Old tools are they worth keeping??

[jrjorin]

My dad recently passed away and I was honored to be able to collect his older tools.
I brought home around 14 tool boxes crammed full of older tools.

I dont do much work on cars or lawnmowers like he use to and I am not sure what to do with it all.

I have sorted out the stuff that i think is good (I.E. made in the USA)

and still have about 5 boxes with those tools in them.
Brands like Williams, Herbrand, Lectrolyte,Mac,Snap on,Prothro,Craftsman,and others.
I guess my questions is if I dont need them all are they worth cleaning and trying to sell?

He was very ruff with the tools and most have some rust on them.
I have tried cleaning in vinegar and it seemed to eat the chrome off.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Popcorn time!

 

[baldredhead]

locally there has been an ad on craigslist where someone has been trying to reacquire his deceased grandfather's tools that were sold in a fit of economic malaise... or something like that.

anyway. the ad has been running for months.

do you have kids that may someday want them?

 

[ddawg16]

You could donate them. Or give them to someone who will make sure they go to a good home.

I 'could' do that for you......

 

[MikeinNorthWales]

Is this how you sell without meeting the minimum post count?

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

 

[3jakes]

I guess my questions is if I dont need them all are they worth cleaning and trying to sell?

How much is your time worth?

 

[jrjorin]

nope no kids

and i am sure lots of people would like for them to be donated

 

[ihateminimumwage]

I've started donating some of my older and no name tools and ones that are too oversized to ship to the local Humane Society Thrift store. Other stuff I just tossed into a big box and put on CL for cheap (and got full asking price).

It all comes down to your time versus the actual value. Take an hour and look over eBay sold listings to see what the value of what you have is, then decide from there. The time to clean, take pictures and write out a good description, package and ship all adds up fast.

 

[jrjorin]

here are a few pics of what i mean by rusty and old

 

[jrjorin]

Is this how you sell without meeting the minimum post count?

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

No this is how you ask if your stuff is junk or worth spending your time cleaning

 

[sk farmer]

i am positive there are some gems in there and some of them don't look that bad.

chances are that none of it is terribly valuable. if you can make sets that helps but that may even prove difficult.

 

[jrjorin]

With that much stuff and rust i am finding hard to make any sets. Guess i will just keep them for personal use and clean them as i go.

In the photo with the sockets you can see where i tried to clean some others in the wheel barrow and it left the chrome around the edge

 

[unslow1]

Honestly you are going to get next to nothing for tools in that shape. Do you have anyone in the family or circle of friends to give them to? I know if someone gave me those when I was a teenager I would've been thrilled.

Now if you have something that is in much better shape with the names Snapon, MAC or Proto you might have something.

 

[jrjorin]

Honestly you are going to get next to nothing for tools in that shape. Do you have anyone in the family or circle of friends to give them to? I know if someone gave me those when I was a teenager I would've been thrilled.

Now if you have something that is in much better shape with the names Snapon, MAC or Proto you might have something.

Yes i have a few with those names but they are rusted also. Nothing is in great shape.

 

[finn]

Donate them to your local Habitat store.

 

[ken w.]

From what I see in your pics , there isn't anything that sticks out are rare or valuable. Too spend the time to clean all this up wouldn't be worth it too me. If there is a bunch of Snap On or Mac I would clean that up and put it on Ebay. Unfortunately , the tools I have on Ebay right now are not selling very well.

 

[Strouty]

is this how you sell without meeting the minimum post count?

Sent from my sm-g935p using tapatalk

bingo!!!!!

 

[jrjorin]

From what I see in your pics , there isn't anything that sticks out are rare or valuable. Too spend the time to clean all this up wouldn't be worth it too me. If there is a bunch of Snap On or Mac I would clean that up and put it on Ebay. Unfortunately , the tools I have on Ebay right now are not selling very well.

Thanks for the info.

Any ideas on how to clean them?

 

[jrjorin]

bingo!!!!!

The post says are they worth keeping??

Not are they worth selling??

Thank you for your input have a nice day.

 

[Motorman55]

jrjorin, I believe you are looking for advice on what to do, rather then just looking to sell for profit.

If you care to let go of them, let me know what sizes you have in the 'lectrolite' wrenches you show in the photos. I would be interested in possibly buying them from you should you decide to sell.

My interest in them is more sentimental then for purely collecting. My FIL who passed away this past August gave me a set of lectrolite wrenches that he used in in his life long career as a metal fabricator/welder.

