What are some of your oldest tools ?

[Mark914]

I was thinking about what the oldest tools I have might be, and i thought it could be a cool thread to see what people have. I have an Angle gauge from Darling Brown and Sharpe, which i think places it in the 1870-1890 range. I also have a pair of scissors with an 1866 patent date.

 

[bonneyman]

Not really a tool, but I have a slide rule that the model number indicates it was made between 1925 and 1932.

 

[four.cycle]

I think it would have to be this tiny 3-inch Gormully & Jeffery bicycle wrench, made by them in Chicago at some point between 1878 and 1898.
What we had all believed was a Gormully & Jeffery wrench turned out to be a Greenberg & Josefsberg wrench, and is obviously from a later time period - 1930 at the earliest:



Greenberg & Josefsberg / Greenberg & Josefsberg 20 W. 23rd St., New York, NY / est. Jan 21 1930, inc. Jun 18 1933 Harry Greenberg & Leo Josefsberg dba American Merchandise Co. Inc.; G & J Mfg. Co.; G & J Products / expressed on items as "a G & J Product" previously thought to have been manufactured by Gormully & Jeffery Co., Chicago, IL /

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I also have a pair of scissors with an 1866 patent date.

Those are very cool shears, Mark!

I have you beat by only four (4) years with this Thayer's Patent (35,715) Combination Tool patented on June 25, 1862. A hammer with claw, pry, screwdriver, and rule in one. It's the only Civil War era tool I own. (Note that it's missing the wooden handle.)

The next oldest "tool" I own is an 1869 tobacco bug sprayer, GJ thread linked here.

I also have an 1880’s Hartford Spring & Axle Company buggy wrench, GJ thread linked here.

I have a bunch of wrenches and other tools made in the 1890's, but those won't be old on this thread.

 

[Mark914]

Great stuff !!!! Keep it coming !

 

[RTM]

I’ve got an old W & S Butcher Sheffield saw, with their name stamped into the blade. They were founded in 1820s, til about 1870s, best I can tell. Think that’s my oldest at first thought.



I have a few wooden molding planes where the companies were in business 1822-27 (D & M Copeland), 1775-1843 (Wm Moss) & 1811 to 1833 (Stokoe) but no pix easily found online.

 

[Toolmaker65]

A quick scan of my one tool boxes yielded a few pieces with late 1800 patent dates. I'm not sure if I have anything older; I might but the thing is locating them and finding the applicable dates for patents or manufacturing.

First is a Hudson's Improved Speed Indicator marked '*Woodman's Patent* SEPT 12 1876'. These were manufactured by R. Woodman Mfg. & Supply Co. and sold by the J.W. Mixter Saw Tool Co. in their 1889 catalog.

Next is a Starrett combination square with a protractor that has a patent date of Aug. 7 1883. The square has a forged and hardened head and blade as well as the protractor. The center head appears to be cast. My guess is that the center head was a later addition to the set. All pieces have the original owner's initials etched in them. My earliest Starrett catalog, No. 17, does not show this style of protractor. I can only surmise that this style protractor was no longer in production as of the date of the catalog, which is 1900.

A machinist made hardened and aground solid square stamped 1890 with the owner's name etched in it is next. I can only assume that the 1890 is the year that it was made from the story behind it....can't really prove it based on hard facts of patents and manufacturer's history.

Sawyer Tool Mfg. Co. Of Fitchburg, Mass. is fourth with a compound bevel. It has a patent date of July 25, 1893. Sawyer Tool moved to Fitchburg from Athol in 1898. They then moved to Ashburnham in 1912.

Finally is a Stanley machinist's level. It is marked STANLEY PAT 6-20 96. No model number is on it, but at 6" in length it appears to be an early version of the 39-1/2.



Sent from my LM-Q610(FGN) using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[four.cycle]

Woodman Speed Indicator SEPT 12 1876 - patent 182,177

Starrett square Aug. 7 1883 - patent 282,583

Sawyer bevel July 25, 1893 - patent 502,199 (?)

Stanley level June 20 1896 - (?) check date again

http://www.datamp.org/patents/search/patentsByYear.php

 

[MJO]

I have a back saw from the 1750's.

 

[HeelSpur]

DSCF2475 by wvwheaties, on Flickr

 

[lardy1]

By the catalog I found online and what I can decipher by reading, I believe this to be pre-1900.





I have a couple broadaxes that probably are 1880's but I haven't been able to nail it down. Only one is marked.

 

[4xdog]

Among the oldest of my "tools" are the brass knuckles my g-g-grandfather used in the late 1850s-early 1860s as captain of the clipper ship George Peabody on the New York-San Francisco run around Cape Horn. I have his spyglass, too -- another old tool (of a sort).

