M-WTCA spring meet report
Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI
>I learned a lot this weekend, primarily that in order to really enjoy a national meet you should take a couple days off work and make three days out of it. We arrived late Friday and went through the trade room without buying anything, but saw a lot of nice tools, including a pretty neat miter box that ended up selling for $500 less than the guy was asking for it. (He said this morning he sold it for $1500)
I took some tools to trade, and ended up getting a nice #5-1/4 with the decal still on the handle, a type 4 #6 (pre-lateral, with the name stamped in the hollowed adjuster knob). I ended up paying cash for a #606 from Cooper that is what I call a "Yoder revival special", but it really will make a nice plane after some major cleaning and re-jappaning. I keep thinking that after reviving these junk tools and using them gently the rest of my life they will have a pretty good resale value shortly before or after I die. I also picked up a #110 in the box, which will add one box to my collection of little boxes; I just love those pictures where they show stacks of old tools in the original box, and if I live long enough I will have a stack of boxes to take a picture of someday. One of the guys there had some really nice planes in boxes, including a #1 marked at $4500 which he ended up packing back up and taking home with him.
I'm about 36 years old, and there were not many people my age there. I guess I could feel a little bit out of place in a room like that where retired engineers and doctors are spending money in the multiples of thousands and I have to go back home to my little house and my little mini van with the wife and 2 children to feed and a house payment to make. But I'm not the kind of person to feel badly about not having as much money to spend as the guy beside me, and just have fun with the money I do have to spend. I appears to me that tools are going to go through a depression period after the baby boomers are no longer around, and it may be another generation before they enjoy a revival, after the prices go back down to where young people can afford to buy some really nice tools. Tool collecting is great fun, the people there are really friendly and do what they can I think to cater to the younger tool collectors, and I really had a great time and saw a number of tools I really wouldn't see any other place.