The PATINA Event - March 1997

In March of 1997 I decided to attend the first day of the PATINA event in Damascus, Maryland. I overindulged on pizza the night before (stuff always gives me indigestion) and had a fairly wild dream during the night...

Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997
From: Tom Price
Subject: Tools A-Go-Go: The PATINA Event in Damascus, MD

Warning - long rambling account of the recent PATINA event in Damascus,
MD.

The van careens around another curve on some goat track of a road in
rural Maryland. I lose my balance and bash my head on something hard. I
lay stunned on the floor of the van with my head resting on a sack of
#1's and #2's (small _expensive_ smoothers, Jeff). A #2C skitters
crazily across the floor as the van encounters another curve. Paddy
looms above me attired in a blue Galoot hat and a flak jacket festooned
with #18 block plane knuckle caps. He stands at the rear window and
fires off an entire clip from his automatic weapon while the spent
cartridges spew from the ejection port into the interior of the van. The
noise is deafening. Henry Sheard and Mike Weaver blast shotgun rounds
from the side windows.  It is Saturday, March 8 and a desperate band of
Galoots is fleeing from an enraged crowd of tool-crazed collectors after
having heisted the PATINA meet in Damascus, Maryland. Tom Bruce slews
the van around another curve and leans back, shouting above the gunfire,
"How do you like the new background on the web site?" I am about to
frame a reply (I like it) when Paddy fires off another clip and bellows
"The 605 1/2C is not for sale! In your dreams, heathens!" at the
pursuing vehicles. "In your dreams!" A siren shrieks over the
cacophony....

I awoke from the nightmare to my blaring alarm clock. Whew! Only a
dream. Too much late night pizza and replays from the recent LA bank
shootout. Paddy is on the Left Coast and Tom Bruce won't even be there.
I'm NOT a fugitive from justice. I can go down to Damascus and just buy
stuff like any other tool-crazed Galoot. What a relief!

I found myself at the fire hall in Damascus around 10:15 am and could
see a number of vendors in the parking lot. I parked and walked around a
bit. I met Todd Kissam standing behind a table of wooden planes and such
and introduced myself. He mentioned that people had been in the parking
lot since about 7:30 am. It was nippy at midmorning and I wondered how
it had been earlier. I silently reflected on the fact that tool-lust
seems to inure one against heat, cold and hunger. Todd seemed quite
cheerful for a guy that had been standing in the cold behind a table of
planes for a few hours. I found Tony Seo in the parking lot adjacent to
the fire hall and chatted briefly. Tony said that the main action was
inside.  I was mainly looking for three things, Stanley Everlasting
chisels, a Warrington or Exeter pattern joiners hammer, and Millers
Falls bench planes in sizes and types I did not have. I hadn't found any
of these in the parking lot with the exception of a M-F #10 (equivalent
to a Stanley 5 1/2) which I didn't buy because of what appeared to be a
stress crack behind the mouth. I couldn't stand it any more and walked
over to the main entrance into Tool Land.

The Hall

For you Galoots that haven't been to one of these events, picture a good
sized hall filled from side to side with rows of tables. On one side of
the hall was a kitchen busy dispensing food. The far side of the hall
was lined with tables upon which were piles of tools destined to be
auctioned off the following day. In this space were hundreds of people
milling about and inspecting a myriad of tools. Up in the right front
corner of the hall was Galoot Central with Patrick Leach and Pete Taran
set up to hawk IT (Independence Tool) saws, videos, figured maple (the
April event at Pete's father's place) and tools. Pete had a bench set up
with a piece of wood in a vise and an IT saw available for a test drive.
A sample of figured maple from his father's stash was nearby. Yowza! I
can't wait to get up there in April and snag some of this stuff.
Patrick's famous '$10 an item, How Can He Do It' blanket of tools was
spread nearby. There were always a few red hatted Galoots in this area.
It made me feel at home, in a way, to know that members of the Porch had
a beachhead.

The Tools

I live in (or near) a fairly tool-rich environment but I found the
profusion of bonerific [Old Tools jargon for high quality] tools to be
disorienting. I was trying to remember my priority list in the presence
of all of this iron when I happened upon Mike Weaver and Henry Sheard.
They had already scoped the place out and scored some nice deals. I
started about a third of the way down the hall and started looking.
There were a _bunch_ of dealers with planes. A few of the dealers
specialized in other tools such as saws or hammers but almost everyone
had at least a few planes for sale. I saw several #1's up close. Cute
little things but it's hard to see what they could do that a good low
angle block plane couldn't. I know that people bought them and used them
but it seems to me that Stanley must have made them for the novelty
value as much as anything. Those tiny little totes for instance. Let's
just say that I'm not at all tempted to buy the L-N [Lie-Nielson]
equivalent. But I digress. There were all manner of rare collectibles
flanked by the ubiquitous #4's and #5's. I did notice that block planes
seemed to be higher than I expected with the bottom price for an
adjustable mouth Stanley plane in the $35-$40 range and some of these
were not in great shape. The prices for #4's and #5's were about $30 up.
User #3's to #5's in nice condition were in the $40-$60 range with #8's
in the $100-$150 range. #112 scraper planes were in the $125 to $200
range. In general the prices were quite in keeping with those charged by
the Net dealers except for the occasional dealer with delusions of
grandeur.