 

[theoldwizard1]

I have my Dad's old push drill and a pair of pliers. The only thing I kept from his tool box after the neighbors picked it clean. Neither get use much.

My personal oldest tool, that get used regularly, is a Craftsman 1/4" & 3/8" socket set. Over 60 years old.

 

[lilredex]

My gramp's tools. He was a machinist and a woodworker. The calipers were hand made, I believe. All way over a hundred years old.

I first used that hammer to pound nails in the mid forties, to keep me occupied.

 

[bczygan]

The oldest tool in my shop.......is ME!

Bill

 

[Private Lugnutz]

HeelSpur
Cool 1875 Woodward Combo Tool!

Among the oldest of my "tools" are the brass knuckles my g-g-grandfather used in the late 1850s-early 1860s as captain of the clipper ship George Peabody

Rivaling my Thayer's Patent for the oldest "thing" shown so far, and definitely the coolest, in my opinion. My father was in the Merchant Marines in the mid- to late-1930's before transferring to the Navy during WWII and he said they were still used in case of mutiny and piracy even then!

 

[4xdog]

Lugz, to add to that story, my g-grandfather married the daughter of the clipper ship captain, and used those brass knuckles for many years working as a conductor on the Boston Elevated Railway. I have the ticket validation punch from his time in Boston in my collection as well.

There was an oil painting of the ship that was lost in a New Hampshire farmhouse fire in the late 1930s -- one of my greatest regrets in the family archive is not having that on my office wall!

The ships sailing from New York or San Francisco used to use sort of a trading card to drum up cargo business for their voyages. I don't have an original, but there are George Peabody cards online -- none of them from the time my g-g-grandfather was captain as far as I know.

 

[lardy1]

I'm a retired Merchant Marine myself. Man, am I ever glad for the changes. lol

Still a tough life, though.

 

[4xdog]

My 20 yo dad went down to enlist on December 8, 1941 and because he had a bridge across a missing tooth he wasn't eligible. So he joined the Merchant Marine and spent the war on tankers. He was torpedoed only once, I think...

 

[outofbounds]

I'm a retired Merchant Marine myself. Man, am I ever glad for the changes. lol

Still a tough life, though.

Lardy, did you mostly sail the Great Lakes? And did you attend the Maritime academy in Traverse City?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Have you guys ever read Looking for a Ship by John McPhee. If not, I highly recommend it.

 

[Gigem]

What do I win?

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[lardy1]

I sailed both deep sea and Great Lakes. Once I had the seniority to hold a rated job on the lakes I stayed there.

I took most of my formal training at Harry Lundeberg School Of Seamanship at our union facility. I was an unlicensed wheelsman. An Able Seaman. Great Lakes Maritime Academy is for mates and engineers. Licensed personnel.

I'll look for the book. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[four.cycle]

Gigem, I believe you've outdone us, but it would help if you had the patent numbers on those.

Heelspur:

Your Woodward Combination Tool has a tag on it which says the patent date is August 24, 1875, which leads to patent 166954, which was for a rolling paper cutter.
Woodward was issued three patents:
159134 issued Jan. 26, 1875
166954 issued Aug. 24, 1875
466549 issued Jan. 05, 1892

I'm curious as to exactly what markings are on the tool itself.

 

[RTM]

Curious if the Woodward patent for the rotary paper cutter was transferred to the glass cutter?

DATAMP says the patent was mfg by smith and Hemenway (Crescent), but its not in the one catalog I can find online.

http://datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=166954&typeCode=0

The text below the catalog mentions S & H going opposite directions, and Smith went to Woodward glass cutter company.

https://archive.org/details/SmithAndHemenwayCrescent/page/n9

Here is a page on the tool:
http://www.bullworks.net/virtual/infopages/reddevil.htm

 

[Private Lugnutz]

None of those patents look anything like HeelSpur's combination tool, not even the earliest one, which is a different combination tool. I'd be tempted to say that it was patented based on the rotary glass cutter only, irrespective of the other implements on it (corkscrew, claw pull, etc), but HeelSpur's doesn't appear to have a rotary glass cutter, as opposed to the first patent combination tool, which does!

The text below the catalog mentions S & H going opposite directions, and Smith went to Woodward glass cutter company.

