I was at the same antique mall and I got to hold that No1 and when I turned it over and seen the mouth was cracked I looked at the guy and said good luck with that price tag!!!

That joiners box would be an excellent project. Especially for beginners who need practical applications for techniques and... a tool box to store their tools. You have the skills to teach others to execute such a beauty that will help them understand the things they want to learn and gain an excellent experience as well as tool chest they could pass down

Agreed, most of the time I’ll walk around shaking my head at those craaazy prices for tools, just cos they’re decorative . Love looking at furniture though and tend to wait till it’s quiet and then take as many pictures as I can, taking drawers, inside cabinets etc,,, oh, and always set a plane iron and cap back in the right way,😄

My wife was sitting near me when you said “What’s the alternative? Not buying any tools all winter” and you should have heard her laugh lol. I said what and she just looked at me like I had a fish head on my shoulders and said why is that not understandable to not buy any tools all winter? She kills me sometimes.

I just scored a almost brand new scroll saw at goodwill for 24$

Pulled antique tools out of a skip today. Couldn't believe my luck. Instead of being really happy, all I can think about is the tools slipping through the rubbish to the bottom out of reach.

I'm a mechanic and find all kinds of great tools at thrift and antique stores. I've gotten Mac and Snap-On stuff for a couple bucks, plus old good brands like New Britain. Best part is since a lot of it is more "modern", it tends to go for cheaper than an "antique"-looking equivalent. I picked up a long 3/8"-drive Snap-On speeder handle for less than $10, a Mac 1" angle wrench for $12, a Snap-On 5/8" 12-point universal-joint socket for $5. I've gotten New Britain and Wizard wrenches for $1 apiece at thrift stores.

I love 💗 old tools too. I used to live on the North Coast (Cleveland). And I love antique stores for the same reasons. This was a perfect and practical few minutes of tool time. Thanks Rex.

Great tips, thanks

WOW! I go there all the time for old tools!! Love that place.

You always have great videos Rex without being pretentious, I love it. Respect from eastern Pennsylvania. PS those octagonal shaped handles are my favorite by far.

Went to my local antique shop today. Bagged a stanley 151 spokeshave for a tenner. They also had 4 stanley #4 planes for between 20 and 30 quid

Thanks for the antique sopping tip. I bought a Sargent no. 1 router plane and a nice marking gage for $50 total. I’m very happy with both items. Thanks Rex.

True about antique stores. I found an old Stanley no 4 from 1870 I think it was a gen 1 or gen 2 for $10 bucks. It had a broken tote and no front knob (but had both screws) After a bath in evaporust it’s almost sharp enough to be a user.

Very cool you are from NE Ohio! Glad to seea hometown woodworker on KZfaq doing what you love!

Great advice! I live in central Ohio and have been to that antique store and seen the vendor with the no.1. It was fun to see a place i have looked for tools. I ran into the problem about price, i was looking for planes. I enjoy your practical advice

Here's a pro tip for old hammers. If the head gets dry and a little loose, take a junk bowl and put a couple inches of antifreeze in it. Tap the handle tight again and soak it over night. The antifreeze will fill the wood, tighten the gaps, and will never evaporate.

Love antique stores, even if I don’t buy a lot, I enjoy the history lessons. Flea Markets can be good sources too.

As an Ashtabula native, I have been to that mall in Ravenna a few times. I never bought much either, but always a fun trip! A fun winter's day outing.

Great video Rex. Love the variety and discussion

If you're ever over in NW Ohio, check out the Maumee Antique Mall. I've found quite a few diamonds in the rough over the years there. It's where I started my collection of antique hand tools.

Rex, hi ! I work in the woodworking tool industry in Australia. I collect old planes and i showed my boss my number 3 Bailey and he whips out a number 1 Stanley !! In really good nick. I nearly passed out ! Hes got two of them. There's a room full of old tools too in the company's collection. Love watching your videos. You're the most practical woodworker on KZfaq I've seen. Keep up the good work.

Rex, I'm really enjoying your videos. I appreciate you humor and the common sense advice you provide. Also, your woodworking tips are very helpful. Greetings from Indianapolis! Keith D.

This is like LGR Thrifts but instead of old computer stuff it's old tools. You should make thrift shopping a series, it's so fun to watch

Here in Delaware Ohio, we have several Antique Stores, and a lot of vintage tools, but I know the spots in the back of the stores where they put the stuff that people had out there but did not pay the rental fee for the spaces. Last one I got was a Vintage Stanley No. 7 plane in great shape for just $60.

I tried an antique store the other day for the same reasons you did. I bought an interesting double ended alligator jaw wrench for square nuts with three thread chasing holes in it.

Nice hammer! That was the size and shape of the hammer we had around the house when I was a kid 50 years ago. And it had nice patina on the handle from Dad using it for years.