Some dealers overcleaned the tools and some left them in nearly the
original 'as found' state. One dealer had an array of saws that he had
varnished, blades and all. At least they weren't rusty. I was tempted to
buy a smaller D8 skewback with a bold etching and no pitting but I have
a bunch of saws that I need to sharpen already, so I passed. One dealer
in the back of the hall had a lot of parts for sale. I was tapped out by
the time I found him or I would have bought a few brass adjuster nuts
and frog screws, etc.. He had 'cleaned up' the brass objects by soaking
them in salt/vinegar (or similar solution) as they had the
characteristic copper appearance which results from etching the zinc
from the surface. Just say I know this from personal experience. His
prices seemed to generally be on on the high side as well but one could
find lever caps, frog screws, blades, everything but totes.

To sum it up, tools were everywhere, on and under tables. Displays
varied from minimalist to elaborate. Good deals were to be had and
squatting to dig through boxes was de rigueur.

My Quest for Tools

After wandering about a bit oohing and ahhing I began my quest for
Everlasting chisels, hammers and Millers Falls planes. I struck out on
M-F planes. The #10 in the parking lot was the only unusual size I saw.
No equivalents to the Stanley #7, #8 or the smaller sizes seemed to be
present. Likewise, there were few Everlasting chisels in decent shape.
As an aside, I almost never see these in good shape. The bozos who
originally bought these must have been attracted by the steel endcaps
and used them as cold chisels for concrete work. The few I have seen in
the wild mostly have had flattened end caps and ruined wood handles.
Despite this I'm an Everlasting collector as of this meet. I found one
on a table in the 1 1/4" size (a size I didn't have) and haggled with
the dealer. He came down a few dollars and I bought it ($22). Okay, I
was still an Everlasting user up to this point. Next to it was a mutant
1/2" Everlasting with an unusual 'dorsal' (i.e. the side with the bevel)
surface. There was no flat on this side of the chisel and the beveled
slopes actually met in a ridge which ran the length of the blade.  I
found this to be very attractive. The chisel was in very good condition.
The cognoscenti among you are probably smiling by now but yes, this was
a George Wood Everlasting chisel. He patented and produced this design
before Stanley bought him out. I remarked in my ignorance that Stanley
seemed to have some imitators. The dealer filled me in on the history of
the Everlastings. I was quite taken by this tool with it's elegant 'Geo.
Wood' stamp on the flat side and the lovely oval handle. The dealer
could see the gleam of obsession in my eye and I knew it was no use
haggling for this one. I paid up ($25) and moved on, now an Everlasting
collector. I love the things. I love the weight and balance of them, the
way the handles nestle in the palm of my hand. I'm doomed.

I found my Exeter pattern hammer at the table of Dan Cormoran (sp?) who
is from Long Island and is a 'hammer head' of the highest order. What he
sold me may actually be a German pattern. It has the cross pein feature
of the Exeter type with a head that is square in cross section but with
tapered facets. The facets save it from being too blocky in appearance. 
I will have to rehandle it but the price was right. Dan has co-written a
book on hammers and was friendly and interesting to talk to. He had
several beryllium-headed hammers which were used in the same
environments as brass and copper, i.e. places where a spark whould be
fatal. He mentioned that beryllium is quite carcinogenic and not to ever
grind or use a wire wheel on the stuff without a respirator. He left me
with another tidbit of information. Those cobbler hammers sometimes
found in carpenter toolchests were used because the flaring rears of the
oddly shaped heads are good for nailing brads and such in very close
quarters.

Galoots

I ran into several Galoots that I knew and a few that I had never heard
of. The latter turned out to be lurkers, some of which have purchased
the hat but rarely post. Mike Weaver, Henry Sheard, Todd Kissam, Ted
Scott, Carey, Tony Seo, Karl Sanger, Patrick Leach, Pete Taran, Bill
Hermanek, Anatol, Mike Sullivan (who was pointed out to me at a
distance), Bill Gustafson and others were present. I was asked 'what the
deal was with the hats' by several non-Galoots through the course of the
day and explained about the listserv etc..

I spent a pleasant interlude chatting with Bill Gustafson and eventually
bought four packs of those cool old scrollsaw blades from him and some
japanning for...ah...woodstain. Yeah, that's right. Can't wait to try it
on some...ah...maple. Yeah, that's the ticket. By the way, those
scrollsaw blades he found really are better made than modern ones. At
the end of the day I found myself down at Bill Hermanek's table in the
back corner of the hall. Bill's interest as a Stanley collector is
widely known (his extensive collection is featured in the 'Stanley
Planes By the Numbers' video) and he is real fount of knowledge about
all things Stanley. Beyond this he is a Really Nice Guy with an
unpretentious manner who let me hold his latest aquisition, a Mucho
Grande 'Victor' metallic plow plane. I didn't think I should mention my
occasional episodes of severe clumsiness at that moment and I am glad to
say that I managed to hang onto the plane the whole time. We talked
about the addictive nature of the Porch and the reinforcement one gets
from participating.

One last stop at Karl Sanger's table (he was packing up for the day) and
I took off. I will definitely make this event next year and encourage
anyone within a days drive to consider attending. The auction was today
and I couldn't make it back. I hope someone posts an account of this
second day of the PATINA event. 
**************************** 
Tom Price 
Just say the dream was digitally enhanced but some parts were as
remembered, etc.


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