Flea Market advice

[Chas Fuggetta]

Well, I've decided to hit the local flea market tomorrow to look for various hand tools. Planes, chisels and the like. I'll have a straight edge and screwdriver in hand to help with the tool inspection. Any advice on what to look for and what to avoid?

Regards,
Chas

[Paul Incognito]

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the straight edge or screw driver. I figure that most flea market, thrift shop, yard sale, etc. finds are going to need some work. I look for obvious damage; chips, cracks, broken or missing parts. You can eyeball the flatness of a sole or the back of a blade, but, again, I go into it figuring I'll be truing it up anyway.
I've bought some horrible looking stuff that turned out to be good users without a lot of fuss.
My 2 cents.
PI

[Jim Koepke]

Take a magnifier and a small piece of sand paper.

You may want to read this thread for planes:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=116419

Here is a good one to read for information about chisels:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=13734

Here is a bit about augers:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=131238

Not a lot of what to look for in Augers. Just make sure there is life left in the spur and the lead screw is all there. Avoid heavy rust and bent shanks.

Hope this helps and does not take too much of your time before leaving to hunt.

jim

[harry strasil]

Let common sense prevail, don't buy anything you can't use or don't have a need for, and expect everything you buy to be a piece of junk no matter how good it looks at first. Its kinda like going to an auction, don't let your eyes overload your wallet. Good Luck and Happy Hunting. Bold New Frontiers await you.

[Dave Ring]

Dress poor.

Stick a couple plastic bags in your pocket.

Bring LOTS of singles. (Dealers never seem to have the right change.)

Bring your wife and play Good Cop, Bad Cop. (Rolls eyes, "Let's go, Honey. We can't afford it."

[James Scheffler]

Well, I've decided to hit the local flea market tomorrow to look for various hand tools. Planes, chisels and the like. I'll have a straight edge and screwdriver in hand to help with the tool inspection. Any advice on what to look for and what to avoid?

Regards,
Chas

Occasionally a small accurate square will come in handy. Especially if you are interested in buying more squares.... :)

Jim

[Tony Zaffuto]

Keep your money in your pocket--don't want a dealer seeing wants in your wallet! Look where there are no tools shown, and look through the bottom of boxes. Look under the tables at stuff not put out and also ask the dealers if they have any old tools.

[Chris Hudson42]

Hi Chas

I'd take any plane I was considering completely apart. First, you want to see if any of the screws are frozen.

The screw that holds the little stamped adjuster tab on the back of the frog is very often frozen. Makes no difference - just use the fact to negotiate the price down.

What is a problem, IMHO, is if the frog mounting screws are frozen. Or the cap iron screw (happens, but not often). Or the frog adjusting shoulder screw that nestles into the adjuster tab.

Unscrew and remove the chipbreaker from the blade. While the part of the blade just in front of the chipbreaker may look great, you may find rust/pitting that was hidden by the chipbreaker. Can make the blade scrap - unless you want to try to flatten it thru the pits - usually a pain.

After the plane is apart, make sure the face of the frog that contacts the blade is machined, and the frog to sole contact points are machined. If not, run - don't walk from that plane. It is a 'Companion/Handyman'-type piece of junk. Then look for rust on the frog blade mounting face, and sole mounting points. When I see this, I usually pass. But if the only rust is on the sole/sides, I don't rule it out as this can usually easily be removed by electrolysis and the sole then lapped OK. Rust/Pits in the sole - unless right in the front mouth edge - make no difference. Use the rust to negotiate it down.

Happy Hunting!
Chris

[Tom Vanzant]

Definitely look under and behind things. I was about to leave a tool display in Chattanooga and caught sight of the heel end of a wooden plane peeking out from under the bottom shelf, in the corner. It turned out to be a very lightly-used 22" long wooden A. McKenzie jointer plane with a 2- 1/2" Robt. Sorby iron set. No cracks, splits or checks in the body, a clean intact wedge, only a tiny sliver missing at the horn of the closed tote, and maybe .015-.020" twist over the full length. All this for slightly over $60.
A gloat? And yes, I got down on my hands and knees to see if there was another one back there.

