a52-830
Well-known member
on February 6th, 2015, Jonas Filho died. i dont know of what, or where he was, but i do know he was 69. i also know that he died without heirs, and in August 2016, i bought a tool chest from his estate.
i have been looking on ebay and craigslist for a kr290/292 side box, but there have not been any around. then, on ebay, i chanced upon an auction for a KR655/650/290 set that included none of the terms i was searching for. it never mentioned toolbox, box, chest, side, cabinet, anything like that. it did mention snap-on, though. and it was 15 miles from me. the auction didnt mention the boxes at all, it talked about a "diesel mechanic setup".
now, i didnt necessarily want the big boxes, but i also was not going to turn them down. i didnt have long to wait, i stumbled across the auction with about 16 hours left on it, and i won, but paid a lot more than i wanted to, hoping that all those tools would allow me to recoup some of the cost.
i went over to get the box, and learned the beginning of the story.
jonas died without heirs, and the state was liquidating his effects, and reconciling his debts, of which i was lead to believe there were a few. the box had been in a storage unit, the only thing in the storage unit, and this guy and his son, at the direction of the state appointed lawyer, had gone and retrieved it, put it on ebay, and now wanted me to get it loaded. he was helpful, actually, and chatty. he noted that he believed that the back rent due on the storage unit exceeded the amount they got for the box. i didnt ask if this was before or after they had paid him. he left me with the impression that jonas had been paying for the storage unit for about 10 years ("he paid several times more to store it over the years than you paid to buy it").
the box was a mess (i assume) from the move, and while most of the drawers were packed full, two or three were pretty bare. while there were a fair amount of sockets, the only ratchet left had been bent at some time in the past. there were also no large amounts of combination wrenches, which one would assume a diesel mechanic would have had a fair number of. there was a collection of 3/4" drive sockets (although not a complete collection), and a few 1" drive impact sockets.
i dont know if someone had picked through it, or if jonas had sold some of his stuff off (or given it away).
anyway, i got it home, and started to go through it. one drawer was full of paper. Cat manuals, stuff like that. in the back of the drawer, though, was a small bit of Jonas.
i assume this is a picture of Jonas. it is an old polaroid, and unfortunately, it is not as sharp as one might like. i assume it is from the mid 1980's, which would have him be in his late 30's:
there was also a small plastic box, and inside it was a fancy Kenworth truck belt buckle, but one sized to be worn with your work clothes, or maybe for a dress belt.
there were a few regular pictures, not of his family or friends, but of his KW, and his car:
and, finally, at the bottom of the pile, was his Snap-On "book", where he tracked his purchases, and debt to the driver:
in november 1989, he bought a brand new KR650/655 set (the kr292 must have come later, and there is no documentation about it) for 5500$. they offered him 3500$ in "trade" (no other details listed), and also charged him about 250$ for "default insurance". he agreed to pay 22.75$ a week for 99 weeks, along with an initial 22.89$ payment. according to the book, he usually paid 50$ or 100$, and occasionally missed payments, usually 2 or three in row, but then always made at least 5 big payments in a row. this was just on the box. from his receipts, he was also regularly making tool purchases from both the Snap-On and Mac trucks. he paid the stack off in 60 weeks, including the missing payments.
all those vulcan tools must have moved over from the old box. i wonder if he traded in a vulcan stack on these boxes?
Jonas was a man of contradictions. they vulcan sockets and tools show a lot of hard work, and things like the socket racks are pretty banged up. a lot of the tools are also pretty grimy. but the box is in remarkably good shape for it's age. he had a fair amount of tools, like a large Vermont Amercian 50+ piece tap and die sets that appear to have never been used, although the outside of the case shows a lot of smudging, i assume from being moved around a lot. he took so good care of the box, but clearly from the grime on the tools, he was not worried about cleaning up his tools during his last years of working.
i assume he had a complete set of manuals for that K100 in the picture. i wonder if he kept them at home. i assume that the Cat 3406 manuals were for the engine in that truck.
i learned the date of his death, and his age, from some snooping on the internet.
as i noted in the classified thread i have selling some of the tools, about 25% of the tools are no-name stuff i already have plenty of copies of. someone here mentioned that as he buys "lots" of stuff at yard sales, he keeps a box for the lower end tools to give to charity. since that seemed like a great idea, i have one of those boxes.
some of the tools have found homes in my collection, either because i didnt own any, or because his were much better than mine.
the rest i am selling to people who will, hopefully, appreciate them. maybe people who collect them, or appreciate the feel of an older set, or even just someone looking for an inexpensive set of impact sockets. i appreciate being able to recoup some of my costs, and, possibly more importantly, i like the idea that Jonas' legacy lives on in some small way.
i never met him, i dont know who he was, or really even what he did. i assume he was not one of those curmudgeon types, he is smiling in the picture, after all. i hope he was pleased with his life, and had a quick and easy death.
i also hope, that wherever he is, he is happy that the tools he kept around to the end didnt end up in a dumpster somewhere, but are being spread around for more productive uses.
