I went to a huge auction today.  There were 12 anvils, 60 leg vises (at least), hundreds of tongs, hundreds of hammers, lots of hardies, lots of struck anvil tools, 6 forges, and tons and tons of other hand tools.

A lot of stuff was going retail or close to it.  There were some people there with much deeper pockets than me.  I did not get any anvils, leg vises, or large lots of tongs.  I got a few tongs, hardies, hammers, and struck anvil tools that were in other tool boxes/lots.  I got quite a few bench anvils at reasonable prices. 

I thought I would run into keykeeper (his neck of the woods), but he was not there.

John,

I hadn't heard about it, but if the prices were running high, it's probably good I didn't waste the trip. I don't (and won't) pay collector prices for user tools. Besides, I think I'm pretty good on blacksmith tools for a while, with the exception of a power hammer and a small portable forge for demo work.

Instead, I spent all morning at a community yard sale about 3 miles from town. Got a few good deals, seen some old friends, and then had a cookout with some other friends. The day wasn't totally wasted!

Tomorrow, if the rain holds off or quits early enough, I'll be rolling smoke out back making a few items to take to the ABA Conference next weekend!! My favorite weekend in the first half of the year!!!

Aaron,

I was going to email you, but I thought you would have seen the ad in the ABA newsletter.  They had a 50 pound Little Giant that went very cheap (around 800), but it needed work.  The worst thing on it was a large chip on the flywheel, which really hurt the sale price.

I am sorry I did not let you know about it.  You would have have something.  The table lots at the end were going for 50 to 200 for piles of tools and shop stuff.  I bought 3 of those.

John

Dang!

Sorry I missed it. I must have overlooked it in the newsletter. Been a little busy around here lately with all the nice weather. I've finally started getting a little more organized with all my tools and stuff, which is going to be a long process. Too many projects to finish to keep it all rolling.

Not to worry though, I'm sure if you bought anything I might need I'll get a crack at it on one of your tables! I'm still showing off that nice Flatter I bought from you last summer. (The one you were selling for a friend!) I've had a couple of the blacksmiths drool looking at it!

We missed the French 500 this month, but I'm thinking about setting up myself at least once this year. Gonna have to unload some things just to make room around here!!