]

Mike, they sell by the pound, it works out to a decent price for casters and any steel I’ve bought.

You do know that I was (mostly) kidding, right?

Mike

 

[Private Lugnutz]

OK, PVT LN,
Being the historian extraordinaire that you are, do you know who did the cartoon of the GI shooting the Jeep? (This one should be easy for you.)

Whoops, did not enlarge photo on my IPad. My bad!

No problem, Jim. I figured it was mainly a rhetorical question anyway with your parenthetical phrase included. Have you ever seen photos of Mauldin during the war? He looked like he was 13. 125 lbs sopping wet.

And I will use this opportunity to put in a plug for Will Eisner, who is more "on brand," as they say, for this site. Eisner was the illustrator for Army Motors, as a warrant officer. This was a magazine that the Ordnance Department published, like a newsletter for mechanics, intended to keep them aware of maintenance policies and procedures and new tools etc, but it was immensely popular for the cartoons, especially the character Joe Dope. Like a Sad Sack or Beetle Bailey, but he was a mechanic. Eisner drew "The Spirit" for Marvel before the war and after the war and late in his career, in the 70's, is credited with the first graphic novel. But he continued working for the Army, illustrating PS, The Preventive Maintenance Monthly, well into the Vietnam War. Google him. He did some hilarious covers.

It's funny because I actually found the wrench a week ago in that antique store. That same day, I read through your lugzonian thread (I love your collection btw) and I saw it hung in your curator's corner. I did more research and found the thread that you just linked as well. That's what compelled me to go back and get it.

I'm glad you did. It was lonely having the only one! (And thanks for the compliment.)

 

[Old Radar]

Slim pickin's this week.

A string of S-K 1/4"d Deep Sockets
Herbrand J-422 3/8"d Deep
Craftsman Circle U
Plomb WF-74 & WF-72, (74 has down, then up arrows)
Millers Falls No. 365 Awl
P-49 Spinner--Research here on GJ dug up a Jan 2014 post in which Ibgradwell asserts it "...was made by some division of Pendleton and was sold via Coast-to-Coast stores as part of their Mastercraft line." Couldn't turn anything else to up to substantiate it.

I can't think of anything to call the last item except a chain master link. I believe it has a different name but it's beyond recollection. Someone please jog my memory.

$7 for the lot.

 

[LesserSon]

Couplers, hammerlocks, cold shuts, LAP LINKS, quick links...Monkey Links?
I have some tire chain connectors so branded, that have to be bent into place. And some that pivot on a rivet, similar to yours, but pivoting in the perpendicular plane. I guess the riveted ones wouldn’t work on tire chains, where the tension would be so variable.
I got a kick out of the implicit play on “the missing link” on the branded box. Somewhere, I have one in better condition, but this came to hand.

 

[RTM]

I'm glad you did. It was lonely having the only one! (And thanks for the compliment.)

Have you checked the Lugzonian? Are you sure it’s still on your wall?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Have you checked the Lugzonian?

That's funny. Still there.

 

[mikeinri]

That IS funny, and I just got the joke. Better late than never, lol...

Mike

 

[duddly]

Couplers, hammerlocks, cold shuts, LAP LINKS, quick links...Monkey Links?
I have some tire chain connectors so branded, that have to be bent into place. And some that pivot on a rivet, similar to yours, but pivoting in the perpendicular plane. I guess the riveted ones wouldn’t work on tire chains, where the tension would be so variable.
I got a kick out of the implicit play on “the missing link” on the branded box. Somewhere, I have one in better condition, but this came to hand.

Ha! I picked up a box of those recently as well. I can't resist some of the old packaging.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It is unseasonably warm (62*F already) here today so the flea market was crowded. That first big day is always a little overwhelming (so much to look at, so many people...), and I wasn't exactly strapped with cash, so I was being selective, making mental notes instead of buying, and it threw me off my game.

It started with me helping a guy make a sale - to someone else! It was an older guy who was taking forever looking at an interesting socket set. Fiddling with every single piece. The seller wanted $35, he offered $25, which the seller refused, countering with $30, which the guy did not accept. But he wouldn't take his hands off it. He even closed the box up and started carrying it around with him looking at other stuff. I was just waiting for him to walk away so I could look at it, so when I asked if he was going to buy it, loud enough for the seller to hear me, he finally caved and agreed to buy it. I never even got close enough to see what it was!

It ended with me remembering on the way home (Murphy's Law!) a little sesquicentennial spoon and a 1914 Scoutmaster's Handbook I was going to go back and re-haggle for.

In general, it was one of those days when I wanted all kinds of cool things (including a Morgan vise, a 1915 WEED chain jack, and an Interwar canvas-and-cork water bucket), but not bad enough for the prices.

I did come home with a few things (Lugz 2021_17), including one item that gave me a small case of guilty conscience, a pair of items that need a good Evaporust bath, two items from foreign shores, and one item that I have never seen before. But even some of these are bugging me now, because a few of them (the wire brush, the shears, and the scraper) came out of an interesting fiberboard toolbox, with a little built-in fiberboard compartment, and a leather handle. It had one of those crazy tall but extremely narrow coping saws inside, painted with filigree and a wooden handle, also a sharpening stone in a homemade box. The guy was making me a ridiculously good deal for everything, but no, I had to get picky and stingy, and now in hindsight I'm thinking I should've just taken it.

