2026 Garage Sale Thread (15th Annual)

[RTM]

but I thought it might be for an interchangeable handle that took those bits

I don’t know of any multitools that will take a brace bit, but I’m sure @Private Lugnutz does. But I suspect those are less common.

If you find a similar shape with a curved front end, like a spoon, grab those too.

 

[Outlawmws]

Just picked up this Coleman stand. Super steady. Way better than the patio table.

Those stands are awesome! There are three in the back of my rig right now. They're incredibly stable for the packed size and weight--the aluminum ones, anyway as the steel ones weigh about 15 pounds. I've even made table-tops for them for light-and-fast car-camping.

Can't find the damned pictures.

They also work for coolers:

Ditto what Timm said, last falls hunting trip I took 5 of them. 1 for a cooler, 1 for a gear/food box, the rest for table tops - one top is a double and takes 2 stands.:

 

[Smokeshow69]

Hit up a sale on Friday during my lunch break and scored a few items. $5 out the door! Plomb 10” wrench, 2 Mopar boxes, Proto mfd bet’r grip and the =v= 7/16 universal.



Then on Saturday I went to an antique fair with my wife. Found these 2 socony vacuum/ Mobil cans. $17 total.

 

[WisJim]

Our local humane society had their semiannual thrift sale last Friday and Saturday. It's a big sale getting donations from all over town, and there is usually a line of hundreds of people waiting to get in when they open at 9am Friday. I'm usually there in the first hundred or so and usually find someone to talk to while waiting, so the wait isn't too bad. Some years I find some real gems, but this year I only found a saw vise, unmarked, but in good usable condition, for $7, and a handful of music CDs for 25 cents each.
When I got the vise home and in the shop, I discovered that I already have 13 others in a big tote on my shelf. Only 2 are duplicates, though.

 

[Beerhippie]

Our local humane society had their semiannual thrift sale last Friday and Saturday. It's a big sale getting donations from all over town, and there is usually a line of hundreds of people waiting to get in when they open at 9am Friday. I'm usually there in the first hundred or so and usually find someone to talk to while waiting, so the wait isn't too bad. Some years I find some real gems, but this year I only found a saw vise, unmarked, but in good usable condition, for $7, and a handful of music CDs for 25 cents each.
When I got the vise home and in the shop, I discovered that I already have 13 others in a big tote on my shelf. Only 2 are duplicates, though.

I have its twin brother! Does yours have 95 on the other side of the jaws?

 

[WisJim]

I have its twin brother! Does yours have 95 on the other side of the jaws?

No, no markings at all. A Sargent No. 95 looks identical to this one of mine, and a Disston No 1 is very similar. So this may be an unmarked Sargent 95 or a maybe a copy.

 

[ctuai]

Estate sale ($4): Coleman 129 table lamp.

​

Tempted to see if I can't get it going. Got to figure out how to get it pressurized, but a bit of rubber tubing and a bicycle pump might do it. I'm not sure if the wire lamp cage is OEM, but I'll have to keep an eye open for a globe that will fit.​

Tada. Thanks for the advice @Beerhippie @Outlawmws. I didn't realize that the air valve unscrews into two pieces. I know that's what everyone indicated, but sometimes I ain't the brightest desk lamp at the table. Once I figure that out, got it pressurized and it fired up with no problem.

I'll get a glass globe as I can see eating up mantles at a pretty quick rate if there left exposed. Pop a glass shade on and I'm ready for the zompocalypse.

 

[four.cycle]

^ Excellent. I told you those two guys were the experts.
Mantles = apparently the old adage about "They don't make 'em like they used to" truly applies here. Current production stuff falls apart if you look at it wrong.

 

[bluebolt]

Part 1! I went to Pate Auto Swap Meet in Fort Worth Texas starting last Wednesday to sell stuff. But of course I bought stuff too! On Wednesday I just parked my truck and trailer on my spots and started walking and buying! Most of these finds are from Wednesday.
The rear axle cover is off of a 2008 Shelby GT500, $40. The Craftsman wood clamps I traded a nice Pepsi box with a friend who stopped by my booth. Both are keepers.
The early 1960's Comet horn ring was $5, the 6" Faultless USA casters were $5 too I think. Now I need some matching swivel casters!
The Holley carburetor heat shield and 3 Snap On cups were $25 total.
The 3 Coleman lanterns and the milk crate were $25 total.
Time to go empty another shipping crate!

