Funny Conversation (LOOOOONG!)

[Ryan Cathey]

I just was talking to one of my friends who is a girl on MSN and I mentioned the flea market I'm going to, this conversation ensued. BTW, wywy is what she calls me sometimes...I don't know why.

*Girl* says:
wywy I’m terrified
Ryan says:
bout the flea market?
*Girl* says:
Yes
Ryan says:
Why? This is really kinda funny hehe
*Girl* says:
All the stuff there is so old and yucky
Ryan says:
Ah ok...you just don’t like dirty stuff...you're such a girl
*Girl* says:
Yeah dirty stuff I’m so scared now and you touch these things
Ryan says:
Uh yeah. I kinda like it actually. I can always tell it was a good day by how rusty and dirty my hands are
*Girl* says:
Please tell me that you clean them and you carry hand sanitizer
Ryan says:
Yes I clean them and no I don’t carry sanitizer...who do you think I am? I also wear dirty jeans and an old t-shirt to make me look like a bum so I can get good deals on stuff
*Girl* says:
Oh my god
Ryan says:
What’s wrong with that? It’s standard flea market attire
*Girl* says:
Oh my god and you actually go along with all of this
Ryan says:
Of course I do, I can’t go walking in there with abocrombie (as if I had any) they'd take all my money
*Girl* says:
You actually don’t pay full price
Ryan says:
Well, ya see. in a flea market you haggle with people to try and get a lower price and as you can imagine it's much easier to get a lower price if you aren’t dressed in business attire or likewise
*Girl* says:
You haggle
Ryan says:
Uh yeah that’s kinda the whole point. Free enterprise, market economy and whatnot
*Girl* says:
These are the reasons that flea markets terrify me
Ryan says:
What’s wrong with haggling?
*Girl* says:
It’s scary
Ryan says:
Why?
*Girl* says:
Just allllll of the flea market things: haggling…dirt…rust…old things...it’s all so scary
Ryan says:
No no no it's good fun
*Girl* says:
Fun…how can it be fun?
Ryan says:
How can it not be?
*Girl* says:
It’s dirty and icky and rust and all that nasty stuff
*Girl* says:
The dirtiest thing I touch willingly is my clothes off of the floor of my room. And the only time I pay for anything for less than the original price is if I earned credit points on my A.E. All AccessPass

[Clint Jones]

If that young lady knew how many thousands of dollars you can make from that yucky stuff at flea markets and garage sales she would change her tune.I make more selling stuff on ebay and antique malls than I do working a steady job.
My father worked 20 years for the State inspecting vehicles making next to nothing. Over those 20 years he collected stuff that he got from auctions and flea markets. In 1997 the state did away with inspections and was out of work so my father opened an antique store. Before he even had opened he had let dealers and his friends in and had sold over $20000 from his collection of "junk" in one month. 10 years later he owns his own shops. He told me he wishes he would have quit working years ago and did this.
I do have a job where I work months at a time and am off for weeks and months at a time. I get paid $21 an hour and have to travel 100's of miles. I would have to say I make just as much (probably more if I didnt keep so many of the tools I find) selling "junk" from auctions and sales. I have a $15000 plus tool collection from doing this. My father, who collects advertising(mainly gas and oil) has a couple of building full (god knows how much its all worth).
Not everyone who gets in the business is successful though. It depends on how much you know about antiques and who you know. Being around the business for my whole life I would say being only 24 I know more about antiques than most dealers or people twice my age (especially about Stanley tools and American Patented Planes).
For some it is just a hobby and a darn good way to find good tools for cheap. I LIKE getting up at 5am to be the first at a sale and talking to all the oldtimers while snagging up deals. If you can make a little cash at it "why not"??? Its great to have a passion for something like this especially at the young age you are at Ryan.

[Ryan Cathey]

My biggest deal was that miter box but I didn't think to tell her that. She's already went to bed now though. It's about time for me to get a job and at first I thought that I could work at an atique store so I could have first dibs on all the tools but then thought that, that could be detrimental to my check lol. I'd say my collection is pushing 2 maybe 300 right now, but I'm working on it. How do you learn all that you know? I used to (not very often anymore) go to the OldTools Archives and hit browse then select 50 or 60 subjects that interested me and just read hours on end and that has gave me quite a bit of knowledge but nowhere near as much as you. I'd like to get to this Flea Market at five but it being two hours or so away I'll probably be there closer to 9 or 10-ish. I hope a bunch of people are still there. I'm thinking about starting to sell more things on my mom's ebay account (for my use just using her age..shhh don't tell anyone) but I have a problem where I'll find something I have no use for, think it's cool, and just keep it for myself. I think I know what happened to Sindelar...

[Clint Jones]

Sindelear's collection is priceless. I havent seen it personally but I saw some photos someone posted. Do you know how much those panther head and eagle head saws are worth???? And those carved planes are much nicer than anything I have ever seen. I dont know much about the stuff that I saw because its all so rare. I mainly focus on American patented planes and older stanley tools. I learned about tools from reading every bood I can get my hands on, old catalogues my parents had, the internet, and talking to old timers. I have been going to auctions and sales ever since I could remember (and even when I cant remember).

[Ryan Cathey]

I remember a while back in the inside of the back cover of a Popular Woodworking magazine there was an article about a panther head saw (which btw would be classified as one of those "cool tools" that I'd end up wanting to keep for myself) that someone found at a yard sale or the like for a steal and it was painted! The guy said something to the extent of "There are (insert correct number here) known Panther Head saws and this will remain the only known painted one." I'll try to find that issue sometime and scan it in.