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Obsolete tools.

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BioNerd

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Regular non- ratcheting wrenches...

I literally never use them, I have doubles in ratcheting wrenches for my most used sizes though...
I find some tight spots where only a regular box would fit. Ratchet boxes are too thick. I have an assortment of 13mm box end sizes and shapes. I work on pre-90 VW, pre-85 benz, and pre-75 muscle every friday now... last Friday 12hrs, damn "piston cylinder seals" on a vanagon.

Maybe ur wrenches arent so thick?
I just got some wera jokers and they still are too big.. :/
 

jim1987

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Regular non- ratcheting wrenches...

I literally never use them, I have doubles in ratcheting wrenches for my most used sizes though...

So you back up an impact with a ratchet wrench? Like for taking out cross members?
 

ttpete

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What? If you have one and want to sell it, PM me. Flatheads seem to always find there way to my garage.:thumbup:

It's possible to use the standard "C" type pullers on side valve engines except for Ford V-8s. What's really needed is the little widget that's used to install the keepers without dropping them.
 

Jere

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square.jpg


Maybe someone will pop up and say they use this square tapered drill shank bit but I will still be surprised. I got a set of them for a few dollars and have been thinking about grinding the square shanks round so it will fit a power drill...
 

abk241

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square.jpg


Maybe someone will pop up and say they use this square tapered drill shank bit but I will still be surprised. I got a set of them for a few dollars and have been thinking about grinding the square shanks round so it will fit a power drill...

I don't think you want to chuck those in a power drill.
 

Cope

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square.jpg


Maybe someone will pop up and say they use this square tapered drill shank bit but I will still be surprised. I got a set of them for a few dollars and have been thinking about grinding the square shanks round so it will fit a power drill...
Electricians and hand tool woodworkers use them. You'd be surprised what a complete set in good condition sells for. If you get rid of the square end, grind off the screw threads on the pilot tip.
 

ttpete

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Electricians and hand tool woodworkers use them. You'd be surprised what a complete set in good condition sells for. If you get rid of the square end, grind off the screw threads on the pilot tip.

Double lip bits. They cut fast and don't clog up. Better than spades in wood.
 

BDT/NWMN

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What is an obsolete tool...??? Sounds like someone is making up fairy tales... Those tools will still do the job they were built to do.. I have tools that are over 100 years old; and never needed a battery replacement.... Thinken too many of You Guys have been bamboozeled with battery tools that are worthless when the replacement batteries become non-existent. Believe worthless is the word for some of that stuff.. :lol::lol:
 

dutchgray

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Double lip bits. They cut fast and don't clog up. Better than spades in wood.

Better than spades as you don't have to push, grind the screws a little if you need to but not completely off, some of the hand driven bits pull to hard for power use. I use modern auger bits for most of my timber drilling.
 

zkling

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The trick for this thread is to find a tool that everyone will agree on being obsolete. I will have to say breaker bars with hole for a cross bar in the handle.


I use one of those quite often to remove those large shipping/U staples and even cotter pins at times. Hit it down to bite, clamp and then slide hammer it out.

Maybe someone will pop up and say they use this square tapered drill shank bit but I will still be surprised. I got a set of them for a few dollars and have been thinking about grinding the square shanks round so it will fit a power drill...

That is what I do. The best adapter one can get for a brace is to convert it to a standard drill chuck.

I saw a video of two NASCRAP guys doing an engine build at a show of some sort. Spinner handles were, virtually, all they used. Couldn't believe it, they didn't even touch a torque wrench except for the bearing caps.

At the right position, you can get a good amount of torque on a spinner handle.
 
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ttpete

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Somebody gets it! So many of the tools people listed still are very useful. Axes, hand saws, corded tools, screwdrivers...

Back in the day, my dad and grandfather built a house without any power tools. Two hand saws, rip and crosscut, hammers, saw horses, a level, chisels, a plane and a framing square, chalk line and plumb bob. I think they borrowed a dumpy level to set the forms for the foundation and a cement mixer.
 

Banjorear

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It's possible to use the standard "C" type pullers on side valve engines except for Ford V-8s. What's really needed is the little widget that's used to install the keepers without dropping them.

Got that tool as well. I've got some really handy Ford V8 specific tools to help with the job.
 

Banjorear

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Electricians and hand tool woodworkers use them. You'd be surprised what a complete set in good condition sells for. If you get rid of the square end, grind off the screw threads on the pilot tip.

Really, I got so many of these that I've sure I can make a complete set. Some I've cut the squared end off to use in a power drill. They drill like a hot knife through butter.
 

ttpete

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Got that tool as well. I've got some really handy Ford V8 specific tools to help with the job.

I had the full set for flatheads, including the tools used for lashing the valves. You slid one tool into the block and locked it, then used another to read the distance and gauge how much to grind off the stem to get the correct clearance.
 
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joseph.a.owens.9

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I also have a massive quantity of these pliers. Seems every box of tools I buy at a yard sale has 2 or 3 of them in it. Never found a job where they were the correct tool. They always seem to be the type of pliers you use when you dont have the correct tool for the job or are too lazy to go get the correct tool.
I'm a Lil late on this I'm sure, but I like to read a thread front to back. I should continue to read for I'm sure someone else has made this comment. I build fence wire fence pipe fence just about any thing that holds an animal. I use a set of pliers about every day.
 

uart

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I seem to have 300 of them and always getting more somehow. I don't know of a single time I've ever used them.

dqaYiVI.gif
I rode a really old push bike the other day that I hadn't ridden in years. I snapped a brake cable and pulled out the old tool bag to find a pair of those.

