Old Tools with Sentimental Value …

[a990dna]

I'm new here. I thought I would start this thread and post a few pics of tools handed down to me through the family and items from work...

They all have a story...

Craftsman vise. I posted this in the vise thread, this was my brother in law's... in 1979, he died at the age of 24. He was a machinist and had just been discharged from the Air Force. My sister gave me all his tools...

Orbit drill press. The company where I've worked for almost 35 years gave this to me after closing our corporate headquarters. We outsourced manufacturing and moved operations to other states.

Super size crowbar. Well, my dad made this crowbar and my guess its the only one like it in the world. In his 20's and 30's he worked for H&L Tooth Company in Los Angeles, California. H&L Tooth fabricated teeth (digging) for heavy equipment, back hoes, bull dozers, etc. He was a steel worker and machinist by trade and decided to make this huge crowbar... same steel used for excavation. He made this specifically to break up concrete in our backyard when I was a kid... I can move a sidewalk slab back into place or break up concrete with ease with this thing... it was hand made by my dad and IMO priceless.

I have more fond memories and hidden treasures I'll post as I go....

If you have some stories, feel free to share...

.

 

[Tjc]

Thats one awsome crowbar!

 

[davesnothere]

That loojs like good stuff!

 

[SweetD]

Great post!

This was my great-great grandfather's Stanley Sweet Heart vise. I had new jaw inserts made for it because somehow it was missing one. Otherwise it's in excellent condition for a 100 year old vise. If it could talk...

Of course I never knew him, but my Dad did...he was a cigar-roller by trade, and a wood-worker by hobby / 2nd source of income. What I wouldn't give to see what his barn shop looked like:

 

[davesnothere]

That vise is nice!

 

[bobcatdan]

All mine that were my grandpa's.

 

[chewy7]

nice crowbar

 

[airbuff101]

yup.
Old tools have a lineage that warms the heart.
I have similar feelings.
airbuff

 

[BobsurUncle]

My dad is slowly giving me all his tools. He medical retired a few years ago, and isn't in the best of health. Equipment maintenance mechanic for 30 years. Boxes full of Proto, Armstrong, SK, Snap On and Williams. He made me a deal that every thing he gives me I have to keep, use, and hand down to my son.

He just gave me a Snap On torque wrench and 5" Wilton vice this afternoon. Good thing he taught me how to use them!

 

[freeskier]

alot of my stuff was my grandfathers, on both sides. brings back memories every day

 

[Gregg33]

I have a few sentimental things. A Mastercraft Socket set, given to me as a gift almost 20 years ago by my then step father. It's done alot of work for me. An Estwing axe used by my late grandfather. A whole bunch of very old tools incl Snap On and Mossberg used by a guy known (from his engravings) as AF. I consider him to be my adobted grandfather of tools. Some of the tools are so old, they probably were even his father's. From what AF's grandson told me, he passed away almost 20 years ago. I can also tell he had mechanical skills and had some maching knowledge as well. Regardless, I'm sure he's looking down on me using his tools with a smile. Probably is pissed off I'm babying them so much though!

 

[Tatsuya]

Everything about that crowbar is cool, down to the story.

 

[oldwino]

Crow Bar?

around these parts they don't let crow's in bars...they tend to get drunk and @%#* all over the stool

 

[bonneyman]

I like tool stories, but I love tools with stories!
Thanks for sharing!

 

[Michael Bryce Winnick]

My former law partner got me my first ratchet/socket set. Blackhawk. Over the last 20 years I have put together a tool collection worthy of remark (I need a CDL to move my toolbox). The first tools I go for by reflex are the Blackhawks. They do not sell Blackhawk within 150 miles of me, so now I am a huge fan of Craftsman. Great tool, reasonable price, and Sears is down the block. The warranty is excellent.
If NAPA or any place local starts selling Blackhawk again, I am there.

 

[toolman1967]

Cool story! I think as we get older we get more sentimental about the items we think are important. I have an old wooden chest with drawers made out of old wooden cheese boxes that my wifes grandfather made when he was a beginning machinist. I was a machinist and it means so much to me although he had passed away in the 1960s before I was even a sparkle in dads eye. No one else in the family wanted it or thought it meant anything but I love that chest.

 

[tatra]

first ratchet set was an indestro 3/8 drive kit..........from my dad....when my tools were stolen , fortunatly that was on my bench and i still have it......reminds me , i meed a kit for it......

 

[a990dna]

Thanks for the comments and those stories from the good old days...

I went shooting today, got into the closet to get my dad's Marlin 39A .22 caliber rifle we shot together over 40 years ago... yes, he taught me how to shoot and more important, how to hit the target. Those were some really fond memories.. his gun cleaning kit also has sentimental value. The box is made out of metal, not plastic.. imagine that.

I haven't shot that Marlin for 45 years... we spent many hours together on Sunday afternoons dialing in the sights. My dad was a perfectionist, the tight circle around the bulls eye proved that today.

Well, while I was rummaging through the closet, look what I found... Kenny's (my late brother-in-law) old Gerstner box. The damn thing is locked... now all I have to do is find the key. I can't remember where I put it 30 years ago.

This simple box and the machinist tools within represent an era when our youth could learn a trade and earn a living by using their natural talent as craftsmen...

It was a sad day when my sister called in tears to say Kenny was in the hospital... they lived in Oklahoma. I was only 19 at the time. I took three weeks LOA from work and flew to Oklahoma City to bring my sister and Kenny back home to Los Angeles... we buried him at Rose Hills.