 

[RTM]

When I got the vise home and in the shop, I discovered that I already have 13 others in a big tote on my shelf. Only 2 are duplicates, though.

Oh Jim. The hoarder mindset is strong there. I only have three or four, each different.

 

[knock knock]

$15 from a garage sale. First hazet ratchet I have ever held.

 

[ctuai]

Ditto what Timm said, last falls hunting trip I took 5 of them. 1 for a cooler, 1 for a gear/food box, the rest for table tops - one top is a double and takes 2 stands.:

That is one groovy setup. What's the big chrome tank at the back center?

 

[Beerhippie]

^ Excellent. I told you those two guys were the experts.
Mantles = apparently the old adage about "They don't make 'em like they used to" truly applies here. Current production stuff falls apart if you look at it wrong.

Correct. The best mantles you'll find will be NOS and labeled Silklite. I have a fair size collection of them for eventual use. Production of the Silklites ended in '90. Peerless made some very excellent mantles up 'til a couple of years ago in the Philippines. Unfortunately they moved production to India and quality fell off the edge. Maybe they've gotten better recently.

One big difference in the Coleman brand mantles was that the Silklites used a Thorium salt for the thermoluminescent part. Newer Coleman and most everything else uses a Yttrium salt, which renders a weaker and sickly yellow light compared the to good stuff.

 

[Outlawmws]

That is one groovy setup. What's the big chrome tank at the back center?

Converted SS aircraft fire extinguisher, into a pressurized wash/shower station. It has a low flow shower head I tweaked into even lower flow, and I can get 7 minutes of running water from that one gallon can. I have a 5 gallon Syrup dispenser based version and my original was made from a 2-1/2 gallon soda acid Fire extinguisher. You can make the same from a new Hudson sprayer as well.

That one gallon one shown is my current favorite, as it has "instant off" by using the lever handle, and I can operate it with an elbow to wash with.

 

[four.cycle]

The best mantles you'll find will be NOS and labeled Silklite.

I'm only concerned about mantles for those two Aladdins - I'll take what I can get.
Last Coleman lamp I had was gifted to me - a pretty red thing in a nice plastic case. Had never been fired. Gave it to a friend when she bought a cabin near Mt. Rainier - the power went out on a regular basis.

 

[bluebolt]

Part 2 Pate Auto Swap Meet in Fort Worth Texas.
The blue metal punch is a large Roper Whitney, the box holds the other punch sets. The blue bracket appears to be for wall storage, not as a bench mount. $50. The Craftsman mid box appears to be from the 1980's $35.
The Texaco, Standard, RPM, Mobil and Wards 5 gallon oil cans I cleaned up with Tub O' Towels wipes, there was a nice vintage Phillips 66 can that came with these 3, sold it to a member of the group I hang with at Pate.
The axe heads are a True Temper single bit, Woodings Verona double bit with a US03 stamp and a Hults Bruk double bit on the bottom, my axe collector buddy already claimed the HB LOL. Paid $20 for all 3.
The pewter looking pieces are Wilton Columbia Armetate aluminum pieces. I particularly like the 1776 - 1976 Bicentennial cup in the front. $10 including the black Coca Cola plastic crate.
The Stop sign and oil cans all came from the same vendor. The pyramid stack of 10 are replicas sold by Hobby Lobby and others.
The Schwinn adult trike will be used for Dollar General runs which is only half a mile away and a beer hauler for slow cruising. The vintage rear axle tubes may become the uprights for some vise stands.

