Tools

enjenjo · January 02, 2006, 07:41:01 PM

How much emotional attachment do you have to your tools? Not that way Tony! Sicko!

I have some of my Grandfather's tools he gave me before he passed. Every time I pick one up, I think of him. Others were presents from those who who mean a lot to me. Using them is special too.

Others in the years I have owned them have picked up a dent, or scratch, or other defect here or there, and using them reminds me how it happened. I have a Craftsman 5/8" combo wrench, one of a set I bought in 1960, my first tools. It is worn nearly to the point that I can put it on an 11/16" nut, but it is still my favorite of the several I own. It has never let me down, and is one of the few tools left from that first set.

Of course when I buy tools, they have to look right, but more important, they have to feel right. It's hard to describe, but when it's right, you can feel it just holding it in your hand. For that reason, I don't like SnapOn ratchets, they just don't feel right. Although, I have some very old SnapOn ratchets, and they do feel right. Go figure

Do the rest of you get attached to your tools too?

EMSjunkie · January 02, 2006, 08:00:34 PM

I inherited several of my Dads tools when he passed away.
like you, I think of him every time I use one.

My Dad would only use Craftsman tools.

"why by 3 or 4 cheap ones, when you can buy 1 good one"

hope to pass some of them along to my son one of these days.

Vance

SKR8PN · January 02, 2006, 08:30:08 PM

I was just thinking the very same thing the other day Frank. I have quite a fewf tools I inherited from my uncle Pete. I used that old style Snap-on ratchet of his the other day,(the ones the feel right)and that is what brought it to mind. I also have a couple of pieces I got fom my dad,and one of my dads best friends. Brings back memories every time I pick one up.
On the subject of old craftsmen wrenches,I have a 16-18 mm double box end that I have had for about 30 years. It is marked wrong! The 16 and the 18 are switched, and the very first time I used that thing, I cussed it something fierce

but I still have it

I also have the very first(and ONLY) set of Harris torches that I bought brand new back in 1975.

rooster · January 02, 2006, 10:52:04 PM

I still have most of my Wizzard sockets from the 60's, its allway special to me when I use them. Resently got grandfather anvil, I dont see that leaving the family anytime soon!

Bib_Overalls · January 02, 2006, 11:38:51 PM

My Grandfather was a carpenter. My Aunt, who is in my care, has some of his tools. She is 90 and the last of her generation. We have been talking lately about her stuff. When the time comes I am going to get the mechanic's tools, there a just a couple, but the carpentry tools will go to one of my cousins. He is the grandson of a carpenter, the son of a carpenter, and a carpenter himself. I would like to have them, as would one of my brothers, but we would not treasure them like my carpentering cousin. So that is where they must go.

Roadstar · January 03, 2006, 07:43:15 AM

I feel the same way Frank.

Kinda strange how we get so attached to somethig like a certian socket or that one special tool you have in the third drawer that comes in handy once in a while.

I love my tools

WZ JUNK · January 03, 2006, 08:11:04 AM

I have some of my great grandfather's blacksmith tools and some of my grandfather's mechanic tools. I also have some of my father's mechanic tools. Many of these tools I only use once in a while. Last week my son and I were scraping some paint off of the railings that go on our front porch and preparing them for repainting. I went to where I store my great grandfather's tools and got two paint scrapers that he had hand made. They are kept in a toolbox that he hand made about 1920 when he first started carpenter work. Before I retired teaching Industrial Arts I would take some of these old tools to school occasionally and demonstrate them.

I have most of the original Craftsman tool set, and the small metal tool box they came in, that my wife bought me for Christmas the first year we were married. I have some Snapon tools but most of my stuff is Craftsman. I need a new roll around toolbox but the one I am using in one that my wife and children bought me for my birthday a few years back. I wish I could retrofit the drawers with ball bearing slides.

When I loose or break a tool it is like a death in the family.

Bob Paulin · January 03, 2006, 10:07:43 AM

Quote from: "rooster"I still have most of my Wizzard sockets from the 60's, its allway special to me when I use them. Resently got grandfather anvil, I dont see that leaving the family anytime soon!

What you have there, Rooster, is what appears to be about half of a blacksmith's swage (or swedge) block....not an anvil.

It appears that a few of the holes have been filled in..... but two different-sized half-holes remain along the bottom....where the block appears to have been cut.

Some have different-sized square and/or triangular through-holes also.

You'll notice in the picture both convex and concave shapes of different sizes along the near and top edges.

It looks like V-shaped shapes along the far edge, and I would guess there were half-square shapes along the missing bottom portion.

Smithys used these blocks to get shapes of various sizes started/finished.

We had one in the spring shop I worked in for two years, and we used it to shape spring leaves and U-bolts....among other things such as brackets, hangers, etc. It is certainly one handy tool.

I just missed out bidding on a complete swage block in good shape a while back. I was up to $300, but got beaten out by someone who wanted it $100 MORE than I did.

B.P.

tonto1 · January 03, 2006, 10:30:04 AM

I still use the roll around chest that my father built for me when I was in my apprenticeship. Some times the drawers are not large enough to hold all the tools, but I still like it well enough that I'm not going to use anything else.As the rest of you have said, I think of him when I'm using it. Which is almost every day.

