stories of tools found

[48windsor]

I thought this would be a fun thread.
Ive found probably half my tools. Thank you forgetful people .
I drive a mixer so Im on the road alot. One year I logged 147 found tools.
Iguess Ive developed an eye for them . It is like a sickness ,I got to pick up lost tools. Its also the exhilaration of whats it gonna be. Snap on Matco etc.
One of my most recent funny stories is .... I thought I was paying it forward. I had worked on my truck and lost a socket in the black abyss. So I counted it as lost. Here is the funny part . A year later I stopped to get the mail at end of long gravel drive , and I find a socket. Cool free tool. Than I looked closer and had to laugh it was mine !I know it because I put my initials on my tools.
So share your stories

 

[48windsor]

Wish I had a $1.00 for every 10 mm wrench or socket I ve found . Id be a wealthy man.
I actually started tool sets for my grand children.

 

[Chaznsc]

I’m your supplier. I never find anything.

 

[Cougar]

Found a Snap-On ratchet on the road.

 

[mjeff87]

All of mine have been in junkyards. Picked up a Benchmade Mel Pardue, a 3 foot crowbar, about $37 in change and loose bills so far, and a few assorted hand tools/sockets/wrenches/etc.

 

[jchetty]

Found a 2 foot, 3/8” drive MAC extension in my engine bay. 1st car I ever owned. The mechanic was trying to fix an earlier mishap that caused my oil light to come on.

Still have that tool almost 20 years later. That tool is the reason I learned to work on cars. Man I was angry.

 

[epmills]

Opened the hood on a customers car, 1/4" snap on air ratchet laying by the strut tower. VERY rough shape, it had been there for a while. Talked with the customer, she didn't know a thing about it. Mine now! Sent it in to SO and had them rebuild it, came back like new for I think 130 or so bucks. Still have it 10+ years later.

 

[didit]

A friend of mine and myself were driving through the Detroit/Windsor tunnel. Suddenly there was the amplified, distinctive clang of a wrench bouncing on the tunnel roadway. Great acoustics in that tunnel. My friend smiles and says...that's my 9/16" Snap-On and slams on the binders, runs back and picks it up. Lucky no one was right behind us. The wrench never had a mark on it.

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Out on a deserted road coming back from launching my boat in the heat of summer I found a nearly new large aluminum pipe wrench. Grabbed it before realizing it was HOT! Like well over 100* hot! OUCH. But I still have it.

 

[ynned]

Opened the hood on a customers car, 1/4" snap on air ratchet laying by the strut tower. VERY rough shape, it had been there for a while. Talked with the customer, she didn't know a thing about it. Mine now! Sent it in to SO and had them rebuild it, came back like new for I think 130 or so bucks. Still have it 10+ years later.

A hundred and thirty bucks for a quarter inch rachet? I'd hope you still have it after ten years, I'd have it forever, framed and on long-term loan to a museum.
Chripes, a hundred and thirty bucks.

 

[Shiftless]

I think this qualifies. I found this old Reed in a neighbor’s dumpster. Seized up with rust of course but I enjoy bringing old vises and other tools back from the dead. Here are before and after pics.

 

[jb3]

I dropped a large fuel tank on a 30 year old bus and found wire strippers sandwiched between the tank and the bracket above. I was adding a heated fuel pickup, there was no reason anyone would have dropped the tank prior (drew from the bottom), so those wire strippers probably came from the factory and rode around on that bus for 30 years and half a million miles.

 

[epmills]

A hundred and thirty bucks for a quarter inch rachet? I'd hope you still have it after ten years, I'd have it forever, framed and on long-term loan to a museum.
Chripes, a hundred and thirty bucks.

New is 350...

 

[^&right]

Found a set of Snap On channel locks and a Mac 1/4 swivel head ratchet plus various open end wrenches.

Last week I found a set of $150 binoculars with strap in the side of the road. The rubber armor was a bit nicked, but they work just fine.

A carpenters square

Found a kitten sitting in the middle of the road once. Named him Lucky. Best car I ever had. Great mouser.

