Throughout his working life and well into his retirement Russell could be seen raising his paddle at tool auctionsMost notably at sales by David Stanley Auctions in Leicestershire and those by the Michigan firm of Brown Tool Auctions in Pennsylvania. on both sides of the Atlantic as he bid for some of the finest tools on offer.John Adamson, "American tools sold abroad", Maine Antique Digest, December 2012, pp. 34–53.
