Where to get hold of second hand-tools in New Jersey (lost in translation?)

I have very few tools. When I left the UK I gave nearly everything away - I was moving to a small apartment in a city. Now I'm back where I should be and I'm slowly acquiring tools. I've already made some made choices.

The obvious thing to do, is to get hold of some second-hand tools, maybe some with great potential, just needing some love. It's all well and good reading tips on going to yard sales etc, but that's not working out for me so far. What I'm looking for I would recognise immediately in the UK - a big barn size shop full of antiques and stuff from house clearances, or just a generic second-hand shop.

So I need some help from my US friends here.

Does such a place exist here? Am I right in thinking, second-hand is a British word? This is very confusing and makes online searches very hard.
For instance:
Yard sale in the US is called a garage sale in the UK.
I've been to an antique shop but it didn't sell anything old - it was all fake or is that faux?

I'd really like to get my hands on some hammer heads, axe heads, splitters, mauls etc and make some handles. Also chisels, planes, rasps, files, vices . . . etc.

Thanks for your help.

In my area yard sales, flea markets, estate sales are all good places to pick up tools but I live in a rural area where things like old shovels, rakes, hammers, and so on are still fairly common and not of much interest to most people anymore. That is changing though as more people look at those things as decorations they getting harder to find at good prices. Fortunately I have accumulated a good stockpile of garden tools as well as wrenches, fishing tackle, hand saws and other useful things.

I'd say get out into the most rural areas you can find and look for those types of sales. Stay away from shops in towns and especially anything advertising, "antique" "upscale" or "repurposed" all code words for overpriced junk.

We usually look for tools on Craig's List. We have bought name-brand table saws, miter saws, and tool chests on Craig's List.

That was after we looked at Pawn Shops and Second Hand Stores where the tools were way overpriced.

Also, another good place to get new tools for a reasonable price is Harbor Freight.  I bet there are some stores in New Jersey. The tools are not the super great name brand tools but they serve their purpose and if they break the tools were cheap enough to throw away and buy another one.

We have built or finished several houses this way.

Thanks Anne - great suggestion. I've heard of Craiglist but never used it.

Harbor Freight is the other side of a major highway which could be a fun challenge on my bike.

Another place to look (and a place you should go anyway) is the Habitat for Humanity Restore, there is one in Bergen County and another in Wayne. I haven't been to these specific locations so I can't say for sure whether they have lots of tools but the folks who work there are usually great, you could call up and ask before you make the trip. (this store sells donated goods, focused on home repair and construction.)

(as for your terminology- When we come to the US on trips we buy a lot at second-hand stores/thrift shops/consignment stores, what I imagine you might call a charity shop, but it is nearly all clothing. Occasionally you'll find a thrift shop with other things, even tools, but in the last 5 years or so it seems the quality has plummeted, prices have shot up, and we rarely find anything fabulous. My kid and I did some serious thrifting earlier this year in NY/NJ/PA and I can say we did not see one single blessed tool.)

When I cleaned out my mother's house in NJ a few years ago and sold everything, tools were one of the first things to go. Nearly every subsequent person who bought something asked if we had tools to sell. People are always looking and they go like hotcakes.

Hi Edward,

I think Anne is correct about Harbor Freight.  On the whole, I don’t like cheap tools because I just hate it when I am fixing something and the tool I am using itself needs fixing.  Cheap socket sets come to mind.

But a hammer is pretty solid, even in their cheap configuration.  In fact, most everything you mentioned sounds like it would be a pretty good HF deal.

Also, garage sale, yard sale, estate sale and flea market are all usable terms in the USA.  Getting away from urban areas sounds like a good idea when looking for any of these options.

Good luck finding tools!

Eric

Tereza Okava wrote:Another place to look (and a place you should go anyway) is the Habitat for Humanity Restore

That sounds like somewhere definitely worth visiting. I actually bookmark this video a few months ago and then totally forgot about it.


