Looking for rust hunting near Columbus GA

[johndi]

Will be in Columbus GA (Fort Benning) for son's graduation in late May.
Any where close by for rust hunting?

[doobes]

Good luck.

I've found that folks are not keen to share this type of info on an open forum.....

I'm not familiar with the area, so I can be of no further assistance.

[Steve N]

Hardly ever

Always plenty of rust, but I've never had too many friends.

[doobes]

Steve N said:

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Hardly ever

Always plenty of rust, but I've never had too many friends.

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Well I guess some folks respond differently.

I threw out a similar request when I moved up to northern VA and basically got a GFY response from the Woodnet members in the area who responded.

[Guest]

Rust hunting in most of the Deep South is usually an exercise in frustration. The really good, old hand tools were manufactured and sold between about 1860 and 1950. During that time period the South was struggling to recover from the devastation of the Civil War. Nobody here had money to buy tools. They made do with what they had - or not. It wasn't untill after WWII that the South began to recover and people had a little money to spend. I remember as a child in the 1950's seeing carpenters and handymen with tool totes filled with well-cared-for tools that were obviously very old and well used - probably passed down from parents, grandparents, etc., not much new stuff and power tools didn't start appearing in any quantity until the 1960s. Some areas of the South had manufacturing traditions that relied on good woodworking tools - the furniture industry in Western North Carolina is an obvious example, there are others. But, for the most part, the Deep South s a desert as far as quality rust hunting is concerned.

[Admiral]

+1 Plus, folks in the south have a respect for keeping family items, including tools, that get handed down through generations even though the current owner doesn't use them that doesn't mean the next gen won't. This seems like it an ethic that is starting to fade a bit, but it is totally lacking in my neck of the woods.

I've hunted rust in NC and SC and its much better in the northeast.

[Window Guy]

+ 1 I was born in the South went to college in Chicago, then moved back to the South. Tool hunting and wood source's are few and far between where I live. I lived in Atlanta for 16 years and Madison always had a nice gathering. If you never been to Highland Wood Working in Atlanta you might want to visit them, it is a neat place and not to terribley far away, but they sell new tools.


Steve

[Timberwolf]

I agree that the South is largely a wasteland for old tool hunters...They are more easily found in Florida where folks from "up north" come to retire and bring lots of their possessions with them. Estate sales can be lucrative. This may also be true along the warmer Southern Atlantic seaboard for the same reasons..Like Hilton Head, Jekyll and others Sea Islands.

[Carl Grover]

I'll be generous and give up two of my honey holes for rust because if I hear the South isn't worth a hoot for one more thing I'm gonna start crying and I don't want to embarrass Jack.

Interstate 65 10 miles South of the State line between Tennessee and Alabama has an antique store called "Candlelight antiques" that has a very good collection of tools. You can see it right from the interstate. Just get off at the next exit and hit the frontage road. I believe it is the Elkton exit. Pricing is very good except for the stuff in the glass cabinet.

There is also a flea market on the State line at the Ardmore, Tennessee exit called "Dog days" flea market that usually has something interesting and of a decent price. That place can be hit or miss though. I like it for people who are cleaning out Grandpa's barn and just want to get rid of things.

I'll also mention the Nashville flea market. It's best avoided. That place is a shark tank teeming with pros who charge the daylights out of everything. Anything decent will be snapped up by a vendor early Friday morning if not sooner.


Carl

[johndi]

Thanks Carl. Not sure how much time I'll have but GPS is my friend.