Ugly & Cheap, Just How I Like My Chisels

[Jim Koepke]

Went into town today to do a few errands. One of the things we needed was a new shade for a reading lamp. After we were finished at the Post Office I suggested instead of either of the borgs we try the Restore for the lamp shade. That way I could look at the used tools. Not often does something show up, but when it does it is usually a good find. Another person joined me at the tool shelves. He picked up a big round thing which exposed the handles of what I knew to be socket chisels. So I grabbed them and gave them a look. For the price of $3 for the pair I decided to take a chance. Some heavy rust pitting in a few places. Couldn't see a name on one and the other has a Baker Hamilton 'Lightning' mark. 3/8 & 1/2" two sizes of which I like to have extras.

Well they really aren't that ugly.

Ugly Chisels.jpg

They will look a lot better after some cleaning and new handles are turned.

The price was right.

Chisel Price.jpg

Hope the guy that was also looking at the tools at the Restore wasn't upset that I got them first.

After a little clean up, the mark on the 1/2" was very weakly visible. Just a few letters and what looks like a familiar swan.

Chisel Marks.jpg

Well, looks like a little more work to keep me busy.

jtk

[Lonnie Gallaher]

Nice find. I picked up a 1/2 inch stanley socket chisel about a month ago at Restore for 50 cents. No handle though.

I have also picked up some nice hand saws for 3 bucks apiece.

[Jim Matthews]

"Ugly and cheap"
Sounds like my dating strajidy, from "Back in the day".

You know, when they still sold records...

[Judson Green]

Lucky dude!

[Jim Koepke]

Nice find. I picked up a 1/2 inch stanley socket chisel about a month ago at Restore for 50 cents. No handle though.

I have also picked up some nice hand saws for 3 bucks apiece.

A 1/2" Stanley at 50¢ is a very good deal. A good hand saws for $3 each ain't bad either.

Lucky dude!

If one tries enough, some times the hunt is a winner. If rust hunters told of the fruitless hunts we would likely have three times the posts we have now.

My last two outings were pretty good though.

There was a Stanley 46 in an antique shop recently, but they wanted $75. No fence and only one blade. It had the thing that hangs on the skate. Not something I am looking for right now. Though if one was dropped on me at a great price it would likely find a place in my accumulation.

jtk

[David Weaver]

Those look like pretty nice chisels to me. You can do whatever you want to do with them, too, at that price, and never lose out.

[Judson Green]

A 1/2" Stanley at 50¢ is a very good deal. A good hand saws for $3 each ain't bad either.



If one tries enough, some times the hunt is a winner. If rust hunters told of the fruitless hunts we would likely have three times the posts we have now.

My last two outings were pretty good though.

There was a Stanley 46 in an antique shop recently, but they wanted $75. No fence and only one blade. It had the thing that hangs on the skate. Not something I am looking for right now. Though if one was dropped on me at a great price it would likely find a place in my accumulation.

jtk

Yeah its a bit of a numbers game. Ive only started rust hunting late last year, so not sure of the best spots yet. Can't tell ya how many rummage sales I went to this summer. Sometimes it's very discouraging all baby clothes, bobble head dolls and beanie babies. But then ya find that plane, chisel, saw or whatever and it all good.

Funny about the 46. I had almost exactly the same experience a month ago.

[Terry Beadle]

My first date was just like that....hoot!

Nice find! Gloat certificate issued!

[Steve Beadle]

I would have snatched those up, too, even though I have plenty of 3/8" and 1/2" chisels. Good find, Jim!
I was down at the Oregon Coast last weekend and stopped in at the Red Barn flea market in Cloverdale (ever been there?), and although they had quite a good selection of old tools, there were no wood chisels at all. There were about five planes, but nothing worth looking at twice. So I got skunked on that rust hunt.
I wish you luck on future forays!
Steve Beadle (brother of Terry, above)

[Dave Anderson NH]

Nice find Jim, particularly at that price. My James Swan 1/2" paring chisel only has about 4" of blade left. I need to get off my butt and find a longer one to match the lengths of the rest of my set. Anything James Swan make a really good user.

[Jim Koepke]

I was down at the Oregon Coast last weekend and stopped in at the Red Barn flea market in Cloverdale (ever been there?), and although they had quite a good selection of old tools, there were no wood chisels at all.

I know it well. The wife and I have stopped there many times when traveling on the Coast Highway. Never was there when they were having a flea market. Bought a few things in the store. There are a lot of places I like to stop along that route. There is one place that for the life of me I do not recall exactly where it is. It was a few miles off the highway and the owner specialized in woodworking tools.

I think it was Fox Antiques. One of the antique shop owners where we stopped told me about it. Even called the guy to make sure he was in that day. My recollection is that it was a Sunday.

Things like that are why I always talk to the people in antique stores and ask about tools.

