Friday's Garage Sale Find

[Jim Paulson]

Hi everyone,

Far from me to gloat, but I stumbled into a sweet find on Friday. It made my day as I'm sure it would make yours in such a situation.

Here's the deal. A rusty yellow tool box marked $5 caught my eye and once I opened it WOW. All I had to do was see the plane and well I knew this was for me. Sure enough the tool box and all the tools inside were going for $5 at this garage sale/estate sale. The lady I talked to said, yeah "those are all obsolete tools." To that I smiled and gave her my money. This is the best I've ever done at a garage sale.

The Miller's Falls jack plane is a 14 inch and in excellent condition and the brace is also Miller's Falls, a model 772A - 10 inch brace. The set of Irwin auger bits come in that nice box.

This taught me to always open boxes at sales.


Thanks for looking,
Jim

[Jim Koepke]

Fantastic deal.

My brother makes part of his living through estate and yard sales.

He says the one thing he does that others do not is to open cabinets and drawers.

Always look inside boxes and stuff.

I have found some very good deals by following his advice.

jtk

[Chris Griggs]

Nice find. MF planes are great and a good set of auger bits is invaluable.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Those both look pretty minty! If you get a good one, I love MF planes; my jointer is an MF 22 that's seen better days, but it's one of my favorites. It seems like I run across more MF planes here with a nice large bedding area (like pre-ogee stanley frogs) more often than I do Stanleys. I kind of really like the look of the overly red wood they used on their tools, too.

[Mark Dorman]

Good deal way to go. I don't know about the plane looks like its in good shape. But I think the bits are good I have a set and like them. The drill may have the
Lelands Universa jaws lhttp://oldtoolheaven.com/brace/braceimg/UniversalJaws.jpg and they are great and will hold round, hex and tappered bits. My 772a is my go to brace. good score.

[john brenton]

A buddy of mine bought a machinist tool chest not too long ago. He could hear tools clanking around and it was heavy as heck, but he didn't want to open it in front of the seller. He acted like the box was just some hobby junk and he paid something like 10 bucks. When he got it home its was stacked with very well cared for Starret tools. Stacked. Every drawer was full. Crazy that a seller wouldn't open a box, but its happened to me too.Great find...either the seller thinks they're obsolete or thinks they are small metal equivalents of a stradivarious. I'd like to find more of the former.

[Jim Paulson]

Thanks for looking at my find. Sorry, I couldn't get access for awhile, but I appreciate the comments.

Jim,
Yeah your brother makes a good point. This has taught me to be more thorough in looking inside boxes now.


John,
Finding machinist tools like that would be pretty incredible for anyone. It is amazing what you find below sawdust and rusty files sometimes when you search for stuff at flea market and garage sales. Finding a Starrett square at a garage or a flea market for such a low price would be a dream.

Joshua,

I thought the tools were minty as well. The plane is quite clean and appears to have had little use. I also like the reddish wood that MF put on these tools and I'm not sure whether it is bubinga or what? I noticed with interest that the tote on this MF jack plane looks much like the profile that LV uses on their BU Jack. I say that because it takes a little getting used to the different tote shape on LV planes, but it is nothing that is a problem for me.

Another curious thing about this MF jack plane is that the cap iron/lever cap is a two piece deal like some of the Clifton Planes have featured. I'll have to check this out and see how she works making shavings.

Mark,
Thanks for your comment on the brace. I was intrigued by the design of the jaws too and I'll give it a try.

Take care,
Jim

[Brian Ward]

Thanks for looking at my find. Sorry, I couldn't get access for awhile, but I appreciate the comments.
I thought the tools were minty as well. The plane is quite clean and appears to have had little use. I also like the reddish wood that MF put on these tools and I'm not sure whether it is bubinga or what? I noticed with interest that the tote on this MF jack plane looks much like the profile that LV uses on their BU Jack. I say that because it takes a little getting used to the different tote shape on LV planes, but it is nothing that is a problem for me.

Another curious thing about this MF jack plane is that the cap iron/lever cap is a two piece deal like some of the Clifton Planes have featured. I'll have to check this out and see how she works making shavings.

You should probably check out Randy Roeder's site. This page describes the premium MF bench planes; yours is a type 4. I've got a number of them, they're very nice.

[Jim Paulson]

You should probably check out Randy Roeder's site. This page describes the premium MF bench planes; yours is a type 4. I've got a number of them, they're very nice.

Brian,
Thanks so much for the great reference site and for bringing me up to speed on the details of this plane.

[Roy Lindberry]

Fantastic deal.

My brother makes part of his living through estate and yard sales.

He says the one thing he does that others do not is to open cabinets and drawers.

Always look inside boxes and stuff.

I have found some very good deals by following his advice.

jtk

Check pockets too. My dad's friend bought a pair of jeans for a dollar, and later found a 20 in the pocket. Not a bad deal, I'd say.

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

Be careful judging by weight - I bought an old toolbox once; the extra weight turned out to be two sledgehammer heads tucked in the corner! (obviously a machinists chest is a different story...)