Tool meet report (long and boring)
Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI
>Went to the Edwardsburg tool meet yesterday, hosted by John Sindelar. It rained just a little bit in the morning, enough to get water on a large number of tools that were showing spots of rust later in the day. But really a nice day and a nice meet. There were less than a hundred people there, and it seemed like there was not nearly as much money being spent as in years past. I made some really interesting buys which I was very happy with. I looked through a box of misc. plane parts, lots of the adjuster knobs and bolts for totes and knobs, and thought it would be nice to just take the whole box, sort it, and keep it for parts. I took it home for $10. Later in the day I was looking through a box full of frogs , about 25 frogs, and ended up asking him how much for the whole box. $20. I don't know if he realized there were several Bedrock frogs in that lot, but he was looking to get rid of the stuff. I also bought a really nice Yankee #2100 8" throw brace, will make a nice user in my shop.
A number of people brought there junk planes there to get rid of them, and it was a user's heaven. I was looking at a #3, had a busted frog, busted tote, busted knob, and a chip out of the body. The owner of this lovely piece asked me if I was interested in it, and I just kind of jokingly said I was just trying to find one good part on it. He said the body was good, then noticed that the body had a chip out of it too. He said if I wanted it to take it home, and I said I really had no use for it. So he picks the thing up and starts walking away and says "Where is that dumpster I saw earlier?" So being a responsible citizen of the old tool world I did my duty and rescued another plane from the landfill ;) I'm sure he knew I would take it if he pretended he was just going to throw it away. Funny thing is, with the other parts I bought yesterday I will have a functional #3 plane for aproximately $3 if I make the knob and tote.
Today was the Darley's barn meet. There were more buyers there than at Edwardsburg, and really nice weather, but I would say sales were still down from years past. But I did end up picking up a very ugly #72 champher plane that will make a beautiful user plane. Also a #35 in the box; I seem to like these little Yankee's in the box, and this is a neat little tool. A great bunch of people, nice old tools, a really great weekend.