Don’s Den of Dandy Delights

[d42jeep]

Thanks to four_cycle for the thread title suggestion. Since the Omicron surge had discouraged my Wife and I from going to local sales, I decided to finally clean out the basement, a project that I had put off for more than a few years. My goal was to display and store my vintage toolsets which had kind of taken over the garage. I also wanted to dig out Grandpa Al’s old wooden toolbox, which had come with the house, and put it back into service. One of the first projects I tackled was to load up the Plomb toolset tower that my buddy had made out of my redwood scraps, previously shown on the Plomb thread.Next I moved onto cleaning out the old toolbox in anticipation of filling it with some vintage tools. I actually found a few old Plomb tools inside it in the past.I loaded up the top area with some Barcalo tool rolls before finishing up the cleanup. It was the first time the floor had been clear in years.
Next, after finishing up the cleaning it was time to add some toolsets.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

First toolsets to move were the Craftsman Heritage and Crown toolboxes which were always in the way in the garage.

I put several wartime and prewar S-K 1/4” drive sets in a repurposed display that originally held VHS tapes.


Here is the first GJ showing of my Carpenter’s Set No 1, a project that I’ve been putting together for a few years after finding the empty box at the Tahoe flea.

 

[RubiconJK]

Looking great Don!

 

[Username already in use]

Well executed and looking fantastic. I’m subscribed for more updates!

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks, Rubicon and Username,
During my searches for the perfect Duro ignition wrench sets for my WW2 GMTK type sets, I accumulated several extras. The drawers in Grandpa’s toolbox proved ideal for their storage.

Next I dug out the D-I WW2 1/4” drive sets which would go into the wooden toolboxes top tray.

 

[captain14]

Good looking museum. I’ll come back for another viewing for more.

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks, Captain.
Continuing on with the WW2 theme, I moved the 1/2” drive D-I sets into their new resting place.
-Don

 

[Just_Steve]

Very nice.

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks, Steve,
Here are some vintage S-K 1/2” drive toolsets. Postwar, wartime and ‘30s.
Next I added very early Indestro and Duro 1/2” drive sets.
Here are some Snap-on sets. 3/8” drive ferret. 9/32” drive and 1/4” drIve midget complete sets.
My only Blackhawk toolset, an early 1/2” drive example. It was a gift from my Tahoe neighbor.



A couple of New Britain made sets. My 3/8” drive Sparta set and a 1/2” drive postwar New Britain set, found at a Tahoe garage sale.

 

[930dreamer]

Wow, very nice collection!

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks, Dreamer.
On Monday I added some Federal Stock Number marked 1/4” drive Walden sets.
On Tuesday, I went through the Thorsen tools and added some sets.
The sets with the labels are postwar military.

 

[bonneyman]

Very nice collections, Don.

I like the repurposed redwood display case as well.
My wife needed a case to hold her hippo collection, and I happened upon some guy at the mall selling display cases he made of all shapes and sizes. He had made a glass-front case for someone to hold their CD's, but they never came back. So he was selling it cheap to move it. Fit my wife's collection perfectly!

 

[outofbounds]

Very impressive, Don. Quantity is one thing, but the level of quality throughout astounds!

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks, Bonneyman and Out Of Bounds.
Wednesday was postwar S-K day. Here are some 1/4” drive sets.
Some 3/8” drive sets.

An unusual 1/4”-1/2” drive set and a 1/2” drive set In a black box.


More recent sets, 1/2” drive deep and a metric set.
On display.

 

[Fred Knox]

Outstanding collection Don. I can’t believe all the work you did putting together all of those complete sets. Is there such a thing as ratchet/socket set envy?!

 

[Username already in use]

Where is the red Yankee Doodle Dandy set. Probably right at home in the Dandy Den of Delights.

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks, Fred. I’ve been at it for a while. Username, the red box Thorsen tools are snowed in.
Yesterday I went through the Powr-Kraft toolsets and picked out a few to display.


Here are my favorite drill indices.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Sooooo glad you decided to do this!

It's always a pleasure seeing everyone's stuff in its place, at the entire collection level, and including the place.

With @Username already in use having finally finished erecting his massive pole barn, I am looking forward to him soon joining the ranks of fellow GJ'ers opening the virtual doors to their tool cribs.

I would like to see a few more shots of the whole "Den", though. Like your before shot, but now that you've organized it into a display space for your collection. That's the transportive aspect of these threads that puts us right there with the collector that I enjoy the most. When you or JoCo or horse or Beemer post, I can picture them in their spot on the earth.

I have added this thread to the list of Tool Crib Tours in the Sticky. It can be found in the Index just after the 'by Type' and 'by Brand' lists.

I decided to finally clean out the basement, a project that I had put off for more than a few years.

It was the first time the floor had been clear in years.

