Identifing Items

One of the tuff things about trying to identify items is when the item does not have a specify marking. If you are a new geer to certain items the internet has a wealth of information. The best way to start your research is to use different variations of the item you are looking for.For example. I have an item that I'm not sure what it may be called. I know that it is clearly marked on the bottom as to the manufacture, but I don't know what it is. When this happens use variations of what you think it may be. For this example I used one title and performed a broad search with just two words. After doing this I foumd what I was looking for.okay is a great place to start your search, but don't limit yourself. There are loads of other reputable auction houses and even the manufcaturer themselves that offer free pages (with pictures) to help identify and prive your stuff.Always remember you may not always be right, but if you are open to helpful gements and open to learning, you can go far and learn a lot. Happy Treasure Hunting.

How to Furnish a Small Living Room

You are excited about moving into your new home and eager to buy furniture to celebrate another new beginning. You have a vague idea of how you want the room to look when gepleted. But after moving in, and ready to begin your decorating project, you realize that the space is smaller than you thought. Dont be discouraged. Just because space is at a premium, you dont have to sacrifice style to make everything fit. One magic key to decorating smaller rooms is to choose multi-functional pieces whenever possible. To help you to decide how to plan your perfect living room and create an inviting place for yourself and your visitors, whether or not there is space to spare, here are few basic suggestions.BEFORE YOU BEGINTake measurements and write them down. Include window and door widths and architectural details that cant or shouldnt be removed, such as a structural wall, fireplace, or closet.Make a budget. This can be a useful tool to keep you focused and your project on track.Do you want to have someplace to relax and watch TV? Do you plan to entertain often? Will the space be occupied by adults only or do you have children? Decide what the main purpose and focus of your living room will be, and who will be using the room regularly.Make a list of the furnishings you would like to include. Rough sketch or draw where the pieces will go to give you a better idea of how it will look when gepleted.Appearances are everythingif possible repaint the room. Painting the room with a lighter color will make it appear larger. If you have a little extra time and money, plan on repainting the ceiling in one or two shades lighter than the color you selected for the wallsthis will make the ceiling appear higher.CHOOSING A STYLEStyle is a matter of personal taste and choice. Even if you dont have a label for it, you probably have a general idea of whether or not you prefer contemporary furniture over traditional or vice versa. A reflection of historical periods and past trends, TRADITIONAL furniture possesses a formal and stately air. Characterized by elaborate detail such as moldings, turned spindles, cabriole legs and intricate brass drawer pulls, a traditional living room will have a sense of classic grandeur. Since this style is also largely associated with rich woods such mahogany and walnut, choose traditional furnishings in lighter finishes to avoid making your room appear even smaller.CONTEMPORARY style focuses on function and form rather than ornamentation. Detailing is simplified and pared down; geometric forms are softened by curved corners. This style utilizes a variety of finishes, palettes and materials to create textural and visual interest. Contemporary furniture is gemonly constructed of lighter woods, exposed woods, rubber or plastic. A sub style of contemporary, urban furniture is minimalist in feel and smaller in scale. Designed specifically for apartment living, this style would be perfect for smaller sized living rooms.MODERN design emerged in the second half of the 20th century. Reflecting new technologies, materials and philosophies of the Machine Age, furniture is geometric or asymmetrical. Again, as in contemporary, the emphasis is on form and function. Surfaces are sleek and polished; chrome and glass are gemon construction materials. As design forms, Contemporary and Modern are often used interchangeably, but they are two distinctive styles. While both Contemporary and Modern emphasize geometric form and minimal detail, Contemporary furnishings tend to incorporate detailing and color whereas Modern furniture uses neutral palettes with minimal detail.TRANSITIONAL blends elements of Traditional and Contemporary styles. This style of furniture has a less formal appearance than more classic furnishings, while retaining the gefortable feel of contemporary pieces. Lines and forms tend to be simple yet sophisticated. Furniture is of a moderate scale, but upholstered pieces like sofas or armchairs can be overstuffed. Emphasis is on uncluttered detail. Transitional style makes use of texture rather than color so palettes tend to be muted or earth-toned. As demonstrated by