thanx, Jonas, when i use the tools of yours i kept, i'll think of you.
i have been looking on ebay and craigslist for a kr290/292 side box, but there have not been any around. then, on ebay, i chanced upon an auction for a KR655/650/290 set that included none of the terms i was searching for. it never mentioned toolbox, box, chest, side, cabinet, anything like that. it did mention snap-on, though. and it was 15 miles from me. the auction didnt mention the boxes at all, it talked about a "diesel mechanic setup".
now, i didnt necessarily want the big boxes, but i also was not going to turn them down. i didnt have long to wait, i stumbled across the auction with about 16 hours left on it, and i won, but paid a lot more than i wanted to, hoping that all those tools would allow me to recoup some of the cost.
i went over to get the box, and learned the beginning of the story.
jonas died without heirs, and the state was liquidating his effects, and reconciling his debts, of which i was lead to believe there were a few. the box had been in a storage unit, the only thing in the storage unit, and this guy and his son, at the direction of the state appointed lawyer, had gone and retrieved it, put it on ebay, and now wanted me to get it loaded. he was helpful, actually, and chatty. he noted that he believed that the back rent due on the storage unit exceeded the amount they got for the box. i didnt ask if this was before or after they had paid him. he left me with the impression that jonas had been paying for the storage unit for about 10 years ("he paid several times more to store it over the years than you paid to buy it").
the box was a mess (i assume) from the move, and while most of the drawers were packed full, two or three were pretty bare. while there were a fair amount of sockets, the only ratchet left had been bent at some time in the past. there were also no large amounts of combination wrenches, which one would assume a diesel mechanic would have had a fair number of. there was a collection of 3/4" drive sockets (although not a complete collection), and a few 1" drive impact sockets.
i dont know if someone had picked through it, or if jonas had sold some of his stuff off (or given it away).
anyway, i got it home, and started to go through it. one drawer was full of paper. Cat manuals, stuff like that. in the back of the drawer, though, was a small bit of Jonas.
i assume this is a picture of Jonas. it is an old polaroid, and unfortunately, it is not as sharp as one might like. i assume it is from the mid 1980's, which would have him be in his late 30's:
there was also a small plastic box, and inside it was a fancy Kenworth truck belt buckle, but one sized to be worn with your work clothes, or maybe for a dress belt.
there were a few regular pictures, not of his family or friends, but of his KW, and his car:
and, finally, at the bottom of the pile, was his Snap-On "book", where he tracked his purchases, and debt to the driver:
in november 1989, he bought a brand new KR650/655 set (the kr292 must have come later, and there is no documentation about it) for 5500$. they offered him 3500$ in "trade" (no other details listed), and also charged him about 250$ for "default insurance". he agreed to pay 22.75$ a week for 99 weeks, along with an initial 22.89$ payment. according to the book, he usually paid 50$ or 100$, and occasionally missed payments, usually 2 or three in row, but then always made at least 5 big payments in a row. this was just on the box. from his receipts, he was also regularly making tool purchases from both the Snap-On and Mac trucks. he paid the stack off in 60 weeks, including the missing payments.
all those vulcan tools must have moved over from the old box. i wonder if he traded in a vulcan stack on these boxes?
Jonas was a man of contradictions. they vulcan sockets and tools show a lot of hard work, and things like the socket racks are pretty banged up. a lot of the tools are also pretty grimy. but the box is in remarkably good shape for it's age. he had a fair amount of tools, like a large Vermont Amercian 50+ piece tap and die sets that appear to have never been used, although the outside of the case shows a lot of smudging, i assume from being moved around a lot. he took so good care of the box, but clearly from the grime on the tools, he was not worried about cleaning up his tools during his last years of working.
i assume he had a complete set of manuals for that K100 in the picture. i wonder if he kept them at home. i assume that the Cat 3406 manuals were for the engine in that truck.
i learned the date of his death, and his age, from some snooping on the internet.
as i noted in the classified thread i have selling some of the tools, about 25% of the tools are no-name stuff i already have plenty of copies of. someone here mentioned that as he buys "lots" of stuff at yard sales, he keeps a box for the lower end tools to give to charity. since that seemed like a great idea, i have one of those boxes.
some of the tools have found homes in my collection, either because i didnt own any, or because his were much better than mine.
the rest i am selling to people who will, hopefully, appreciate them. maybe people who collect them, or appreciate the feel of an older set, or even just someone looking for an inexpensive set of impact sockets. i appreciate being able to recoup some of my costs, and, possibly more importantly, i like the idea that Jonas' legacy lives on in some small way.
i never met him, i dont know who he was, or really even what he did. i assume he was not one of those curmudgeon types, he is smiling in the picture, after all. i hope he was pleased with his life, and had a quick and easy death.
i also hope, that wherever he is, he is happy that the tools he kept around to the end didnt end up in a dumpster somewhere, but are being spread around for more productive uses.
thanx, Jonas, when i use the tools of yours i kept, i'll think of you.
