Liberty Tools

[Mike Olson]

I just caught an article on treehugger.com about a place that sells older tools.

Following the link to etsy and watching the video this is now on my list of places to visit on vacation "someday"

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/theres-no-place-like-here-liberty-tool/

[David Weaver]

They do also sell on ebay, I can't remember their seller's name - it's something catchy. Silicon Valet or something? (someone let me know if I'm wrong about that).

The schwartz also did a blog about them, I think, long ago.

[Bruce Haugen]

I stopped there during a Maine trip some years back. Bring your wallet - they might not have everything, but they have lots.

[Matt Hankins]

It used to be that they would get a new shipment of tools every March. Folks would come from far and wide to be there on "opening day." i don't know if that is still true. Last time I went was in a blizzard. It is indeed impressive.

Matt

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Only what, 45 minutes from Warren, where LN is? It's getting tempting to make a weekend trip a couple states over.

[Matt Sauber]

Here is their website: http://www.libertytoolco.com/

They have a few tools for sale, too.

[Tony Shea]

This place is about an hour and a half drive from me and I have never been. They also have a place (same owner's) in Bar Harbor, actually Hulls Cove, called The Tool Barn that is a 20 min drive. It is a smaller version of mostly hand tools as I've heard liberty has lots of everything, power and hand. I probably stop in at The Tool Barn once a week. This is where 90% of my vintage user tools come from. These places are actually breathtaking for the uninitiated. The first time one of you walk into the place you'll be speachless at the shear amount of tools on the shelves. The pricing can be weird, some real nice stuff can be cheap while some real junk can be way over priced. I consider myself fortunate to live close to these places with Lie Nielsen an hour away. If you plan a vacation definitly consider Maine.

[Tom Scott]

Tony, I think I would be broke if I lived where you do.

[Brian Cameron]

Tony...envy is leaking out from every pore right now.. I live on the Alaska highway...a long way from these honey holes in Maine:(

[Charles McKinley]

Is Bill Phillips still in Kutztown Pennsylvania? Last I talked to Bill G. Mr Phelps was not in good health. He also has a very impressive store and meseum.

[Jake Helmboldt]

Liberty is kind of in the middle of nowhere. While there is an impressive collection of stuff, the prices aren't great, although there are probably some really good buys mixed in with the over-priced tools. At the time of my visit I didn't have enough knowledge of some of the neander sleeper items/names that don't command the higher prices. I should make a return trip next time I'm Down East.

[Steve Friedman]

My day at Liberty Tools is one of the highlights of my time in Maine each summer. While the prices are not outrageously low and there is a very limited selection of quality tools, I still keep coming back hoping to find that elusive gem. I lose all track of time in there and that's what a vacation is supposed to be. One of these days I will get up to Hulls Cove.

Jake, for those of us who live in (or near) cities, everything in Maine is in the middle of nowhere. But for Maine, it's only 1/2 hour from Augusta and Waterville, which are among the 10 most populous cities in the whole State.

Steve

[Matt Meiser]

+1 on everything on Maine being in the middle of no where. I loved visiting there but I think I'd go crazy living there. People say I live in the middle of nowhere, but I'm only 8 miles out of a major city.

I went to Liberty a couple years ago. There were roads our GPS sent us down that I thought were driveways when we first turned. I was towing a camper too. It was a great place to visit, but even better was their sister (cousin?) location called Hulls Cove Tool Barn near Bar Harbor. Best short explanation I can come up with is that Liberty has tons and tons of the types of things you might typically see a handful of at a garage sale or typical antique store. Hulls Cove had less quantity, but more quality and more of the stuff you don't see as often.

In addition to Lie Nielsen, I believe there's a woodworking school in that general area and a tool/woodworking store that's nearby or maybe connected with that. I didn't hear about it in time for our trip.

[Mike Olson]

hmm, i'm going to have to pickup a AAA trip book on Maine to try and find reasons for my Wife and Kids to go there too...

[Matt Meiser]

Mike, our trip was 2 years ago when LOMLjr was 7. She wanted to know right away when we could go back and still wants to know.

We spent Sun-Weds near Bar Harbor on Mt. Desert Island not too far over the causeway by Ellsworth. One day we crossed back over to Ellsworth and went to a couple shops, but the rest of that time we stayed quite busy on the island. One highlight was a boat trip out of Bar Harbor. Weds we left early morning and drove down to Freeport along the coast and stopped at Liberty and Lie Nielsen. We probably could have stopped a bunch more places and made a full day of that. While in Freeport we went to Thos. Moser's workshop and did a tour and did the touristy shopping stuff in Freeport. We left Freeport very early Friday morning. There were tons of things on our list of stuff we could have considered doing that we didn't while we were up there.

A former member here commented on my trip and said we were barely seeing any of Maine which is true if you look at the map. There's a lot of very remote areas in ME.

[Tony Shea]

A former member here commented on my trip and said we were barely seeing any of Maine which is true if you look at the map. There's a lot of very remote areas in ME.

This is true, but the same goes for any place you vacation to. One only has so much time.

I personally love the fact that I live in the middle of no-where. I truely don't know how you city people do it, even your suburbs are nastly populated. Traffic here in Maine during the tourist season (here in Ellsworth) is bad enough. I just couldn't handle the hustle and bustle of the city, and being able walk out my back door into 100+ miles of woods is priceless. I just couldn't be away from my woods, there is not enough of it.