Yard sales around here are mostly large plastic preschool toys - I guess it's the neighbourhood demographic. There's clearly a good market for snapping up tools and reselling online.

Thanks for the info and translations!

Eric Hanson wrote:Getting away from urban areas sounds like a good idea when looking for any of these options.

- very good idea. Cheap socket tools really suck . . . been there, done that. I'll go and check out HF anyway. Cheers.

Edward Norton wrote:Thanks Anne - great suggestion. I've heard of Craiglist but never used it.

Harbor Freight is the other side of a major highway which could be a fun challenge on my bike.

Look at their tools online to see if they have anything you might want and use this as a good comparison for checking to see if something is overpriced.

I didn't consider the bike thing when I made my post.  I rarely see anyone on a bike.

I had a boss once who was into bike racing so I have heard a lot of stories about bike adventures.

Anne Miller wrote:I rarely see anyone on a bike.  

I can relate! I can always get a lift at the weekend but the other half isn't that enthusiastic when it comes to hardware stores.

Yes, posting an ad for working tools (not decorative antiques) on Craigslist is a good idea. Up here, Kijiji seems to be more popular.

What about contacting companies that clean out self-storage lockers? I'll be they get a ton of stuff that's worth hardly anything -- except to you.

Recycling depots and metal junkyards often have a bin of this sort of stuff for cheap/free.

You might check if there is a local auction house that has weekly estate sales. That is where I get most of my stuff. It is the only place I've found where I can get good quality vintage tools at a good price. They have become quite collectable, so while they can be found on ebay, and maybe in some stores, they are pricey, sometimes insanely so. Axes and hatchets are very collectable now, so expensive. Handsaws are not, at least in my area, and some top quality vintage ones in decent shape can be had for 3-5 dollars. Vices of decent size seem to be in unreasonably high demand, but saw vices (which are quite rare antiques here) go for a few dollars. Vintage chisels, especially without handles, are quite cheap, but a full, matching set in good shape can go for quite a bit more. Planes here are relatively cheap, as long as it's not a Bedrock or something. I would avoid modern versions of these tools if possible. Files and rasps I would buy new, unless you just happen to run across some old ones in good shape. Most old ones are worn or mistreated.

I braved the stroads of NJ and live to tell the tale.

1) Discovered a massive thrift / second hand shop. 90% cloths, which I wasn't looking for, but good to know. Household / tool section was as to be expected. Mostly the cheap plastic end of the market.
2) Harbor Freight was a challenge - initially nowhere out front to secure my bike. Ended up locking it to a lamppost but meant I could only use one lock, so I was in and out in five minutes. Picked up a hatchet I had heard about - hickory handle and need of some upgrades, but very highly regarded. Will sharpen for a BB of course but files all had nasty plastic handles and one was already broken.
3) Went to Lowes - I normally go to Home Depot, it's much closer. Ours has been closed since Ida dumped 8 inches of rain in one hour and the store had a four foot deep river running through it. I can't say I like either store. Didn't find anything I wanted to part cash with, except a 12 foot board in the reject bin - strapped to the bike for a BB to make a bird box and another BB! On the way out spotted dowels for handmade loom - another BB and a basic and better quality file.

I dipped into Craiglist . . . nothing within bike range and not a lot within car range. I'll keep an eye out. I'm guessing pickings are a little richer in rural areas.

Haha about lost in translation! I work with a Scot, so I get thrown a British-ism now and then... what? carbooting is not a valid search term in New Jersey?

As far as finding tools, especially garden tools, "moving sale" is a better bet than "yard sale" or "garage sale", since most folks won't have space for them or won't pay the movers to haul them.
Go early. Not impolitely early, but early... if you want to find a good selection. Although arriving late can net you some great deals on a lot of stuff that folks just want GONE!!
"Multi-family" sales can be crap, and a lot of baby stuff... made worse since they all trade with each other beforehand... Unless something specific you want is advertised, don't make one of these your first stop.

