Just stopped in to a neighbor's house where there was a house-contents sale going on.
Picked up an old Stanley Bit Brace No. 945 - 10" in near perfect condition with a Pexto Samson Clarks Pattern #50 Expansive Bit with 2 cutters for boring 1/2" to 7/8", and 7/8" to 1-1/2". The Brace looks like it may be Nickel plated. Got 'em for $6.
Got a pretty old Disston hand saw for $2.50 which needs a good clean-up, but the teeth look pretty good. Threw in another saw, but it's too rusty/dirty to make out what the manufacturer is. Signature looks vaguely like perhaps a C. E. Jeming - can't really tell yet till I clean it up. Any ideas out there as to how best to clean these while preserving the worn writing on the blade?
And picked up an old Stanley low-angle block plane in pretty fair user condition, already fettled and sharp for 10 bucks.
He threw in a stack of free wood - about 40 small rough-sawn boards of about 2'x5"x1/4" with a pair of small nail holes at each end, so maybe they were parts of crates at one time. The wood looks very old, but not warped or twisted at all, so maybe they will be usable for some kind of project down the road. Any ideas?