Treasure from my trip to Pennsylvania

[jonathan snyder]

Hi folks,

A week or two back, I was asking about places to find old tools in central Pennsylvania. Thanks to all who pointed me in the right direction. I hit a couple of flea markets, and numerous antique stores. The best two spots were Old River Hard Goods in Nesquehoning, and Bill Phillip's Tool Barn in New Tripoli.

Old River hard goods is an interesting place. Nothing is organized, and everything is piled high. If you like to sort through piles and boxes, looking for treasure this is a place for you. I spent about an hour and a half looking around, but never saw half of what was there! Tony has stuff he does not even know he has!

Bill Phillips tool Barn is a wonderful place, and Bill is a great guy. I spent four hours talking with bill and looking at old tools. He has an enormous inventory, fair prices, and things are very organized. Bill has been collecting tool his whole life. He even has his own tool museum! If you are ever in the area, you should definitely stop in and visit with Bill. Thanks to Bill Grumbine for giving such good directions!

Here are a few pictures of what I came home with:

1/4" & 3/8" mortise chisels & a couple of Witherbys. My Grandpa turned the socket chisel handels out of black locust.

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#80 & #12 scrapers, & a unmarked spokeshave

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Harvey W Peace 12 ppi panel saw & a Disston 6 ppi panel saw, both filed crosscut. I couldn't pass up the Peace saw as it already had my three initials stamped in the handle.

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More pictures in the next post!

[jonathan snyder]

Here's a couple of more pics.

A Disston dovetail saw filed crosscut. I plan to use this as a tenon saw.

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My Dad, picked up this Stanley Miter box for picture frame making. The saw is incredibly clean.

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Here is a picture of me and Bill Phillips in his tool museum.

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It was a great trip, I spent time with my family, met some wonderful folks, and came home with some new old tools.

Jonathan

[Mike Weaver]

Jonathan,
Thanks for sharing & I'm glad you had a good trip.
Looks like you have some sharpening to do now!

-Mike

[Dave Anderson NH]

Great haul Jonathan. I've made the trek over to Bill Phillip's place when visit Mr. Grumbine before. Indeed his prices are fair and the tools he has are proper and accurately described. Did you get to look at the donkey treadmill power setup in the barn?

[Martin Shupe]

Bill Phillips is a great guy! He also has a LARGE collection of wonderful tools. His museum is incredible. Glad you got to stop by, and yes, it is easy to spend 4 hours there, very easy.

[Michael Pilla]

Nice haul Jonathan!
I'm familiar with Olde River but does anyone have address or contact info for Bill Phillips? Sounds like a short road trip is in my future :)

Michael

[Wes Bischel]

Nice haul Jonathan! Glad you found the treasure troves even if you did need to travel a bit farther (than you already did!:) ). I haven't been to either place, but may need to go soon!

Wes

[Bill Grumbine]

Bill Phillips is a great guy! He also has a LARGE collection of wonderful tools. His museum is incredible. Glad you got to stop by, and yes, it is easy to spend 4 hours there, very easy.

Ha ha, we thought someone had kidnapped Martin last time he was here! You know, I should charge for maps to his place. ;) I could cut back on some of the other work I have to do.

Bill

[Tony Augruso]

I'd like to know where Bill Phillips place is as well.

My wife just agreed to a trip to philadelphia.:D

Winterthur, longwood gardens, philly museum of art, cheesesteak, and 1 (maybe 2) days searching for old stuff (mostly tools).

Thanks,
Tony

[jonathan snyder]

Ha ha, we thought someone had kidnapped Martin last time he was here! You know, I should charge for maps to his place. ;) I could cut back on some of the other work I have to do.

Bill

Bill,

I could have stayed there all day talking with Bill, but after 4 hours,my wife and sister had had enough! I think Bill had a hundred other things he wanted to show us. I'm alrady looking forward to my next trip, without my wife and sister!

If anyone wants Bill's phone number, PM me.

Jonathan

[Charles McKinley]

Yep, it is easy to spend a lot of time in that shop. I highly reccommend it to anyone in the area.

[Ian Gillis]

That Harvey W Peace saw is apparently quite rare. I say that because the guy who hosts a website on them (Joshua, his site is here (http://www.hyperkitten.com/tools/hwpeace/) ) said he had only ever SEEN one. I'm sure he'd like to see pics of yours. That nickel plated piece on the bottom of the tote makes it a P70 - Perfection model. Top of the line.

I posted here about the small one I picked up at an auction last year. thread (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=43579)

Nice selection of other tools too !

Cheers

[jonathan snyder]

Ian,

Looks like you got a nice one. How does it cut?

I believe I have a P68 as it is a skew back. Unfortunately, the etch is completely gone, and a previous owner has stamped his initials into the handle. As coincidence would have it the previous owners initials were the same as mine. For $12.00, I could not pass it up. It needs a sharpening, but I will not attempt it, as I have not learned to sharpen saws yet.

I will contact Joshua to see if he would like pictures.

Jonathan

[Bob Opsitos]

Jonathan, can i get Address/directions to both those places from you? They're near my parents house and will give me something to do while visiting.

thanks
Bob

[Ian Gillis]

Looks like you got a nice one. How does it cut?

I'm afraid it's got a problem. There's a "wow" in the middle of the cutting edge that I haven't been able to eliminate. I've tried bending with my fingers, over the horn of my anvil and I've had a go with a ball pein hammer on the flat of the anvil. It's beyond my skills to fix it. Seems like the steel is stretched :(

It's a real disappointment because the saw has excellent balance and feels very comfortable in the hand.

[jonathan snyder]

I'm afraid it's got a problem. There's a "wow" in the middle of the cutting edge that I haven't been able to eliminate.
It's a real disappointment because the saw has excellent balance and feels very comfortable in the hand.

Sorry to hear that.

You are right, the saw has excellent balance and is very confortable to hold. I need to get mine sharpened,unfortunatly I dont have the skills to do it my self. I'm still trying to perfect my chisel sharpening skills!!

Jonathan

[James Mittlefehldt]

Ian Bob Smalser did a bit in a post last year about fixing saws with kinks and such I shold think a search would yeild results, it may help solve your problem with that otherwise nce saw.

[Rich Kelly]

Out here in the Northwest there are still some sawmills. A saw filler is usually employed to keep the large saws in shape to keep production going. They have to work the metal quite a bit sometimes to put a saw back into use. Mabe you could locate one of these guys and they could get your saw back to usable condition. Good luck, Rich

[Brad Chittim]

That SW miter saw is amazing. I've never seen anything like it. The etching by Atkins is really cool. Seriously, I've never seen one that old look so minty.

[Philip Duffy]

I have a report from a neighbor of Bill's that he died about 2 + years ago. The neighbor even when to the auction when his tools were sold off. Anyone know different?

[John Powers]

Ancient post. He's been gone a few years.