Craigslist is great since you can do an advanced search on distance, and whatever terms you want such as:  tools, plants, garden, sledgehammer, moving, etc... and you can search both listings in  "for sale - tools" and within "garage sales".

Another good place to try is run by and benefiting the charity Habitat for Humanity. Their "ReStore" is a thrift store for tools, furniture, building materials, household goods. There's 8 in NJ, plus a few nearby.

Woohoo! Success. I found an Aladdin's Cave.

Picked up this lot today - could have bought a whole lot more. Do I need them all . . . Well, no, but I intend to restore and find projects to use them!



From a place called South Orange Salvage run by a lovely bloke called Paul.



He mostly restores old windows so the shop is rarely open, I just got lucky today. Definitely worth calling ahead.

http://pickersnj.com

Edward, awesome haul!  Just the sort of stuff I find a lot of in my rural location at garage/moving/estate sales ... only better, because I have yet to see even one draw knife.  

It doesn't sound like you'll be doing a ton of moving sales and such due to being on a bike in an urban area, but I want to disagree with the advice to "go early, not impolitely early, but early" that somebody offered upthread.  IMO there's no such thing as "not impolitely early".  This might be a regional taboo; it could be perfectly acceptable in some places. But where I live, to cross the curb before the listed start time is seen as breaking the rules for personal advantage, not unlike shoving into a checkout or ticket line.  People who do it may get away with it, but they are not beloved.

Nice to hear you had success at South Orange Salvage!
I second the two other posters' recommendations about Habitat for Humanity Restore. It is always my first go-to place when needing tools for a project. I have gotten many things there over the years, including a shed window that I accidentally broke (crazy and funny story), which would have cost me $160 to buy new. They just happened to have had the size I needed sitting on the floor for, wait for it ... $10! I have also gotten some of the things there I needed for building our 6 foot privacy fence, book shelves, repairing a washing machine, etc. They always have a lot of tools among many other things. Our nearby one has two stores: one for home furnishings and dishes, etc., and the other one for tools, appliances (totally overpriced at our store), paint, light bulbs, lumber, etc. They seem to get a lot of tools in there.

That draw knife with the folding handles is different, I have never seen the folding handle. I guess it was to fit into a tool box.
Try 'old tool ' collectors

thevintagetoolshoppe.com/our-friends
https://www.facebook.com/CRAFTSofNJ/
Brown tool auctions
mwtca.org/useful-reference/links/organizations/

There's a bit of reading Edward

I admit it has been years since I have stepped foot in a Habitat for Humanity store.  While they seemed to have had a good selection, I found the ones I was in to be overpriced.

A source that many not be available in all states is the warehouse where the state keeps its old and/ or surplus items. In Illinois it is called Central Management Services and is located in Springfield.  Rules can vary as to who has access.  I bought a $5000 table saw for $50.00 ...it needed only minor work.   The Illinois site had all sorts of vehicles, medical supplies, office supplies, and a wide range of tools.

Keep in mind that some supplies are replaced by the state on a time schedule rather than on a basis of what is actually worn out. I have even encountered new equipment still packaged.

In New Jersey the distribution center is in Trenton.

Nice haul! The drawknife with the folding handles is neat. I spy a few leatherworking tools in there too. Any chance of a close-up of the axe head? I'm a bit of a geek for them.

Cheers Luke - I’m still a long way off even starting leatherwork, so anything I can pick up is a bonus.

I had a fun chat about the draw knife. The guy selling it thought the adjustable handles were for different positions, so you could adjust it to fit. I think they fold back to fit in a tool box or similar, as mentioned here.

The axe isn’t that special. It’s a Drapers with a hickory handle, so can’t complain. I’ve started restoration, sanding down the head and daily tong oil.

At least it has a nice wooden handle rather than a fiberglass one with no spring to it.

The punches and the dividers look like great tools for when you do get into leather. The block plane looks like a lovely thing too - I have one that I keep forgetting to remake the fingers for. One day!