I was down in Columbus last month visiting my sister and stopped by this antique place near German Village. They had this big metal bin just shoved in the corner with old hand tools, like planes and wrenches from the 40s and 50s, all priced at $5 a piece. I picked up a Stanley plane that just needed a little cleaning and it works way better than the cheap modern one I got at a big box store. Anyone else had good luck finding older tools at antique shops instead of paying full price?
Picked up an old Tektronix 465 from a pawn shop on Broadway for 40 bucks last month. Some guy in line said they go for triple that online if you clean the knobs and replace the electrolytic caps. Spent an evening with some contact cleaner and a soldering iron, now it reads dead on. Has anyone else scored good test gear cheap from unexpected places?
I used to just grab those 20-bit kits for $9.99 until a guy at the scrap yard pointed out my bits were chipping drywall screws and said 'you're fighting your tools, not using them' - has anyone else had a random stranger's opinion actually save them money or time?
I bought a Fluke 87 off Craigslist last week for $40 and almost used it to check a 240v outlet. Something felt off so I tested it against a known voltage source. Turns out the reading was off by almost 15 volts. I found a YouTube video from a guy who tests used meters and he says about 1 in 3 old meters have drifted or broken internals. Has anyone else had a meter give them a bad reading?