Lump
Well-known member
Last night I saw a listing for a farm auction near Waynesville, OH. It said the old gentleman had lived on that same farm since 1921. There were tools listed along with everything else, plus a vise and an anvil. 
The listing also showed LOTS of nice antiques, so I expected a large crowd. That is not good. When choosing an auction, I like to try and avoid those auctions which have the most super-nice stuff, since those auctions tend to bring out the highest bidders. My long-standing strategy is to try and find one or two auctions which are scheduled for that same time, but with slightly lesser stuff, hoping that the big spenders will all be at the place with the high-dollar stuff. But this week it didn't work. There simply weren't any other auctions with both tools for me and antiques for my wife.
She and I arrived and I headed for the tools and equipment, while she went for the antiques. I found LOTS of cool tools, a large USA vise, an anvil, and some other good stuff. In particular, there were two farm trailers loaded with stuff I wanted.
Wifey went over in the shaded area by the house, to look at antiques. I kept poring over the stuff I wanted, trying to memorize what-was-where, and checking everything for condition.
There was lots of really old stuff, some very nice stuff, some trash, and strangely enough, a few modern Asian import tools in the piles.
There were about 5 million old rusted bolts and bits of hardware in antifreeze containers, cigar boxes, and cardboard flats. I made a mental note NOT to buy any of that space-robbing stuff.
More photos:
Among the tons of junk and trash were some nice tools. I kept finding one piece here, and two pieces there. Mentally I kept wishing that they were sorted better. Notice that old wrench in the lower right corner of the photo above, under the adjustable "Ford-style" wrench. It was marked in raised cast letters as "JH". Wonder what it was for?
There were some really old, really cool tools on those trailers. I was really getting pumped for the auctioneer to move to these tools as soon as possible!
There were two very-cool old Walker jack stands, and some old hydraulic jacks which I also think were Walkers. (one was so marked). I almost didn't notice that the two jack stands were different sizes!
And now the photos of the things I was MOST interested in. First, above are two photos of a large old Rock Island vise, marked "Rock Island, ILL", with no cracks or damage I could find.
There was an anvil too. I didn't notice any writing on the sides, but there was plenty of rust and grime, and I had nothing to remove it. I noticed there was lots of heavy wear on the top side, and it was smaller than the anvil I have in my shop now. I made a mental note to not pay too much money for it.
And now the most interesting box on the trailers. The above photo of large sockets and related tools held several really old Snap On tools. I decided that I really wanted to own them, and planted myself right in front of them, determined to stand there until they sold.
(I have been to many auctions where unscrupulous buyers would sneak things out of one box and hide them under trash in other boxes, so they could buy them cheap. Then the bidders who wait and bid successfully on a certain box get a nasty surprise when the items they really wanted are gone from the box. This is theft-by-deception, no matter how you look at it! But it is common at auctions like this one).
And then it happened.....My wife came up to me and said, "Do you see anything you want here? There is NOTHING for me. I'm ready to go."
AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Now, you might expect me to say, "Tough SH#T. There is stuff I really want here, and we're not going anywhere."
But I have a really fantastic wife, and if I asked her, she would just sit there in the hot sun all day, and be bored to tears. She gives me just about everything I want, and does anything she can for me and for all the members of our family. I just could never do that to her. A day-off is a rare and wonderful thing for that lady, and I could not make her waste it sitting in my sun-heated pickup.
So, I checked around, and saw that the auctioneer had a LOT of stuff to go through before he left his current area. The other auction ring did too. But this was a 40 minute drive each way for me. I tried to make some quick mental calculations. How long would it be before they got to my stuff?
I decided that I just had to take the gamble. We got into my pickup, and I drove home as fast as I dared, dropping her off so she could do whatever she wanted all day. When we got to the house she didn't say a word, but raced into the kitchen and made me some lunch, while I loaded a cooler with ice and drinks. She gave me a kiss and a little extra cash she had tucked away in her purse. Then I raced back to the auction.
I got there about an hour and 15 minutes after I had left. The scene when I got there scared me at first. Both auction rings had moved. But then, I walked out of the parking lot to a spot where I could see my two trailers of tools. See photo below:
The trailers were both untouched!! The auctioneers had moved right past them to other things!!
I went back to my spot in front of that box of Snap On stuff, and took up my vigil. Eventually I did get to buy some of the things I wanted. But that's all the photos I have for now, until after I get the truck unloaded.