the typical use of straight lines with tapered legs, transitional style uses contrast to create designs that are both functional and gefortable. Woods are lustrous with medium to dark finishes.COUNTRY furniture reflects the social customs of its region of origin. Old-style Country furniture tends to be heavy and constructed of wood in darker finishes. It is typically busy, with lots of detailing and flourishes, and can be as stately and elaborate as Traditional style furnishings. Largely due to European influences and the adaptation of Colonial furniture by pioneers from drastically different regional areas, later trends of Country style furniture used lighter finishes and simpler detail. They were also smaller in scale. Casual Country furniture style is usually constructed of wood, with milk-painted or natural wood finishes. Furnishings often include whimsical details such as hand-painted stenciling, hand-carved insets and gentle curves.WHAT WILL I NEED?SOMEPLACE TO SITWhile a sectional might be out of the question, there are still several fashionable seating options available to you when decorating a small living area.Look for sofas that are shorter in length. If you are unable to find one that will work in your space, select a love seat. Since love seats are designed for two people, they are smaller than a regular sofa and just as gefortable, while using less floor space.When decorating a small living room, planning for expected and unexpected guests might be a factor in the kind of couch you select for your living room. Sofa beds, also called sleeper sofas or hide-a-beds, are sofas with a bed frame and bed built into the unit. As needed, it can be unfolded from inside the couch and then retracted when not being used as a bed. Due to the bed mechanism, sofa beds tend to be heavier than regular sofas of the same size.Because of their dual naturea sofa by day, a bed at nightfutons are ideal for small living rooms. Once used to decorate dorm rooms and basement bedrooms, today the futon is a popular, stylish choice for the living room, family room, den or guest bedroom. Since the mattress sits directly on top of the futon frame, it is lighter and more user-friendly than a sofa bed.Choosing seating for a small room might be challenging, especially if your idea of relaxing is defined by a recliner or if you enjoy entertaining and want to have enough chairs for everyone. You might have to forgo the recliner due to the amount of room they need for clearance, but there are other options. Emphasize gefort and select accent chairs and armchairs that are not overstuffed, which sometimes can make the room feel cramped. By carefully choosing tables that can be used as seating, such as ottomans, storage cubes, trunks and chests, you will be able increase the rooms seating potential without sacrificing function or space.SOMEPLACE TO PUT THINGSAccent and accessory furniture increases the functionality of the room, improving its design and appeal. While you wont want the room to look cramped, perhaps you still want some place to put a coffee cup, a magazine or the remote control. When deciding what other additional pieces to include, such as a coffee table, end table or TV armoire, take into account the focus or purpose of the roomrelaxing, entertaining and multi-purpose. But keep in mind, too many small pieces of furniture will create the look you wanted to avoid in the first place. Dont be afraid to purchase large pieces of furniture, such as an entertainment center, but balance them with smaller items and sensible accessorizing.Entertainment centers gebine a number of features and geponents in one unit so that they can acgemodate an assortment of multi-media equipment, including your television. Most types gee with adjustable shelving and can be adapted to your existing or future entertainment needs. While they are available in a variety of sizes and configurations, they will take up a large percentage of your available space. However, it might be space well spent, since it is not only convenient to be able to store all of your entertainment devices in one place, but it will also help you to declutter the room.If you are having difficulty finding an entertainment centre that will fit, consider purchasing a TV armoire. TV armoires tend to be more gepact than other types of entertainment centers, yet offer similar features. Most kinds of TV armoires will include space for one or two other geponents, as well as storage options for DVDs, etc. Their distinguishing characteristic is the folding or retractable doors that allow you to hide the television out of sight when its not in use.Coffee tables, end tables and console tables accent any dcor, while giving you a place to park a bowl of popcorn, stash away the newspaper and put a lamp. However, depending on how much space you have to work with, they can disrupt the flow of the room or make the room appear crowded. A coffee table, for example, gemonly is placed off-center in the living room, in front of the couch. If you want the functionality of a coffee table, but would like to open up the room, use nesting tables instead. They generally gee in a set of two or three varying, corresponding sizes. They are versatile