 

[1320stang]

Was at the local LKQ you pick, found an 18v Dewalt Impact driver in the back of an SUV. It was hidden under a piece of carpet. I left it as I found it, came back an hour later and it was still there, so in my bag it went.

Another time I was at Pull-A-Part pulling parts on a Ford Festiva, found a socket rail laying on the windshield wiper full of sockets, put them in my bag, called a Festiva buddy to see if he needed any parts, he said he'd picked it the day before. I asked him if he'd lost anything, he said yeah my... we said "socket rail" at the same time. Its in my bag...

 

[Firebrick43]

When I was in the corps(camp pendleton), a friend and I had a 4 day weekend so we went to bakersfield on the 5, to lake isabella, down to edwards air force base and wheeled several places. Stopped at the first gas station friend let out some curse words as he had forgotten his snap on screw driver on the bumper after changing out a tail light bulb. Forgot which two lane highway it was but on the way back we actually found the screwdriver, thru his front tire just a few miles south of that gas station. That was irony

 

[Jazz1]

I have 6 axes, bought my first and found the rest, some vintage including a Walters. Found long handled Napa 1/2" drive ratchet last fall on the road. Also found a 1/2" drive GRAY ratchet in floor of my sauna shortly after buying house 22 year ago.
Had a water pump replaced at Freightliner near Kearny Mo. Next stop Toronto On. I found 2 Crescent wrenches laying on top of engine.

 

[48windsor]

great stories .
Gotta love when using a tool found ... and saying to yourself sure glad I picked this up.
Found a 1/4 in. drive Matco swivel head ratchet

 

[NYBODYMAN]

I was taking the cowl panel and windshield wipers off of a new Mercedez ML SUV back in the day (early 2000's). Upon pulling the plastic cowl cover, I found an odd, definitely German/foreign hammer sitting in the wiper trough. Hans or Franz must have left it there on a Friday afternoon. Unfortunately I didn't care to keep it and another guy took it.

 

[IMCA38]

I was out walking along a paved road a few years ago and at the edge of the pavement, there was a tire iron (spoon). Given the color and location, I’m not sure how easy it would have been to see from a vehicle.
Took it home, cleaned it up and hit it with some gray paint, looks great. Now hanging by my tire machine.

That being said, if anyone ever tears down our former house, or does extensive remodeling in the attic, they’re likely to come across a pair of Craftsman dykes buried in the insulation someplace!

 

[woody 73]

I am sure I already told this story on the GJ but maybe it is worth retelling again....

My brother in law wanted a new top of the line Estwing hammer, (he lives in England) So I went out and bought him the mother of all Estwings and we gave it to him on a trip over the big pond. Well a short time later we get this message from a grown man crying that he lost his hammer, and he knows where it is...

Wait for it, wait...he laid it down on a house roof and they put the new roof over it before he could say Mother of G-D or something along those lines, no way to ever recover that brand new hammer. So to my GJ brothers and sisters over there somewhere under a roof you will find a brand new Estwing hammer.

 

[Thirdyfivepickup]

my first tool find was walking at a swap meet at a racetrack... found a utility knife that I still have some 30 years later. Had some work done on my car at a dealership and a few days later I found a small rack of 1/4" drive MAC sockets. I took those back to the dealership. The tech thanked me. Found a 3/8 drive Snap On ratchet about 25 years ago in the parking lot of a NAPA. That one is still with me as well.

 

[johninct]

I have been finding new tools in my box. I have bought tools, they did not work out for me so there they sit. Example, I bought Snap-On wobble extensions in 3 drive sizes. Tried one once , did not work out so never used them again. For the fun of it, I tried a 1/4" one on a job and it worked much better than the way I have done that job so I will be now looking for new uses.

 

[toolmiser]

I had some work done on my truck, about 6 miles away. I got it home that night and was looking over the truck and noticed a snap on torque wrench on the running board. I took it back the next day and the mechanics wife (small operation) said he was missing it and it was one of the first tools he had ever purchased. It would have bothered me to keep it.

