I found this little brown teapot at an estate sale in Ohio for $8. It had a mark on the bottom that looked like crossed arrows or something. I spent probably 6 months off and on googling that mark, posting in Facebook groups, all that. Finally last week I stumbled on a blog from a British pottery nerd who said the mark was actually a bird on a branch, not arrows. Turns out it's from a small potter in Staffordshire around 1880. Has anyone else had a maker's mark drive them crazy for way too long?
I grabbed an old Stanley plane from a flea market in Austin thinking I scored a bargain, but the sole is warped and the blade chatters like crazy. Tried sharpening and lapping it myself with sandpaper, but it just burns the wood instead of cutting smooth. Anyone got tips for fixing a warped plane bottom without a machine shop?
I dropped 15 bucks on a cute art deco vase from a flea market in Austin last weekend, thought it was a steal for the price. Got it home, filled it with water for some flowers, and now there's a slow drip coming from a hairline crack I totally missed. Anyone else ever get burned by a pretty antique that turned out to be totally useless?
I found this beautiful oak dresser at an antique mall in Portland for $120. Got it home and tried wiping it down with what I thought was a gentle wood cleaner, but it started bubbling the finish within seconds. I panicked and grabbed some mineral spirits I had in the garage, dabbed it on carefully with a rag, and luckily it stopped the damage before it spread. Anyone else almost ruin a piece by using the wrong cleaning stuff?
I picked up this old brass lamp at an estate sale near Dayton for $3 and could not figure out why the switch kept sparking. Finally, I took it apart and saw the wiring was totally frayed and wrapped the wrong way around the screw... an old electrician at the shop told me I had been stripping too much insulation off for years. He showed me the right way to hook it up and now the lamp works like a dream. Has anyone else had a simple fix change how they see old hardware?
I grabbed this ornate mirror from a Goodwill in Phoenix last week for $15, thinking it was a steal. Turns out every photo I take with it in frame comes out blurry, even on a tripod, and my cat won't stop hissing at it. Has anyone else found a mirror that just feels wrong, or am I being paranoid?
I was digging through a bin of rusty wrenches last Saturday and this guy next to me starts telling me about the old Stanley planes he restores. He said most people strip the patina off because they think it's just dirt, but that layer actually protects the tool and keeps it working smooth. Made me stop and think about how I've been tossing good finds in the trash because they looked ugly. Has anyone else passed up something old that ended up being way better than the new version?
I picked up this vintage Rival ice crusher for $8 last Saturday and it crushes ice way faster than my $40 electric one. How did we go backwards on something as simple as crushing ice?