good places to buy old tools?

[Craig Salisbury]

i will confess, the last car boot i went to was over 20 years ago and even then it seemed to be all traders and tat.

so where are all the old tools found? i want to get a good selection of chisels/gouges, planes and spokeshaves etc....seems this slope just got real slippery

..oh and i dont have facebook. and nor will i, e.v.e.r

 

[MattS]

Have to say best place nowadays I find is Facebook Marketplace. I've bought loads off there, but in particular 3 job lots of tools in recent years. Refurbished kept what I needed and sold others on and ended up with a really good set of planes for very little money.

 

[johnward]

i have a lot of old secondhand tools, chisels and planes etc, and bought most on Ebay at reasonable prices. All very good value.
Haven't bought anything recently so not sure what the prices are like now

 

[Doug]

If you want an absolute Aladdins cave then Ray Iles Old Tool Store is well worth a visit best to visit in person but also available on line https://www.oldtoolstore.co.uk/ray-iles-34-c.asp

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I've done ok on Gumtree and Ebay, but much better on F.B. Marketplace.
I've done OK at car boots lately, I got a cracking 110v DeWalt SDS drill for £20 a few weeks back.

 

[AndyT]

I had sort of noticed that the tools in your WIP all looked rather new and shiny

Several options spring to mind:

- Use the Wanted section on here for anything specific

- and watch the For Sale section closely!

- do use eBay, with some care. It can be worth putting in a few asking price bids and hoping that nobody else outbids you. If demand is low, you can get lucky. Look at the bidding history on sold items to get a feel for how common /sought after an item is. Also ask on here for advice, by pm if it's a live item.

- If you ever find yourself over here in Bristol there's the luxury of Bristol Design, one of a very small number of retail old tool shops where you can see and handle a wide ranging stock of old tools. Their prices are generally fair, but not silly bargains.

- If you ever go to the right sort of event, you might find old tool dealers with stalls full of stuff. I've had good buys at Westonbirt Festival of Wood (though this event has changed in recent years) and the Great Dorset Steam Fair, for example. These are seasonal of course and may be over for this year.

 

[spb]

Around here most of the larger antique centres - the ones that are a showroom for lots of independent dealers - have one or two collections of old tools. They're generally more expensive than you'd find at car boots or with a bit of searching online, but also a lot less effort.

 

[Woodbloke]

- If you ever find yourself over here in Bristol there's the luxury of Bristol Design, one of a very small number of retail old tool shops where you can see and handle a wide ranging stock of old tools. Their prices are generally fair, but not silly bargains.

I'll second that, in fact when I went to see Andy T a couple of years ago we called into BD and I bought a couple of very respectable old Sheffield steel plane irons, one of which I'm using right now to cut the dowels for the Cosman boxes I'm currently making (10 or 11 in total). Definitely worth a visit if you're in Bristol - Rob

 

[AndyT]

There's a list of old tool dealers on the TATHS website here

https://www.taths.org.uk/tools-trades/n ... ealers-etc

It's clearly in need of updating, as several of the entries are no longer trading, but it's easy to work through the urls. It does provide a further source I omitted to mention, the specialist mail order dealers. You can see a set price and decide if you want to buy, and all should be ok for exchange/return if disappointed.

 

[SamQ aka Ah! Q!]

If you ever find yourself over here in Bristol there's the luxury of Bristol Design

Emphatically seconded. I was in there a fortnight ago (whirlwind visit to see No3 Child) and was extremely fortunate to encounter the good Charles Stirling himself. Great fella. Please do remember, there are four floors* of stock, so if you can't see it ask!!

* Yes, I know a lot of it is diving gear: even so, just look at the wee hallway on the left as you enter the shop for example.

 

[Craig Salisbury]

If you want an absolute Aladdins cave then Ray Iles Old Tool Store is well worth a visit best to visit in person but also available on line https://www.oldtoolstore.co.uk/ray-iles-34-c.asp

that place is going to hurt my bank, although not as much as classic hand tools is currently lol

 

[Doug]

The great thing with Ray is he has an engineering workshop packed to the gunnels behind the tool store, he was kind enough to give us a guided tour when we went over, he fettles many of the tools he sells so the No3 I bought off him was in perfect working order ready to use when I got it home.

 

[Craig Salisbury]

I had sort of noticed that the tools in your WIP all looked rather new and shiny

Several options spring to mind:

- Use the Wanted section on here for anything specific

- and watch the For Sale section closely!

- do use eBay, with some care. It can be worth putting in a few asking price bids and hoping that nobody else outbids you. If demand is low, you can get lucky. Look at the bidding history on sold items to get a feel for how common /sought after an item is. Also ask on here for advice, by pm if it's a live item.

- If you ever find yourself over here in Bristol there's the luxury of Bristol Design, one of a very small number of retail old tool shops where you can see and handle a wide ranging stock of old tools. Their prices are generally fair, but not silly bargains.

- If you ever go to the right sort of event, you might find old tool dealers with stalls full of stuff. I've had good buys at Westonbirt Festival of Wood (though this event has changed in recent years) and the Great Dorset Steam Fair, for example. These are seasonal of course and may be over for this year.

you see my problem is that I buy the best I can, take very good care of everything and then 5 minutes later change direction, i love trying new things and that generally means new tools come in and sometimes go out....otherwise id be hoarding everything under the sun.