 

[alinc100]

Part 2 Pate Auto Swap Meet in Fort Worth Texas.
The blue metal punch is a large Roper Whitney, the box holds the other punch sets. The blue bracket appears to be for wall storage, not as a bench mount. $50. The Craftsman mid box appears to be from the 1980's $35.
The Texaco, Standard, RPM, Mobil and Wards 5 gallon oil cans I cleaned up with Tub O' Towels wipes, there was a nice vintage Phillips 66 can that came with these 3, sold it to a member of the group I hang with at Pate.
The axe heads are a True Temper single bit, Woodings Verona double bit with a US03 stamp and a Hults Bruk double bit on the bottom, my axe collector buddy already claimed the HB LOL. Paid $20 for all 3.
The pewter looking pieces are Wilton Columbia Armetate aluminum pieces. I particularly like the 1776 - 1976 Bicentennial cup in the front. $10 including the black Coca Cola plastic crate.
The Stop sign and oil cans all came from the same vendor. The pyramid stack of 10 are replicas sold by Hobby Lobby and others.
The Schwinn adult trike will be used for Dollar General runs which is only half a mile away and a beer hauler for slow cruising. The vintage rear axle tubes may become the uprights for some vise stands.

Yep 1982/83 to be exact. Nice find on the Whitney

 

[Outlawmws]

The blue metal punch is a large Roper Whitney, the box holds the other punch sets. The blue bracket appears to be for wall storage, not as a bench mount. $50

Yeah, you **** for that haul!

The stand is a bench mount. I probably have the punch or a similar one (I have several) but not the other punches and dies, or the bench mount.

 

[zanyad]

@bluebolt sux!

Edit: spelling

 

[Beerhippie]

Those stands are awesome! There are three in the back of my rig right now. They're incredibly stable for the packed size and weight--the aluminum ones, anyway as the steel ones weigh about 15 pounds. I've even made table-tops for them for light-and-fast car-camping.

Can't find the damned pictures.

They also work for coolers:



and, of course, suitcase stoves.

Here are the table tops:



1/4" birch ply and some 1/2" X 1" sticks.

In case you're wondering, no, Coleman never gave 500A stoves two-tone candy-apple finishes. I did.

 

[four.cycle]

table tops

no driftwood where you live?

 

[Beerhippie]

no driftwood where you live?

You want me to sit on the ground? How undignified!

And, no, not much driftwood on mountain tops.

MSR stove? Nice. I still have my first XGK--second gen, mid-'70s--and my Whisperlite, early '80s. Still working just fine, but the Colemans have the advantage of working at outputs of less than full-blast.

 

[bluebolt]

Thanks alinc100! Cool that it can mount on a wall.

 

[four.cycle]

You want me to sit on the ground? How undignified!

^ I am usually able to find a log for seating, but then I'm on the west side, so no shortage of downed wood here.
Yes, that's my Dragonfly. Noisy as hell, but despite the nasty rumors, it can be idled down low enough to simmer rice, although not quite as "low simmer" as what one can dial in with a Peak1 - I've owned several of them. I just got tired of having to constantly tinker with the things, which is why I went with the MSR. (For the same reasons, I choose not to drive British cars.)
Last couple years I've been developing more of an affinity for my "Pocket Rocket" because it's stupid easy and fast fast fast.
That little black 400 has been going with me as a "back up" on most of my recent trips out to the coast - I don't have to monkey around trying to set up a "wind screen" if I want to make a quick cup of tea on the tailgate.
The Dragonfly and the Pocket Rocket aren't worth a damn in the wind on the coast without a screen.

 

[Beerhippie]

^ I am usually able to find a log for seating, but then I'm on the west side, so no shortage of downed wood here.
Yes, that's my Dragonfly. Noisy as hell, but despite the nasty rumors, it can be idled down low enough to simmer rice, although not quite as "low simmer" as what one can dial in with a Peak1 - I've owned several of them. I just got tired of having to constantly tinker with the things, which is why I went with the MSR. (For the same reasons, I choose not to drive British cars.)
Last couple years I've been developing more of an affinity for my "Pocket Rocket" because it's stupid easy and fast fast fast.

Yep, fast and light backpacking was where the MSRs ruled! I hate to admit it, but the last decade or so that I was able to do serious backpacking, I carried a Snowpeak Gigapower isobutane stove. Even lighter and faster and actually capable of a fine simmer.

Thanks for the reminder that I own a Dragonfly, too.

