The past weekend I went to an estate auction sale in Raphine Virginia. The
dearly departed was apparently a long time wooddorker, for he had 2 LARGE
barns full of tools. He apparently had an affection for hammers and hand
saws. He had approximately 60 various types of hammers and about as many
hand saws. Machinery was mediocre at best, mostly well worn Crapsman, but
exceptional quantities and a few gems of handtools.

I was drawn to the sale because there was advertised a large selection of
planes. Well there wasn't all that many. All he had was 3 number 7 sized
jointer planes; one Stanley, one Blue Ridge and one no name. He also had a
nice number 5 Stanley plane which caught my eye. Well they placed all four
planes in front of the auctioneer's stand, and started off with the blue
ridge. Not many were interested in it so it went for $11. At that point
this S.O.B., no doubt from somewhere north of the Mason Dixon, run up front,
grabs all 4 of the planes, and tells the auctioneer that he's "taking all
four, same money", including the number 5 I wanted They just as quickly he
runs out the door with them. Well, that just spoiled my day for the rest of
the auction, Damn Yankee!

I did buy a used but pretty good conditioned Crapsman Belt and Disc
Finishing Machine and stand(6"X48" belt and 9" disc) for $105. It works
well but needs new sanding belts and discs. It has a broken plastic dust
collection shield at the end of the belt. I called Sears part store to
order a new one. The said the cost is 16.99 which isn't too bad, but Sears
wants $7.99 shipping and handling, for a $17 part!! I told them Wal-Mart
doesn't charge shipping and handling and it didn't make sense to me why they
should. The part is not essential but would make the machine a lot less
messy, so I'm not sure what I'll do.

All in all, it was a pretty good sale. There was way to much stuff to sell
in one day, so they are selling the other barn full this coming Saturday.

Gary