Today I went to an auction at what I can only describe as tool heaven. The estate of Mr. E. Miller was a woodworkers dream estate sale. Mr. Miller was a life-long bachelor, and a moderate horder. He was an engineer by trade, and kept an impeccable shop. He also had a bad habit of buying nice stuff and not using it. He had no heirs, so he donated his estate to a local historical society where he volunteered.
What led me to the auction was the advertisement of a NIB craftsman Compucarve. While I knew i wouldn't be coming home with it, I wanted to see how much that would go for, and I knew he probably had a few other goodies. Boy did he. When I got to the site, the first thing I observed was that the workshop was twice the size of his house, and packed to the gills with a lot of unused tools. The compucarve was at the door, along with a brand new worksharp 3000, both with a bunch of accessories. That got the drool flowing. When I poked around a bit, I found the Veritas sharpener as well, also unused. I prepared my mental list, and tried not to look too interested.
It was a long day, the first sale was @ 9:30 (to me for $2 for the original incra jig) and I was the last one to leave the site loading lumber in my truck at 7:30. I didn't do too bad, I only spent $120, but some of the highlights are in the pictures below.
Some of the great items:
Accuset 23 gage pinner (never used)
Veritas Sharpener (never used)
Gripper advanced system (NIB)
Microjig steel series splitters, thin kerf and regular kerf, never used
Milescraft Spirocrafter NIB
a bunch of Eagle America router bits, including a 7 piece carbide upcut spiral set and a handful of trimmers
2 bessey band clamps NIB
a delta 1" belt sander (I have wanted that for a long time)
original incra jig
incra measuring tool
Forrest WWII blade (used, but pretty nice looking)
Forrest Chopmaster NIB
Miller Dowel system and a ton of dowels
wixey gage (NIB)
set of four precision aluminum angles
More lumber than my truck could carry, Mainly poplar, white oak and walnut... for $10
a bunch of small clamps, and a ton of stuff that I didn't need, but was sold as part of the box lots.
I feel a little guilty about getting all that for so little cash, but still have to gloat about it a little!
Of course, the one phrase I heard over and over from the guys was "I wish my wife was here, than I can show her that I am not a hoarder!" By the end of the day, the other phrase I heard a lot was "I hope at my estate sale at least everything is used"
This day definitely made up for the last two horrible auctions I wasted my time at.
Now I have to put all of that lumber away...... I think I'm going to have to ask my neighbor if he needs some wood.
What led me to the auction was the advertisement of a NIB craftsman Compucarve. While I knew i wouldn't be coming home with it, I wanted to see how much that would go for, and I knew he probably had a few other goodies. Boy did he. When I got to the site, the first thing I observed was that the workshop was twice the size of his house, and packed to the gills with a lot of unused tools. The compucarve was at the door, along with a brand new worksharp 3000, both with a bunch of accessories. That got the drool flowing. When I poked around a bit, I found the Veritas sharpener as well, also unused. I prepared my mental list, and tried not to look too interested.
It was a long day, the first sale was @ 9:30 (to me for $2 for the original incra jig) and I was the last one to leave the site loading lumber in my truck at 7:30. I didn't do too bad, I only spent $120, but some of the highlights are in the pictures below.
Some of the great items:
Accuset 23 gage pinner (never used)
Veritas Sharpener (never used)
Gripper advanced system (NIB)
Microjig steel series splitters, thin kerf and regular kerf, never used
Milescraft Spirocrafter NIB
a bunch of Eagle America router bits, including a 7 piece carbide upcut spiral set and a handful of trimmers
2 bessey band clamps NIB
a delta 1" belt sander (I have wanted that for a long time)
original incra jig
incra measuring tool
Forrest WWII blade (used, but pretty nice looking)
Forrest Chopmaster NIB
Miller Dowel system and a ton of dowels
wixey gage (NIB)
set of four precision aluminum angles
More lumber than my truck could carry, Mainly poplar, white oak and walnut... for $10
a bunch of small clamps, and a ton of stuff that I didn't need, but was sold as part of the box lots.
I feel a little guilty about getting all that for so little cash, but still have to gloat about it a little!
Of course, the one phrase I heard over and over from the guys was "I wish my wife was here, than I can show her that I am not a hoarder!" By the end of the day, the other phrase I heard a lot was "I hope at my estate sale at least everything is used"
This day definitely made up for the last two horrible auctions I wasted my time at.
Now I have to put all of that lumber away...... I think I'm going to have to ask my neighbor if he needs some wood.