Found an ad on marketplace for a Reed 204-1/2 vise for $70 and it looked pretty clean. About 50 minutes one way, not too bad. In some of the pics of the vise, you could see other tools laying around it with price stickers on them. The seller said there was "a whole bunch of tools for sale". I felt my wallet wince when I heard those words, but you fellow garage junkies know how it is.
I get there and I had to pick my jaw up off the ground. Turns out some distant relative of the seller died unexpectedly and had been a plumber, and somehow the seller wound up with all the guy's tools.
There was a 2 car attached garage full of tables covered in stuff, and a pole barn out back maybe 40×20 the same way. Seller was going to have a garage sale but fell and injured his back. The stuff had been set up ready to go for weeks, but he was laid up. He said he was trying to unload some of the bigger items using a friend's marketplace account, like the vise I spotted, but would still have the sale when he felt up to it. I was the first to show!
Naturally, I got first pick of everything. I did get the Reed, which is in nice shape. He had 5 or 6 other vises, most were cheap imports. But I did grab a nice Miller's Falls 2.5" clamp-on, and the pick of the day was the cutest precision vise I have ever seen w/ 24mm jaws for only $2!!!. I also picked up a nice selection of hand tools. I left a bunch of stuff behind because someone absolutely butchered them engraving initials.
Fairmount body hammer
Williams S-15 spinner, 1/2
Proto ignition pliers
Plomb WF-37 breaker, 1/2
Mystery hook tool
Vintage Tru-Flate air blow gun NOS in box
Crescent Jamestown patent pending 8" adjustable
Ridgid E-110 hex wrench
In total i spent a benji for it all.