I've had good luck with yard sales out in the country. It's quite common to find an old retired guy that just wants to clean out his garage. I picked up a Stanley hand plane with a cracked handle for maybe $15? My current jigsaw is a really old one with a cast aluminum housing that I found in box on the curb sitting beside a trash can! Pawn shops can be good places too. Some of them will just have bins where the tools are chucked, and they're priced to sell. I've found some bargains at thrift stores too. It's mostly been older power tools. I've bought tools that worked with my existing chargers and ended with some cheap spares. It certainly speeds up your workflow having an extra drill or two lying around.

Antiqye furnitunes are on another level of quality. At my place I had to build/buy a new "modern" wooden shelf 3 times in the course of 5 years. While my GIANT drawer made in 80s is in perfect shape.

as far as stock sitting 'on the floor', I worked in a second hand store. The boss said about things on the floor since whenever: "Grandpa said 'everything will sell in 7 years'."

I picked up a Miller Falls low angle block plane this past weekend at an antique store. The vendor was actually there stocking the shelves and asked why I wanted that one over the Stanley. He had no idea that Miller Falls was a nearly identical duplicate in form and function. Also because the Miller was nearly rust free, free moving, and still had an edge while the Stanley was rust ceased. He wanted $45 for the Stanley and $5 for the Miller Falls. Lots of good tips in this video.

You inspired me to build my own tools. Your knowledge and your character are worth gold! 💪🙏

There were an exelent timbermans axe among the axes, hatchets and hammers.

got a stanley bailey back this summer for 18 bucks at one of the local antique stores. was pretty pumped

Thanks for the great tips Rex.

Love antique shops.

Thanks for the knowledge, Rex !!!!!!!!!!

Rock shows and swap meets where old folk, like me, go to are great for finding tools. I have picked up a slew of woodworking planes. Most of them were $2.00 or less. Since I retired I play with wood . The wood working keeps me at home exercising my skills and brain.

I literally just drove about 180 miles, hitting every antique mall and flea market along the way. I had to make the trip one way or the other and had no deadline to be home... I found exactly one stall in probably a thousand that had planes. The guy wanted 75 dollars for a number 7 stanley that was 'meh' and 55 dollars for a coffin plane that had a mouth so worn you could have drove a car through it.

I've found a lot of gems locally on facebook market place from people that either don't know or don't care what the item is, just want to make quick buck or just want it gone. I snagged a 1940's Columbian Quick Vice that just needed a handle for $20 this way.

Nice video! Thanks for helping to break up another long winter!

I'm not afraid of power tools. However I do like the older power tools better. A few weeks ago, I happened to go into my favorite thrift store just as they put out a drill holder that turns a handheld electric drill into a mini drill press. cost me all of two dollars, and I already had a vintage electric hand drill to fit it. Add thrift stores to your treasure hunts. You just never know.

Great video Rex, thanks for the discussion...

@Rex Krueger I was non-plussed to see the I-76 Antique Mall featured on your channel: I live just under a mile away (South, as the crow flies) in Rootstown. I've visited several times looking for froes, scorps, draw knives and shave horses when I was trying to assemble tools to make windsor chairs a few years back. (I ended up tuning pianos instead!) Thus, I knew how jacked up the prices were, so I was a bit dubious you would glean any Woodworking For Humans finds there. Kudos on the tips for seeking out hidden gems here, at flea markets, car swap meets, etc. Huge thanks!! Also, as a fellow teacher, (I taught for 9 years in my home state of California--Jr Hi Science and Language Arts,) I want to add my plaudits to the many appreciative fans who love your teaching style. You rock this niche, Professor!

Thats a great hammer! I have the sam one, but the framing version. The handle is awesome. Thanks for the video!!!!

10:10 I have a store that used to be a hardware store and the owner converted it to an antique tool store. He has 2 Stanley #1's for sale. Both are around $1400. Both are also in almost perfect condition with very very little wear on them. I have been shopping his store for months now and just buying the things I actually know I will use. Chisels, a couple 4 1/2's because 4 1/2's are my favorite Stanley plane and a few other items. He is holding a Stanley 55 100% complete that needs to be restored for me. He wants $275 for the entire set. Only thing missing is the box.

Thanks for the info.

Some 20 years ago we stopped at an antique shop off the interstate in southern Indiana. On the bottom shelf of glass showcase was a "spoke shaver" listed at around $145, but they did discount 10% when I asked. So, trembling as I walked out, I had my Stanley 51/52 shoot board and shoot plane.

I assume based off of the "north east, Ohio" statement in other vids that you and I are relatively close neighbors. I live in Dundee, Michigan... and it looks like I need to check out some shops in your area! Great videos, I love you channel and what you are doing for the wood working community, great job!

