First car booty of the season

[ED65]

From my first one this year, on Easter Monday. We went to a car boot we haven't visited in a long while and it seemed like it might be the kind of sale with a good few tools on offer and I wasn't disappointed.

Eclipse 60B hacksaw frame, haggled down to €2.
X-acto 35 razor saw (made in England) €1, brass plumbing fitting thrown in.
Pack of 10 all-hard hacksaw blades, €5.
Lidl 8mm chisel €1.
LFA 0-10mm / 0-3/8" chuck, haggled down to €4.

The hacksaw frame has been restored, handle fitted to the razor saw and the handle of the Lidl chisel reworked to a better shape. I'll post pictures lower down.

But the star of the show by a country mile, a Record 148, near-mint in its original box:

This was €5, not the kind of bargain you commonly see from sales in the UK but that's unbelievably low by Irish standards. No haggling on this, at that price I couldn't reach for my money fast enough.

I didn't know the 148 before this although I'd seen pictures in books I later realised, and it was missing the instructions leaflet so I could only guess if anything might be missing, but it seemed complete enough and with the obviously excellent condition I definitely wanted to take a chance on it if the price was right. And I lucked out, it appears to have all the bits including all the sizes of bushings still offered at this date (early 80s), as you can see still in their original bags. So chuffed to say the least.

It did look little used as I was ogling the contents at the sale and after the photos were taken I spent an arduous two minutes cleaning it with an old toothbrush. As I did so I became more and more convinced that this was bought for a specific project, used the once and then put away in a cupboard and never touched again. None of the other bushings show wear and they still have the original gummy grease on their inside surfaces.

 

[ED65]

From this Sunday, our local. Haven't been in a while and there were far more tools on offer than any previous visit! This included a few sellers with a spread of woodworking tools, not just dribs and drabs here and there so lots to pick from at all sorts of prices.

One seller had the last three of a job lot of European horned planes, unfortunately all missing their irons. I was tempted to make an offer on one but they're set up for single irons which I'm not that much of a fan of, although in retrospect one would have made an excellent roughing plane.

Another seller had a brass and ebony mortise gauge in reasonable nick, I have two already so I figured I didn't need a third but kicking myself that I didn't even ask the price. He also had Starrett hacksaw frame with the same style of handle as the Eclipse above, but more surprisingly lower down the same row there was another 60B of earlier vintage that the one I bought. So that's two shows in succession that I've seen them, after previously never seeing one ever in 3-4 years of going to car boots.

So on to what I did buy:

The chisels and side cutters were the cream of the crop in a box of €1 mixed tools. The auger bit was in a box of bits again all for €1 and this was the only brace bit worth buying, with a lead screw in good shape and still with both spurs. After cleaning it up I discovered it's a Hagrem 1/4".

The obvious star of this particular sale, the Stanley plane:

It's a type 16 I'm fairly certain, and in fairly rough shape but I'm happy to have found it, it's my first Stanley plane so I expect I'll grow to love it, warts and all. I'll rehab this later in the year.

Already got started on the cleaning up the smaller tools (and something rusty SWMBO bought) and the transformation on the side cutter is quite extraordinary in less than 30 minutes:

After cleaning I could make out the stamps, it's by Maun Industries which I'd never heard of before. There are a few images of this style of side cutter from previous and current fleabay listings but all have a different pattern stamped. I can't tell if this is later or earlier, but I suspect earlier.

The strip of tape is just for a like-for-like photo, after cleaning the action is slick and the return spring holds the grips apart.

 

[MusicMan]

Maun (est. 1944) do some very nice compound pivot cutters and pliers. Google Maun Cutters to see. I have one of their parallel-jaw pliers, most useful.

Couple of good hauls there!

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I think those wooden-handled hacksaws might be a bit under-rated. An old mate of mine, apprenticed as a fitter, reckoned that it was much easier to saw straight and keep to a line with the old wooden-handled type than with the more usual pistol-grip type, because your hand was in line with the blade.

I have to admit that I don't know whether he's right or not - my hacksaw is a pistol-gripped Eclipse 20T, and so far, I haven't tried a wood-handled one!

 

[Rorschach]

I love those 60e hacksaws, got 3 of them in fact and a nobrand of the same style, all picked up from car boots.

 

[LFS19]

Looks like you have yourself some good deals there.

I'm yet to see anything from the likes of Stanley or Record going at a cheap price at my Carboot sale, whatever the condition.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Once in a while - I picked up my most expensive plane, a nice clean Stanley No.8 with a full length laminated Sweetheart iron (from about 1930 afaik) for £30. A brand new, boxed, rosewood handled, corrugated Stanley No.4 for £15. Most of the rest I've not paid more than a fiver for. I've not paid more than £4 for a 1st class chisel.

 

[ED65]

I think those wooden-handled hacksaws might be a bit under-rated. An old mate of mine, apprenticed as a fitter, reckoned that it was much easier to saw straight and keep to a line with the old wooden-handled type than with the more usual pistol-grip type, because your hand was in line with the blade.

I have to admit that I don't know whether he's right or not - my hacksaw is a pistol-gripped Eclipse 20T, and so far, I haven't tried a wood-handled one!

