The thrill of the chase

Screw driver was Free....

Todd Hughes

>I did have to pay $250 for the box it was in!...I actually had a pretty good week buying tools, at least for the old tool hell I live in.At my Tuesday Flea market I saw this big wooden tool chest with a loose lid.Had two pull out sections in the top and looked pretty ful of tools with some not being to much.Asked the seller how much and he said $50 and a couple other guys standing there started to try to get into it to see.Right off the bat I had seen a no.6 plane, stanley scraper, small starret level, bunch of machinest stuf about 3 witherby chisels,couple gouges, great nibbed D7, etc.etc. with out digging so I quick gave him the $50 with out saying anything.Turned out he had been asking $100 but was a motivated seller and came down to $50 I guess when I asked.Only thing was this puppy was heavy and didn't have any handles and almost killed me getting it back to my car.Haven't really gone all though it yet but Think I made out OK. Bought two very strange and old spoke pointers and tennon Cutters off a guy wed. ,paid $100 for the pair time will tell if that is gloatable but they are about off the Gizmo Neato scale

Went to some yard sales today and got nothing.Did ask about old tools and the people told me nope don't have any but you know you are about the 3rd guy asking about them!...Competition!......Todd

Well Bob

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>shortly after I retired I started the Weekend Finds thread and had hoped to continue it right along as a regular this such as Ernie's weekend Projects thread. Unfortunatly cash started getting real tight and I didn't get to the flea markets very regular so I discontinued it. Rest assured that once I get back on my feet $$$ wise I'll resurrect it. I miss doing it. I enjoyed "owning" a thread. Made me feel good.

Another 3-6 months and I'll be working I'm sure. I start the hands on portion of my electricians Training on the 30th of this month. Will most likely join the Apprecticeship Program in March and they'll team me up with an employer who'll get me prepared for the Journeymans test. Once I get to be comfortable and confident as an Electrician I'll be looking for employment "Up North. Might be a few years tho, but that is my long term goal, and I'm taking one step at a time, but none-the-less it is part of my Escape Florida plan.

As for now, I'll admit that I'm chillin' like a villian and barely scraping by, but getting by.

Todd O.

Re: The thrill of the chase

Dale Stansbery

>Two weeks ago I landed a Walters 1994 little Blue Book price guide along with several Starrett calipers for $7.00. I don't know what the book is worth on it's own, not any where near the big price guide I'm sure. But, Today it was worth quite a bit as I looked up this funky little Stanley hand drill. I was able to get it, a 7" vise grip, and a couple tin snips for $5.00.

It's in pretty nice shape, white paint smudge and all.

Re: Well Bob

Ernie Miller Topeka

>Bob I haven't been out for a couple weeks I have a shortage of time on my hands but a week or so ago I pulled 5 Eames side chairs out of a dumpster so far I have sold 2 for $100 ea and the others will sell this weekend for close to that. not a tool gloat but it will add to my war chest. Nothing beats a war chest gushing with green.

"funky little Stanley hand drill?"

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Very understated gloat, there, Dale.

Very droll.

Don Thompson, Cutler Ridge, Florida

>

my gloat of the week (year)

Bill Tindall, E. TN

>There are no old tools to find in this part of the world but we do have good trees as we are in prime Applicahian hardwood forests. I bought a 400+ bdft walnut log from a near by mill for $300 this week. It would have been a veneer log but for the hardware in one side of it. As an extra treat the mill let me saw it. Hadn't sawed in many years. Fortunately this was a low tech circle saw mill and not difficult to operate except for the hydraulic log turner which I was not accustomed to.

The strategy was to split the log through the heart, lay it down and and then saw all rift and quartered cants to be resawed and bookmatched for some as yet undetermined project(s). The saw didn't reach through so we had to finish splitting the log with chain saw. Hit three large spikes but they were very rusted and they crumbled upon impact. This was most fortunate as a sound spike of this size would have torn the bits out of the blade.

One half of the log was clear of metal and it was sawed uneventfully. The other half was sawed down to where the metal lived and then the sawed pieces were trimmed off with chain saw leaving about 4' of metal laden waste. The half log looked like a giant finger board before we sawed the good lumber off. I might have cut some clear sections from among the spikes but on the other hand might have runined a good saw chain too.

