2018 Archive

[Charles Spencer]

i'm sure many of you won't bother with drill bits this old, short, rusty...

I'm sure many of us would bother. They aren't exactly cheap here either.

 

[BGHansen]

Bruce,
I have noticed you’re Ebay scores are frequent and filled with wonder.
You may have a bit of an addiction, not that there is anything wrong with that.
I’m just jealous!

Yeah, have it bad, but there is a purpose. I had a buddy (Frosty Wyrick) with a very large toy train and Erector set collection. He built a 1:85 scale model of the Mackinaw Bridge from Erector set parts that was 104 ft. long (photos below). He passed away from colon cancer a few years ago. His estate sale was attended by 5 people, so his treasured toy collection went for next to nothing. . . My wife and I attended a woodworking shop auction about the same time. There were over 400 at this sale in a very rural area. We left because of the competition.

Point being, I had a very large Erector set collection (over 350 restored sets) that I didn't want to stick my wife with if something happened to me. I had everything cataloged with recommended wholesale prices, but there was just soooo much stuff. Problem with a collection of this type is you really shouldn't do anything with it, just leave it on a shelf and look at it. Plus the market is pretty soft now-a-days as at 58-years old, I'm one of the youngest members of the collecting club.

I've sold off quite a bit of the collection (still have over 100 sets) and have flipped it into stuff I can actually do something with. Sold a 1931 No. 8 1/2 Erector Hudson set and a 1929 No. 9 Mechanical Wonders set last summer and bought a Bridgeport mill. Don't miss the sets, but love the Bridgeport! I made a lot of friends over the years of attending shows and still go, but primarily I now sell reproduction parts. Blends the two hobbies together, plus funds my shop for about anything I want.

My wife intends to learn how to run everything, plus our son loves puttering in the shop. He already has dibs on the equipment and is learning how to use everything. I figure when I'm eventually gone, my benefactors will have an easier time unloading tools which seem to always have a market as opposed to a bunch of old toys with a pretty soft market. Plus, it's just dang fun to spend money on this stuff!

Bruce

 

[Chip Hacket]

This is an ebay find. I just couldn't help it. I've been working so hard lately I convinced myself I deserved it. Of course I don't, but I do enjoy it. It is circa early 1950s as evidenced by the pamphlet. This belonged to Ward Johnson and he took very good care of it. My intention is to take care of it as well during my stewardship, so the next fella down the line can enjoy it also.

--Chip

 

[ddickey]

Today i visited the local flea market, this time usually there is some old tooling brought from germany. Because of the weather there wasn't too many vendors but i did managed to buy couple bigger drill bits, i'm sure many of you won't bother with drill bits this old, short, rusty, but here price of any taper end drill bit is significantly higher and bigger than 20mm new is close to the average monthly paycheck, i chose the sizes i'm often using and all except one are freshly sharpened. I also bought an tapered reamer because it has an extended MT2 to MT3 reducer i'll need to do some cleaning and sharpening on them. All in all not bad especially for the price i paid.
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What did you pay for them if you don't mind me asking? I acquired a lot of MT 2,3, & 4's from an auction, all US made and can't hardly give them away.

 

[GoceKU]

What did you pay for them if you don't mind me asking?

I don't mind, I paid 16$ for 5 drill bits: 28mm, 32mm, 35mm, 38mm, 45mm, which is way below the going rate almost scrap prices.
Going rate for used taper drill bit is: from 10 to 20mm 3-5$, 20 to 30mm 7-12$, 30mm and up15 -100$ a piece, there's always those vendors that want double the going rate, also there is the ones they want to sell and give deals like one i made today.

 

[Cooter Brown]

Found a set of laps with handles... Flexolap and Acrolap are the brand names

 

[Janderso]

I have a bunch of dull old drill bits. Working on a tool grinder from The Grizz so i can sharpen them
Heck yeah I would buy old tapered bits
Good find

 

[Charles Spencer]

Actually, large bits like that would be a good choice to learn how to hand sharpen them. Much easier than smaller bits.

 

[Janderso]

That's what I was thinking Charles.
I just got back from 10 days in Mexico. While I was gone I spent some money sitting around the pool drinking Modelo Especial!
The Craftsman V blocks are my best buy.
Bob Korves volunteered to help me with an Er40 Chuck for my lathe. Thanks to Bob, I figured out I have a perfect condition MT4 spindle in the SB 13.
He wanted to have templates on hand to cut the taper for the chuck. I bought what we needed and some more.
Kind of like Christmas.

 

[Z2V]

I think I got a pretty good deal on a new boring bar today on Amazon. Every now and then crazy deals pop up.
Earlier in the week I was turned onto a set of Sunnex leveling casters on Amazon for $105. I bought them, the last set in stock. I put in for notification when they would again be available and it came back for $571 a set. I won’t be ordering a second set.