Nowadays, I'm pretty much car camping, so the Colemans are great. Weight was biggest concern with the Coleman Peak1s, but they were never my favorite of the Colemans anyway. USFS used to issue us Coleman 502s for remote work--they were much better runners than the Peak 1s, but weighed a ton.

 

[bluebolt]

Outlawmws, it helps if you don't put it in upside down!

 

[four.cycle]

Coleman 502

^ You may have noticed I own a 502. Had never been fired. My late brother-in-law bought it for a backpacking trip that never happened. I poured a bit of fuel in it one day and lit it up just to see if i would fire.
There was a member on the hikers site who used the handle "Hikin' Jim" who regularly posted write-ups about various models of stoves.
The guy genuinely knew his stuff about stoves, and had fond memories of what he referred to as "the venerable 502" - built like a damn tank, but ungodly heavy. If you want to know anything about some obscure stove, Google it it with his "handle" and the website and you'll probably find what you're looking for.

 

[bluebolt]

This is actually my 3rd Roper Whitney No. 8 punch. The one in the foreground I paid $20 for many years ago. It was stuck and I broke it trying to free it.

The second one with the factory bench base I bought a couple of years ago. It came with a small box of diesel, some of which I don't have with the blue punch I just got.

I'm keeping the blue punch with the factory base.
I'll sell the middle punch with the blue homemade base and a few dies.
The broken one I don't know what I can do with it.

 

[Beerhippie]

If you want to know anything about some obscure stove, Google it it with his "handle" and the website and you'll probably find what you're looking for.

I already have--and have used--most of the "obscure" backpacking, horse packing and car camping stoves. I need to move some of them on.

 

[bmwrd0]

Coleman Peak 1 was my main backpacking stove, which was kind of overkill, as all I did was boil water for coffee in the morning, and for tea and miso at night. But, it always worked. I have had Svea's and Optimus stoves, but I found the Coleman was more reliable. Now, my old backpacking partner has gotten into the ultralight backpacking scene and they have moved to raw alcohol stoves: small tin with holes at the bottom that they just burn alcohol to heat things. Not sure what, they don't seem to carry food or sleeping bags.

Now a Coleman 400, like the one above, is my only stove, even though I don't walk well enough to back pack. It is just good to have around.

 

[Burgerkong]

$1500 Canadian Loonies for a KRL1003A 20 minutes away? I'll take that. Plus it came with a bunch of gigantic Allen keys and large wrenches. Seller wasn't the original owner, but he gave him the box and two Goldwings as back payment for 2 years of rent then skipped town.

I'm like dude, on what planet is 2 years of rent equal to what you got? Nevertheless, interesting backstory. Was heavy af. Took 4 guys to push it into the van.

No real rust, underside looks mint, as do the casters.

 

[Patrickm82]

Nice score!! @Burgerkong

 

[mikeinri]

...Second stop was around the corner, and had a bunch of Thomas the Tank Engine and Brio style track. At $50 I did not hesitate. Then they said we could not have the fancy fabric covered boxes it was stored in, kinda disappointing, but her three kids (¿tweens or teens?) came over and happily moved it all into alternate containers for us, which was a pleasant surprise. Couple stops later I picked up four more Thomas vehicle for a few bucks.

Wow, I miss playing with our oldest son and his Thomas trains. Younger son never really bothered with them.

We bought all of it new, for stupid money. I used to wait for a local store to run 50% off sales (they were overpriced, so it really only amounted to 25-30% off Walmart and other stores). I'd never thought about buying them used.

My nephew (older than my kids) started the whole addiction, LOL.

Mike

 

[mikeinri]

I remember the Peak 1s in the Boy Scout catalogs in the 80s. We carried Sterno, but that was frowned upon (vs. building campfires to cook on).

Mike

 

[WisJim]

Our sons got started with Brio train sets when my sister worked at a high-end toy store in San Francisco many years ago. We had no idea how much they cost, but she must have gotten employee discount. When our grandson was of the age to play with them, we passed the chest of trains along to him, and then found another huge set at a local garage sale cheap, so now we again have a set at our house for visiting kids to use.

