My first PNTC Meeting
I found a local tool collectors group. Woo!
It took a little digging, but I found a local tool collecting group that had a lot of the old tools I can’t find any other place. I found it fairly non linearly, but I attended my first meeting today. I had to get a hold of the Mid West Tool Collectors group, looking for a local chapter of which there were none. MWTC were recommended to me Roy Underhill when I was over taking classes at the Woodwright’s Shop. They recommended I check out the Pacific Northwest Tool Collectors group. The meetings are held in Portland and Seattle alternately, and I’d managed to miss the one that week I found out about them. So it was a couple months before I could get to check them out.
Today I made it, and it was a blast. I joined the club, attended the meeting and got some tools today. They use an odd system for the tool show, which took a bit to figure out. Every tool has a tag, with a price, and some lines. If you want it, put your name down. If you’re the only name, you get it at the price stated on the tag. If there are two names, you find the other guy and bid between the both of you. If there are three or more names, it goes up to auction for everyone at lunch time. If there are no names, then in “open sale” period you can go haggle with the guy for it. It’s kind of like a mutant silent auction, but what the heck.
It’s a little tricky, but it kind of makes sense. I had to do a lot of math to make sure I had cash on me to get it all if I won them all, and even then I had to run the bank. I had a couple hours to browse the whole thing, which was about 1/2 the size of the PATINA show I went to on the east coast, but impressive for this area. I had to go over it a few times to see what I wanted to put my name on. It took a little while to figure out a good plan, but I ended up spending $120 and getting quite a bit. I’ll share more on the tools later when I can get my camera down the the garage. But I got a lot, which also means I need to go down and MAKE somethings before buy anymore tools. Heh.
Here is the schedule for the tool meetings, PNTC Meeting Schedule maybe I’ll see you at one of them, I’m going to try and make a few more. There is a big to-do going on in August, that I might try to talk the wife into. We shall see.
Badger