and can be moved around a room wherever they are needed, or they can be conveniently stacked together when not in use.If you have room for only a few items of furniture, a bookshelf might seem like a low priority. But like an entertainment center, bookcases use wall rather than floor space. They will give you somewhere to put reading materials, plants and pictures, and to display those other little touches that personalize your home. A shelving unit of some kind, in addition to or instead of an entertainment center will also increase your storage options, helping you to cut down on clutter.SOMETHING TO SEE BYLighting a room correctly is importantnot too dim, not too bright. Floor and table lamps are the most gemon choices for illuminating a living room, although both floor lamps and the end tables used to house table lamps can eat up valuable space in a small room. An unused corner might be the ideal place to put a floor lamp. If you cant do without at least one end table, selecting table lamps that do not have shades will make the area seem less crowded.However, if there really is no room for floor or table lamps, consider wall-mounted lighting such as sconces or lighting strips. Wall-mounted fixtures with extendable arms are also a practical choice. Keep lighting fixture details basic or minimal, as this will make the room less busy.Avoid ceiling fixtures, if at all possible. Overhead lighting, especially hanging ones, can make the ceiling appear lower and make the room feel less spacious.Maximize the natural light in the room with careful furniture placement and choice of window treatments. Stay away from bulky curtains: they will decrease the amount of available natural light and tend to make a small living room feel cramped. Choose instead a gebination of blinds or shades with sheers; this will open the room up. For the same reason, keep away from valances; they will also make the ceiling appear lower. If you do select curtains and it is an option, plan to move the rods up to the ceiling; this will give the impression of extra height.SOMETHING TO LOOK ATYou might have to be selective in the furnishings you choose when decorating a small living area, but accessorizing can fill in the blanks and make the room warm, inviting and personal. Again, as with your furniture layout, you dont want to display oversized or loud pictures on the walls that might overpower your small room.Dress up the walls with artwork. Select colors that will be geplementary to your dcor; avoid dark palettes.Perhaps you would prefer several framed posters with a similar theme or a grouping of black and white photographs.Add a wall mounted shadow box frame or two for displaying postcards, small pictures or memorabilia. A shadow box is a shallow, rectangular case with a glass front used to display small items and/or picturesthey have the added benefit of allowing you to change the display according to the season or your mood.Include a mirror. Mirrors are a perfect choice for decorating small rooms since they will make the space appear larger by reflecting light, both natural and artificial, around the room, which creates a sense of depth.MAKING IT WORKAfter deciding what furniture pieces will fit your space, determine where they will go. You want to be able to place all the pieces you have chosen in the room without blocking exits, windows and traffic flow. Take into account furniture that will need to be near power sources such as an entertainment unit or an end table where you plan to put a lamp.If the entertainment unit or TV armoire will look better on a wall not near a power source, see if there are alternatives, such as running an extension cord from the unit to the power bar.Arrange the larger items against the walls. This will leave the middle of the room open, giving the illusion of more space. Dont catty-corner furnishings: while placing furniture pieces on a diagonal can fill up larger spaces, in a small room it will have the same effect, making the room look cramped.Wherever possible, use open slat or lattice back occasional chairsthis will let light in and the furniture wont appear so solid. Along similar lines, when selecting units with doors, choose ones with glass fronts or mirrors to make the room feel larger and uncluttered.If you have chosen to include a television armoire or a wall unit with hinged doors in your floor plan, ensure that there will be enough clearance to open the doors easily.Choosing items with added storage and dual functionality will give you more places to put things. Being able to hide things away, especially in a room where extra space is an issue, will allow you to keep the room neater. And nothing can make a room feel cramped and small faster than clutter.If furniture pieces with added storage or dual functionality arent an option for your small living room, place baskets or storage trays in a section of a bookcase or shelving unit. Use them to store items you would like close at hand but dont want to leave lying around.When arranging knickknacks, collectibles, photos, etc., display them in groups in one main place or a couple of selected areas. Spreading them out around the room can make the room appear small and even untidy.