All in all I got 400' of quartered and rift cants for resawing later and some 4/4 "trimings". The tree was very old and hence had little sapwood. In its youth the tree had limbed out early so there was mostly clear lumber which is not normally my luck when buying a large log. It will take a year to air dry the thick cants so it will be a while before I will get to use any of this lumber. But by then I will have some projects lined up for it.

Gloat of the YEAR?

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>Bill, around here that would qualify as a gloat of the decade. Thanks for sharing.

Bill (of Sebastopol), staying quiet about the 2 feet of 1x6 walnut he scored recently

That's as good a....

Steve Kubien

>gloat as I've heard lately. I don't think you can much better than free wood. Oh sure, $5.00 #1's are nice now and then but give me a stash of nice lumber and I am a happy boy.

Personally, I think I only have one decent gloat and that is the General b*nds*aw I picked up for $50.00Cdn. Pretty sweet for a metal/wood cutting saw with an 8 speed transmission. Retails new for $3,000 Cdn so I think $50 is gloatable.

Take care,

Steve Kubien

Ajax, Ontario

How's this Bob?

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>Picked up a rusty Butt Mortise Plane for $3!! yesterday. Also picked up an adz that goes back to at least the 1800's of not the late 1700's for $5. Handle is loose, but I think I can salvage it. sure hope so as it is the original handle and is solid.

Todd O.

Re: Sounds like my walnut

Rob in Kansas

>I have a ~ 38" dbh walnut on the edge of my uncle's field that he said I can have! (he want's to be able to get a couple more rows of beans in! :) It's mature and after a lightning strike needs to be at least trimed up. It looks to be about 20 feet to the first limb.

I'm planning on harvesting it this winter after the crops are out. I want to do a full size Bombe Chest like Paul posted about last fall.

I also wanted to have some veneer made out of it, but the quote I got was for $800/hr. I don't know how much those machines cost, but sounded kind of steep to me!

Adz handle fix

Bob Hackett

>Todd,

The handle on an adz is supposed to be loose in line with the blade.

In order to tune the swing(hang) of the blade so it contacts the wood and cuts properly there usually are 2 wedges,one forward and one aft that are there to adjust the angle of attack.Most often the aft one is a snecked or shouldered one of hardwood as this takes the most pressure thru use.The forward one can be either hard of soft wood.

The reason the wedges are snecked is so you can pull them and take the handle out of the head and fit the whole thing in your box.I`ve also seen them with holes or slots cut close to the steel so a tack puller or small nail bar could get them out.

If the handle forms a lazy S then it`s an adz handle.If it`s straight,someone`s replaced it and most likely used it in the garden.

Most folks up here think they`re the New England equivalent of an "aggie"(anyone who`s seen southern inmates on work gangs knows what an "aggie" is).

Mainely,Bob-Who sure is glad he doesn`t have to drive past Sugarland anymore.

Thanks Bob

Todd O. Cronkhite Native of Maine

>that is exactly what's missing. I thought it odd that there was no wedge, or even a slot for one in the handle itself, so, based upon what you said I'd saw that the fore and aft wedges and AWOL. the haed is loose enough to be able slide off the the handle from the bottom up, but somebody put a small nail in the handle just above the neck of the head so it can't.

I've got a log that I split in half length ways that I'm gonna try this adz out on---one of these days. You can surely bet that I'll wear my steel toed boots when I do as I've heard all the horror stories associated with these tools.

Almost forgot--the handle does indeed make a lazy "S". :~)

Todd O.

Todd O.

Pegged out on both Gizmo AND Neato?

Greg B�tit, Vergennes, VT

>"Bought two very strange and old spoke pointers and tennon Cutters off a guy wed...."

Hey, how about some pics, or an elaboration on these guys, please! (please?) You can't leave us hanging like that!

Greg

Main Man Roy *LINK*

Edward Damewood, Northern Alabama

>Main Man Roy Underhill adzes right up under his front foot, with his heel down and his toe raised...

[I started to go into a dissertation, then I thought about searching for a description instead. And...]


Roy's (and others') under-foot method of adzing

Re: Adz handle fix

Dale Stansbery

>Actually a lot of people think Italian vine hoes are adzes. It's hard to get one reasonably priced at an auction because you have to bid against the "slow heads" as Todd calls them thinking they're buying adzes.