I have a suspicion it might be a horses for courses kind of thing, but so far I quite like it. I've read elsewhere that the angle you're most sawing at might be what makes the in-line handle your favourite.

I have a good all-aluminium Swedish (?) standard one already so I can always fall back on that if it turns out it's not for me.

 

[ED65]

Once in a while - I picked up my most expensive plane, a nice clean Stanley No.8 with a full length laminated Sweetheart iron (from about 1930 afaik) for £30. A brand new, boxed, rosewood handled, corrugated Stanley No.4 for £15.

Don't gloat, it's unseemly :mrgreen: Seriously though gloat away, those are the kind of deals car boot dreams are made of!

I've not paid more than £4 for a 1st class chisel.

That's roughly my cutoff point too, I refuse to pay more than that. Building from that I made the decision recently to pick up any chisel that looks remotely decent if it's on sale for €1, in nearly any condition as long as it's not bent. Can't go wrong at that and eventually I'll build a collection that I can cherrypick from and then re-handle.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I also had a huge three ton Record swivel based mechanics vice new for £35 and thirty five bimetallic hole saws complete with long and short arbours, only three of which were duplicated and only three of which had been used for ... £25. Oh, I can gloat!

 

[MarkDennehy]

ED65, I have to ask (because I was wondering if car boot sales in Ireland even have tools at all, let alone the kind of sales where everyone goes to pick up their gold-plated record #8 plane with the titanium inserts and the padauk handles for a fiver...) - what car boot sales are you going to over here?

 

[ED65]

ED65, I have to ask (because I was wondering if car boot sales in Ireland even have tools at all, let alone the kind of sales where everyone goes to pick up their gold-plated record #8 plane with the titanium inserts and the padauk handles for a fiver...) - what car boot sales are you going to over here?

Not all will have tools I'm sure, I've certainly been to my fair share where there was nothing a woodworker would be interested in!

One of the biggest and best in my part of the country is in Castletownroche, been there multiple times and I think only once had nothing follow me home. The Record 148 etc. I got in Blarney.

My best haul so far was actually from a small one down in West Cork. We haven't been down since so I don't know if it was just the luck of the day, but I got an Emir wooden jack, two braces, a coping saw, an old Bosch drill stand and a few other bits and bobs, all for very reasonable prices. There was more stuff to be had too, including three coffin smoothers in excellent nick for a tenner each and a few wooden moulding planes.

 

[Rorschach]

Couple of nice buys at the car boot today. Halfords Pop Rivet Gun for £2, looks like it was used once or twice, perfect condition and seemingly very well made of castings rather than stamped sheet metal. Also a lovely pair of Maun Parallel jaw pliers with piano wire cutters built in. Online price for this model (4951 160) is over £30 from what I can see, I paid 50p and aside from being grubby they look to be near new. I'll strip them down tomorrow and clean off the gunk.

 

[Racers]

Rosewood handled laminated blade Record No4 stay-set and a whole mess of brass screw cups for £10.
The Record had been repainted and the tote and knob varnished, paint where the frog sits, and the tote has a bad glue job, the paint has been scraped and the frog lapped to fit. The tote is gluing and the the blade has been sharpened waiting for the glue to go off.

And a Britool 14/15mm spanner for £1

Pete

 

[Rorschach]

I passed up 2 planes, a bailey 4 1/2 and a record 0/0 rebate jack plane. The woman wanted £8 and £10 respectively, they were in fair condition but still several hours work required to get them working well. Was I a fool?

 

[MarkDennehy]

Bought at a local flea market today for €10. No idea as to maker or the quality of the steel (but sheffield, how bad could it be?) but it looks like it'll clean up and use just fine. Already have a 4 and a 4 1/2, I just wanted to see how wooden planes were by comparison.

 

[bugbear]

Rosewood handled laminated blade Record No4 stay-set and a whole mess of brass screw cups for £10.
The Record had been repainted and the tote and knob varnished, paint where the frog sits, and the tote has a bad glue job, the paint has been scraped and the frog lapped to fit. The tote is gluing and the the blade has been sharpened waiting for the glue to go off.

This is where you need knowledge/experience to spot the quality underneath corrosion (and worse) and to know wether (or not) a clean up is possible.

Nicely done!

My most recent success was a Stanley 5803 for a quid; not the most gizmoidal of drills but a truly superb tool.

BugBear

 

[Racers]

To be fair it looks like someone spent quite a while making it look better but not addressing how well it works. the metal parts only had minimal corrosion just some light surface rust.
I am hoping it won't replace my original 1970s No 4 but its looks like its going to be a good one.

No catching your fingers in the teeth on that drill!

Pete

 

[bugbear]

No catching your fingers in the teeth on that drill!

Pete

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Actually, the reason I sought out enclosed gear drills was a close encounter of a favourite baggy T-shirt and the gears of a MF breast drill.

The shirt caught in the gears, and gained both minor tears and ground in black-gear-grease.

I decided I didn't want this to happen again, leading to Stanley #5803 and #748A, both highly recommended.

BugBear

 

[ED65]

This is where you need knowledge/experience to spot the quality underneath corrosion (and worse) and to know wether (or not) a clean up is possible.

Which apparently I lack. The Stanley I got is a right old dog!

There's an unused 5803 on ebay at the moment *drool*