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Vintage Blackhawk Tool Display Boards

Bull

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The story: I saw these boards on eBay once, and also on Craigslist for the first time several months ago. The seller had them priced at $400, which was far too rich, and then there was the issue of shipping. I found them again when the price had dropped to $200, and at first dismissed them. I thought it wiser to focus on filling the set of boards that I already have. But, I kept returning to the classified ad, and decided to contact the seller on January 17. We exchanged a few e-mails, and I then waited for some pics, as the ones in the ad were terrible. A couple weeks went by, and I contacted her again. She had forgotten, but got me pics soon after. I decided I wanted the boards.

I posted two or three threads on here, over a span of two or more weeks, looking for a person in the area to help me pick them up and deal with the shipping. I finally found someone: UncleJoe.

I had booked a hotel room and was planning to make the drive, about 27 hours both ways, to get the boards myself. This would have cost me a lot of money in gas, lodging, and food, not to mention fatigue since I would have to do it in one weekend and be back to work on Monday. Joe saved my **** from all of this by assuring me he would take care of getting the boards for me.

Joe turned out to be a hero among men for me. Not only did he pick the boards up for me, he did so before I had even paid him, which was great since the deal was somewhat time sensitive (the seller wanted them gone but was holding them for me.)

Joe discovered that the clips holding on the hundreds and hundreds of pegs (might be a thousand total, I don't know) were essentially impossible to remove easily. He had to cut each clip away without damaging the board. He then carefully bagged and labeled all the pegs, one bag per board. He sent me a PM telling me the boards had been packaged by the local UPS store and were on their way, which was unexpected because I hadn't paid for shipping yet. I asked what the total was, and two days layer he got back to me to say it was his treat, for my work as a mod here. This about knocked me out of my chair. No one I tell this story to can believe that a stranger was that kind of generous to me. I am sure that the shipping and packing fee was pretty substantial. It's pretty amazing.

There are more details to the story, but the above are the most important. Sorry it's so long.

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street131

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Oct 11, 2009
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West Michigan
wow Bull, i find those so cool, ive been looking for some around here for a good while. My girlfriend said i should get a picture on the wall, but i think a tool board would look a hell alot better
 
OP
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Bull

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How do you keep finding this stuff?
-BWP

Obsessive/compulsive scouring of the earth. :spit:

Looks like you found your hammer board. Sweet! :beer:

Yes and no. I have a place to put hammers now (once I find them) but this board is not the one mentioned in my signature. This set of boards is older than the other set of boards that I have been working on filling up for a while now.

Awesome! How long till you have them filled up?

I will be pretty old by then! I am going to complete the first set I started before focusing on these. Also, a lot of the tools on here are duplicates of the ones on my other set of boards, at least in terms of the part numbers. So, I might just skip the duplicates and only buy the tools for these that I don't have spaces for in the other display set.

wow Bull, i find those so cool, ive been looking for some around here for a good while. My girlfriend said i should get a picture on the wall, but i think a tool board would look a hell alot better

I hope I am not shooting myself in the foot my drumming up competition. I am not done buying these things yet :lol_hitti
 
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Bull

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I'm actually not sure. I have a 1961 New-Britain era Blackhawk catalog that I just received. I am going to look in it tonight to see if I can find them.

Glad to see you are still talking to me even after I have kept you waiting so long for your own board
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Very nice! On the board with the piston tools, what are the 2 long tools on the right side.
 
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Bull

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If its the board with the C-9 marked on it, the two items on the side are battery carrier straps.

I'll have to check the board number later tonight. What catalog or what source are you using for the info?
 

Lump

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Mar 16, 2009
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Jamestown, Ohio
Just checked in my 1953 Blackhawk catalog. No battery straps are listed. And the tool boards shown in that catalog are different looking. Standard serif type...not cursive.

Nice boards! Now I know someone who needs all these Blackhawk tools I've got! LOL.
 

UncleJoe

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Dec 2, 2008
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New Bern NC
I tell you I enjoyed the Shop time getting those D@mn clips off. I think I went through about 3 dremel discs per board cutting them free while trying to not damage the back of the board. The more I worked on those boards the more I liked them. I thought about kidnapping them but I knew Bull had his heart set on them. I never realized how cool those boards are.

A guy could make a set to match his existing tools and I just might do that.

I was glad to do this for Bull as he has put in a lot of time to keep the peace around here and make this a fun place to hang out.
 

Busted Bolts

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NewEngland
I tell you I enjoyed the Shop time getting those D@mn clips off. I think I went through about 3 dremel discs per board cutting them free while trying to not damage the back of the board. The more I worked on those boards the more I liked them. I thought about kidnapping them but I knew Bull had his heart set on them. I never realized how cool those boards are.

A guy could make a set to match his existing tools and I just might do that.

I was glad to do this for Bull as he has put in a lot of time to keep the peace around here and make this a fun place to hang out.

:thumbup: Amen Uncle joe. Your right Bull does alot for us here I'm glad he got some more boards.
 

Lump

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I tell you I enjoyed the Shop time getting those D@mn clips off. I think I went through about 3 dremel discs per board cutting them free while trying to not damage the back of the board. The more I worked on those boards the more I liked them. I thought about kidnapping them but I knew Bull had his heart set on them. I never realized how cool those boards are.