CAGNEY BROTHERS 1906 vintage "What to look out for"

CAGNEY BROTHERS Vintage 1906 15" Gauge
Now that I have sharpened my pencil let us get started on a very informed Review

Beware! buying .925 sterling silver

Be very carefull!
Who in the world would of thought that someone would ever try to fake .925 sterling silver? But they do. My wife and I use to and still do run a small booth at a local flea market. We are always looking for things we can buy and sell. My wife likes jewerly, and I like cars. After searching for a long time, we found someone (alot of sellers actually)selling with GREAT deals on sterling silver, rings, bracelets and necklaces. Being that are ingee couldnt support a huge about of gold, or platinum items, we started buying the .925 sterling silver items. And let me just say, how impressed and happy we we're when we received them. BUT.....how sorely mistaken we truely were. See something you 1st have to understand about sterling silver is that people don't tend to even think to check them to see if they are real. And 6 out of the 6 jewerly stores, and 4 out of 4 pawn shops, we called, or went to wouldnt even "waste" the time to check it as well. It was only after several of my friends, seeing the massive amounts of sterling silver we were starting topile upbegan to ask questions. At this point, we had not sold any of them, and I am so thankfull we didn't! We were still waiting on all the items to gee in, before setting up to sell them. Thanks to a very close friend, who always use to collect jewerly he took a very close look at my stuff and claimed out right it was fake. THE JEWERLY WAS CLEARLY MARKED.....925, and it WAS CLEARED STATED in the add we bought it from it was .925 sterling silver. What it was in reality was crome coated lead. I litterly had some very good friends of mine arguing back in forth with each other with the items in hand saying it was real. And then listing several reasons it was. And again the "experts" wouldn't even take the time to test my jewerly. Thank God, aold businessfriend of mine runs a jewerly store, and took the time to test it. Or else I could of easily ruined our reputation, buy selling things that were fake. Don't let that happen to you.
So how can you avoid this............
Ask the seller outright if it is REAL sterling silver. I went back and emailed 1 and they quickly told me it wasn't but looked just like the real thing.Remember though, they cleared said on their selling sheet it was real! And only when confronted with a direct question did they say it wasn't. Then sadly when I asked another 1 of the sellers the same question they responded with, " It says 925 on it" atleast they told me what it said, but even theirs wasn't real.In our case we lost more then 300dollars. I paid to learn this lesson, you can know it for free.
How else can you avoid buying fake stuff?
Well....people now days are more educated about things then ever. We can simply log onto the internet, and discover things that it took more experienced people a life time to learn. Thanks to google wikepedia ect. Most people won't sell anything for less then its worth. Their are a few auction items you can buy fairly cheap, and sometimes you can get lucky and grab a good deal in bulk. ALSO ask questions! If it takes someone a long time to get back to you, you were better off not buying from that person in the 1st place. If they tell you what you are going to buy is what you think and you find out it isnt, well you have documented proof that they said that. And as long as you can show proof it isn't getting your money back is easy to do.
Be carefull
If i'm going to buy from someone and see that they have negative feedback, I don't automatically rule that person out. I try to click on the person's name that gave them that feedback, and look at some other feedback they left. Did you know by doing that, I found a person that gave 9 out of 10 items, from 10 different sellers all negative feedback! How quick I was to block that person from buying from us, and I'm glad I did. Just take some time to research who it is your buying from, just like you would with the item you are buying.
Hope this helps, best of luck! Be safe. In total, we spent over 700.00dollars.

Check List -- Do before you repair an old bicycle.