Like I said, I was just off my game.

 

[outofbounds]

Further to some previous conversations re: my astonishment as to the passion of the collectors of IH Chrome (International Harvester) Tools.......this happened on my lunch hour at an estate sale. Curious if anyone knows if they are part of any larger set.....

 

[duddly]

It is unseasonably warm (62*F already) here today so the flea market was crowded. That first big day is always a little overwhelming (so much to look at, so many people...), and I wasn't exactly strapped with cash, so I was being selective, making mental notes instead of buying, and it threw me off my game.

It started with me helping a guy make a sale - to someone else! It was an older guy who was taking forever looking at an interesting socket set. Fiddling with every single piece. The seller wanted $35, he offered $25, which the seller refused, countering with $30, which the guy did not accept. But he wouldn't take his hands off it. He even closed the box up and started carrying it around with him looking at other stuff. I was just waiting for him to walk away so I could look at it, so when I asked if he was going to buy it, loud enough for the seller to hear me, he finally caved and agreed to buy it. I never even got close enough to see what it was!

It ended with me remembering on the way home (Murphy's Law!) a little sesquicentennial spoon and a 1914 Scoutmaster's Handbook I was going to go back and re-haggle for.

In general, it was one of those days when I wanted all kinds of cool things (including a Morgan vise, a 1915 WEED chain jack, and an Interwar canvas-and-cork water bucket), but not bad enough for the prices.

I did come home with a few things (Lugz 2021_17), including one item that gave me a small case of guilty conscience, a pair of items that need a good Evaporust bath, two items from foreign shores, and one item that I have never seen before. But even some of these are bugging me now, because a few of them (the wire brush, the shears, and the scraper) came out of an interesting fiberboard toolbox, with a little built-in fiberboard compartment, and a leather handle. It had one of those crazy tall but extremely narrow coping saws inside, painted with filigree and a wooden handle, also a sharpening stone in a homemade box. The guy was making me a ridiculously good deal for everything, but no, I had to get picky and stingy, and now in hindsight I'm thinking I should've just taken it.

Like I said, I was just off my game.

That Baxter wrench is sweet! I always love those.

 

[3baygarage]

Lugz, I hear you on the "off my game". Happens to the best of us. Recently I was at the flea market, and saw a regular vendor I've dealt with a bunch of times, with an item I recognized as somewhat uncommon. Still, pretty limited knowledge on my part. When I asked him how much, he said $15, and I left it at that because I wasn't exactly sure.

Well, I got drawn in by the massive tool booth down the row, forgot all about that seller, went even farther around the market, spent all my loot...

Drove part way home and said are you nuts or what? I went home and let the dog out, quickly looked up what said item sells for, and ran to the ATM- something I generally try to avoid. I raced back to the market, had a bit of trouble finding the booth, and got there just in time to see the seller's wife tarping the tables over. Apparently he had gone home to rescue a loose cow, best part of the story!

I'm happy to say I sold that for over $250. Turning a profit of about $200 when all was said and done. A good day for me and, and helped support my hobby!

Back to you though, I don't think you were off your game when you found that Baxter wrench.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That Baxter wrench is sweet! I always love those.

Thanks, Duds! Me too.

I don't think you were off your game when you found that Baxter wrench.

No. For sure not. That was the slightly guilty conscience item, though. I pulled that, the unusual Italian snips, the Moore & Wright Babbitt scraper, and that little wire brush out of the fiberboard toolbox. The seller, an amiable older gentleman, was trying to sell me the whole shebang. I knew I was going to get the Baxter for a steal, because he kept a tally going ("Well, now you're up to $9, you might as well take the whole box...") every time I reached in and pulled something else out. His table was full of old junk and photos and tchotchkes and the box was on the ground in front. He was no tool guy. Must have pulled it out of a basement. There've been times I have paid a seller more than what he asked, but I'm no Mike Wolf ("you're light on that") and I wasn't feeling too egalitarian. Later I felt a pang like I should've just bought the whole box for $20 (I probably could've flipped the antique coping saw and the sharpening stone in the hinged, handled wooden case), which would've tipped the balance a little fairer on the Baxter. I have a bigger one, but it's not marked. Just posted more photos of the little feller on my "Oddfellows" thread.

 

[Shiftless]

Thanks for your mental analysis comments, Lugz.

I am starting to psych up for my first garage sale outing in almost a year this Saturday. (Fully vaccinated)

I’ll be off my game to one degree or another. The few merchants I have dealt with during the pandemic stopped taking cash months ago so one thing I’ll have to do is remember to put some serious money into my wallet.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Lugz Which one is the Baxter wrench? What is the wire brush for? I picked one of those up back in '19 I think. Wasn't sure what it was for but I figured some day...

Never mind. Found it with a google search.

