You never know what you'll find!!

[RTH]

Came across this article and I had to share. One man's trash is an historical treasure!!

This is from today's MSN.com



Inside a Dumpster, California Man Finds Trove of Ancient Books Owned by Thomas Jefferson

 

[Nevada Prospector]

Generally speaking, people don't have enough respect for books. Maybe I need to take up dumpster diving if I can get finds like that.

 

[chub]

ABE is a good site to quickly google if you are standing at a flea market and need a quick idea of value. I read once on reddit or somewhere about a student that used to frequent an antique / historic book store. Would write down the edition, price etc. take a few pics then go home and list the books on ebay. starting price a few bucks above the retail in the shop. I understand it helped with the $ through college.
True or not - great story. Sounded quite plausable.

Chub

 

[RevAndy]

My son visits Salvation Army stores, Savers and Goodwill and pick up every music tour t-shirt he could find, put on E-Bay. Makes a nice chunk of change every month!

 

[Duckshot]

That's incredible, finding anything new from T.J.

I don't sell on eBay but I do fill my saw collection from thrift store handsaws. Picked up one today while dropping some stuff off at a habitat for humanity re-store. Paid a buck fifty for a generic warranted superior medallion saw. Got home and started cleaning the plate- turned out to be etched "Winchester No. 10". Its an uncommon saw from about 1900 in decent shape, still has a nib and straight as a line. Its probably easily worth ten to twenty times what I paid for it.

But I ain't a seller.

 

[chub]

That's incredible, finding anything new from T.J.

I don't sell on eBay but I do fill my saw collection from thrift store handsaws. Picked up one today while dropping some stuff off at a habitat for humanity re-store. Paid a buck fifty for a generic warranted superior medallion saw. Got home and started cleaning the plate- turned out to be etched "Winchester No. 10". Its an uncommon saw from about 1900 in decent shape, still has a nib and straight as a line. Its probably easily worth ten to twenty times what I paid for it.

But I ain't a seller.

Sounds like something Id like. I love old tools.How about a pic? I have a thing for hammers....and I collect bee smokers....used to have 120 vintage model aircraft engines....

Chub

 

[Duckshot]

Here are a couple-

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/members/86916-albums4996.html

The first is a J. Holden patent handle of uncertain manufacture. Note the nib on the back of the blade near the toe and the third horn above the handle for two handed use.

That Disston is a no. 7 , made between 1917 and 1927. It also has the nib which Disston dropped from production in 1928. This photo was before I cleaned the plate. It turned out nice with a clear etch but has circular scratches cause some dork(me) tried using 220 grit first.

But, it ain't Thomas Jefferson's books. That one heck of thing to find destination for a landfill.

 

[chub]

Very nice!

Chub

 

[coinman123]

That's incredible, finding anything new from T.J.

I don't sell on eBay but I do fill my saw collection from thrift store handsaws. Picked up one today while dropping some stuff off at a habitat for humanity re-store. Paid a buck fifty for a generic warranted superior medallion saw. Got home and started cleaning the plate- turned out to be etched "Winchester No. 10". Its an uncommon saw from about 1900 in decent shape, still has a nib and straight as a line. Its probably easily worth ten to twenty times what I paid for it.

But I ain't a seller.

Nice find. I love those old handsaws, I got around 10 of them hanging in my barn. I found two Disston handsaws at the dump last weekend, both dating from around 1896-1917 based on the medallion. Can't believe the stuff people throw out.

 

[Duckshot]

Ture dat Coinman123. Mining the dumps is an old hobo tradition.

The cincher for hand saws is that the pre-electric motor hand saws make the hardened tooth un-sharpenable hand saws of today look like somebody spit on them. They do not cut worth a duce. I figure I can cut about 150'-200' of two inch stock with one of today's "miracle saws" before it gets a dumpster toss. With a pre WWII saws the blade is not hardened, it is tensioned. Cut about a hundered feet with an old pre-WWII saw and instead of throwing the saw away you just kiss it with your lovin' file and go back to cutting.

And, with that shiny brass H. Disston medallion, I will look pretty using it.

 

[chub]

Is it just me or are drill bits also rubbish these days? Even with the correct cutting speed they seem to dull after a few holes in mild steel? I use cutting fluid on pretty much every hole these days...

chub

 

[Duckshot]

RTH, i apologize. We got way off topic.

Is it just me or are drill bits also rubbish these days? Even with the correct cutting speed they seem to dull after a few holes in mild steel? I use cutting fluid on pretty much every hole these days...

chub

Hah-ha, depends on what you are drilling.

If you know how to sharpen the bit you can still use a cheap junk bit, and you will know you wasted money on a cheap junk bit cause you will have to sharpen it a lot!

I recommend Nicholson files.