I saw a beat up old hand plane at a garage sale on Maple Street last summer. Looked like it had been sitting in a damp shed for decades, all crusted with rust. Guy wanted $5 for it and I laughed, told him it was junk. My coworker who restores woodworking tools saw a photo later and nearly fell over. Turns out it was a pre-war Stanley #4 with the original iron still intact. He found the same one online going for $400. Now I buy every crusty tool I see under $10, my garage is starting to look like a museum of questionable decisions. Anyone else ever get burned passing on an ugly tool?
Found a beat up Stanley #5 at a garage sale for $5. Took it home and flattened the sole and sharpened the iron. That thing cuts smoother than my $80 modern plane. Anyone else find an old tool that outperforms the new stuff?
Paid $45 for what the seller called a 'vintage barber's strop' on Marigold Street last Saturday, only to find out it's just a strip of leather I could have salvaged from a Goodwill belt for $3. Has anyone else fallen for a tool that was basically just junk glued to a stick?
So I grabbed this old wooden handled glass cutter for $3 at a yard sale outside Dayton. The guy said it belonged to his great grandpa who did stained glass work for churches. I looked it up later and it's a Fletcher-Terry model from the 1890s, still cuts clean with a steady hand. Has anyone else scored vintage tools that ended up way more functional than modern versions?
So I'm at the big flea market in Dallas last Saturday and this older guy is selling a bunch of old wrenches and planes covered in rust. He's got a bucket of vinegar right there and says he soaks everything overnight and it's fine. I told him I prefer electrolysis because it doesn't pit the metal and doesn't stink up your garage. He laughed and said I was overcomplicating it and that vinegar is cheap and works fast. We went back and forth for like 10 minutes and honestly I still don't know who's right. I've had vinegar leave that weird dark film on stuff before that takes forever to scrub off. But electrolysis takes longer to set up and you gotta have a battery charger and washing soda. Which method do you guys think is better for old tools? Has anyone tried both and seen a real difference?
I went to a church rummage sale in Dayton last Saturday, mostly to kill time. Buried under a pile of old kitchen gadgets was this heavy metal can crusher from the 1950s, still bolted to a wooden base. I paid $2 for it and brought it home, but after cleaning it up I realized it works way better than any modern plastic one I've owned. Has anyone else stumbled across a weird old kitchen tool that actually outperforms the new stuff?