Do you ever get down by Aurora or Woodburn, OR? There are a lot of antique stores in Aurora with one that had a pretty good selection of tools. There is a bookstore/antique shop in Woodburn where the guy, Terry, is a serious collector of tools. I have gotten some good deals from him.

Since we have finished moving we don't drive much now between here and California like we did when we were in transit.

North Bend - Coos Bay area is also another place we found some good hunting.

About as far as we get now is Astoria, OR when we head out to the coast. A few good places to hunt there.

jtk

[Mel Miller]

There is one place that for the life of me I do not recall exactly where it is. It was a few miles off the highway and the owner specialized in woodworking tools.

I think it was Fox Antiques. One of the antique shop owners where we stopped told me about it. Even called the guy to make sure he was in that day. My recollection is that it was a Sunday.


jtk

Jim: If it was Fox Antiques in Montesano I believe he is gone now. For a while there he had a bunch of stuff from well known Tim Dills' estate. There was some great stuff. Bob Kaune and I got to be first to go thru a large stack of banana boxes full of tools in the back room.
I've just about given up looking for bargains in antique shops as they all sit at the counter looking at everything on the computer to catch any mispriced items. Best thing I found all year in a shop was a flat top 602 Bedrock for $25.

[Jim Koepke]

I've just about given up looking for bargains in antique shops as they all sit at the counter looking at everything on the computer to catch any mispriced items. Best thing I found all year in a shop was a flat top 602 Bedrock for $25.

That is an incredible find.

A lot of antique stores are more like malls were the owner of the item sets the prices. Then some have high prices and sometimes you can talk them down.

But if one doesn't go in and look, one won't find those once and awhile good prices.

Especially in some of the mall type shops the stuff is changing all the time.

Not to long ago one of the people that sold a lot of tools in the Antique Mall in Kalama opened their own shop.

They are just up the hill on South 1st Street. That is where I saw the #46 for $75. I don't really see many bargains, but he used to get some decent chisels and sell them cheap.

jtk

[Brian Myers]

Jim if you got those at a Habitat for Humanity Restore for that price , you did real good. For the most part I've stop going to my local Restore, let alone donating anything to them due to how high they price stuff. Used to be a good place to pick up all sorts of stuff but now they are as bad as local antique stores and sometimes worse. Prices on things like power tools are even worse and now according to my brother (who stops in there from time to time) they are stocking up on furniture.

[Jim Koepke]

even worse and now according to my brother (who stops in there from time to time) they are stocking up on furniture.

It may be that they are not intentionally stocking up. It may be their pricing has made people stop buying while the donations keep rolling in.

I imagine every Restore has their own person setting prices.

At our local Restore they do not negotiate prices, but every once in a while they do drop prices on things that have been around too long.

One of the great things about the local Restore is most of the stock keeps changing. This keeps people like me coming back when we can just to look again. I don't get in as often as I would like, but most of the tool shelves turn over in about a month. They may not be making the big sales, but they are making a lot of sales.

Maybe stopping in once in a while and when one of the help asks if you need help finding anything say, "reasonable prices" or ask how long they let items sit before they consider the price may be scaring people away.

Sometimes when the wife is with me and one of the staff is near by I will comment on how good a deal I got on an item like what they have on the shelf since here in the Restore it is 5 times what I paid at that antique store.

Comments like those over a long period of time tend to eat at the store staff when they see people come in, look around then walk out with their money unspent.

I even look in some of the high priced antique stores. Sometimes there is a bargain. If nothing else sometimes I see something that inspires me for a future project. Time isn't wasted if you learn something.

Sometimes a little shock to the system lets them know they are not going to do as much business with museum pricing as opposed to pricing to sell.

Other things to notice when you are out looking is if it is a "consignment" shop or mall the tags often have initials or booth numbers on the ticket. Any price negotiations have to come out of the store owners percentage.

If all the items are owned by the store owner there is often a 10 letter code on the tag so they know what they paid for the item. Most of the time I do not bother trying to break the code. It is often easier to figure out the margin factor. A 3 letter code means the item was bought for less than $10. If the price is way above $20 then I know the mark up isn't a set amount. Some dealers just double the price on everything. Then there is no code.

There are a lot of little nuances in horse trading for old rusty stuff. It can be fun.

The things that bug me the most is when the prices are actually pretty good but my finances aren't. Another is when I make a comment about something and later discover that my comment was incorrect. One example of this was on a spoke shave that was recently purchased for $10. I made a comment about the lever cap screw not being the original. I was wrong and it still bugs me a bit. Though the spoke shave was painted red and the guy commented about how maybe someone named Stanley painted it. He also made me a good offer on a bunch of planes he had. About 4 out of 10 of the planes made it reasonable, but the other 6 weren't worth the trouble. If I was heavily into buying and selling tools I may have tried to deal. But I didn't want to make an offer at a lower price because he might have accepted and if my offer is accepted then I am bound to the deal.

jtk