Uncle Bob · January 03, 2006, 11:22:55 AM

Frank, I think there's a lot to your comment about the feel of a tool. A "good" tool just seems to help do a better job. I hate to use cheap borrowed tools, you know, like when you're visting a relative or friend and need to help them fix something, and all they have are junk tools from the 99 cent store. I find it interesting that as we became more able in our skills, our appreciation of what makes a "good" tool increased. Is it that the tool is really better, or is it our improved abilities make the tool seem better? Perhaps it's a happy symbiosis. Perhaps that's why it's so hard to get the message across to youngsters (and some oldsters) that they're usually wasting money buying cheap tools.

All this reminds me of one of my grandfather's favorite little "jokes"; "This is the best shovel I've ever owned. I've replaced the head twice and the handle three times, and it just keeps on going!"

40 · January 03, 2006, 11:32:20 AM

Interesting topic......All of the mechanics tools and carpenter tools that were handed down unfortunately were stolen several years ago when my shop was broken into.They were all replaced by the insurance company but definately don't hold the same memories

enjenjo · January 03, 2006, 11:34:11 AM

I think Bob, that like anything else, you have to learn to appreciate good tools. Coffee all pretty much tastes the same to me, but I can tell Coke from Pepsi by the taste. Until you have used good tools, cheap tools seem fine.

blksheep · January 03, 2006, 01:40:23 PM

My tools are very special to me, as well.
These tools were part of my divorce settlement.
It cost me a lot (read a ton) of money for me to keep my tools.
And now, how nice. Everytime I pick one up, I think of her.

blksheep..."Never toss pebbles at a man standing on a rock pile... with a gang of his friends"...in Charlotte

1FATGMC · January 03, 2006, 02:11:18 PM

I got a number of tools from my dad that were his along with ones he had accumulated from his family before him. I have two drills like in the picture that must go back maybe to the 30's I'm guessing. If you could anchor them to something I think you could spin the planet. My dad's uncle my great uncle was a tin smith and I have tool boxes he made and tools he had that I use all the time. My dad passed away about 4 years ago at 94 and I've really enjoyed using these tools and know that they were in his hands. I have lots of other stuff from him also, like a Johnson 5 hp Sea Horse outboard that I'm sure still runs. He was meticulous about maintenance as that is what he did at a power plant. Not too much of that rubbed off on his son

.

Another family item I have is this cannon that was my great grandfather's on my dad's side. It fires 10 gauge black power blanks and it is LOUD. I'm going to try and remember to take it to the "bend in the road" this year at b'ville. Nothing there will be louder. I fired it off at a friend's house New Year's Eve in New Mexico. It was from Winchester Repeating Arms Co. and this one was used to start yacht races in Ottawa, Canada. I've had it in the store and a number of Europeans have wanted to buy it, but it isn't for sale. My dad use to fire 3 shells on the 4th and 3 shells on New Years. Before I fired it the other day the last time I heard it was in the 60's, but I see from his records in the shell box he fired it last in '94.

The paper weights next to it are from my grandmother and are very old. I also have quilts we use that are from around 1870.

Another picture of the cannon. Wait until you guys here this at b'ville!!! Like some of you I still have almost every tool I bought over the years. The sears tool box (small one) and tool set I bough in the Navy in '64 are still used to build all of my projects and take with me in 1FATGMC. I finally exchanged a 3/8 inch drive ratchet that started slipping at Sears the other day. I don't like the new one as well, but 40 years of service out of the other one ain't bad

.

Thanks for starting this thread Frank it is always good to think about family, especially this time of the year.

c ya, Sum

Dave · January 03, 2006, 06:08:27 PM

Quote from: "enjenjo"How much emotional attachment do you have to your tools? Not that way Tony! Sicko!

I have some of my Grandfather's tools he gave me before he passed. Every time I pick one up, I think of him. Others were presents from those who who mean a lot to me. Using them is special too.

Others in the years I have owned them have picked up a dent, or scratch, or other defect here or there, and using them reminds me how it happened. I have a Craftsman 5/8" combo wrench, one of a set I bought in 1960, my first tools. It is worn nearly to the point that I can put it on an 11/16" nut, but it is still my favorite of the several I own. It has never let me down, and is one of the few tools left from that first set.

Of course when I buy tools, they have to look right, but more important, they have to feel right. It's hard to describe, but when it's right, you can feel it just holding it in your hand. For that reason, I don't like SnapOn ratchets, they just don't feel right. Although, I have some very old SnapOn ratchets, and they do feel right. Go figure

Do the rest of you get attached to your tools too?

I have a lot or should I say had till the big robbery.
Actually I made out pretty good. Ive got everything I need to work I think :?: and all brand new. I even bought some different things when the insurance company finially cashed me out .(you all should remember that deal). One of the coolest things I got was a milwalkee (spelling) battery operated 1/2 inch impact. Its sweet and for anyone that is interested i just saw em on sale again on the sears web site. 2 batterys and a quick charger and ive used it on 3 or 4 cars now removing and replacing the wheels. I like it ... Im still having trouble finding my tools cause the boxes are arainged different now but ive got tools.........
Dave