The nicest tool you left on the table?

[john k]

For a good long while I would beat myself up about leaving stuff on the tables.   Usually I was walking around nearly broke, but just had to look, because you never know what treasures might be there.    One time in particular I saw a Stanley .45 plane with all the cutters.  To those of you not in the know on these, this is the Swiss army knife of planes.   He wanted a good price, which was 3 times what I had in my pocket.    So I contented myself  to get a small plane, and some iron wrenches, you know, about $5 total.   Thought about that no.45 for a couple of weeks, even ran across an article about it and how useful and collectible they are.   So I called the guy, and found he still had it.   Drove over and he was gone.   Waited a few minutes, his adult son drives in, and we went into his shed searching for the plane.   I knew this guy had stuff, but talk about Aladdins cave.   Finally found it, looked it over, paid and rushed home.   It sat on the work bench for a few weeks, because it is a little intimidating to set up.   Tried it out on some nice soft pine, and found the original blades were sharp enough to shave with.  Anymore though  if I don't have excess cash on hand, I just stay home, its way too hard on me, and on the billfold.   

[Branson]

I love the 45s.  I have one Stanley made for Sears, in the leatherette bag and with all the blades.  Have another Stanley made for Wards.  They're workers.  I had to make six chests for Fort Ross quite a while  back, and I set one for tongues and one for grooves to join up the pine boards for the sides and tops.  It was quicker than using a shaper with all the set up time.