Early Access Video: Special Report on Vintage Tools
Added 2022-10-15 11:00:07 +0000 UTCFriends:
I'm just back from 3 days at the AACA Swap Meet in Hershey, PA. I saw thousands of tools and (literally) millions of items for sale. A lot of it was woodworking-related.
But, this is the first time I've been to this show in 2 years. Is it still a place for bargains? Can you still find even rare tools? Should you go out to the swap-meet near you?
I answer all these questions in my Special Report.
Happy Saturday!
--Rex
Comments
Well...would you look at that.
Rex Krueger
2022-11-03 20:10:16 +0000 UTC"The Challenge" plane a link with more info http://www.supertool.com/etcetera/deadends/golds.htm
John Harrison
2022-11-02 13:38:43 +0000 UTCSame issue happening for me! And same feelings, just looking forward to watching it!
C.J. Prusi
2022-10-19 18:20:49 +0000 UTCJust a heads-up: this video appears locked for me in YouTube. Maybe because it's listed as premiering I'm 29 hours? No big deal, I can wait. Just letting y'all know.
Graham Dumas
2022-10-19 13:06:43 +0000 UTCMy brother in law rebuilt a 1926 Franklin. The roof was canvas covered wood, the doors were wood covered with aluminum. He is a carpenter / furniture builder by trade so the car right up his alley for the work needed. The car was shown at the Hershey show a few years ago.
Skully Wood and Metal
2022-10-18 14:17:33 +0000 UTCI do find the advice to leverage estate sales, private sales and garage sales to be sound. I’d add Facebook marketplace and Craigslist to that list of private sales. All but one of my bench plane purchases came through one of these vehicles and I was able to keep costs under $20 per plane from these. By the way, the best deals are made when you are willing to walk away. Yes that might mean you don’t get an the 3rd spare smoothing plane…put if you do you will get it at a far cheaper price.
Todd Maurer
2022-10-18 13:43:12 +0000 UTCYou can ask for anything you want...whether I do it or not is another thing.
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 13:13:51 +0000 UTC"Suck it up and find space for another tool". What a sacrifice!
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 13:13:32 +0000 UTCI'm pretty sure we're driving those prices up. It's largely our fault.
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 13:13:03 +0000 UTCIt's very addictive. When I was a teacher in CA and had summers off, i would routinely go to 4-6 markets a week. Some of them were very small, but it was still a thrill.
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 13:12:27 +0000 UTCIt's the irony of doing this work; I'm in it to make woodworking more accessible, but by popularizing old tools, I end up making it more expensive. Also, Keen Kutter tools are generally excellent.
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 13:11:40 +0000 UTCHa!
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 13:10:21 +0000 UTCThe first few times I went, I was already broke and only had a little money to spend. Experience breeds restraint and now I don't buy so much.
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 13:10:13 +0000 UTCThe Hershey show is a unique thing. I really don't care about old cars and I still have a blast.
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 13:09:17 +0000 UTCIt's really my pleasure. Thanks for making it possible!
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 13:08:32 +0000 UTCI honestly try to give that experience with these videos. I know not everyone can make it out, but watching someone else do it scratches the itch a little.
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 12:59:50 +0000 UTCHonestly, I just don't need a single other Stanley plane. I have all I need and anything I buy is just going to sit on the shelf. I am practicing restraint. I do hope you get better fast. My mom had the hip. It was a slog.
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 12:59:16 +0000 UTCMy wife asks for surprisingly litte!
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 12:54:12 +0000 UTCIf you're anywhere near the Central Valley, the flea markets are amazing (or they were around 2015). Turlock, Atwater, Modesto and other valley towns have great flea markets. About half of my old tools came from those fleas.
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 12:53:53 +0000 UTCYou really should. The internet cannot bring you everything.
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 12:52:17 +0000 UTCI've heard that festival is a lot of fun. I'd like to go.
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 12:52:01 +0000 UTCI really did. Thank you.