I think that style of "slip joint" pliers was a fairly popular addition in a lot of those ****** little tool kits that were sold for push bikes or glove boxes of cars. Typically the "core" of those sets would be something like a screwdriver handle with a few changeable blades, a small adjustable wrench and a pair of those little pliers. :)

I've also got a few of them lying around that I never use.
 
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Banjorear

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I had the full set for flatheads, including the tools used for lashing the valves. You slid one tool into the block and locked it, then used another to read the distance and gauge how much to grind off the stem to get the correct clearance.

Cool.
 

uart

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I still use these occasionally when I want a short wrench with a lot of offset. But with only about an 18 to 24 tooth count (depending in the size) this style of ratcheting wrench must be getting a bit obsolete.
 

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uart

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Some drilling accessories of the style that I haven't used in quite a while.
 

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Dennis Leigh Henry

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Sure they're obsolete and not useful now, but were these things ever useful?

Apparently they were the go to tool for pipes and tubing in the rail road / steam engine industry.. Wikipedia also shows them "handy" on square fastener heads. The one I show has angled (about 12.5 degrees) teeth on one side, flat the other. Apparently there are straight teeth ones also..

Makes an interesting wall hanger, so for that purpose it is NOT obsolete... :D
 

Dave.R

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Grand Rapids MI
My nomination is Saltus style wrenches. Has a set for close to 15+ years and never once remember using them or finding a situation where they were the only solution to a problem.

saltus.jpg

That's a bummer, I've always thought these were pretty cool.
 

bonneyman

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Dang this thread has grown! I never realized I had so many "obsolete" tools. :lol:

ATT Slimline corded phone and old style caller ID box, Yankee drivers, analog meters, ratcheting ball screwdrivers, Saltus wrenches.
 
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uart

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ATT Slimline corded phone
I've still got one of them too. They can actually be very handy.

A few years ago we had a massive storm here that took out the whole electricity grid in this area (for close to a week in some places). The phone system was actually unaffected, but 99.9% of people had thrown away their corded phones and were using ones that needed to be plugged into ac power to work (or had batteries requiring charging).

The result was that despite the phone system being 100% operational we had almost everyone without a functioning phone, and right in the time of greatest need. :p
 
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bonneyman

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I've still got one of them too. They can actually be very handy.

A few years ago we had a massive storm here that took out the whole electricity grid in this area. The phone system was actually unaffected, but 99.9% of people had thrown away their corded phones and where using ones that needed to be plugged into ac power to work (or had batteries requiring charging).

The result was that despite the phone system being 100% operational we had almost everyone without a functioning phone, and right in the time of greatest need. :p

10-4

Since I have ATT Voice Messaging, I didn't really need an answering machine. And I don't like the vulnerability of cordless handset phones. So, I scrounged around the local thrift stores, and found two of the old Slimline phones. And two of the simple caller ID boxes (I still like to know who's calling before I answer).
Those old ATT phones were heavy and bulletproof, still interface with the phone system just fine after 30+ years, and work even when the power goes out as you said.
 

bonneyman

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Hey! I've got one of those sets with the bullet shaped screw on cover. I've used it a lot - pretty handy tool IMHO.

Yeah, the EASYDRIVER ball driver is fantastic. Not many people like them. so, I can get them for cheap at yard sales.
Finally found a decent condition cover for the pieces I had laying around. Now they're all together like they should be.
 

Uncle_Charlie

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Oct 1, 2014
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Rogers, AR
I've still got one of them too. They can actually be very handy.

A few years ago we had a massive storm here that took out the whole electricity grid in this area. The phone system was actually unaffected, but 99.9% of people had thrown away their corded phones and where using ones that needed to be plugged into ac power to work (or had batteries requiring charging).

The result was that despite the phone system being 100% operational we had almost everyone without a functioning phone, and right in the time of greatest need. :p

A couple years back, my parents had a church meeting at their house. One of the children asked to use the phone, not knowing it was a rotary phone. The kid couldn't figure out how to dial the phone.
 

zkling

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Dang this thread has grown! I never realized I had so many "obsolete" tools. :lol:

ATT Slimline corded phone and old style caller ID box, Yankee drivers, analog meters, ratcheting ball screwdrivers, Saltus wrenches.

Of all that stuff, get rid of the simpson 260 last. There are still some applications where a analog meter outshines a digital. For your yankee drivers, get or make 1/4" a hex bit adapter.
 

manioso

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Princeton, NJ
It's possible to use the standard "C" type pullers on side valve engines except for Ford V-8s. What's really needed is the little widget that's used to install the keepers without dropping them.

I use a K-D 607 Valve Tool for split collar retainers.
 

blkadder

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Aug 15, 2014
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Okeechobee, FL
I have a 65 MG MGB, and I can tell you I have a drawer full of obsolete tools, most of which are listed here. My favorite is a set of carb synch gauges (with mercury in them). I found the setup at a yard sale for $5 twenty years or so ago. It is for a four cylinder motorcycle, but I only use two of them on my two carbs. I love threads like this.
 

Milton Shaw

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I have a couple of alignment tools for older Ford's with sliding upper control arms that don't work on much any more. Also a CV boot tool for early GM's with the hard formed ring that to be pressed on the joint. Also alignment tools for early pinto's and mustang II's that don't fit anything either. A shop I worked at had a set of massive iron claws to bend control arms on 50's cars to set alignments, they had never been used by the unscratched paint and dirt built up on them. Freon 12 gauges and hoses, and compressor clutch and seal tools for A6 and R10 compressors.
 
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