I'll be posting more photos tonight. Stay tuned!
The listing also showed LOTS of nice antiques, so I expected a large crowd. That is not good. When choosing an auction, I like to try and avoid those auctions which have the most super-nice stuff, since those auctions tend to bring out the highest bidders. My long-standing strategy is to try and find one or two auctions which are scheduled for that same time, but with slightly lesser stuff, hoping that the big spenders will all be at the place with the high-dollar stuff. But this week it didn't work. There simply weren't any other auctions with both tools for me and antiques for my wife.
She and I arrived and I headed for the tools and equipment, while she went for the antiques. I found LOTS of cool tools, a large USA vise, an anvil, and some other good stuff. In particular, there were two farm trailers loaded with stuff I wanted.
Wifey went over in the shaded area by the house, to look at antiques. I kept poring over the stuff I wanted, trying to memorize what-was-where, and checking everything for condition.
There was lots of really old stuff, some very nice stuff, some trash, and strangely enough, a few modern Asian import tools in the piles.
There were about 5 million old rusted bolts and bits of hardware in antifreeze containers, cigar boxes, and cardboard flats. I made a mental note NOT to buy any of that space-robbing stuff.
More photos:
Among the tons of junk and trash were some nice tools. I kept finding one piece here, and two pieces there. Mentally I kept wishing that they were sorted better. Notice that old wrench in the lower right corner of the photo above, under the adjustable "Ford-style" wrench. It was marked in raised cast letters as "JH". Wonder what it was for?
There were some really old, really cool tools on those trailers. I was really getting pumped for the auctioneer to move to these tools as soon as possible!
There were two very-cool old Walker jack stands, and some old hydraulic jacks which I also think were Walkers. (one was so marked). I almost didn't notice that the two jack stands were different sizes!
And now the photos of the things I was MOST interested in. First, above are two photos of a large old Rock Island vise, marked "Rock Island, ILL", with no cracks or damage I could find.
There was an anvil too. I didn't notice any writing on the sides, but there was plenty of rust and grime, and I had nothing to remove it. I noticed there was lots of heavy wear on the top side, and it was smaller than the anvil I have in my shop now. I made a mental note to not pay too much money for it.
And now the most interesting box on the trailers. The above photo of large sockets and related tools held several really old Snap On tools. I decided that I really wanted to own them, and planted myself right in front of them, determined to stand there until they sold.
(I have been to many auctions where unscrupulous buyers would sneak things out of one box and hide them under trash in other boxes, so they could buy them cheap. Then the bidders who wait and bid successfully on a certain box get a nasty surprise when the items they really wanted are gone from the box. This is theft-by-deception, no matter how you look at it! But it is common at auctions like this one).
And then it happened.....My wife came up to me and said, "Do you see anything you want here? There is NOTHING for me. I'm ready to go."
AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Now, you might expect me to say, "Tough SH#T. There is stuff I really want here, and we're not going anywhere."
But I have a really fantastic wife, and if I asked her, she would just sit there in the hot sun all day, and be bored to tears. She gives me just about everything I want, and does anything she can for me and for all the members of our family. I just could never do that to her. A day-off is a rare and wonderful thing for that lady, and I could not make her waste it sitting in my sun-heated pickup.
So, I checked around, and saw that the auctioneer had a LOT of stuff to go through before he left his current area. The other auction ring did too. But this was a 40 minute drive each way for me. I tried to make some quick mental calculations. How long would it be before they got to my stuff?
I decided that I just had to take the gamble. We got into my pickup, and I drove home as fast as I dared, dropping her off so she could do whatever she wanted all day. When we got to the house she didn't say a word, but raced into the kitchen and made me some lunch, while I loaded a cooler with ice and drinks. She gave me a kiss and a little extra cash she had tucked away in her purse. Then I raced back to the auction.
I got there about an hour and 15 minutes after I had left. The scene when I got there scared me at first. Both auction rings had moved. But then, I walked out of the parking lot to a spot where I could see my two trailers of tools. See photo below:
The trailers were both untouched!! The auctioneers had moved right past them to other things!!
I went back to my spot in front of that box of Snap On stuff, and took up my vigil. Eventually I did get to buy some of the things I wanted. But that's all the photos I have for now, until after I get the truck unloaded. I'll be posting more photos tonight. Stay tuned!
