Here is a little background on how it all began.
Back in 2014, I had a disastrous garage where I could barely get to my tools and had no real work surface. Out of frustration, I finally decided to clean up the mess, get organized and build a usable workshop. I searched online to see how similar size garages were setup and came across a few with vintage tools which were bought on a limited budget. I immediately knew this was the direction I wanted to go. I also realized the imported drill press, bench grinder, and vise I had needed to be replaced
Back in 2010, I remodeled our kitchen and saved the cabinets to use in the garage. These cabinets sat in the corner of the garage for 4 years so the first step was to find a good layout for them. After I cleared the mess, I found the cabinets would perfectly on the left wall of my 2 car garage. As I was getting ready to hang all the cabinets, I came across my first vintage tool. A 1940s Duro Mfg drill press which I ended up getting for a mere $40.
As you can see I didn't even have a bench to put it on.
The turning point was when I found a Wilton bench vise for sale on CL. I bought it and did a quick restoration on it.
This was meant to replace my Wilton multi vise, which I listed for sale after I restored this one.
One of the replies I received was looking for a Wilton bullet style vise. After emailing back and forth and showing the potential buyer a picture of the vise I restored, he made me an offer and we made the deal. Now that I learned that I could save some old iron, and make a profit doing so, I decided to start a small restoration business. Currently I mainly deal with old american made vises, but also, anvils, bench grinders, and other small equipment and machinery.
