Unicorn amongst yard sales?

[Davethorik]

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.

[Davethorik]

Here is a better pic of the precision vise. It had a laser-etched VST10 on top of it, so I plugged that in Google and got another surprise. Sold by an outfit called Gromax, a west coast based importer of machine tools and machine shop related items.

They call it a tool maker's vise, but the description leads me to believe it is mostly intended to be used in a wire EDM machine. Either way, it is built just like the larger versions i am used to seeing. Made of stainless steel, hardened to 56 HRC. Ground all over to within .0002" and list price of $68. It is an import, but very well made.

[Lookin4_67GalaxieConv]

That's some quality stuff.  Really liking the Reed.

Is a benji equal to a hundy?

[Davethorik]

Thank you, sir. I don't find sales like this often, but I have seen a few in the past, where there is interesting stuff everywhere. The fact I got to leisurely browse with nobody there but the seller was awesome, i think I was there just under 1.5 hrs.

Oh and yes $100 for everything

[hickory n Steel]

Very nice for sure.
I love the little millers falls.

[jabberwoki]

Thats a nice grab. Loving that old Reed.

[slip knot]

Nice, your mystery hook used to be sold at western wear stores as an aid to pull those high top cowboy boots on with. was usually a pair of them. No telling what the plumber found them good for???

[DeadNutz]

Very nice grab on that haul. Lucky to be the only person there and not deal with people trying to buy stuff out from under you that I have had to deal with at some sales.

[Davethorik]

Nice, your mystery hook used to be sold at western wear stores as an aid to pull those high top cowboy boots on with. was usually a pair of them. No telling what the plumber found them good for???

That is what my dad guessed too!! I would have never known that, lol thank you for the info. I gave it to my mom, she will hang it on the wall in her she-shed. My dad got the Crescent. I like to share finds like this. Maybe it had a special use. I mean, why would a plumber have a tiny precision vise? Lol.

Thanks everyone for the compliments. I love the vises but that Reed just has a beautiful patina. Here are some better pics of it.

[Davethorik]

Found another one, community yard sales across the street from my parents. When i was in my 20s these yard sales were always hot. Recently,not so much. This past weekend not bad.

Stop 1 was the partial set of Craftsman USA metric deep 3/8 drive 6 point sockets. 10-19 missing the 18. 17 has been used as a drift and is pretty mangled on the drive end, but it hooks up to a ratchet and it fits bolts. The rest have been used maybe once.

A quarter each so this set me back $2.25, and yes the 10mm is there. They are mostly upside down G or upside down G2 codes. I had to dig thru a tub of junk to find them all. No 18, and i checked the tub 3 times lol.

Stop 2 was the Armstrong 12C chain vise for $5, and the old skool Crane faucet repair parts steel organizer for $1.

$8.25 not bad. The pipe vise is 16 lbs and i carried it about 3/4 of a mile lol.

[Davethorik]

Here is one last pic of the inside of the Crane case.

[slip knot]

that socket set probably didn’t come with the 18. I know I used an 18 a lot and they were hard to find years ago. Like the tool trucks were the only source. IIRC the 6.2 GM head bolts were 18 and some AC compressor bolts

Nice pipe vise. 👍

[oldnslo]

Agreed on the partial set by Cman. In the early days, there were various configuration of sets (I'm referencing 3/8" versions), and many (if not most) were missing a size, perhaps two. That was when VW was really the only import car of any real presence on the road. Some sets going from 8-19mm, skipping a 9, and a 16. Or the 10-19 set skipping a 11 or 14. Nowadays, they all run sequential.

Regarding the mushed out drive end. I typically use a Dremel with a cone shaped bit to clean things up where others have left abuse in their tool-usage path. Kinda supports the need to keep the yin and yang in check for me.