Bracing Myself

[Jim Koepke]

Sometimes it is just too hard to turn my back on a good tool.

We went down toward Portland Friday on on the way back stopped in at one of our favorite Antique malls. The items change a lot so it is always something different added.

This time it was a few ceramic items for my wife and a 2101a - 10" brace for me. It was priced just under $10.

So now my 2101a - 8" brace has a companion.

256118

Maybe someday a few other sizes of this model will show up.

jtk

[Mark Dorman]

Nice pair Jim. I just picked up an 8" Millers Falls to go with my 10". My 8" is rough looking compared to the one you have though. Nice score for the money.

[george wilson]

Well,at least they won't be lonesome!

[Dave Parkis]

Nice score!! I'll buy all the 2101's I can find for $10

[Joe E Harris]

Nice find!!! Its hard to find some of the good stuff in out part of the country.

[Jim Matthews]

Good to have both a left and a right handed brace.

[Jim Koepke]

Nice find!!! Its hard to find some of the good stuff in out part of the country.

Joe, welcome to the Creek. I see you have been here a while mostly staying quiet. Your profile doesn't list your location, but your comment suggest you may be here in the Pacific Northwest. If that is the case, there are a few favorites of mine that I do not mind sharing. Send me a PM if you are interested.

Otherwise it is just an endless search when out and about looking for antique stores, antique malls, second hand stores and a few other ways to optimize a rust hunt.

One of my best search tools is asking shop keepers if they have any woodworking tools. Just as often as not they do not have many, but often they will tell me which local dealer does have tools in their shop. These folks all know each other and tend to help each other. More than once a shop keeper has called another to let them know they were sending someone over to look through their tool stuff. One time this led me to meeting a collector of tools who had a house full great stuff. Some of my most memorable deals came from a stop we almost didn't make.

Here is the story of that encounter:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?85702-Rust-Hunting-For-Awhile

And another when we went back to look again:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?109395-Fleet-Flagship-Gloat

We do not get into Portland or even Oregon as much as I would like. My wife thinks the streets in Portland are too narrow. We almost need to get a hybrid car so we can spend more time (read more money) searching out more tool sources.

Some places need to be checked regularly. The stall in the store where the brace was found changes all the time. There used to be more woodworking tools, but it is still a steady dribble. There are a few other stalls that also carry some tools.

The Restore in Longview is hit or miss. Sometimes they have good deals on fasteners and hardware, sometimes they have a few tools worth looking through. Occasionally they have salvaged wood and other materials.

There is also a used tool store in Longview. The do not have any real great woodworking tools, but I have gotten a couple of good deals on some planes there. The ownership recently changed hands, so I need to go spend some time seeing what the new owners are doing.

jtk

[Joe E Harris]

Ya i've been around a while with very few posts. I live in Yakima thought i had put that in my bio guess i was wrong. My best luck has actually been at estate sales. The best stuff seem to come out of Tinkers garages that have hording tendencies. You can see some of the stuff i've gotten at http://greendoorshoppe.blogspot.com/. I haven't posted in about 6 months but have 2 or 5 post ive been working on.

Joe Harris