Fast Times in Hersey, Pennsylvania

Can I be honest? I don’t really care about cars. I grew up in a family that was obsessed with antique autos, but the bug never bit me. I can’t even drive stick.

So why did I drive 6 hours each way and spend three days at the Hershey Pennsylvania Antique Auto Show? Because this show is the world’s largest automotive flea market and a few years ago, I figured something out: car guys have a lot of woodworking tools. I mean, a lot.

I’m not even sure where they come from. How does a guy who sells Ford Model A carburetors also end up with a pair of mint-condition jointer planes? I have no idea. Lucky for me, the guy selling them has no idea what a “jointer plane” even is. And he has no idea what they’re worth.

My father has gone to this show for over 40 years and my older brother has been going since he was 18. I never gave it much thought. They disappeared for a few days in October and came back with a bunch of crap I don’t care about.  But a few years ago, it occurred to me that with 10,000 vendors, there might be some stuff from me. And, my dad and brother would let me sleep on their hotel room floor. So I said what the hell.

Three days later, I came home with a literal car-load of tools, materials, and supplies for my shop. It was insane. I bought planes for $2.00, good spokeshaves for a buck.  I bought a 1950s Craftsman 6 inch belt and disk sander, fully restored, for $60.00. How is this possible? Because car guys don’t care about woodworking tools. And thank god for that.

This was my third year the show and I arrived loaded for bear. I had a pocketful of cash, a new pair of shoes, and a heart filled with greed.

And then it rained. And it rained some more. 

It didn’t stop us. My father and brother are hardened road-dogs. They’ve been coming to this show since the fields were dirt and a rainstorm meant mud up to your knees. Everything’s paved now. Rain is a mere annoyance.

But many of the vendors are cut from less hardy stock. Rather than open for business in the rain, they got drunk and slept for a whole day. I still bought a ton of stuff.

My last day at the show, the weather was grand and I gobbled up tools and materials as fast as I could. Now that I own a woodworking business, I spend a lot of time with the vendors who sell consumables. Know what woodworkers and metal workers have in common? Abrasives.

I bought sandpaper, wet-or-dry sandpaper, sending belts, grinding wheels, cutting discs, flap-discs, and everything else you can possibly buy made from aluminum oxide. I bought at least six months’ worth of abrasives for every machine I own for less than $200. I would estimate that I spent less than 30% of what this stuff would have cost me retail.

And sure, there were tools. Four or five planes, a Disston backsaw, an English wheel for shaping metal. Two smithing hammers. A couple dozen chisels, punches, and drifts in various sizes. A magnifying visor. A third-hand for soldering.  Empty glue bottles. 

I purchased a wooden cooper’s plane from Perth, Australia, of all places. It was $5. My heart was filled with joy. 

Here’s a shot of the whole horde. I'll be honest, it’s less than most years because the rain really did slow me down, but it’s still an awful lot of stuff for the money I spent. And this year, I came home with something unusual: leftover money. And that money will go straight into the bedside drawer where it will wait for next year when I’ll do it all over again.

Hail, hail, rock and roll!