I did goto Bristol once and vowed never again, the traffic, the drivers and im not sure which part i was in, but it wasnt pleasant. that being said it is only 35 minutes from me to the costco

You also may have noticed renewed interest now i can actually get sharp edges which has definitely caused me to make shavings everywhere just for the joy of it. Id like to try carving texture into things and grooving with a plough plane next.

I did just win an auction for a draw knife, 2 gouges and i think a mortice chisel for £40, have a feeling i overpaid, but looking forward to seeing what I bought and hte next challenge of sharpening something round :/

i also need to find out where all these fairs and festivals are, there seems to be loads in the US and we are very much lacking.

 

[Dr.Al]

Some of the best sources I've found include, in rough order best first (and with an obvious bias towards the South-West)...

• Mickleton Antiques Centre - only two sellers selling tools in the centre, but a brilliant selection in both and good value. Some metalwork tools as well as lots of woodworking tools. Both my Stanley #55 and my Stanley #71 came from here (and both were about a quarter of the lowest price I'd previously seen on ebay), as did a few other planes and lots of other bits and bobs.
• Dolphin Antiques, Beer, Devon (buy some tools and then go and have an ice cream on the beach!)
• Church Stretton Antiques Market - this is one of those antique shops that just keeps on going, you think you've reached the end and then there's a whole other floor. Bottom floor has a very large selection of quite good condition tools; far end of the top floor has a reasonable selection of cheap tools that need a bit of work.
• Bristol Design as already said, if you can face going into a city. Lovely selection, quite expensive.
• The Vintage Trading Post, Tytherleigh - hit and miss, but the hits can be good.
• Brackley Antiques Cellar (near Banbury) - a bit hit and miss, but I bought a very cheap Record 71 router plane from there so it has to get a vote
• Ironbridge Antiques, Arts & Crafts - just one tool seller with a small but good selection
• Lyme Regis Antique Centre - used to have more of a selection than it does now, but worth a look if you're in the area and have bought everything Dolphin Antiques in Beer have :lol:
• The Vintage Tool Company; used to be in Stalbridge but I think they've moved somewhere else in the same area (Piddlehinton maybe?). Very good selection, but also very expensive for most things.

I'll see if I can think of any others. I've heard good things about one of the markets in Devizes, but I don't know which and I've never been. However I thought it was worth mentioning as I think it's quite near your neck of the woods?

 

[Craig Salisbury]

Some of the best sources I've found include, in rough order best first (and with an obvious bias towards the South-West)...

• Mickleton Antiques Centre - only two sellers selling tools in the centre, but a brilliant selection in both and good value. Some metalwork tools as well as lots of woodworking tools. Both my Stanley #55 and my Stanley #71 came from here (and both were about a quarter of the lowest price I'd previously seen on ebay), as did a few other planes and lots of other bits and bobs.
• Dolphin Antiques, Beer, Devon (buy some tools and then go and have an ice cream on the beach!)
• Church Stretton Antiques Market - this is one of those antique shops that just keeps on going, you think you've reached the end and then there's a whole other floor. Bottom floor has a very large selection of quite good condition tools; far end of the top floor has a reasonable selection of cheap tools that need a bit of work.
• Bristol Design as already said, if you can face going into a city. Lovely selection, quite expensive.
• The Vintage Trading Post, Tytherleigh - hit and miss, but the hits can be good.
• Brackley Antiques Cellar (near Banbury) - a bit hit and miss, but I bought a very cheap Record 71 router plane from there so it has to get a vote
• Ironbridge Antiques, Arts & Crafts - just one tool seller with a small but good selection
• Lyme Regis Antique Centre - used to have more of a selection than it does now, but worth a look if you're in the area and have bought everything Dolphin Antiques in Beer have :lol:
• The Vintage Tool Company; used to be in Stalbridge but I think they've moved somewhere else in the same area (Piddlehinton maybe?). Very good selection, but also very expensive for most things.

I'll see if I can think of any others. I've heard good things about one of the markets in Devizes, but I don't know which and I've never been. However I thought it was worth mentioning as I think it's quite near your neck of the woods?

Thanks for the list, certainly places to visit

Mickleton and Dolphin seem like nice afternoon drives so will definitely be heading that way. Devizes is about 25 minutes away, i might have to look into whats there.

 

[Dr.Al]

Thanks for the list, certainly places to visit

Mickleton and Dolphin seem like nice afternoon drives so will definitely be heading that way. Devizes is about 25 minutes away, i might have to look into whats there.

Do let us know what Devizes is like (and also what you think of any others you visit)

 

[Craig Salisbury]

Thanks for the list, certainly places to visit

Mickleton and Dolphin seem like nice afternoon drives so will definitely be heading that way. Devizes is about 25 minutes away, i might have to look into whats there.

Do let us know what Devizes is like (and also what you think of any others you visit)

I went there once for a couple hours, didnt see tool places but found the most amazing bakewell tart!

 

[RogerS]

I used to share your opinion re not being on Facebook but Marketplace is pretty good and I succumbed.

Gumtree can also be OK but bit hit and miss.

Local auction places like Pugh's at Ledbury often have house clearance sales.

 

[Craig Salisbury]

I used to share your opinion re not being on Facebook but Marketplace is pretty good and I succumbed.

Gumtree can also be OK but bit hit and miss.

Local auction places like Pugh's at Ledbury often have house clearance sales.

I can always plead with the better half to let me search marketplace on her account, its just not for me.