 

[kaymccampbell]

The only tools I find are the ones who chuck their bottles n cans into my yard.

 

[Firebrick43]

The only tools I find are the ones who chuck their bottles n cans into my yard.

You actually track them down??? I been thinking about it, as I live one beer away from the local and only bar here. Well I am sure some it’s their second roadie.

 

[Bessy]

Found a 20oz Estwing framing hammer in the parking lot of the marina, a few of the yellow handled fuller screw drivers over the years, pry bar. Most recently I found a pair of tin snips while stripping a roof for my neighbor. He had bought another set after losing them apparently long ago, so he told me "treasure hunter's rules."

Unfortunately, most recently the best finds I have come across have been inaccessible due to being found at 120km/h in the middle of three lanes of traffic.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

[engineer2]

I worked at a place where tools would get 'borrowed'. I was bitching at coworkers as they were leaving for lunch about my missing 10" Channellocks. They came back from lunch with 16" Channellocks. Said we have a gift for you, we found it in the road. Then I found my 10" ones the next day. Still have both.

 

[Ton ton]

Nice thread.

 

[BFBOB]

I've told this one before, but...
Driving along interstate downtown, spotted a bit of glitter. got off the next exit, looped around through town trying to find the way back on, cursing myself the whole time. Got back to the spot, and sure enough, it was a Craftsman 3/8 deep well 9/16 socket. Looked around a bit and spied another - and another and another-- 41 pieces in all scattered over 100' of road shoulder. Added a few to fill in missing spots, put them in a small Craftsman Truck Box and they ride around with me tucked under the front passenger seat all the time.

 

[ForrestT]

Was working on our bot 10-12 years after we bought it brand new. Had an access panel out of deck looking down into bilge making sure bilge was dry. Went to put access cover back on and saw something odd sitting on fuel tank. Reached around on top of tank and pulled out an estwing hammer that someone at the builders obviously left in the hull on top of the tank before they put they decked her over.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[jkherd]

I think this qualifies. I found this old Reed in a neighbor’s dumpster. Seized up with rust of course but I enjoy bringing old vises and other tools back from the dead. Here are before and after pics.

Nice save

 

[BigBoreFan]

Found a Snap-On ratchet on the road.

Same here. A 3/8 long one, with a soft handle. Handle was junk, $13 later and I own my first SnapOn ratchet. It is smooth.

 

[Semi-hole mechanic]

Usually all i ever find are old flat tip screwdrivers but i lose phillips. And some where in Northetn Missouri laying on top of a wooden corner post is a pair of vintage channelock fencing pliers (it was a long hot day and didnt realize they werent in the holster on my saddle for a couple of weeks when I pulled the saddle out of the trailer).

 

[jeffmoss26]

I found a scratch awl in a drop ceiling, it fell out onto the ground.
Also found a nice pair of Knipex adjustable pliers in a ceiling, luckily they did not also fall out.
Found lots of stuff left behind in phone rooms over the years.

 

[Shelbylex]

My first one: had my car serviced in 1990s at a local gas station. Some time later I found a little orange screwdriver left on the engine (luckily it did not fall on the belt side or anywhere). I was pretty pissed about it. Threw it into my car toolbox in case I would need it. Got interested in tools relatively recently - found it. Here goes my first Snap On tool. Here it goes in the middle of one of my boxes...


I guess it would be more interesting to add pictures if you have them

 

[Shelbylex]

Was driving my kid to the pool one day some time ago and noticed something which looked like a tool box at the side road after the intersection. Came back while he was in the pool and picked this one up

 

[Shelbylex]

One day I was walking late at night and noticed what looked like a rusty wrench on top of pile of garbage (somebody put a lot of things in the huge movable bag-container you can get in Home Depot (forgot what they call it). Walked over to take a look and picked it up along with another tool which was laying in the pile
… The wrench is after couple of hours of clean up …. Ended up being a Billings to my surprise

The pile also had several really rusty old saws -Diston, etc. They were passed on to a person who wanted to restore them...