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Going to the flea market...


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Hi, All. I'm going to a flea market for the first time since starting out as a smith. What are some small items that I should look for? I'm looking for some half-way decent hammers until my Hofi comes in but what other small items might come in handy for a few bucks? Thanks.~Eric

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Those are some great ideas. I think of all the time I have spent in fleas markets in the past 10 years and just wonder what I have missed. Oh well.

What about small items that are good to rework? You know, like, "I built a 2 ton power hammer from old hospital bedpans and broken chisels"?

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Other useful bits I have found at the flea market;
Cold Chisels of all sizes used for chasing, punching, drifting,
Large chunks of steel... Sledge hammer heads etc.
Tongs that are cheep! can always be reconfigured to a size you need.
Ball pean hammers
Cheep steel tins and buckets to hold your bounty and act as quench pots and help keep your growing collection organized:D

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I'd like to see a sketch of that "imagined" 2 ton power hammer built from bed pans and chisels.
I'm working on it but I used up all of my paper and pencils kindling my forge. Wait, I forgot. I don't have a forge yet :( but one is one the way :D
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I like old cold chisels and star drills as stock for new chisels and punches---and knives.

I try to buy finishing stuff getting a good knotted wire wheel for a buck sure beats the store prices!

Lets see today I picked up a Al clipboard with Al cover handy not to have your sketches collect forge welding flux and immolate!

Rags, gas tanks for bells & dishing forms, old hatchets to re-work, spud wrenches to make into bics; old adjustable wrenches to make into twisting wrenches, old calipers to transfer distances onto hot steel, old carpenter's squares to make hook rules for hot steel out of, trashed socket chisels to make arrow/spearheads from, Files for knives and filing---look for a file card too!, Misc unplated or coated scrap metal at a rate cheaper than buying it new. Ballpeens to forge into tomahawks and handled punches, aloe plant to have handy to the forge..., old beer keg for quench tank, Shelves for the shop, lights for the shop, cheap solvents, cheap paint, deer antlers for knife handles, silver, babbit, lead, copper, old revereware pots you can replace the handles with basket handles for camp cooking.....if you look long enough you can find most anything including sharkskin for knife handles and human bones---laboratory skeleton parts.

Oh yes a plastic squid to lurk in the bottom of your quench tank *very* *important*. (You are supposed to age your own disreputable hat rather than cheating by buying one already well on it's way)

Thomas

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You will find now that you have been "bitten" by the bug you will come home with alot more stuff that you did before. I always am digging for old tongs, pincers, hammers of all sorts, and of course anything that appears to have been hand crafted by a smith. Take your time and dig in those obscure buckets off to the side. I came across a Hofi style hammer last weekend for $10...nice smaller hammer - 800 gram.

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...
Oh yes a plastic squid to lurk in the bottom of your quench tank *very* *important*. (You are supposed to age your own disreputable hat rather than cheating by buying one already well on it's way)

Thomas


LOL! Darn! Never should have traded our pick-up for a Mini Cooper (You think I joking!) Well, you'd be surprised how much you can fit in a Mini.
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LOL! Darn! Never should have traded our pick-up for a Mini Cooper (You think I joking!) Well, you'd be surprised how much you can fit in a Mini.


I am shocked. Well, I guess you could use a reciprocating saw to remove the roof and back of the car and install a mini-truck-bed. :D

While at the flea market, don't forget to look for usable electric motors, the rear end of a truck that you could convert into a trailer to pull behind your Mini Cooper, leather sides, antlers, and an industrial leather sewing machine to make knife holsters.
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Not much to contribute as far as a list, pretty much everything has been said.

I will give this advice for bargaining: when you approach a table, if you hear the word "rare" come out of the sellers mouth more that 3 times in the first minute you are at that particular table, run away. 'Tis better to bargain shop elsewhere at another table. LOL

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Hmmm let's see ... maybe you will get REALLY lucky and find anvils and post vises ... sometimes you do ! Don't forget car coil and leaf springs for chisel stock,and leaf spring makes a good hot cut hardy. Wood splitting wedges make decent hardy's, specially the older ones with decent metal in them. I think my current favorite hammer is a 2 pound rounding hammer I picked up at a flea market for $2

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One thing I often find are good files. I often get nearly new ones for a dollar to a dollar and a half. I have found nice rasps (the handmade kind) for four to nine dollars... some of these cost over a hundred IF you can find them new. Floats too (the file type floats). Pry bars are good steel and make fine punches, chisels and headers... at one to four dollars I collect them. Sometimes a good whetstone will turn up.

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I've recently got into looking out for jack hammer 'steels'. 7/8 and 1 1/4 hex are handy for tool making; generally shock resistant steel that will hold a robust edge.
A couple of months ago i bought a pair of 2.5" skid-steer moils, now just got to get them to Moony's hammerin' to reduce to a handy size! Price was less than that of steel stock.
Over the years i'e built up a fabricators/engineers marking out kit i'm proud of- for a fraction of new prices.
I dunno how experianced you are at buying,but my favorite guide would be - be patient. There are lots of rat bag dealers out there, then you'll come accross a genuine vendor who would like to offload stuff to a good home.
Have fun; i love markets and swap meets.
Andrew OC
ps excellent advice above this post!

