Bootfair - Summer No.2

[jimi43]

What a contrast from last week!

The mist this morning at 5am was like a scene from Hound of the Baskervilles! By 11am it was over 70 degrees and swarming with "tourists", who, having finished their late Sunday breakfasts came in vain for bargains....

No chance....guess who had them all!?

Whilst Annie slaved away getting more funds at our stall...yours truly, armed with the standard budget this week...found three stalls that were virtual Aladdin's Caves!

So...what have we here....

Belts for every machine I have in the workshop....£3 the lot! Not one but TWO digital thermometers of surprising quality and both working perfectly...(one is even a laser aimed IR one!)...a quid each! So no problems with the kiln one now...the display of which is fading sadly! So I can harden my irons even more accurately..!

Another of those mystery boxes contains an IR alarm system....great added security for the shop...again a quid!

Yet ANOTHER variac...(no 3)....but could not resist at only £2....straight to FleaBay for you my son...more money for my milling machine fund!

A cheap as chips new fret saw with diamond and coping blades...a quid...

A beautiful little Moore and Wright angle gauge...a bit of surface rust but will fettle up nicely and the box is superb!

A whole bunch of hardwood knobs...which turn out to be lignum vitae!!! Two quid for the lot put a smile on my face indeed!

A Stanley No.702 corner vise....we all need one of them don't we? 50p

One of these! (?) A "M.S. Self-Grip (military) thingy....I think it is for gripping bolts...perhaps sheared off bolts? But it's beautifully made and I wanted it for 20p!

A Mathieson outer gouge...sans handle...(soon to be remedied!)

But really what I have been looking for for the whole season...

Yup...those of you with sharp eyes would have noticed the little axe in the middle but maybe not the maker...a WARD AND PAYNE - SHEFFIELD one! Result! And only a fiver! For that alone...I am made up!

Off to work now...will play with this lot later...perhaps to the early hours!

Also not shown...a nice mahogany box which is too big for the table (more on that later) and a camera tripod thingy which has many fine bits of engineering in it...which may be used elsewhere soon! (watch this space!)

Happy Days! 8)

Jim

 

[adidat]

what a haul. love your knobs, will post my collection up later

adidat

 

[Scouse]

love your knobs, will post mine up later

I bet you say that to all the boys! :shock: :mrgreen:

Ah, Kent, land of the Indian summer, unlike up north, land of the grey sky, boggy field and cancelled boot sale!

 

[adidat]

Ah, Kent, land of the Indian summer,

and somerset :wink:

adidat

 

[Mark A]

You've got some good stuff there, Jim!

I went to the boot sale yesterday. Only about half the usual number of stalls where there, and most of them where unfortunately tool-free. I did manage to find a nice old Stanley 130 yankee screwdriver for a fiver and an impeller for 50p.

Someone was selling 9 planes and wanted £25 each for them! - they looked like they had been dredged up from the Bristol channel they were that rusty and pitted.

And I found a very nice old brace, but the guy selling it was the most unpleasant example of human life I've ever encountered. I wanted desperately to insert the auger into his nasal cavity but thought it best not to, and left the brace behind as to not line his pocket with the £4 he was demanding for it.

Anyone got a spare adaptor for the yankee so that it'll take regular hex bits? It's 7mm diameter.

Mark

 

[DTR]

I haven't seen a thread for this weekend yet so I'd better start one Mod Edit: Threads Merged CHJ

Surprisingly the bootsale today was the busiest I've ever seen it. I came away with...

A nail set, 50p
A Hibernia cutting gauge, £1
A ropey Stanley chisel that I'll be using to chase out some plaster indoors, 50p

And finally this lot for a tenner:

Spread across eight Golden Virginia 'baccy tins and a cardboard box I found a king's ransom in taps and dies. I expect it will take a while to sort out; there's BSF, BSW, Metric, BA, UNC, UNF... And at least one Helicoil...

And more in the wooden inserts:

Last week I lamented at how I never find any unbroken centre drills. Today I came home with nine:

And as a bonus, a small 4-jaw lathe chuck:

As usual, Grace was my downfall; she convinced me to buy the box. I got my own back though, I talked her into buying this 1943 War Department spade for a tenner 8)

How did everyone else get on?

 

[DTR]

I just started another thread because I didn't see this one #-o . What is the forum etiquette; close the other thread and post in this one or leave it as is? Mod Edit: Threads Merged CHJ

Jimi: I am most intrigued by the bolt gripper thingee and the corner vice. Any more pics please?

Anyone got a spare adaptor for the yankee so that it'll take regular hex bits? It's 7mm diameter.

Following advice on this forum, I took a regular hex bit adapter and filed the shank to match a yankee bit. I didn't take very long and it works perfectly

 

[adidat]

very nice, i bet that collection of engineering bits probably cost a small fortune at one time.

that antique mower is nice how much you pay for that 50p :lol: :lol:

adidat

edit: strange things are going one :-k :-k :duno:

 

[Tom K]

One of these! (?) A "M.S. Self-Grip (military) thingy....I think it is for gripping bolts...perhaps sheared off bolts? But it's beautifully made and I wanted it for 20p!

But really what I have been looking for for the whole season...

Yup...those of you with sharp eyes would have noticed the little axe in the middle but maybe not the maker...a WARD AND PAYNE - SHEFFIELD one! Result! And only a fiver! For that alone...I am made up!



Jim

Is the thingy not a stud extractor Jim? Will axes be a future slope?

 

[DTR]

that antique mowers is nice how much you pay for that 50p :lol: :lol:

:lol:

It's a Qualcast Panther, it belonged to my late grandfather. He used it well into his 80s but eventually it got too much, so he bought a Mountfield petrol mower instead. When he died he left all his gardening tools to my missus. She prefers the Mountfield as it's rather more practical, but I keep the Panther for nostalgia. When we were kids, my brother and I used the grass boxes as cricket stumps

 

[Mark A]

Anyone got a spare adaptor for the yankee so that it'll take regular hex bits? It's 7mm diameter.

Following advice on this forum, I took a regular hex bit adapter and filed the shank to match a yankee bit. I didn't take very long and it works perfectly [/quote]

I thought about doing that, but haven't got a spare hex adaptor! I'll buy one tomorrow and try it

Cheers,
Mark

 

[DTR]

I found that the standard adapters are slightly too short. At least the ones I had lying about were. I ended up buying one of those 6" jobbies and cutting it down. Having said that, my yankee isn't a genuine Stanley one, if that makes any difference.

 

[kalvt22]

Not a bad haul guys, but I'm happy with mine.
My 10 carving chisels (which contain three different sized V tools) for £10 was what made my day today - I didn't even argue about the price. They're going to need a little bit of work to bring back to working order and I think that reshaping will have to be done with a file and stones as some are so fine they will melt on the grinder. Also a couple of new handles needed but I think I almost prefer it that way!

Lovely little tools.

Also brought a masive King Dick spanner (for my father who is an agricultural engineer) for £5, a metal wedge for 50p and 14 shelving brackets with two lenghts of wood for £3.

Not bad considering it was raining on the way there - What are we all going to do over the winter months!

 

[jimi43]

That is a SERIOUS haul of taps and dies there Dave....and a four jaw chuck thrown in too! What size is it? I think you would get a few bob for that on FleaBay if you don't keep it! 8)

The gripper thing I think is a stud extractor...although I am not 100% on this...we need an aerospace engineer...apparently MS stands for Military Specification and I think it is for extracting or driving in MS bolts with a hex head of 3/8". It is very well made but the strange thing is that it has a bolt in the top which is lockable and drives down into the main body to limit the penetration of whatever you shove the end on....more info needed guys!

The corner vise is fairly common but goes for quite a bit sometimes...don't know why...will tart it up a bit and post some more detailed pictures tomorrow.

Yup Chris...they are nice knobs..! 8) I know now that they are LV doorknobs as the square hole in them with a grub screw fits the square shaft connecting two in a door. I think I have other uses for these babies!

No Tom...the slope stops here! Unless I eventually find a "beared" one as featured on Bill Carter's Miscellaneous page.......that was what inspired me to find one in the first place...his is gorgeous!

Those chisels are probably worth a bit Kalv....great score! What make are they?

I had a fiddle with the electronic gizmos at work today and they all work perfectly...(unusual for a bootfair bargain sale!) The flexible thermometer is great...I kept pointing the laser at all sorts of things tonight...including the kettle which got to 91 degrees...(sad aren't I!)

The other digital thermometer has twin thermocouples....which can measure up to 1300C so ideal for my kiln! I am made up about that!

Going to "make safe" the variac before I plug it in but I think I might take the three pin vintage Bakelite plug off...they go for silly money on FleaBay for old valve amps like WEMs...

I think I will try the two covered bootfairs once these close down for the summer....I don't think I would handle the withdrawal symptoms otherwise! :mrgreen:

Cheers guys!

Jim