Thanks, Rex! I already knew that antique malls and flea markets were a good source but this video put me on the hunt. I got a couple of planes at one a few years ago. I have a good collection of power tools but have developed a desire for more human powered tools. I hit a huge flea market between Houston and Beaumont yesterday in search of hand saws, a brace and some bits and anything else that seemed useful. At the end of the day I had collected a good restorable Disston #7 or #8 hand saw (the only difference is whether it has beech or apple wood for the handle and I haven't sanded it to see yet), a Stanley brace, 40 bits for the brace, a wood rasp, an old but unused Irwin Microjust bit and another adjustable bit for the brace. All of this was from four vendors and set me back a whopping $42.00. Other vendors had interesting tools but at collector rather than user prices. We have another highway with maybe a dozen flea markets on it over a 20-30 mile stretch. Can't wait to hit those. Still looking for planes at reasonable prices. Keep the great vids coming!

Great video. We live near the infamous Brimfield Flea Market which I enjoy a lot. Like you I have often wondered about the sellers that drag around overpriced tools for 2, 3, 4 or more years only to pack them up again after the market ends. Usually any offer is treated as an insult. I was salivating over that joiners chest.

I just scored a minty Dunlap 4DBB for $20 today at an antique store. My buddy told me about the store at lunch. Another booth had the same plane all rusted out for $35, just got to look around.

Ravenna! That brings a smile to this old Hiram grad.

Sometimes the ride is more than enough. It's always great to go out, see different places and people. 😊 BTW, today I went to our local "flea market". The only thing I saw was an old wooden plain, but it was in bad shape and didn't have the iron anymore. 😕

Hello from Luxemburg 🇱🇺 Keep it up Rex with these videos

Great advice!

I picked up a clean early Stanley #2C for a whopping $15.00 - yes, the decimal is in the right place - at a downtown antique store 40 miles outside Houston.

Does anyone else find that $9 and $18 seem to be very popular prices at antique stores? I find it’s often a clue that the seller doesn’t know the first thing about what it is and/or what it’s worth. There are bargains to be had! 😎👍

Rex, it’s a crazy small world. You mentioned the antique mall in Revenna. I grow up there and in Atwater. You have a great channel I love watching.

Dumpy antique shops in the middle of nowhere are the best!! You will have to dig but there will always be gems!!

I was once in the market for an anvil. Vintage anvils are hard to find in my area. I only found a single Vulcan 70 pound anvil for $600. Spotted that in one antique store a few years ago. Spotted the same anvil a year later in another antique store... Yeah... Same price. By then, I bit the bullet on a farrier's anvil that was just a hair under half the price for the same weight. For what I'm doing right now (and probably will be for a good long time, since I'm skillbuilding right now), the farrier's anvil will do me just fine, and I can always compensate for the horn with a cone mandril.

Just watched it - really cool! Especially the No 1 and 2 ----- drool!

I pick up tools for my jewelry making in antique malls. I prefer antique tools when I can find them. Usually cheap because they don't know what they are.

I bought a 10$ old "potato masher" at an antique mall. ai cleaned it up and it is now my favorite mallet lol. Almost bought this raw hide mallet but i didnt know what it was at the time lol

Great video. I like local online auctions in the winter.

Great video. I have been hunting for a hammer like that with that type of handle. That chair would make a great project. I've never seen one like that.

Another place to find old tools at deep discount is Habitat for Humanity Restore. They are all over the country. The one by me is only open on Saturday morning. Get there EARLY to find the best stuff.

In Florida the winter is the best time to build. much cooler. Thanks for the video.

Rex has great tips if you have lots of free time and very little money. Otherwise buy from tool collector meetups or eBay.

To the rethinking the business model That stanely number 1 did get you to come back in the door and look at what else he/she had for sale.

pawn shops in FLA.. rock

Rex, I was watching your video on looking for antique tools and you mentioned that you live in NE Ohio. I grew up in Ashtabula and moved to SE Florida when I was 30, that was 48 years ago. So naturally I am curios where you live. I am planning to move back to Ashtabula in a year or two, not sure about winters yet, and hope to set up a woodworking shop.

Would you consider doing a video for sharpening some of your toothed tools, how to go about getting a good edge back on them. Things like paddle bits, normal drill bits, hand saws, Japanese saws etc. Whether you do or not, thanks again for these great informative videos!

You can still buy a handle like that directly from, Vaugh at a reasonable price. Got one for my Dads hammer after I inherited it.

Bought a “chopping tool” as it was listed - was in fact a huge rare hewing axe, bought for 30$ usd worth 200 and up😀 Always check around to see if something is listed incorrectly.

I made my own saw vise by sawing a slot in the length of a 2x6 if I clamp it together, it works great, holds my saw, and I cut the end where the saw grip goes, to fit my saw grip. Plus, I can put the whole saw into it, and don't have to move the saw in the vise!

