Boot Sale

Our local Woodcraft had a parking lot Boot Sale last Spring. It was successful enough they agreed to having another this Fall. I'm hoping they will continue with a twice yearly schedule. This Fall's sale will be November 11th, it's on my calendar and I have the day off.

I expect to offer a few large items as well as the usual small hand tools. I hope to rid the shop of several dozen hand saws, 20 or 30 chisels including a set of LV PMv11 chisels. I've had the LV chisels for several years (early adopter) and have never developed any love. It's a shame because they look good and I'm sure the iron is good but they don't feel right in hand plus they are the only chisel handle I've ever split. LV replaced the chisel with no question but one of the other chisels has a hairline crack. Anyway they may be great chisels but not for me.

I will also try to reduce my stock of dust collecting joinery planes and maybe even a bench plane or two. Marking gauges, what do you want pin or cutting? I haven't decided if any of my surplus sharpening stones are in danger. I expect not but it could happen. The large items will be mostly photos and I do not expect to sell 'em but showing a photo never hurts. Whatever, someday, hopefully soon, I wish to rid the shop of the table saw and the jointer.  The two large items I will take to the boot sale are my prototype shave horse and the portable workbench.. The shave horse works great but is as ugly as granny panties and the portable workbench because I need a surface to show and maybe demonstrate some of the tools for sale. I'll put a price on the bench in case someone is interested.

The shave horse will be priced to go because I want to make another (prettier) one and there's no room in the shop for two. The workbench I would sell if offered enough to make building another worthwhile but this one is close to perfect and I doubt it could be improved on in any significant way.

BTW, I'm sure I've told you how much I enjoy working on the portable bench :-). The folks that originally designed the bench knew what they were doing. It is pared down to the essence of "workbench". There is nothing extra but nothing missing and it is incredibly stable for its mass because of the design of the base. When I first built the bench I did not understand or appreciate the subtlety of the design I just wanted a small portable workbench and the Moravian bench is that. Only after working on it did I began to understand the art and knowledge of the original builders.

A gratuitous photo of the bench in use just because I can:

ken