Do Tools ever Die?

[rtremaine]

National Public Radio (NPR) story.

"If you honestly think there is a tool or invention from any century, any culture, any time (no science fiction please, we are trying to be real here) that has gone completely extinct, please send it in"


http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/02/01/133188723/tools-never-die-waddaya-mean-never?sc=fb&cc=fp

 

[Theloniousmonk]

National Public Radio (NPR) story.

"If you honestly think there is a tool or invention from any century, any culture, any time (no science fiction please, we are trying to be real here) that has gone completely extinct, please send it in"


http://www.npr.org/blogs/krulwich/2011/02/01/133188723/tools-never-die-waddaya-mean-never?sc=fb&cc=fp

You beat me to this... good job.

I wondered about the antique specialty wrenches, but the basic technology of open/box ends is obviously still used today.

 

[american lockpicker]

Good share.

 

[woody 73]

My friends keep telling me that hammers are dead and air nailers will rule this Earth,but I don't think hammers will ever die!

 

[Jbullfrog]

My friends keep telling me that hammers are dead and air nailers will rule this Earth,but I don't think hammers will ever die!

What do you use when the power is out and you have no air?

 

[Lotek]

The hammer was the first tool, and it will be the last...

 

[demographic]

My friends keep telling me that hammers are dead and air nailers will rule this Earth,but I don't think hammers will ever die!

As a person who frequently uses air nailers when in a workshop and gas powered Paslodes when on site I have to say that he's wrong.
Neither the airline nailers (they are made by Paslode also) nor the gas powered ones hit the nails in perfectly every single time and if the nail doesn't go in fully I still need a hammer to drive the nail the rest of the way.

Plus hammers are often good for gently moving something a couple of MM.

 

[Mr.Nutcase]

hammers are going to die, I use them on engine rebuilding, Drivetrain components......
ect,ect,etc,,,,and alot of other......

 

[nelstomlinson]

Slide rules? You can't buy a new one in this country.

 

[PT Doc]

Slide rules? You can't buy a new one in this country.

Good one.

 

[rtremaine]

Slide rules? You can't buy a new one in this country.

http://www.amazon.com/ThinkGeek-Slide-Ruler/dp/tags-on-product/B003M5B84C

 

[TAftw]

The hammer was the first tool, and it will be the last...

Someone on here has a sig that says "If you can't fix it with a hammer, you have an electrical problem." I don't think there's a much truer expression.

 

[anodyne33]

Slide rules? You can't buy a new one in this country.

That reminds of a freshman engineering seminar I had. We all sat for two hours... there were translucent sliderules on an overhead... people going to the front of the auditorium to demonstrate on a giant 6 foot sliderule... history of the sliderule, etc.

My buddies and I watched the presentation. Some of it we actually found interesting. Nobody slept, nobody doodled. We walked out after that hour and a half and I'll be damned if any one of use could have used a slide rule for anything other than a paperweight to save out lives.

 

[matthew]

Technically items like slide rules, Yankee drills, etc. may still be in production, but very limited production. They've become more curiousities than real tools for use by anyone other than a few diehards or enthusiasts. I'm not sure that proves that 'tools never die.'

Although for what it's worth, I belong to the calculator generation, but I have my fathers old slide rules, and was asked by two people within the last week to borrow one...

 

[turrican]

My friends keep telling me that hammers are dead and air nailers will rule this Earth,but I don't think hammers will ever die!

I don't think an air nailer would be very good at, say, removing a brake rotor from a hub

 

[bmxr4life87]

I recall seeing a quote "all tools originated from hammers and as such can be reverted back to" the hammer will never die look at the improvements made to hammers in the last 30 years ex. Air hammer, electric hammer, slide hammer when it all comes downto it they are still hammers

 

[Jeeper]

I can put a lot of nails in with an air nailer, but my hammer is still my prime tool to pull (pound) the nails out when I tear something apart.

 

[strnjss]

Monkey Wrench....

 

[millwrightjesse]

Folding measure stick

 

[csargents1546]

Would you believe I still have a slide rule and the book to go with it. Got it from a friend of my dad. He was an engineer.

 

[Hank McMauser]

Someone on here has a sig that says "If you can't fix it with a hammer, you have an electrical problem." I don't think there's a much truer expression.

And for this reason my car repair kit now consists of a (bfh) big f'n hammer anda free hf electrical meter

 

[2chipped]

Folding measure stick

Brick masons still use them...cause morter and tape measures don't work.

 

[trout]

what about all the crazy medical tools that were popular late 1800s/early 1900s before government regulation?

 

[ajchien]

I just got one of those hand crank drills at an estate sale just for the fun of it. Dont know what where or when if ever I will use it. For $3, it's a nice decoration for the pegboard. Lol.

 

[american lockpicker]

Folding measure stick

Thats all I use.

 

[TireTracks]

I honestly cant think of a single tool that has gone completely extinct. All have there uses somewere.

 

[asp]

I think the question is ill posed. A lot of tools have ceased production in favor of newer models and advancing technology. In my opinion, if the task is still being completed using some form of tool, the tool has not died. This might be a bad example but I'm going to use it anyway. Even if there are no hand-powered washing machines being made today the tool has not died because clothes are still being washed, just with a more developed piece of technology.

 

[NJHandyGuy]

probably a really bad example but i havent' seena coping saw on store shelves in forever

 

[demographic]

probably a really bad example but i havent' seena coping saw on store shelves in forever

I use a coping saw for moulding (generally skirting) scribes and every carpenter I know does the same.

 

[saturdaymechanic]

I used a coping saw to touch up/fit shoe moldings, although that was the only time I needed it, it was the tool for the job.

As for tools that give way to better models, how about a cordless screwdriver? I still have the cman one my father gave decades ago, but I haven't used that since high school. Drills and ratcheting screwdrivers made this go the way of the dinosaur.

 

[larry_g]

I used a coping saw to touch up/fit shoe moldings, although that was the only time I needed it, it was the tool for the job.

As for tools that give way to better models, how about a cordless screwdriver? I still have the cman one my father gave decades ago, but I haven't used that since high school. Drills and ratcheting screwdrivers made this go the way of the dinosaur.

Used many a cordless screwdrivers for electrical panel work. Lots of them in use today. Personally I prefered the yankee screwdriver for panel work as it had a better feel for torque and at the end of the day my wrist felt better.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[shampoop]

maybe crude tools made out of stone? I remember hearing about some surgical knives made from obsidian or something a long time ago though.

 

[LocoCoco]

I honestly cant think of a single tool that has gone completely extinct. All have there uses somewere.

Same here. As soon as I think I have one I remind myself of the Amish.



LC.

 

[nismomans13]

Folding measure stick

I had 2 from my grandpa. still use them to this day.

 

[Packard V8]

The question is too broad to be answered; however, it does stimulate discussions on many fora. If one begins by defining the operation, then listing the evolution of the tools to accomplish the operation, then tools never die. However, the earlier versions always go out of production.

1. Calculating machine - abacus, slide rule, mechanical calculator, electronic calculator, computer - just serial improvements.

2. Screwdriver, Yankee drill, electric screwdriver, battery drill - all drive screws.

3. Hammer - rock tied to a stick, lump of iron tied to a stick, air and electric nail drivers - again, just serial improvements.

4. Chisel - sharp rock, sharp metal, shaper, planer, mill, CNC mill - just ways to take chips of material.

jack vines