[TheForge] Old tools

[rfertner at cox.net]

What about the humble hammer? I try to buy hammers at estate sales. I recondition them back to a usable shape and sell them to club members for $10 to $15. I get a kick out out rescueing them and putting them back into use. But I'm noticing in my part of the country that certain types of hammers are getting scarcer at estate/yard sales. Claw hammers are still common with ball peens in 2nd place (smaller ones way more common than larger). The crosspeen is getting harder to find and straightpeens are rare as hen's teeth. Once in a while a handled tool will pop up, usually in very sorry shape. I recently obtained 2 set hammer heads a couple of weeks apart. One just needed some grinding and a handle. The other I had to reforge the striking end, grind, and rehandle. I sold both for $10 each. I had about $5 each tied up in them. Not a huge profit, just enough to keep this part of my hobby going. Over time I've just about saturated my market. Unless we get a new member or visitor or I find something interesting, it takes me a while to sell a hammer. Small crosspeens (1 to 1.5 lb size) seem to sell quicker than most. Right now, I'm just waiting for the right buyer for a 48 oz Plumb crosspeen at $10. :-)

Rob
Wichita, KS
---- Bob Ehrenberger <eforge at centurytel.net> wrote: 
> I have never seen a $20 anvil, but I came close.  I got my main anvil, a 170 
> lb HB, for $75 from a friend who got it for $25 the day before.  He fell 
> into a great deal and so did I. That was 13 years ago.  I sometimes see old 
> beat up anvils at flea markets for under $200, but given the condition, they 
> aren't really that good of a deal. If you keep your eyes open, and have some 
> cash in your pocket you can still find an ocational deal, but they are 
> getting fewer and fewer.  I like making tools so it doesn't bother me to 
> spend time on tools, even if it ends up costing me more in time than it 
> would have to just buy it.
> 
> In BAM we have some members that like to go to auctions, they frequently by 
> stuff just to bring to meetings and resell. They make a little profit, and 
> the members that don't have time for auctions get some tools at a reasonable 
> price. Like the kick press I got this summer, a friend got it at auction 
> just about for free, and I traded something for it that I just had lying 
> around, that my friend needed.
> 
> It's not gouging to make a profit. If the price is too high it won't sell.
> 
> PS: I do remember when I would see anvils in the hardware store along with 
> the other shop tools, it's been a while.
> 
> Robert Ehrenberger
> Shelbyville, Mo.
> eforge at centurytel.net
> 
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