2026 Garage Sale Thread (15th Annual)

Went back to the big sale from a few weeks back. I contacted them and they decided to do a pop up sale for a couple hours. Still surprising after stop #3 that I continue to find things I hadn't noticed before and even after all the picking they still have a lot of good stuff left for another couple sales.

I didn't have a 24", the Craftsman was too pretty to leave behind, didn't have a large pipe cutter (should have grabbed one of the nice nos ones earlier but they were gone).





Another Ampco non-sparking screwdriver! Also Indestro Super clutch driver, Mac wood handle stubby, Vaco mini nut driver


Regrettably the plastic base of this Craftsman precision screwdriver kit had broke as I forgot that I had left it in my bucket with tools on the car ride home. I have the broken bit so hopefully have some glue handy.



Crescent duck bills (I always pick up duck bills when I come across them), vise grips, 10" and 8" Diamond, Chromavan stickleback, Wiss WHN1 hand notcher.


Indestro, Proto, SK, Williams


Wright, Gray Canada, Wilde 12pt metric, Bonney, SK, Sunex, Proto, couple nice 3/4" drive Craftsman sockets

Damn!! @JMP hell of a haul from that place.

Patrickm82 said:

Damn!! @JMP hell of a haul from that place.

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Ditto!

Don't usually come to this thread but I'm real proud of how this worked out.
Found on local FBMP someone selling an Allegro A-750, a pump used in conjunction with a fresh air mask, for $100. These usually retail in the $1200 range. The pump itself looked brand new, like it was never used, but they mentioned it didn't work.
I took the chance and met up with the guy, and saw that the switch on the plug was broken. I figured that was all that was broken, so I bought it and tested it with another plug and it worked. I tore the whole thing apart and it was clean; even the veins were barely worn.
I lucked out further, and found a new original replacement plug for $20 on eBay. I went ahead and bought new filters off Zoro, and for grins, all new piping because brass looks better than galvanized steel.
So out the door, with all add ons, got a brand new pump for $200!

My regular Habitat stop wasn't the most fruitful today. I did find this Mephisto #1 Phillips screwdriver in good usable shape. There were probably a dozen or more amber handles in the bin but this was the only Mephisto.

3baygarage said:

My regular Habitat stop wasn't the most fruitful today. I did find this Mephisto #1 Phillips screwdriver in good usable shape. There were probably a dozen or more amber handles in the bin but this was the only Mephisto.

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I hadn't heard of them. Must be pretty uncommon I would think.

JMP said:

I hadn't heard of them. Must be pretty uncommon I would think.

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They seem to have sold more pliers and other items from what I've seen over the years. Their share of the screwdriver market had to be pretty slim.

One estate sale yesterday along with 2 socket sets a co-worker picked up at a garage sale a few weeks back, knowing I buy/sell tools he shot a picture from across the room "do you want these sockets?" I replied "if they aren't too much money" ended up at $10. The Indestros will be made whole and sold, the cheap Japan set I would have skipped in person ,but I pair it with a similar ratchet and sell it cheap and quick. I think the steal/find of my day was the vise, you could say the estate sale was a TOO because I had to switch shifts to afternoons for a few weeks and it gave me time to actually hit this sale before work. The NFS Craftsman toolbox was pristine , but relatively empty when I got there.

Estate Sale 05/20/26

Billings Life-Time 15/16” x 1” offset dbe
Tru-Fit 7/8” x 15/16” offset dbe
Chrome-Vanadium -Made in W.Germany 3/8” x 7/16”,1/2” x 9/16” offset dbe
Indestro(?) 1/2” x 9/16” ,3/4” x 25/32” dbe
Lectrolite 1/4” x 5/16” doe
Craftsman 1/2” combo pointy A
Williams superrench 5/8” x 25/32” doe
Williams 8” superjustable
Crescent 6” adjustable
Oxwall flex 1/4” driver
Starrett Micrometer No.210A (empty ) box
Meggeson Glycerine Lemon & Honey Pastilles tin full of taps
Snap On SW-211 1/2” dr 11/16” 12 pt shallow 1956 date code
Craftsman 3/8” drive 13/16” spark plug socket =v=
Standard Bond Box with keys
Craftsman bench mount woodworking vise ,new in box
Indestro Super 1/2” dr 12 pt shallow ,90%
Junker 3/8” Metric Japan Socket set

This afternoon I managed to get to another sale. Found this Craftsman cabinet on the wall.

Nothing at garage sales today--around here people start them on Thursdays if not on Wednesday--so we went to a bunch with nothing to show for our time except a 25cent copy of The Civil War in Pictures by American Heritage magazine.
BUT I did win a local online auction for a Phase II 250-101 tool post set with the regular 5 tool holders, all still sealed in original packaging, and the piston type tool post and a 201 size tool holder for carbide bits that had seen some use. I would have preferred a wedge type tool post I suppose, but this was an auction and I was very happy for less than $77 including all the auction fees and tax. And I can put it to use right away.

I cleaned up a recent flea purchase - drop leaf table supports. They appear identical to Pleukharp’s 20Apr1886 patent, except the patent drawing shows the brackets (on far right of my photo) coming to a point, and these are square. But they clearly say “pat’d 1876.” I’m saying this is a one-digit pattern-maker error, because I’m NOT going to wade through the entire year of 1876 looking for a match. The class for desks and tables is 108/80, if someone else wants to take a stab at it.
James Pleukharp of Columbus OH, held several patents for various components of tables, and I think I’ve owned two or three that his company produced. I’m not sure, because I’m basing that on seeing the identical mechanism, but my grandfather had a habit of transfering hardware from one piece of furniture to another. My sister has a corner cupboard and I have a dry sink from our grandmother’s kitchen, and you can see from the shadows and screw holes that the latches were swapped from one to the other.