Streetsboro here... haven’t had the chance to browse the Ravenna antique shops yet. I’m new to the area. Love your content.

happy winter from NW Ohio

Hey Rex, Been to the AAA mall many times. Used to live around Ravenna. Now in Cleveland.

Yes toolbox build please!

Drove over to the I-76 Antique Mall today. Saw all the stuff in your video. I bought a later model hand drill and a saw set. Over the web, I'd have paid more for just the shipping.

I'm very lucky, I got a Stanley No. 4 plane from my grandma, along with a bit brace and a set of auger bits from 1/4" to 3/4", and they are excellent quality. I also got a Disston American Boy saw from the 1920s, which is great. I filed the Disston in a rip pattern, and I also have a Sandvik saw that I file in a crosscut pattern. I also have a backsaw or tenon saw that isn't great, but I think it just needs me to set the teeth properly, and I'd also like to replace the plastic handle with a wooden one.

I'm new to the channel. Love the videos!

Thanks Rex! Just picked up a VERY VERY nice Stanley 4 1/2 type no. 6 for an incredibly low price at a local antiques mall. I’m pretty sure it was priced so low because the type 6s only have Stanley printed on the lateral lever and nowhere else on the plane so they didn’t know it was a Stanley, just sold it as an unbranded. I wasn’t even convinced myself until I took it apart at home, before that I could just tell it was a very old style. I guess it just makes up for the other items I’ve paid too much for.

And if you go to one of these markets and you cant find any decent old tools - bad luck, Rex has already been here.

I've never visited an antique mall but will have to look into it. A tool that would make for a good build is a morticing gauge. That is something I need to make

Got a big wooden jointer's plane for $4, a metal Craftsman plane for $21, and a bit brace for $8 this past weekend

I love the one I shop at from time to time here in the [geographic] Heart of Ohio. I have picked up many hand tools, often a little rough but clean up nice. You do have to beware that there are some consignees that like their stuff too much. Others are more reasonable and gave good prices. I have gotten a few good tools at tag sales and estate sales.

My theory is that antique vendors are actually hoarders. They don't actually WANT to sell anything, hence the high prices. By having a vending space, they can trick themselves into thinking they are getting rid of things. 🙂

Oddly entertaining and helpful as ever.

Walked into an antique store in the California Motherlode region and walked out with a Stanley Bedrock 607 jointer - $30. Only flaw was a hole drilled near the heel to hang it up. Works a charm.

Rex, great video! Another great thing to look for at antique malls is rare woods. I found a massive piece of Brazilian Ebony or some other exotic, that doesn't float in water and is very very hard. I plan to repurpose this into accent pieces because the raw stump bottom is just asking to be separated from the carved piece on top, and both will still be useful. 26 lbs piece of exotic wood for only $20. How to restore and sharpen a saw would be a great video!

America is really a great country... There is nothing like that in my country

Rex, you are very entertaining.

While making a half cross country trip I stopped at this flea market because I saw this video a year ago. The same (I assume) Stanley #1 is still there listed for $1095. I bought a cheap old hammer and a piece of what I assume was a type of marking gauge with a wooden thumb screw.

I've tried hunting thru antique malls for old tools. They usually do two things to them that basically make the whole process much more difficult, nearly to the point of being a pointless exercise. 1) They nearly always coat the entire tool in a coat of spar varnish. This "kills" a wooden tool portion, as it is a "living" thing that needs the oils from your hands...This also means many hours tedious scraping/chipping/picking/scrubbing that spar varnish off the metal portions before you can even start on the need reconditioning to make it a usable tool again. 2) they GROSSLY overprice the thing, RIDICULOUSLY over-inflated prices, to the point of being usurious.... For me, most of my success has come from flea markets and swap meets.....

An important question to ask the vendor when you are interested in a particular item. "Is that the best you can do on the price?". I have asked that question even if the price is marked firm. The worst they can tell you is "yes that's the price", but, on the other hand you may get a price break.

If you like old tools and cool antique furniture you should check out the "Henry Ford" in Dearborn, Mi . A lot of things to drool over!

Try Habitat for Humanity Restores for old tools. Some seem to specialize in old, donated tools at rock bottom prices.

Funny world. I needed a rebate plane, don’t have one. Been cleaning up my tenons by hand, and doing my rebates by hand. I went the local pawn shop and antique stores and did find Record 78, for $450, OMG. So, I checked out eBay, I have gotten a lot of great deals on eBay: I found a Stanley 75 in its original box for 16usd. I bid 20. I was watching 5 other auctions for the same kind of plane. One sold for 450, the lowest was 225, I won my plane somehow for 16usd. And then I ran into a brand new post war Stanley 78, never used, still sealed in the original box, $125, I bought that as well. It was at a demo salvagers. They had found it in wall in a garage on top of a cross brace.It is a bizarre world for sure. But just shows, keep your eyes open and don’t discount any place to search.