...to form Red Devil tools, an old Smith & Hemenway brand name, which turned out to be mega-giant supplier in the glazier's and painters market. Red Devil glass cutters and putty knives were ubiquitous. A very unusual and often confusing situation here for collectors, which I have remarked on in a number of GJ threads, including the Smith & Hemenway thread, is that Crescent also continued using Smith & Hemenway's old brand name. The result is that in the 1940's you could find Red Devil hack saws made by Crescent and Red Devil glass cutters made by Red Devil.

 

[RTM]

HeelSpur's doesn't appear to have a rotary glass cutter, as opposed to the first patent combination tool, which does!

What is that thing far left, top edge. Looks like a glass cutter cantilevered out, with the breaker just to its right

I have remarked on in a number of GJ threads, including the Smith & Hemenway thread, is that Crescent also continued using Smith & Hemenway's old brand name. .

Crud, more reading I have to catch up on.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I think that's a cutter, but not a rotary cutter. Maybe HeelSpur will help us out with more pics and/or a description.

 

[Old Man Roger]

I have an old lathe from the 1890's, it was upgraded to electric in 1914. The 1914 motor still works, but I replaced it with a more modern motor, 1980..lol
The factory it came out of ran off a water wheel before 1914.

 

[four.cycle]

re: Heelspur's "Woodward" combination tool

Prior to posting my comment above, I looked through everything I have here and came up short.
I have to wonder if that unit is an item where they took the best features from both patent designs and combined them into a single tool, using the patent numbers that were already issued. It wouldn't be the first time I've seen something along that line.

 

[RTM]

Here’s another data point on the Woodward Wizard, originally planned for cutting stencils, but sold as a glass cutter.

http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2012/12/glass-cutter-wars.html


And a link from Red Devil, read top of pg 2 in the catalog:
founded as Smith & Hemenway Company, Inc. in 1872 in Hill, New Hampshire, our place in
hardware history was established with production of several types of glasscutters, including the patented “Woodward Wizard”. This unique tool, with its tiny wheel for scoring glass was among the first in the industry and could be used as a glass breaker, can opener, corkscrew, knife/scissor sharpener and tack hammer. Because of the “Woodward Wizard” and other unique and dependable tools, our reputation for quality and reliability grew.

http://www.richardssupply.com/customer/rieqco/PDFs/Red Devil_4203.pdf

And a pic with a better view of the cutting wheel

https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthis..._can_opener_multi_tool_what_does_each_bit_do/

 

[four.cycle]

^ excellent find, sir.

so it is the August 24, 1875 patent that applies to the "Woodward Wizard".

(* as an aside: that guy running that "Progress is Fine" website has done a hell of a job archiving some really obscure stuff. I've sent him quite a bit of material. Heck of a nice guy. *)

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

Finding really old tools in the wild around here is pretty unlikely. There isn't much history. Settlement didn't start until the 1880s. Before Christmas I was talking to a 95 year old woman, her grandfather had homesteaded the land where the community hall that we were at was located. History within almost living memory. Vancouver didn't start until the turn of the last century. It didn't really takeoff until after the war when all those returning prairie boy veterans settled here. So when one of my fleamarket finds was an adze, it would have been used in the early wooden ship building, it was special.

 

[bczygan]

I win.........I have a rock in the yard that I sometimes use in lieu of a hammer.

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-32804177

Bill

 

[Cleave]

1886 Fisher Norris 60 lb anvil
WF Barnes and Co #6 lathe, says patent date 1880 on it, no other age info known. Originally foot pedal powered, some "lathe steward" long before me scrapped together a motor mount with wood bearings and wood pulleys.

 

[thehorse13]

Aiken awl with a patent date of April 13th, 1858. It's very handy when you need some fine detail adjustments on wood projects.

 

[McFarmer]

I have older tools but I use a Makita 4inch binder that has a chrome metal case.

Don’t know how old that is, I’ve put in several sets of brushes.

 

[Glen Vassallo]

This might sound like a dumb question, but here it goes. If a tool/machine has a patent date of say; 26 August 1879, does that mean that it was built on that exact date?

 

[4xdog]

This might sound like a dumb question, but here it goes. If a tool/machine has a patent date of say; 26 August 1879, does that mean that it was built on that exact date?

No, it doesn’t. It means it can’t possibly be earlier than that date.

It could be many years after that date.

 

[thehorse13]

This might sound like a dumb question, but here it goes. If a tool/machine has a patent date of say; 26 August 1879, does that mean that it was built on that exact date?

4xdog is correct. In the case of my April 13th, 1858 patent date Aiken awl, you can look right here at the patent page and see that picture #3 shows it in an 1880 tool catalog.

http://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?id=16724

Even so, this is the oldest tool that I have knowing that it's from the later part of the 19th century and still works just as good as it did 150ish years later.