It all began with the purchase of an antique lamp at the Pickering Flea Market back in the late 1970’s…
I was with my then high school girlfriend – the girlfriend stuck around and we celebrated our fourtieth last weekend. The antique bug stuck around too. After engineering school in the mid-1980’s; I fancied myself a hobbyist wooden boat restorer. I bought my first antique hand plane at a local yard sale. The guy who sold me the plane and another old guy in town became my antique hand tool mentors. It was 1988 and I was so hard-bit that I was a user; a collector; and a hobby-dealer all in that same year.
I started as a British hand tool collector; did a 5-year stint as an Infill Plane Maker; returned to antique tools collecting and selling of American patent tools. Almost concurrently, I decided to collect tools with significant Canadian history. Initially, I thought that this would be a limited endeavour; however, it has turned out that there were many interesting Canadian pieces to uncover.
It is the collector in me that pushes me to travel long distances in search of quality tools. I am familiar with what hand tool users need and want. I also know the common damage and missing-part areas on most hand tools. I sell competitively because I buy extremely well and in large quantities.
My shed is half museum and half warehouse. I enjoy putting great pieces of history in front of craftsperson’s so, that they know what came before. I hope it inspires them.
Drop in sometime…
Doug
