Today I acquired...........

[Blue Chips]

I want to go there. Saw it on Adam booths channel.
You guys seem to have a much bigger retail sector in secondhand and old tools than here.

Northern New England (and Maine in particular) is a great area of the country for finding old tools and equipment, partly because Maine has the oldest population (oldest median age) in the US, along with a slow growth rate, so there are lots of estate sales and auctions, and that stuff makes its way to the market. Also, it's a largely rural state with an old and well-established do-it-yourself tradition, and most rural dwellers have barns that are loaded with tools. If you're ever in my neck of the woods, we'll go tool hunting.

 

[ronan]

Northern New England (and Maine in particular) is a great area of the country for finding old tools and equipment, partly because Maine has the oldest population (oldest median age) in the US, along with a slow growth rate, so there are lots of estate sales and auctions, and that stuff makes its way to the market. Also, it's a largely rural state with an old and well-established do-it-yourself tradition, so most rural dwellers have barns that are loaded with tools. If you're ever in my neck of the woods, we'll go tool hunting.

I often look in envy at the excellent tools for sale over there for not much money. The postage and the import charges kills it though. Makes everything very expensive.

 

[James1979]

Northern New England (and Maine in particular) is a great area of the country for finding old tools and equipment, partly because Maine has the oldest population (oldest median age) in the US, along with a slow growth rate, so there are lots of estate sales and auctions, and that stuff makes its way to the market. Also, it's a largely rural state with an old and well-established do-it-yourself tradition, and most rural dwellers have barns that are loaded with tools. If you're ever in my neck of the woods, we'll go tool hunting.

It is on the list once I get a roundtuit spare!

 

[Blue Chips]

I often look in envy at the excellent tools for sale over there for not much money. The postage and the import charges kills it though. Makes everything very expensive.

Those charges can add up! I suppose that the shipping portion of the cost could sometimes be mitigated if you were to order multiple items that could be shipped in one box while remaining within some given weight/size postage price range.

 

[Arc Tourist]

Glad I shipped most all of my tools to the UK when I retired. It's almost impossible to find anything but the far eastern junk here any more.
Edit: And that includes hardware.

 

[James1979]

Glad I shipped most all of my tools to the UK when I retired. It's almost impossible to find anything but the far eastern junk here any more.
Edit: And that includes hardware.

The sad thing is we used to make all that stuff here. I bet that place @Blue Chips mentions has at least a few english anvils and plenty of Sheffield steel

 

[slim_boy_fat]

I made my usual biannual trip to the Liberty Tool Company in Liberty, Maine to see what old tools might decide to come home with me.

What a fascinating place!

No point in alerting @The_Yellow_Ardvark though, as most of the stock looks like it's been refurnished already.

 

[Blue Chips]

The sad thing is we used to make all that stuff here. I bet that place @Blue Chips mentions has at least a few english anvils and plenty of Sheffield steel

Blacksmithing equipment is in great demand here in the states, and the fad doesn't seem to be fading. Old English anvils (e.g., Peter Wright) are much sought after, as are the high-end American anvils (Trenton, Hay-Budden, etc.), and they don't go cheap, although I'm not sure what comparative prices are like for those items in the UK. "Real" wrought iron is also very much in demand as a blacksmithing material. Antique fences/gates from demolished buildings, as well as old industrial wrought-iron items are quickly snapped up and often cut into pieces to be sold to blacksmiths as raw material for a pretty steep price. This is unfortunate at times, as much of the old ironwork is really beautiful, but real wrought iron is wonderful to work with. It can be worked at high temperatures, is very malleable, forge welds really well, and also has good weathering characteristics. I don't know about the comparative availability or prices for high-end steel like Sheffield steeel here vs. the UK.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

What a fascinating place!

No point in alerting @The_Yellow_Ardvark though, as most of the stock looks like it's been refurnished already.

I looked in the past.

 

[Blue Chips]

No point in alerting @The_Yellow_Ardvark though, as most of the stock looks like it's been refurnished already.

Much of the stuff in the store looks to me like it has been left untouched, although I can see that some of the items have received a light cleaning or wire brushing, etc. I get the impression that they may also do some refurbishing/restoring (perhaps mostly for some of their museum collection items or for some of the fancier objects for sale online?). Anyway, there are plenty of non-restored items for restoration-minded folks like @The_Yellow_Ardvark, and often at bargain prices.

 

[Tangledfeet]

Today I acquired an empty BOC 'Y' size bottle of Argoshield Light because some Muppet forgot to close the valve when he'd last used the MIG a couple of months ago; it was around three-quarters full...

 

[indy4x]

A trailer full of scrap, thanks to all the lovely neighbors around my lockup garage

All of this was hiding in the weeds I've been clearing around the side and back of the garage

 

[Kram]

Amazons.

A tripod light . I think it'll be ideal to use by welding bench when its starting to get dark. With some minor modification of additional weight on the feet, it will be adequate to hold my IR paint curing lamp too. The light has a good diffuse brightness. Does need a reasonable powerbank as my previously ok one just cuts off. Comes with two phone holders, will be used elsewhere.
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B08SLMVT2S

More mig wire/future tig filler, for under two pounds.
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B018IMJ2YQ

400mm length of alu 20x80 slotted bar.

 

[Brad93]

Today I acquired an empty BOC 'Y' size bottle of Argoshield Light because some Muppet forgot to close the valve when he'd last used the MIG a couple of months ago; it was around three-quarters full...

Easily done mate

 

[Blue Chips]

A trailer full of scrap, thanks to all the lovely neighbors around my lockup garage

Was there any good stuff that you want to keep or use in what they tossed over the fence? Or mostly just dross that they tossed to save taking a few steps to the skip?

 

[Mr Fro]

Easily done mate

Very true!

More than once I've remembered I hadn't turned off bottles when dozing off in bed. Cue a quick dash to the garage and a grumpier than usual wife.

 

[northwest]

Today I acquired an empty BOC 'Y' size bottle of Argoshield Light because some Muppet forgot to close the valve when he'd last used the MIG a couple of months ago; it was around three-quarters full...

Couldn't like that :-(

Nothing worse.

 

[Onoff]

I said I liked them and was given these from a neighbour's barn clearance. In a sorry state but the wood seems fairly solid just the dowels are rotten. Wouldn't know where to start tbh ref preserving/restoring them. No idea even how old etc:

 

[Munkul]

OK this wasn't today, it was Friday, its a surface pro 4 with an i7 and 16gb ram, used but good nick for a good price. Its a revelation. All the power of a good laptop, and all the convenience of a tablet. The keyboard itself and the magnetic attachment design is superb. I get why they cost so much brand new!

I've got it all set up with onedrive for work stuff, dropbox for pictures, solidworks, and just about to see if it can handle some games

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Couldn't like that :-(

Nothing worse.

If you hover the cursor over the 'Like' emoji instead of clicking it, you'll get a choice of 6 different ones more appropriate to your reaction.