And just for the record, I am totally taking credit for this!

Thanks to four_cycle for the thread title suggestion.

Very alliterative!

 

[slowtwitch73]

Holy cow.........

 

[Username already in use]

With @Username already in use having finally finished erecting his massive pole barn, I am looking forward to him soon joining the ranks of fellow GJ'ers opening the virtual doors to their tool cribs.

Not so massive really, 24x40 with attic trusses.
I'm STILL WAITING on a garage door, so I haven't moved anything of any real value out there yet. Should be next week if they keep to their timing...
I don't have as much nice stuff as the rest of you guys though!

 

[RTM]

AKA The Magnetic Anomaly Near Berkeley. (MANB just doesn't ring right tho )

Dang, that's a lot of tools, nicely displayed. Will be following for more updates

 

[GreenIron]

That is one amazing collection.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Awesome!

 

[Shiftless]

I know how much time and work goes into collecting all of those pieces and how much work it takes to clean and organize them and now the final display is the payoff.

Very impressive Don

Thanks for posting all of those great pics.

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks, everybody!
Lugz, my wife usually takes the credit for the basement clean out!
Shiftless, I enjoyed our visit yesterday and it was fun to give you the first real tour of the display.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Lugz, my wife usually takes the credit for the basement clean out!

If only Ms. Her Brand had just said something like, "Gee, it's such a waste that nobody gets to see your great collection, honey. Have you seen the Lugzsonian and the Hole and the Horse Stable lately? Why don't you convert the basement into a museum and get that friend of yours up in Tacoma to come up with a catchy name for it!" sooner.

 

[1982fxr]

Whoa!!

 

[bmwrd0]

And I thought I had a lot of sets...

Nice work, Don.

 

[lardy1]

Thank you for sharing Don. Like others, I'm truly enjoying it.

 

[four.cycle]

Pretty fabulous, Don.

You realize, of course, when I suggested that as a name, it was 100% tongue-in-cheek, right?

Couple questions:

You've got a little Thorsen 1/4" drive NSN set there that has three eight-point sockets in it.
I've got at least a dozen of that same NSN kit, and none of mine contain eight points. Was that a "these sockets need a home" thing?



Were my eyes playing tricks on me, or did I see what appeared to be an unpainted, galvanized, S-K box in that mix?

 

[d42jeep]

Not only do the 8 point sockets not belong, it looks like the 3/8” to 1/4” adapter shouldn’t be in there either. I looked back at my old pictures and they weren’t in there initially. I must have looked at the empty space and thought that they should have included 8 point sockets and an adapter. I wasn’t able to determine the size of the extension but found a picture of another set to determine that it took the 2” version.



The S-K 3/8” drive set box that appears unpainted is a box I got from Lugz several years ago. My opinion is that S-K used galvanized boxes for a short period of time and paint doesn’t stick well to galvanized surfaces. These are some traces of original paint on the box but I liked the way it looked. I’ve found a few
S-K galvanized boxes.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

Yeah... that kit contained both a 2-inch and a 6-inch extension, as far as I know from my other NSN sets like that. (KAL, J-S, etc.)(Don't know if I have a Thorsen branded NSN kit like that.)
So.... the box was likely painted, but all the paint fell off? That's a first for me.

Pretty impressive set up there, Don. I hope I will live long enough to get so well organized!

 

[RTM]

Painting galvanized material is exciting. A former coworker used to tell me you had to pickle it first, else the paint would not stick (have not dealt with in 24+ years). The acid bath here is pickling as I understand it.

How to Paint Galvanized Steel in 4 Easy Steps - Independent Metal Strap

A Step-by-Step Guide to Painting Galvanized Steel

indmetalstrap.com

 

[woody 73]

Honey I am not sick, I repeat I am not sick, I do not have any problems, honey Don has the problem not me...

Very nice, very nice indeed a wonderful collection Don, just wonderful.

 

[Jim C.]

Wow Don! I mean seriously, Wow!! That‘s a GREAT collection!!

Jim C.

 

[y'sguy]

Thanks for letting me have a look. Wonderful collection!

 

[JjKk40]

Wow Don, I love your collection and the way you presented it! Very impressive!

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks for all the positive comments. I appreciate them.
I moved the monkey wrenches down from the floorboard of the Jeep. I’m not quite sure how they ended up there. Here they are.
-Don
Whitman & Barnes
P S & W (Pexto)
Bemis & Call
Trimo
Lamson & Sessions
Stiletto
Coes
Billings

 

[d42jeep]

Lugz had requested a couple of pictures of the overall area. It’s really just kind of a funky old basement.

I added the small Brazil set to the S-K display.

I received a 1/4” Plomb breaker and short extension today from an eBay seller so this now complete set graduated to the Tower o’ Plomb.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

More good stuff!