MWTCA report (long)
Tom Williams
>I went over to the local MWTCA meet in Madison, Georgia this week and just had a blast. I'd heard of the MWTCA but didn't realize until some time last year that they weren't just in the Midwest anymore. But thanks to Thom Trail's report last year I was enlightened and eagerly awaiting this week for many months now. I restricted my ebay activity to research only, just making mental notes of what to keep an eye out for when February came around. And when it did I'm afraid I had quite an extensive list.
The weather was dreary and the pounding rain made for a downright treacherous drive over to Madison, but boy did I have a blast. There were so many cool old tools, and you didn't have to dig through crates of old records and Coke memorabilia to find them. For most items on my list I actually had a choice of several available. My main purchase was a Stanley 45 with all the parts (except for the screwdriver and brochure) in a heavily-duct-taped box. I saw numerous "complete" sets of cutters for 45s and yet no two sets were alike. Mine has 20 plus the slitter.
I also found a nifty spokeshave for a relative that's taking Dunbar's Windsor chair making class this summer and had explicit instructions not to bring a metal one. This one had brass adjustment knobs and a wear plate. I also found a relatively recent 271 router plane (asked the dealer if he could date the bar code on the box) and a 42X saw set. I believe I paid a tad more than average ebay prices, but had the pleasure of holding the tools and talking to some fairly knowledgeable dealers before buying them.
There were a couple of items I didn't find. An eggbeater with fully enclosed pinion gears (so I can return the one Bill Houghton loaned to my kids). I only saw one Spofford chucked Fray brace and he wanted $95 for it, and since I see them go fairly regularly for under $25 on ebay I passed.
If I hadn't found a thing to take home, though, I still would have had a great time. Just holding so many things that I had only seen in Hack's book or on the web was a thrill. Like the wooden Stanley skew rabbet plane, steel encased, complete with nicker (I now know these are Stanley 90, though not the Stanley 90 bullnose metal plane). The cap iron was held on with a rod that extended out the back, much like ECE Primus planes. I must have seen half a dozen of these. I also heard Paul Hamler give an informal talk on his experiences making miniature planes, and he had on hand his incredible ivory reproduction of a one of a kind John Mosley plow only found recently, photographed with the assistance of Leonard Lee, and subsequently stolen. I had seen this plane before, in either FWW Tools and Shops or a Lee Valley catalog cover, or both, but it was fantastic to hear the full story behind it. He also told a story of buying a $27,000 plane just so he could make an accurate miniature of it.
I'd encourage anyone to check the MWTCA website, limited as it is, to see if there's a gathering near you. This isn't really a place to find dumpster diving prices (though I did see a bucket of cheap rusty saws and another of $10 user planes), but the shear quantity of nice old tools and tool lovers in one place made for a memorable experience for me.
Tom