I hit an antique mall today, of the Junque Shoppe variety. Not a whole lot of tools there, but I might cruise back for some of the $6.95 Disston hand saws (I saw a nice 12 point at that price). I'm also tempted by a $50 Delta Rockwell (Homecraft) 4" jointer, but I need to research it first (a couple of missing parts might make it useless).
The place was sweltering, and they're having the air conditioning replaced. I grabbed a soda from the cold drink box as I wandered about. I finally found a rack with half a dozen decent planes, and I took a good look at a couple of block planes. Two Stanleys sat side by side, each marked $10. Both were in good shape, though well used. One was a 110, in probably 95% condition. Right beside it, for the same price and only slightly more used, was a 9-1/2.
Well, duh. For a sawbuck, I'll take the 9-1/2, thankyouverymuch. As I checked out, the clerk rang up a 20% discount and threw the soda in for free since the a/c wasn't working. I walked out for $8.65 (not a BIG gloat, but a good buy).
Oh, and the Sweetheart iron was still dipped in wax from its last professional sharpening. I blew off the dust, peeled off the wax, adjusted the iron and mouth, and within five minutes fixed a sticky drawer on my computer desk.
SWMBO was amazed that I bought a tool that I could actually USE right away, instead of toiling away on for weeks. She says I spend more time working on tools than using them. I can't imagine why she sees that as a problem. ;-)
Kevin