 

[coachwash]

I won 3 lots at an OA last night, scheduled pickup this morning. I haven’t had time yet to inventory everything but figured I would post the pics. 1st lot was a Kennedy 520 machinist toolbox. Looks to be in very good shape, no key. I have been wanting one for a while now but was too cheap to pay what most people wanted. Total price including fees $45. Here are the pictures with what was in the drawers.

 

[coachwash]

The other two lots were a Sears metric socket set and a Craftsman SAE 1/4 socket set. There are several extra sockets in the Sears set that are Craftsman, Proto, and Williams USA. The Sears sockets and spinner are Taiwan. The Craftsman set is missing several item, but I am sure I have extras to complete it. Sockets are inverted G2 series. Paid $5 each, $10 total.

 

[LesserSon]

Drove the hour to Hometown Farmers Market this morning (first visit). For an overcast sky with a few dribbles of rain it was a good flea market, about like Quakertown or Leesport, with real produce, ready-to-eat, household supplies, collectibles shops inside and out. At a full hour’s drive, I’ll make it a stop on trips to our cabin or my parents’ place, if it’s a Wednesday (open 52 Wednesdays a year), instead of Leesport, which is more out-of-the-way. But weekends will continue to be Jake’s or Blue Ridge.
After walking the grounds and buying the two XceLite flatsided nutdrivers (EDIT - turned out under the waxy discharge both have fractures running through handles), a rubber door wedge, Snap-on screwdriver, Utica/Bell System 75492 crimper pliers, and a CS Osbourne no12 hole punch, I decided to add a detour to Leesport to the homebound route.
That flea was starting to wind down as I arrived, because of forecast rain. I tried to buy an XceLite No6 driver (I have two HS6 ones) but the seller wanted to sell it in an incomplete “set” or four for $15 or $5 by itself. Since I had just paid 50 cents ea for the other ones, I thanked her and walked on. With fewer and fewer options left, I picked up a Germantown ballpein and four more screwdrivers (one is a Proto stubby) and called it a day.
$7 for all.
Left-behinds (in addition to overpriced nutdrivers) were two very good Red Devil S&H pliers - No777 and No888. $8ea. I thought about it, I really did. EDIT - I forgot to mention a 4” adjustable wrench marked “ANT” with a forged-in graphic depiction of - you guessed it - an ant on the handle.


Cute as a, um, bug, but the dynamic jaw was wiggly-loose between splayed-out channel walls, plus the vendor was simultaneously packing up and angrily dismissing a $15 offer on a pair of Wolverine boots from a different customer.

 

[alinc100]

One stop today was FBMP pick up. It was a good distance away but it allowed me a Costco shopping trip and a drop off at Habitat for Humanity ,the loose offshore tools,hardware and bits from my earlier this week pick. Anyhow, this pick wasn't as great as I had hoped because I mistakenly looked at the photos and saw a 15/16" wrench ,which turned out to be 13/16" but all is not lost it helps fill in yet another set. Not gonna bore ya' with a detailed inventory just yet. The boring:
Craftsman
5/8”,13/16” 6 pt combo
2@5/16”,8mm,3/8”,7/16”,1/2”,13mm,5/8”,17mm,11/16”,2@ 3/4” 12 pt combo
10 x 11mm,2@5/8”x 3/4” doe
5/8”x 11/16”tappet
5/8”x 3/4”,9/16” x 5/8”,19/32” x 25/32’’ dbe
1/4” and 3/8” ratchets

SK 3/8” 6 pt combo
SK 9/16” x 5/8”dbe
SK 9/16” saltus
Williams 9/16” combo
Watsco 1/4” x 5/16” ratchet box wrench

 

[bmwrd0]

I won 3 lots at an OA last night, scheduled pickup this morning. I haven’t had time yet to inventory everything but figured I would post the pics. 1st lot was a Kennedy 520 machinist toolbox. Looks to be in very good shape, no key. I have been wanting one for a while now but was too cheap to pay what most people wanted. Total price including fees $45. Here are the pictures with what was in the drawers.

In photo 1730, the screw driver in the corner is a Smith and Wesson sight adjuster. They sell for good money on eBay.