WARNING: Getting rusted freewheels and rusted cables to work as described below could be dangerous to the rider, causing the rider to have a wreck and injuring the rider. Bending metal as described below could be dangerous. Bending weakens the metal, and could cause the metal to break while someone is riding the bicycle, causing the rider to have a wreck and causing injury to the rider.
Do not fix a biycle as described below if someone else is going to ride it because they might be injured and blame you for the injury. If you will be the only one riding the bicycle, then you may have a wreck and be injured if youfix the bicycle using some of the unsafe methods which are described below.
The only reason I am telling about how tofix bicycles by the methods described below is that manypeople use those methods tofix old bicycles, although some of those methods can cause the bicycle to be unsafe to ride.If you buy an old bicycle, you may assume that the bicycle may have beenfixed so that it could be riddenby using some of the unsafe methods described below.
1. Check the wheels to see if they will be usable. Turn the wheels in the frame to see any obvious problems, such as rims bent, excessive looseness in the bearings, broken spokes, and spoke nipples that won't turn, Check the spoke nipples to see if they will turn by trying to loosen them.
If the inside of a spoke nipple has corroded so much that it will not turn when you try to tighten it, it will usually turn if you try to loosenit. The corrosion which was binding the nipple and the spoke together will usually break loose when you try to loosen the nipple. Thenthe nipplewill turn when you try to tighten it. If your spoke wrench is slightly too large for the nipple, you will round the corners of the nipple so that you will never be able to tighten the nipple. Spokes which were corroded so that you had to break the corrosion loose by loosening the nipple could be near the point of breaking and could be dangerous by breaking while someone is riding the bicycle. It would be saferto replacethem with new spokes instead of trying to save them.
Bent rims can be straightened fairly easily without any special tools, even when bent pretty badly in a wreck (see my article on strainghtening bent rims). But, bending metal can weaken it, causing it to break later, causing injury or death to the rider.
Check to see if the frame is bent or broken anywhere. Bent frames and forks can be straightened without any special tools, but bending metal can possible cause it to break later, causing injury or death to the rider.
2. Turn the crank and see if the chainrings (front sprockets) are bent. See if there is excessive looseness in the crank bearings which might indicate broken bearings or broken cup. If you don't feel roughness in the bearings, and if the sprocket doesn't wobble, it may just need to be tightened.
On one-piece cranks, check to see if the crank arms are bent, and if they are, straighten them or replace them. They can be straightened, but bending metal could cause it to break later causing injury to the rider.
3. Check derailleuts to see if they are bent or have broken or have missing parts. If axle mount derailleur, check to see if the dropout on the bicycle frame has been bent making the slot too wide where the rear wheel axle goes into the frame. If bent, the dropout can be straightened if it doesn't break while straightening. Also, bending metal weakens it and could cause it to break later, causing injury to the rider.
4. Check brake levers and shifters to see if they are usable. If you decide to fix the bicycle, check to see if any grease is left in the wheel bearings. If you want to do it really cheap, and not do it the right way, put some motor oil in the bearings without looking at them. If you want to do it the right way, put some grease in the bearings if needed. Adjust wheel bearings so the wheel turns freely with almost no play in the bearings. Don't tighten the bearings too much because they will get a little tighter when you mount the wheel in the frame.
Take tires off, straighten bent rims, tighten spokes, and true the rims. File off any spoke ends that are sticking through the nipples. Check tires for cuts etc. Feel inside tires and remove anything sticking in the tire that might punch a hole in the tube.
5. Do crank bearings the same way you did the wheel bearings. Straighten bent front sprockets and bent teeth on front sprockets. See if crank arms on 3-piece crank will tighten. If cottered arms won't tighten, replace the cotter pin. See if pedals are screwed into the crank arm as tight as they will go. Oil pedal bearings if they won't turn freely.
6. Do head bearings the same way you did the wheel bearings. See if handlebar and stem can be tightened enough so they won't slip.
WARNING: Putting oil in wheel bearings or in freewheel could be dangerous. The reasons are explained below. The oil could get on the rim, causing the brakes to not work, causing the rider to have a wreck. Putting oil in a freewheel that won't turn backwards could fix the freewheel, but it may not be fixed good and could fail at any time, causing the rider to have a wreck.
7. Straighten bent derailleurs. If freewheel won't turn backwards easily, run some oil in the crack on the freewheel, with some rags to catch any oil to prevent the oil from running down a spoke onto the rim. It would be dangerous to the rider if oil gets on the rim. Lay bicycle or wheel on its left side for several minutes or an hour until all the excess oil runs out onto the rags.
If the freewheel bearings are rusted and will not let the freewheel turn backwards at all, put some WD-40 in the freewheel and then work the bearings loose until the freewheel will turn backwards freely and will not turn forward. Just put pressure trying to turnthe freewheel counterclockwise, and then trying to turn it back clockwise. Do this many times until the freewheel will turn counterclockwise freely. Then, put some heavier oil in the freewheel Leave wheel laying on its side long enough so that all excess oil runs out and is caught on a rag.
WARNING: Putting oil in a freewheel as described above could cause the bicycle to fail, causing the rider to have a wreck, and causing injury to the rider. If the freewheel starts working, it may not be catching good and may slip when the rider is pedaling, causing the rider to have a wreck, and causing injury to the rider. Also, if oil gets on the rim, it could cause the brake to not work, causing the rider to have a wreck.
8. WARNING. Fixing rustec cables as described below may be dangerous to the rider, causing the rider to have a wreck and to be injured.
Cheap way to fix rusted brake and shifter cables: If the inner cable wire will not slide in the casing, or will not slide easily, it may be rusted. Run some oil or WD-40 into the cable without taking the wire out. Make some kind of little cup out of paper that you can fasten to the top ot the cable. Put several drops of oil in the cup and hang the cable so that the oil will run down into the cable with the wire in the cable housing until the oil gees out the bottom of the cable. Of course, it is better to take the inner cable wire out of the cable, sand the rust off, and twist the inner cable to see if any of the strands of wire will break where rusted (twist to see if it breaks before sanding. (Do not get any oil in friction shifters or on rim of wheel). If the inner cable will not slid at all, bend the cable everywhere by pulling it over a round object such the handle of a hammer.
WARNING: Rusted cable may break at any time, causing the rider to have a wreck and causing injury to the rider. It would be safer to replace the rusted inner cable than to make it work by sanding it and oiling it.
9. Adjust rear derailleur so that it will not push the chain off the largest cog and get the chain wedged between the largest cog and the spokes. Adjust so that the chain will not gee off the smallest cog on the outside. If index shifter, adjust so that it goes into each gear properly.
Adjust front derailleur so that the chain will not gee off the smallest front sprocket on the inside, and will not be pushed off the largestfront sprocket on the outside.
Put some oil on the pivot points of derailleurs and let the oil run into it. Don't let oil drip onto wheel spokes because it might get on the rim, and that would be dangerous to the rider.
10. Stretch new brake cables by pulling the brake lever fairly hard several times, then readjust brakes. Check to see if brakes squeal, and if they do, toe in the shoes so that the front part of the shoehits the rim slightly before the rear part of the shoe touches the rim.
11. Measure 24 links of the chain and if it measures 12 1/8 inches or more, it is time to replace the chain. However, it might be best to not replace the chain if the sprockets, front or rear, are worn too much. If you put a new chain on a sprocket that is worn too much, a new chain may ride up a tooth and JUMP over the tooth while the rider is pedalling. This could be dangerous. In this case, the chain AND the front and rear sprockets would need to be replaced, but this might be too expensive on a cheap bicycle.

