I have been reading through these garage sale / rust hunting finds lists and I have to admit that I am a bit jealous.

Out here in Vegas old tools just don’t seem to exist. Certainly not in the quantities and varieties that they do in other places.

Keep up the good work finding and refurbishing these beauties so I can continue to drool in envy

Only ever bought stuff from these source on 2 occasions. Got a Drill Doctor Pro for $30. Use it often. The other was an antique wooden plane for a friend. When I got there the guy sold me the entire box full of old wooden planes. All of them , except for the gift, are taking up room in the basement. 

@StaticLV2; it can become an obsession  Michael. Mine started many a moon ago first working as a mechanic and getting some of my grandfather's tools as starter tools. That said, the bug bit hard when I retired. I had more time but less disposable cash so perusing the yard sales, flea markets, CL, eBay, estate sales and most recently area on-line auctions provided the means to obtain tools I wanted or needed.

 

While the hunt and the find can be exhilarating, the real pleasure for me is taking a tool someone discarded, misused, or just didn't know how to use, then returning it to good working condition. Also researching the tool, it's era and sometimes trying to locate a replacement part is rewarding. That frequently leads me down another "rabbit hole" onto another tool trail.

 

Of course the downsides can become storage, refurbishing tools rather than making sawdust and did I mention storage? My goal is to pass both appreciation for tools and knowledge of those tools to my grandsons and granddaughters. My daughter has become pretty handy in her own right from lessons we shared. If they've heard me say it once, they've heard me say it dozens of times, "take care of your tools and your tools will take care of you."

 

Anyways, appreciate your post. There are many others here who have great stories to share as well.

I really do enjoy reading them and hoping that I will run across a forgotten Stanley Yankee 2101A or a salvageable Diston panel saw, or a boxed set of Jennings augers, etc…  Sure there is a certain joy to new tools and I do enjoy that as well, but there is something to be said for the history and taking something old, fixing it, and making it serviceable again as well.

 

I started with power tool woodworking and I am certainly not unaware of the time savings that it affords nor the ability to be precise and repeatable, but the more I delve into the hand tool side of things the more I enjoy it.  No, I am not going to get a treadle lathe or anything stupid, but there is something very satisfying about the sound a well tuned plane makes or the way you can feel how sharp a chisel is as you pare a tenon to fit, or the way a saw cuts when it is properly sharpened and set.   These little things make me unexplainably happy and connect me to projects in ways that a good table saw doesn’t.

 

 

Tool finds eluded me for years but with retirement 10 years ago and unfortunately helping clear shops of deceased turning club members has provided many opportunities . Doing tool rehab makes for a great feeling and for me it is mostly hand planes. Sometimes seeing the value beneath the rust and corrosion takes experience. Sometimes it might just be used parts and not a usable tool.