Both were good men...

.

 

[toolmutt]

These fence pliers were originally my grandfather's, passed on to my dad, then finally to me. Actually used by all three generations. Thanks for the thread.
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[a990dna]

I have a couple more photos of old tools with sentimetal value.... both were from my late brother in law's tool collection.

1. Northern Bros, Yankee No. 41 ...

2. Letter opener, 5" blade, 11" fully extended ...

I was going to take the letter opener to a letter opener shop to get it cleaned and sharpened, not sure what they would do..



.

 

[jeffmoss26]

I have a box of tools from my grandpa that I will always cherish.

 

[lilredex]

This is my crowbar...

My grandfather came from England in the late 1800's and settled in Collingwood, Ontario, working as a machinist in the shipyards there.

He later moved to N. Battleford, SK and worked for CN Rail, again as a machinist. This is where that crowbar was obtained initially, some welder has written at the bottom "CNR" to ID it as their's.

It got passed down to my father, and I can remember it always being around as his "go to" tool for lifting things, moving things, clearing rocks out of post holes.....any job that no other tool could do. When he needed it no longer, it found a home with me.

It could easily be well over a hundred years old.

I have a few more things that are over a century old, from my grampa, small ball pein hammer, calipers and a Starrett thread gauge with the original box, etc......if there is interest in seeing them.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Yes, please post pics!

 

[lilredex]

More....

These were hand crafted. You can see I have not messed with the patina, by cleaning them up. My father was more of a woodworker so he never used these, but they were always around. Somehow, I had the good sense not to abuse them, fixing my bike or something equally stupid.

Have to go out and photograph the other things..... later.

 

[Mugen AP1]

This is my crowbar...


My grandfather came from England in the late 1800's and settled in Collingwood, Ontario, working as a machinist in the shipyards there.

I live 40 minutes from there

 

[lilredex]

I live 40 minutes from there

Ain't quite the same (Collingwood) with no shipyard, is it?

 

[Mugen AP1]

A few years back my grandmother asked me to clear my grandfather's (who passed away a few year prior) tool shed/shop. He had more 'pipe-fitter' tools over anything else (not much use to me) but he did have a trick 80's vintage Snap-on wall clock. Pardon my face that a co-worker stuck on the second hand

but the best thing i found was a small tub of axle grease that still had his finger impressions in it from the last time he used it. That, for whatever reason, brought a tear to my eye.

 

[Mugen AP1]

Ain't quite the same (Collingwood) with no shipyard, is it?

Not at all. Nice town but at time it has that 'Detroit' feel to it. If it were not for the ski season, there wouldn't be much.

 

[JWC07]

My most sentimentally valuable tool my Dad's FV71 ratchet that he brought back to TN when he left the Marine Corps in '68.

They go for cheap and everytime i see em for sale i wonder if they were given to someone when they got out and what happened to them. Dad was given a small set of tools and he still uses almost all of them.

I like that little ratchet, it just fits the hand good.

 

[Bronson]

These fence pliers were originally my grandfather's, passed on to my dad, then finally to me. Actually used by all three generations. Thanks for the thread.
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Oh Man, My back starts to ache just lookin at those! Long hours setting posts and stringing wire in the Texas heat, killing rattlers, and sweating, or freezing to death......

 

[byoungblood]

I'll have to snap a picture of it later, but I've got a 5/8" Craftsman RP combo wrench that I'll likely never part with due to a couple of arc marks where it fell across the battery terminals on my first car.

But I've got a bunch of tools passed down to me from both of my grandfathers and my father (who is now downsizing his tool collection in preparation for spending his retirement travelling), most of whom I'll probably never part ways with and will just pass them on to my son to use and enjoy.

 

[billybudge]

This is a great thread,there are some nice tools and stories already on here, I also share a passion for the older tools with history and a storey with sentimental value, keep it going.
I have many with different stories, last year I restored a 1947 snap on top box, that was in fact owned by my late grandfather then my late Dad, handed down to my 2 Brothers who then passed it on to me,I have had it for at least 20 years, the box was hardly usable, very beat up, rusted right out, check out my pictures or take a look at my thread about it,
nice work guys,well done,

 

[lilredex]

These shoulder planes are likely more that a century old.

They came from the home of my mother's first cousin in Bournmouthe, England. She was a spinster (can we still use that word??) and she represented our family's last living link to the mother land. Very special memories for me.

The smaller is brass, as you can see, and is 3/8" wide. The steel guy is 11/16" wide. I have them as no one else in our family is ever likely to use them.

 

[crewchief888]

i still have dads SK wrenches and socket sets he bought back around '58.
pics are some odd ball and extras he had

the planes he had sometime back (possibly) late 40's/early 50's, along with a hand brace, several bits and 2 hand saws.

my most prized possessions are the 2 guns he had....

 

[Lone_Wolf]

My grandfathers grandfather was working for 8 years (1912-1920) as maintenance mechanic in sawmill near Aberdeen, Washington state. When he returned home he brougt lot of good stuff. In WWII our house was burned to dust. We lost all. Photgraph camera with pictures, lot of tools, books, grandfathers brother motorcycle (he was pilot before war), all clothing... From old rifle only barrel survived, granfather made new ewerything else from the beginning. Without any proper tool and with secrect service behind his neck.....
One of rare things that miraculously survived was this scissors: