This weekend at the Bootfair....

[jimi43]

Someone suggested starting a neverending bootfair thread but I think it is fun to just start again each week...otherwise it could get a tad long! :mrgreen:

Ok...I guess I will kick off this week's one...budget £25 over two days this week...

You know when you go to look for something? I wanted a die of 5/16" Whitworth (18tpi) so I can start to remake a new lever cap bolt for my ancient Spiers infill...but I forgot to take the bolt or the piece of paper to remind me what it was I wanted...so at a dozy 6am...I find myself thinking about buying all the taps and dies I could find...well...um...

..things kinda got a bit out of hand! The old guy was selling them separately but since I couldn't remember what I wanted he took pity and sold me the lot...100 taps and 20 dies, a reamer, machine countersink, an old set of numbers...and the great old box..for £8! (I didn't have the heart to knock him down!)

This is quality stuff...just look at the little box this one die comes in...finger jointed..finger size!

The number stamps were a real bonus as I just bought some old letter stamps and wanted the numbers...and lo and behold...at the bottom of the box was a tin of them!

Since I had been a "great customer" (there's something wrong here....)....he decided I could have this gorgeous old LS Starrett caliper gauge for a discount! £3 instead of £5 he wanted for it...bargain!

Lovely old logo...

I had passed an old tool box earlier on...and you know how it goes second time around...you just have to double check...It normally has a load of junk on the top...new screwdrivers destroyed by idiots...Draper set squares....bent...hand drills...various....

Well...I'm glad I dug around...because at the bottom were the "couple of old sharpening stones" that he had told me about. Expecting the oily carbonundrumcondundrum thingies and ending up with "mechanic's shadow" on my palms...I was pleasantly surprised to find this....

Result +1000!!!!

And two old leather making tools....bonus!

The stone is as flat as Kate Moss....

....as proved by my newly acquired....LSS caliper!!! Don'tcha just lurve the old labels...

I have really got to stop buying vintage curiosities though...I mean...a 30s electric supply demand meter....in need of TLC...

...um...LOTS of TLC...

To finish my post...some other bits and bobs...woody and non-woody:

A "not working" LCD Widescreen TV...(it is now...PSU shot)....£2
A pretty neat & expensive blood pressure meter....£1.50
A Gale 2 centre speaker...for sellling next week...£2
Two boxes (10) Hermes abrasive belts (40G and 120G)....50p
And yet ANOTHER portable radio...this time Airband....£1.50

Off to clean the crud off me taps!

Cheers guys and gals!

Jim

 

[Richard T]

Blimey Jim - So ..... did you get a Whit 5/16 18tpi after all that? I really hope you did. 8-[

We did not so good - One elderly coffin smoother with a rescueable Sorby Iron. I feel a scrub plane coming on with that one. Other than that and some cheapo Duracel AAs I actually took a garden fork and spade and gave them to John of John's Junk. I like to keep him happy.

 

[jimi43]

Blimey Jim - So ..... did you get a Whit 5/16 18tpi after all that? I really hope you did. 8-[

Um....err....

I was done!!! :mrgreen: :wink:

Jim

 

[Pete W]

He saw you coming - he'll have that missing die next week, £5 "to complete the set"

Made my local boot fair this morning, first time this year. Slim pickings but picked up two Ridgeway auger bits in 1-3/4 and 1-1/2 inch sizes, which will be perfect for the planned bench-on-bench project sometime soon-ish Also got a small Yankee Handyman spiral drill driver. The bits are sharp and pretty rust-free, the Yankee similar with a perfectly working ratchet mechanism. £3 total, so I was happy enough

 

[dickm]

As usual, nothing usefully woody at the local weekly carboot. Except for a "store soiled" Multistar chuck, with one set of expanding jaws. For some reason, it was mounted on a plain, 1" diameter arbor, although it had the standard Coronet thread. The lady selling it was determined she had to get £40 for it, as it had cost her husband £80. But even with the sympathy factor, that was too much!

 

[jimi43]

UPDATE....

Following some research...I think I got a few things totally wrong!

The WRIGHTS PATENT DEMAND INDICATOR is a tad older than I had imagined....and a slight bit more of a bargain that I though!!! :-"

Anyone know how to blow glass? :mrgreen:

Jim

 

[CHJ]

..So ..... did you get a Whit 5/16 18tpi after all that? I really hope you did.

You mean one of these :wink:

 

[jimi43]

Exactamente!

I have the tap..in fact...I have all three taps for that size...but alas...no die! ](*,)

Jimi

 

[CHJ]

I'll keep my eyes open. had mine for 50+ yrs.

 

[xy mosian]

Jimi, not quite bootfair prices, but if you're desparate:-

http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/bsw_ ... _DIES.html

ref 470.

xy

 

[AndyT]

UPDATE....

Following some research...I think I got a few things totally wrong!

The WRIGHTS PATENT DEMAND INDICATOR is a tad older than I had imagined....and a slight bit more of a bargain that I though!!! :-"

Anyone know how to blow glass? :mrgreen:

Jim

Jimi - you don't really think it has to be in working order to sell, do you?
Or are there really people out there who would deliberately connect mains electricity to a century old electric heater in a glass tube of sulphuric acid, just to see what happens?!

So btw, how much was your broken one?

 

[jimi43]

It has now become a challenge xy!

Surely it can't be that difficult to find one....now that the size is embossed on my brain!

I checked the tap in the hole and it fits perfectly so I will keep looking.

Thanks for the link though.

Two whole squids of the realm Andy....I nearly didn't bother!

Yes...I have read it up now...I thought it was full of mercury...looks as if the top glass exploded...burnt the back wood and then corroded all the wiring at that point...but I will need to carefully clean away the green gunge first to see.

I think I will just stick it up on FleaBay with the right story...do a lot of research...pique interest and hope that someone picks up on it. I think I will try to find which area it was used in and contact the local electricity company...if SW Electricity have one in their museum...well the others have to have one...right? :mrgreen: Right? :-k

Amazing what you find at bootfairs though isn't it!?

Jim

 

[CHJ]

Exactamente!

I have the tap..in fact...I have all three taps for that size...but alas...no die! ](*,)

Jimi

Are you looking to make a bolt as a fixit for something?

 

[Tony Spear]

I've got one of those Yellow Lake stones 'twas my Grandad's and very good it is too!

 

[jimi43]

Yes Chas....this one:

It's a bit booggered....

I cut out the dreadful braze that a previous owner had done...now it's too short...ish....

So the idea is to take the bolt shaft out again...cut a new one in brass...and then use the old cap to keep authenticity.

No worries...I'll find one...

Jim

 

[jimi43]

The other thing about bootfairs is the research you can do when you get home...which is probably why I like buying obscure things! Sometimes little gems just pop out unexpectedly....for instance...remember the dies I got this weekend...

...well...after sorting them all out and finding a home for them in my "newly adapted" toolbox...I then turned my attention to the box itself.

Under all the black grease was a stencilled label..."Case Water Testing Sterilization"

Well it turns out that this was originally a Horrock's Box from the First World War!

Horrocks also developed the "Horrocks Box", following his research into contamination of water. This device used sand filtration and chlorine sterilisation plants to provide a portable means of decontaminating water supplies. It proved of particular use during the First World War, when it kept the Allied forces largely free of water-borne disease. In addition to this he also developed means of removing poisons from water and assisted in the design of the first gas mask.[13]

Fascinating stuff!

Jim

 

[CHJ]

Yes Chas....this one:
.....Jim

Well now If I had Someones Home Address-----------

 

[jimi43]

Yes Chas....this one:
.....Jim

Well now If I had Someones Home Address-----------

Chas Sir! You are a scholar and a gentleman! =D>

PM sent!

Jim

 

[DTR]

I'm glad to see the tool fairy smiled on you lot over the weekend

 

[markturner]

very nice shaving on the plane piccy Jimi..... ( Is there such a thing as shaving ****???)