Edited by AndrewOC
the ps bit
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May I also suggest large hedge cutters (the ones with the two handles) which are great for forging knives. I use those as stock for my Roman and Frankish replica's, although the steel is a much better grade then they had available most of the time.

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Let us know how you made out and where you went. Could make an interesting expedition for us other New Yorkers.

Excelsior,
Ted

Ted, we're going down to the Elephant's Trunk which is in New Milford, CT. They're open every Sunday From April - November, weather permitting, from 5 am - 2 pm. Regular admission is at 7 am. Early birds pay extra to get first pick starting at 5. Get there early because some of the vendor's pack up early, like 12:30 or 1 pm. Here's the site: Elephant's Trunk Country Flea Market (New Milford CT)- Home Page Most of the vendors carry used/antique items. It takes us over an hour to get there from Souteast Columbia county. From where you are you can either go down to 84 and across to Rt 7 or go straight down Rt 7.

PS-haven't been there for maybe two years, so not sure what it's like. Another good one is the Stormville Flea Market at the old Stormville Airport http://www.stormvilleairportfleamarket.com/otherevents.htm If you have never been there it's worth a trip. http://www.stormvilleairportfleamarket.com/ They have a new and used section. Most shows are 2 days but there is a 1 day one on Sunday Nov. 1st. The one day shows tend to be smaller. Haven't been there for a while either. Have get that trailer for the Mini Cooper now! Edited by ofafeather
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Kinda matters where you are and what flea market means locally. Some are just a place to hangout, Some are just an outlet for all the junk they can't sell anywhere else. Find a country market even if you have to drive a little further. I see nice anvils,postvises,tongs
hardys ect at flea markets. How about a clean faced 88lb H-B for $60. Look in boxes,trailers and everywhere.
Ken

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Well all, we've returned from our foray into the great unknown - the outdoor flea market in an open field the day after torrential rains. Turned out to be a beautiful day. Left the house at 7:30 and by 8:30 we were browsing. I think we did pretty well for our first trip looking at things from a blacksmith's perspective. Two main items that we found - some ball-peen hammers and a metal stand for our soon to arrive propane forge. Picked up 4 different ball peen hammers, the heaviest is just over 2# (kind of hard to weigh with the handle on). Three of them were $2 ea and the other was $1. There were some other hammers to be had from $5-$15 but I resisted, feeling that I was off to a good start and could afford to be frugal. I also resisted picking up scrap tools at the beginning unless they were a real bargain. There was a lot to be had, though. Found 2 good-as-new files for $2 ea. Picked up a carpenter's square for a couple of bucks to make a hook rule out of. Found a pair of snips for a couple of bucks to make into scrolling pliers. Picked up a few odds and ends such as old files and assorted chisels and punches, including some sort of milling cutter or reamer. I don't know exactly what I paid but it wasn't much. Also picked up a few new wire brushes. We saw a metal stand that came out of a printing shop. It was supposed to go with an industrial paper cutter. My wife asked if he would sell it separately and he agreed. We held out to the end of the day and he came down some. $30 for a very sturdy metal cabinet. We were look for good casters for it but didn't find any. One guy wanted $100 for a set of four because they were old. They didn't even have locking ones. On our way home we came across one of the best finds. There was an older gentleman who sells things out of a shed who we passed on out trip home. We stopped to take a look and hit the jackpot to some degree. We picked up a great set of OLD casters that had two lock wheels. I don't know how well you can see them in the picture to follow but they were perfect for the forge stand. Plus he had tables of old, worn tools. I put together a pile and asked what he would like. $12 later we drove of with a mess of assorted steel chisels, files and odds and ends. Also, an old adjustable wrench to make a twisting wrench out of. Those were at least a few bucks in the other places I had seen. Maybe you can help me figure out what steel some of the things are likely to be made of and what to make with them. Well, that's our story for now. I put the casters on the stand before we even took it out of the car. After coming home I realized that I missed a couple of things. Ted (Tobago) invited us over since we were passing near his house. Saw his PM when we got home. Next time, Ted! Also read the thread about turning nippers into tongs. Missed out on picking up a few pairs of nippers I saw. Well, gives me a reason to go back. Until next time. As always, comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks. I'll post pics in my next post.

Edited by ofafeather
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Well that was a good haul! i dunno how you managed to fit the steel stand in a Mini- is it a recent BMW derived one? Do you guys have the ute/ pick-up or van versions of the original Minis? They are very rare but popular here in Oz-tralia.
AndrewOC

Edited by AndrewOC
typo
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Well that was a good haul! i dunno how you managed to fit the steel stand in a Mini- is it a recent BMW derived one? Do you guys have the ute/ pick-up or van versions of the original Minis? They are very rare but popular here in Oz-tralia.
AndrewOC
Actually, we took out big car, the Toyota Prius :D . It handled it just fine but the inside is a lot dirtier than it was when we had our pickup. Our Mini is one of the new BMW Coopers. We're contemplating getting a trailer for it for just such occasions. My Mom actually has an original Mini Pick-Up, just one of the herd she has. A van one might come in handy!
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