Tom

[James Taglienti]

I bring my leatherman multitool to all auctions and flea markets. I usually use it to loosen the lever cap screw because sometimes the lever is stuck. Frozen parts don't bother me at all unless they look rust-welded together, and in that case I probably don't want the piece anyway. I have never checked for square. There are many kinds of rust but blooms are the worst, where it looks like the rust itself is rusting. Expect pitting under every "bloom." Blade length on planes can usually be judged at a glance, but if the plane is rusty, the iron might be pitted.
My advice would be to buy any plane that says "Stanley" and looks ridiculous, the more ridiculous the better. Seriously.

[Adam Woznicki]

Bring a rag or a couple paper towels. Sometimes gems hide under dirt and you have to wipe it off to see the logo, or what the heck it is.

I cary a small backpack to prevent that precision tool I just bought from cutting its way thru that plastic bag and making a swan dive for the cement.
I try not to think about when it happened to me, but if it keeps you from making the same mistake, its worth it.

Also, I know its not very manly but I carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer for those times you realize that you really shouldn't have touched that thing on the bottom of that box.

[Adam Woznicki]

Get anything today Chas?

[Chas Fuggetta]

Get anything today Chas?

No luck. I picked up a brace and a fret saw, but the plane search was a bust. I got there at about 10:00 am and there weren't that many sellers there. Even though the weather was up in the mid 60's I guess it's still to chilly for most people. The market is a good 25 miles away but I'll keep trying.

Regards,
Chas

[Adam Woznicki]

10:00? good grief man! The early bird gets the worm.

The one I go to opens at 6:00. I get there about 7:15 but thats only because it takes 55 minutes to get there and I don't want to get up earlier than I get up for work. I've been thinking about it though, after I missed that Sargent jointer today.

The tables start closing at 11:00 at mine.

Don't worry, things will get better once it warms up.

[Chas Fuggetta]

10:00? good grief man! The early bird gets the worm.

The one I go to opens at 6:00. I get there about 7:15 but thats only because it takes 55 minutes to get there and I don't want to get up earlier than I get up for work. I've been thinking about it though, after I missed that Sargent jointer today.

The tables start closing at 11:00 at mine.

Don't worry, things will get better once it warms up.

lol, I guess so. I'm usually up and around by 6:30, but had to take my daughter to her cousins for a b'day party.

On a happier note, I decided to stop 'puttering' around the shop and try my hand at flattening a board. It's only 9x12 or so, but I was able to take out a 1/8" bow across the grain. Spent all of 15 minutes on it to get it satisfactory. Now...5 more of those to go then I can try my hand at hand cut mortise and tenon joints. :cool: Any advice?

[Chas Fuggetta]

I bring my leatherman multitool to all auctions and flea markets. I usually use it to loosen the lever cap screw because sometimes the lever is stuck. Frozen parts don't bother me at all unless they look rust-welded together, and in that case I probably don't want the piece anyway. I have never checked for square. There are many kinds of rust but blooms are the worst, where it looks like the rust itself is rusting. Expect pitting under every "bloom." Blade length on planes can usually be judged at a glance, but if the plane is rusty, the iron might be pitted.
My advice would be to buy any plane that says "Stanley" and looks ridiculous, the more ridiculous the better. Seriously.

Yeah, I didn't think about bringing a multi-tool with me. I'll do that next time. An maybe a few hand wipes. lol

[Randal Stevenson]

I found out the hard way, this weekend, SUNSCREEN.

[Don Jarvie]

Here's the Number One piece of advice.....

If it's something you want and it's priced right buy it right then. It will not be there when you come back later or next week.

I have learned this the hard way many times.