One of the larger wrenches I believe was stolen from me or I lost at work some years ago and some were already missing from his set. I would like to complete the set.

You can PM me. Thanks

 

[3baygarage]

How about a photo lineup of the ratchets. I see some good ones worth cleaning up and using. Some good sockets too.

I have never tried evaporust but maybe for a quantity like this, if vinegar is too harsh. Hopefully someone can weigh in on that. They look to have been water logged at some point.

 

[Shootinok]

You mentioned some brands that will typically bring enough interest and value that they would be worth your time to clean up and make available for sale.

The off brand or poor condition stuff could make a cool art project that would remind you of your dad if you have the skills for such a thing.
I'd love to have a box or two of old wrenches and sockets to make something like this...

 

[jrjorin]

jrjorin, I believe you are looking for advice on what to do, rather then just looking to sell for profit.

If you care to let go of them, let me know what sizes you have in the 'lectrolite' wrenches you show in the photos. I would be interested in possibly buying them from you should you decide to sell.

My interest in them is more sentimental then for purely collecting. My FIL who passed away this past August gave me a set of lectrolite wrenches that he used in in his life long career as a metal fabricator/welder.

One of the larger wrenches I believe was stolen from me or I lost at work some years ago and some were already missing from his set. I would like to complete the set.

You can PM me. Thanks

Thanks for your reply and yes what should i do with all of them.
If your FIL used them for his life time they must be good wrenches.
Unsure if i want to take them to the flee market or just keep them in case i need them sometime in the future.

 

[jrjorin]

How about a photo lineup of the ratchets. I see some good ones worth cleaning up and using. Some good sockets too.

I have never tried evaporust but maybe for a quantity like this, if vinegar is too harsh. Hopefully someone can weigh in on that. They look to have been water logged at some point.

yes he would leave them out in the rain and the boxes would get full of water

 

[byoungblood]

First thing I'd do is just sort through anything broken and toss it in the metal scrap bin.

Double open end wrenches probably aren't going to fetch much if you're thinking about selling them. Probably the only time I hear of folks using them is on hydraulics, usually most folks don't fool with them any more. Older ones with numbers like "10" stamped on them are from an old obsolete sizing system and aren't metric. Unless you just like the look of old tools, most of them are practically worthless. Last ones I had I just gave away to a friend who didn't have any larger sized wrenches.

Some of those specialty wrenches (particularly that large single open ended wrench) may be worth trying to sell on their own.

Everything else, I'd sort through and see what you need. From there, take the stuff that has name recognition (Snap On, Mac, Craftsman) and see what is worth salvaging and see if you can't get some takers on here or on eBay. You might get some movement on the Williams and SK stuff here if it isn't in too bad of shape, but out on the open market it has been my observation that most people don't know what those brands are any more and usually pass them over. Those are the ones I can get cheap at yard sales as a result.

Anything else, just pack up in a box and put an ad on it and sell it as-is. You'll put far more effort into trying to clean it up than what it is worth.

One word of caution, some of those tools appear to be cadmium plated. Do NOT wire brush or grind on those, cadmium dust is toxic! I have some old cadmium plated tools and I just soaked them in degreaser and wiped them down to clean them up.

Some of those tools may have just been finished in black oxide, if you intend on using them just soak/brush the rust off and put them to use. Anything chrome plated you'll just have to make a judgement call on if it is too far gone to use.

 

[Motorman55]

In regard to cleaning them. I would be careful using vinegar as the de-rusting method.

Guys here will tell you it can be aggressive if the tool is left in too long. I'll let the other guys here recommend other solutions.

Should you want to let go of some of them, I would just wipe off the rust with a rag and some WD-40. Let the tools represent themselves as they are and let any potential buyer do the final cleaning/polishing.

Just my opinion, others may differ.

 

[jrjorin]

In regard to cleaning them. I would be careful using vinegar as the de-rusting method.

Guys here will tell you it can be aggressive if the tool is left in too long. I'll let the other guys here recommend other solutions.

Should you want to let go of some of them, I would just wipe off the rust with a rag and some WD-40. Let the tools represent themselves as they are and let any potential buyer do the final cleaning/polishing.

Just my opinion, others may differ.

yes i think the vinegar is to harsh.
Currently i am trying a few in some lime juice as my wife suggested.