A guy could make a set to match his existing tools and I just might do that.

I was glad to do this for Bull as he has put in a lot of time to keep the peace around here and make this a fun place to hang out.

Well said, Joe! :bowdown: :bowdown:

I could make the logo/graphics for you, if you decide to make a board.
 

dieseldodge01

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Ohio
I'll have to check the board number later tonight. What catalog or what source are you using for the info?

The ZT-1602 is for the Long Battery Lifter and the ZT-1601 is for the short battery lifter. That info comes from my 1970 Blackhawk catalog. Just as a little side information, in 1970 they would have cost $1.10 for the short lifter and $1.30 for the long one, in Canadian money.

Oh Lump, I can always use Blackhawk tools also :bounce:. Also New Britain, Husky, New Britain etc, etc, etc :lol_hitti.
 
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Bull

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Chris,you nailed the ID on those two items. Nice work!

Now that I had a name to look for, I found them listed in both my 1961 and 1975 catalogs.
 
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Bull

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I finally got the hammer board from this set up on my wall. I spent around $22+ - for the hardware to reattach the pegs. Having it up makes me realize that I need more Blackhawk hammers. You boys keep your eyes open, ya hear! :lol_hitti

I also hung up two of the other boards from the set (one for wrenches, one for sockets and drivers) on another wall with some other boards that were already up. Instead of installing the pegs on a lot of these, I am just putting them up empty. Maybe once I fill my main set of "user" boards, I will worry about putting the pegs on and getting some of the tools that aren't on the newer, user boards.

I have maybe nine or so more boards to hang up. Also, a fellow on here picked one up for me some months ago, and I think he's still holding it for me. It's a puller board.

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The user boards, with the hammer board visible to the bottom-right. I had to remove the vintage Craftsman mechanic's wall cabinet to put the board up.
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The middle-left and bottom-left boards are the ones from this thread that I put up today.
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colt zantop

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VERY cool! I remember you talking about these a while back but never seen them hung. thanks for sharing. :thumbup:
 

toddmcdong

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Jan 10, 2010
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Austin, TX
Those boards look great... very tempting to start collecting.

One thing - did all of the pegs come with the board and/or have you found a source for replacements? I saw the thread about the nuts to hold them on to the board.
 
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Bull

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VERY cool! I remember you talking about these a while back but never seen them hung. thanks for sharing. :thumbup:

Thanks for checking in, my good man :)

Those boards look great... very tempting to start collecting.

One thing - did all of the pegs come with the board and/or have you found a source for replacements? I saw the thread about the nuts to hold them on to the board.

It can be addictive. All of the boards I have purchased have had the pegs included. On the set that I started this thread about, the heroic GJ member who picked up and shipped the boards to me had painstakingly to cut off all of the specialized retainers that held the pegs on, to make shipping manageable. He must have had to cut hundreds of fasteners, the poor chap! That's why I had to buy the self-threading nuts, and then this morning I bought a box of 100 1" diameter fender washers to spread the clamping force out when I attached the pegs.
 
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Bull

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Pretty sweet setup! Filling all of those will probably keep you occupied until you retire. lol

Occupied and financially challenged.

BTW, don't ever change your avatar. I love it when Keith Stone pops his head up in here!
 

wreckercologist

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Occupied and financially challenged.

BTW, don't ever change your avatar. I love it when Keith Stone pops his head up in here!

:lol: I found a pic on the net I wanted to use with Daffy Duck saying "and you sir, can go **** yourself! but I figured there might be issues with using that one. :twak:

Sweet boards, though. It would be a fun project to have if I ever actually have a garage/shop of my own.
 

Ken81590

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Apr 7, 2012
Messages
392
Wow, hat's off to UncleJoe! You just do not see that kind of generosity from strangers these days. Picking them up, alone, is very generous, but to do all of that for you, a stranger, is beyond admirable. I applaud you UncleJoe! If there were more people in this world like you, things would be a lot nicer for everyone.

@UncleJoe, I have never met you, but I can truely say, you are a great person, I wish the world was full of UnlceJoe's :thumbup:


To the OP, those boards look awesome!! How far away are you from filling all the spots?
 

UncleJoe

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New Bern NC
Thanks for the compliment.

Bull those boards sure look sweet. It might take awhile to fill those but they really can become an heirloom. I hope you have children that appreciate tools.
 

paulmz

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Oct 15, 2013
Messages
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Just thought I would join in the fun! My first job was at an auto parts store in Jersey some 20 years ago and we had seven or eight of these boards on the wall behind the parts counter. When I saw two Blackhawk boards for sale at a local online auction here in Minnesota, I had to have them. A steal at $18.00, I have them a little less than half filled now (the photo is a few months old). Although there are a few Proto wrenches, I have only one Blackhawk tool on the boards - the 1/4" socket driver.



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I originally wanted them for nostalgia as I spent many years stocking similar boards in my youth. Now I find that I want more of them!
 
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Abar5904

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Aug 7, 2017
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I see it's been a while since your post about the tool boards, but you have quite a large collection of the blackhawk boards. Maybe I overlooked it, but I didn't see a 3/4" ratchet and socket board, well I have one in good condition to complete your collection if you're interested. [email protected]
 
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