Rex Krueger
2022-10-18 12:51:07 +0000 UTCThis video begs the question: what should we be asking you for?
Benjamin Fouty
2022-10-17 23:41:01 +0000 UTCThank you Rex for the tips on shopping for tools at flea markets. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I have as many tools as I can use and have room for. But sometimes you just have to suck it up and find space for another tool. Have a good week.
Matt Evans-Koch
2022-10-17 22:56:41 +0000 UTCI wonder how much YouTube videos (influencers) about old wood working tools are having an effect on pricing right now? Where I am in Australia I struggle getting the low prices Rex mentions when I go looking for things but have in the past picked up ok hand saws through a charity shop not far from where I live. Sadly the shop had a management switch and the tools area has disappeared 😿
Wayne
2022-10-15 22:49:25 +0000 UTCI love the thrill of the hunt, finding deals at flea markets and restoring items or reselling them. Thanks for sharing your adventure and your finds.
Laura Reutter
2022-10-15 22:32:59 +0000 UTCParke
Ethan Chitty
2022-10-15 16:33:00 +0000 UTCI live in Texas and we have few flea markets with that sort of old stuff. They tend to be more craft fairs. But I did recently inherited some turn of the century E.C. Simmons tools with the Keen Kutter trade mark. There’s a couple of saws, planes, a brace bit, chisels, etc. So I have the basics now. Interestingly no back saw. Still I’m jealous. The thrill of discovering a nice wooden jointer’s plane would be cool. Thanks to you I’d know one when I see one. Also, I need more auger bits. BTW, One reason the price of hand tools has risen is YouTube has popularize manual wood working. You, Paul Sellers, James Wright and even Richard Maguire have sparked interest in solely using hand tools. I’m one of your converts who previously looked at hand tools as a means of filling a gap in the fabrication process.
Richard C von Brecht
2022-10-15 16:27:48 +0000 UTCWhat county?
Hauptmann
2022-10-15 15:44:17 +0000 UTC"It's like a meerkat on the discovery channel" - poetry.
LiraNuna
2022-10-15 15:38:22 +0000 UTCY'all see a flat market, I see a place that would make me broke.
STFU FFS (Martín)
2022-10-15 14:40:14 +0000 UTCIf I ever get back to the east coast, I'd like to go to Hersey when the auctions are on. Thanks for the enjoyable video.
John Shufelt
2022-10-15 14:32:36 +0000 UTCAnother fun video Rex. Thanks for your hard work and insights.
John Hiemstra
2022-10-15 14:23:04 +0000 UTCThanks for the video and letting me live vicariously.
Todd Maurer
2022-10-15 14:06:11 +0000 UTCExcellent , excellent video and thanks for the update! I'm in central Pa., too bad I'm laid up with the hip replacement ! Maybe we could meet up sometime if you ever pass through the State College/Lewisburg corridor. First plane you picked up at the start looked like a type 11-would've grabbed that! (Falcon9h on the forum)
Richard Fluharty
2022-10-15 14:03:46 +0000 UTCRex! Great Video Sir! But "I dont answer to anybody"? You answer to your WIFE! and should. Thankyou for all of your videos and your book!
Michael Lee MacDonald
2022-10-15 13:29:43 +0000 UTCLove watching your videos, it’s your delivery, interesting and funny, I often find myself cracking up at times. Thanks and glad you found a few cool tools. Agree on the costs and increasing hard to find, I’m in CA and have to do a fair amount of buying online, prices like most things have crept out of what is perhaps reasonable for some of these tools.
Scott Forsyth
2022-10-15 13:17:50 +0000 UTCinspired to hit the flea market this weekend thank you!
joseph severson
2022-10-15 13:15:50 +0000 UTCLooking forward to Indiana’s covered bridge festival this upcoming week. A whole county of little flea markets and yard sales.
Ethan Chitty
2022-10-15 12:26:36 +0000 UTCExcellent weekly discussion. Looks like you had a good time.
Marc Barash
2022-10-15 11:51:43 +0000 UTC