 

[wrenchguy]

Further to some previous conversations re: my astonishment as to the passion of the collectors of IH Chrome (International Harvester) Tools.......this happened on my lunch hour at an estate sale. Curious if anyone knows if they are part of any larger set.....

Yes, there's a set of 4. 6",8", 10" & 12". I have the 6 and 12, looking for the 8 and 10. Good $ on eprey.

 

[Outlawmws]

Cool finds and stories! Lugz I think we ALL have had "one of those days" when the mind, she wasn't thinking too good...

 

[Private Lugnutz]

For sure. It was just a weird day all around. Here's another example. The guy selling the c. 1916 WEED chain jack (you literally pull a looping chain through one way or another to raise or lower it..., I should've taken a photo) came out of an estate sale in Rumson last year, before the C19 shutdowns. He described the garage like an antique automobilia extravaganza. Rumson and Fair Haven, where I live, share a high school, that's how close it is to me. So I drove nearly to the other side of the state to almost buy an antique jack that was pulled out of a garage less than a mile away.

Almost enough to want to make me go back to the estate sale circuit. Almost.

//// BREAK /////

(Have you guys caught on to my method for keeping my post count lower than Beemer's and Outlaw's yet?! )

Here's the odd Italian snips. I am going to post more photos on the Old World thread. I can't find any info on them, despite the patent number.

 

[mikeinri]

(Have you guys caught on to my method for keeping my post count lower than Beemer's and Outlaw's yet?! )

Nope. But whatever your system is, I'd say it's been broken for the past few pages...

Mike

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Snerk.

 

[d42jeep]

Like Shiftless, I have been avoiding sales until my vaccinations are complete. I was unable to pass up today’s event. My best friend since the first grade had picked up a bunch of tools that an elderly woman friend of his was going to throw out. My buddy knew I would want to pick through them so he brought them home. Here are some of the things I brought home. The second picture is a pair of Peck Stowe and Wilcox perfect handle monkey wrenches. The third picture is a pair of Alemite grease guns, one WW2 Jeep correct. The fourth picture is a chain drill which I just learned about on the GJ. The fifth picture is a Fulton tap and die set. The sixth picture is an Indian Motorcycle adjustable wrench. The last picture is a vice I picked up for Shiftless.
-Don

 

[duddly]

Like Shiftless, I have been avoiding sales until my vaccinations are complete. I was unable to pass up today’s event. My best friend since the first grade had picked up a bunch of tools that an elderly woman friend of his was going to throw out. My buddy knew I would want to pick through them so he brought them home. Here are some of the things I brought home. The second picture is a pair of Peck Stowe and Wilcox perfect handle monkey wrenches. The third picture is a pair of Alemite grease guns, one WW2 Jeep correct. The fourth picture is a chain drill which I just learned about on the GJ. The fifth picture is a Fulton tap and die set. The sixth picture is an Indian Motorcycle adjustable wrench. The last picture is a vice I picked up for Shiftless.
-Don

Wow! That is like a whole collection in one shot! That sounds like a great friend!

 

[d42jeep]

A few more pictures of today’s haul. The first picture is a Black and Decker drill set that’s amazingly complete. Next is a Pratt and Whitney tap in it’s own wooden box. The third picture is a complete number stamp set. Next is an early Nicholson file card. The fifth picture are some Starrett and General items. The last two are obvious. I left much more behind than I brought home due to storage issues.
-Don

 

[mikeinri]

Don, even if you didn't get all of that for free, You ****!

Those are some really cool pieces. What's the deal with the Indian Motorcycle wrench, with the Wakefield Wrench name on the jaw? Was that the OEM?

Mike

 

[bmwrd0]

That is some nice stuff, Don. I really dig the Fulton T&D set, and I found an Indian adjustable like that at the Concord flea once.

 

[d42jeep]

Don, even if you didn't get all of that for free, You ****!

Those are some really cool pieces. What's the deal with the Indian Motorcycle wrench, with the Wakefield Wrench name on the jaw? Was that the OEM?

Mike

I believe that Wakefield made the wrenches for the Indian toolsets. Yeah, it was all free. Here is the lid of the Fulton set.
-Don

 

[mikeinri]

Very, very nice!

Mike

 

[LesserSon]

Don - Synchronicity on the B&D toolkits! My buddy (from 5th grade on) gave me his grandfather’s kit. I don’t think the original purchase receipt is among the paperwork, but a $.10 (no charge) replacement part (never installed, it seems) has a recept from 31Mar1958. I have liberated the drill from a circular saw adapter, but the power cord will need replacing - it is entirely brittle.
EDIT - sorry for including the instructions for a B&D 7-1/4” circular saw (which I don’t have) in the shot. They were in the box, but they don’t belong.

I wonder what the timespan is between them? I saw one like mine in the gray box in pretty good condition in an antiques store once, but it really isn’t my thing. I’ll probably get this cleaned up as much as I can, but I’m not sure beyond that. The paperwork has a pronounced damp cellar smell, which I don’t like. I have tossed more valuable treasures for similar offences.