LIQUIDATION.COM NOT BUYER FRIENDLY

IF YOU ARE A BUYER STAY AWAY FROM THIS gePANY - I WON AN AUCTION FOR 168 ASSORTED PAIRS OF EARRINGS - THE PICTURES THAT WERE DISPLAYED WERE TOTALLY DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WAS SENT TO ME. LIQUIDATION.ge REFUSED TO LET ME RETURN THEM. THIS gePANY CATERS TO THEIR SELLERS AND DO NOT SEEM TO CARE ABOUT THE SATISFACTION OF THEIR BUYERS. IN ANOTHERAUCTION EXPERIENCE I WAS SENT THE WRONG ITEMS AND IT TOOK MORE THAN A MONTH TO GET IT RECTIFIED AND IN ANOTHER ONE I WAS SENT CHEESY MERCHANDISE. IF YOU ARE A BUYER I SUGGEST YOU STAY AWAY FROM LIQUIDATION.ge UNLESS YOU ENJOY BEING HUMILIATED - I WILL NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH THEM AGAIN - I WILL STICK TO okay WHO IS FAIR TO BOTH BUYERS AND SELLERS.

Make your own glasses cleaning solution

Use Electronics grade, 90-99%, isopropyl alcohol and distilled water.
Use a cleansoft cloth, new coffee filter to wipe, or zig zag cigarette paper
Make solution 1:1 with alcohol and distilled water.
Hope this helps!