 

[orangeblood]

You mentioned some brands that will typically bring enough interest and value that they would be worth your time to clean up and make available for sale.

The off brand or poor condition stuff could make a cool art project that would remind you of your dad if you have the skills for such a thing.
I'd love to have a box or two of old wrenches and sockets to make something like this...

very neat idea!!

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Yes they are worth keeping.
Cleaning them up doesn't make them any more usable.
Spray them with a light oil.
Wipe them down as you sort them by size. If you want to organize sets this will make it easier.

 

[bubinga]

Is this how you sell without meeting the minimum post count?

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

I don't think the 0P was doing that.
Please don't jump to conclusions.

 

[bubinga]

I would also take them off your hands, and Gladly pay shipping.
items WILL NOT BE RE-Sold.

 

[woody 73]

Op you ask a very good question, good job.

Because most things today are metric in nature, yes indeed keep those tools; but if I were a gambling man (don't tell my wife), I would bet that your tools from your Grandpa were all SAE and not metric. Can you still use them sure but only on fasteners that are sae and not metric. (think of vintage cars although lawn mowers might be ok).

Cleannig by electrolysis will work and any pliers should be saved as you will always use them.

Hope that helps you out.

 

[Metalio]

You could try soaking them in diesel for a day or so, then wipe them down with a rag or maybe use a brass brush, that should help remove a lot of the rust. If you don't intend to keep them yourself, I'd only spend time really cleaning up the most valuable brand-name stuff like snap-on and sell those items seperately. The other items you could just sell as a package deal or maybe gift them to someone who might use them.

 

[fowldarr]

I'm probably not the guy to ask, because I intentionally bring home buckets of this stuff and pay for it (though recently I've gotten more selective). Evapo-Rust works ok, but if the chrome is already compromised it's going to take some more off, so will any other method quite frankly. If the chrome is intact electrolysis or evapo rust will really clean them up.

Based on what you told us about yourself, I would start by organizing them. I'd put together a set of quality tools (even if they are mismatched) that are in decent shape, and I would keep those. I'd up my post count here and post what was left for sale (there are lot of guys trying to complete sets). What is left from that, I would put 'grab bag' style on ebay. Sell them for what they sell for.

If I was me, I would probably keep them all.

 

[Gmonkee]

I have a **** ton of old tools 1890 to the 50's. All useless at my work and no family heritage, until I pass them to my son. Value is measured in history with them, not resale or usability.

Resale values are steel weight. I don't care and add more as I find them.

 

[exmaxima1]

A gallon of Evaporust is about $20, and is probably the easiest and most efficient way to clean off the rust:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M0TLQ66/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[crewchief888]

Value is measured in history with them, not resale or usability.

Resale values are steel weight. I don't care and add more as I find them.

clean them up as best as you can, (without spending a LOT of time) sort sockets into drive sizes, wrenches into type, pliers, screwdrivers ect.

have a garage sale...

$0.50 and up, the more you buy, they cheaper they are...

i used to love hitting the flea mkt's around st pete fla that family was selling off granddads tools.....

 

[jrjorin]

Thanks to everyone for the input, guess after i make a little money selling the stuff from Taiwan and Japan i will buy some Evapo rust.

 

[notlob]

PM sent.

 

[Gmonkee]

clean them up as best as you can, (without spending a LOT of time) sort sockets into drive sizes, wrenches into type, pliers, screwdrivers ect.

have a garage sale...

$0.50 and up, the more you buy, they cheaper they are...

i used to love hitting the flea mkt's around st pete fla that family was selling off granddads tools.....

Lol! I had a heap of modern wrench sets and all were decent but just too much duplicatation. To avoid making hard decisions I would put 3 up for sale at a time and let the market choose the most desired.

In time there were few if any combos and a lot of DOE so I put them to work.

Antique and curiosity stuff boxed up and stored until a display was made.

Years later the semi modern DOE still at work and the junk in the museum is the only area of more each year.

I won't be selling any of them. It's living history of my town and the smithy at the depot to some now unknown rural smithy in the sugar cane plantations here. Wrenches from all over Europe brought in by immigrants and a few of the best of the 20's top brands in the US. And of course my mostly faked 1914 T tool kit. I'm working on that.

Not going to be resold in my lifetime. How many have a smithy made NdeM wrench made at the forge downtown in the museum. They have none with the logo stamp, I have one.

A treasure with no resale value but much history. That is why it is guarded.