What first tools do you still have?

[bobcatdan]

I was putting tools away today and I started to think, what have I had the longested? I decided it must be a stanley 25' tape measure I bought when I was 12 or 13. Then I wondered, what happen to first pilers and screwdrivers I got around that age, I don't know. I never got rid of them, but I know I don't have them anymore. My earilest tools I still have are my craftsman in the back of my truck I bought when I was 16 or 17, but those were what replaced my first tools when I started working at a dealership. I just don't know where the ones I got when I was 12 to 15 ever went. When I really stop and look at, it I have upgraded stuff so much over the years, I bet I don't have 10 tools at work that I started wrenching with. You guys still have any of the first stuff you ever had, or is long gone too?

 

[davesnothere]

I've still got the pliers, screwdrivers and hammer my old man gave me when I was a wee lad. And I still use them all the time around the house.

 

[otis66]

I still have two MAC ratchets I bought when I pumped gas at a gas station when I was in High School. The MAC dealer gave me a truck account just like the mechanics. I also still have the Craftsman 406 pc. that was given to me as a graduation gift from my parents after graduating from tech school. 1 got my two MAC ratchets in 1981. I got my Craftsmaqn set in 1988.

 

[930dreamer]

All of them, I bought a medium size set from a friends son who dropped out of a local community college automotive program.

 

[larry_g]

This thread is worthless without a time period. I still have the proto tool kit I bought when starting school in 1970. Some pieces are missing and some have been replaced but most all the sockets and wrenches are still there.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[70chevellegsp]

I have a small carpentry hammer I got when I was 5 or 6, when kids tools were actually tools. My daughter uses it to pound nails when she is with me in the shop. I still have a Tiawanese 3/8 & 1/2 ratchet set along with a Test Rite rollaway I got when I was 13. (1979)

 

[billybudge]

I still have a snap on top box, been in the family and handed down since 1947, I had that when I was 14, now Im nearly 40,
also a set of 5 Elora metric spanners I bought 2nd hand at the age of 16, now you got me thinking, I only have a handful of tools that I started out with, have loads now though,in fact I think I got all of them,lol. where did they all go, one 3/4 impact socket from a set of 30, 1 pair of mole grips I bought at 17, and two ball peins,
although in 1993 I had a complete roll cab and top box snap on full with all my gear, stolen, and I had no insurance, and it was never found,
interesting thread,

 

[canuckian]

I still have a set of Canadian made (witt, I believe) Mastercraft screwdrivers and most of a Mastercraft socket set my dad put in a toolbox he put together for me when I left home for university in the late 80's. Most of it grew legs or was misplaced but I managed to salvage a few pieces.

 

[Sancho]

Not a tool but a box, my grandpa's, a two drawer craftsman I got when I was 9 after he passed. Still has the plaque with his name and address on the lid.

 

[Kev442]

I still have several of my kiddie tools given to me when I was 7 or 8, about 1969. Still the only coping saw I have ever owned and the tiny hammer is actually in my main box when I need to gently tap on something.

 

[trbomax]

Ive got a lot of stuff that I I had in the 50's-60's. The oldest that i can lay my hands on right now is an IR impact that my dad got me around 1957. still use it.I still have my first welding machine too,an AC-180 "tombstone" that he brought home around 1955. I remember it well because I was trying to build a go-kart frame,and wanted him to have a guy that he worked with weld it up. He brought home the machine and told me if I wanted it welded,then learn how. I went to the library (remember those?) ,got a couple books ,and figured it out. A few weeks later I needed to bend some metal for something and ask him to take it to work and do it,the next day he came home with a full set of torches! back to the library I went! Still have most of that set too.

 

[premierplayer]

I still have quite a few of the first's, and most all of the several generations of upgrades.
Here's a blast from the past.
Snap cutter.
Lead runner
Ladle
Packing irons
Driving irons
Finishing irons
Wiping glove

 

[santagary]

My greatgrandfathers' brass hammer he used at B&W in Barberton OH in the 1920's, My father's tack hammer he used for 30 years as an upholsterer and the Sears/Craftsman 14 oz. hammer he gave me in 1962...and the $35 set of craftsman sockets I bought in 1963 for myself.

 

[KEH]

A claw hammer given to me by parents when I was quite young, sometimes in the late 1940s. Gave it to my daughter when she started housekeeping. A few years later i gave her my Thorsen 1/2 drive set given to me in 1961 by my older sister as a graduation present.

KEH

 

[expatriated]

I'm 38. I have everything since I didn't buy my first tool until I found this site a couple of years ago

 

[srode]

I have a ring compressoer and torque wrench from lat 70's, probably some other things too but hard to tell what is from back then.

 

[ZRX61]

My first toolbox was stolen when I was about 19...

 

[OccupantRJ]

I bought an SK Wayne socket set and a pair of 10" Visegrips 46 years ago when I was 12 years old. The socket set was $13, and the grips were $2.45. I was a broke *** kid who paid for them by cutting grass for $3 a yard with a resurrected push mower my uncle gave me, so I still remember what they cost. They are in the toolbox of my truck today. Those tools and mower were the beginning of a long love affair with machines.

 

[chopper1]

When I got out of the service and bought my first car in 1965 my step dad gave me a Wright 3/8" set that I still have [rat, speeder, T-slide, extensions and short 12 pt sockets]. Before that, while still in school, I always used his tools, most of which I have now also.

 

[Rickster]

I still have my very first set of wrenches. Craftsman 12pt double box SAE with a slight offset.

 

[hofferwood]

I still have quite a few of the first's, and most all of the several generations of upgrades.
Here's a blast from the past.
Snap cutter.
Lead runner
Ladle
Packing irons
Driving irons
Finishing irons
Wiping glove

Wow, That PLUMB DRAINS me
Chuck

 

[hofferwood]

K-Mart 1972

The IDIOT

 

[greasemonkey44]

mostly plumbing tools, torches, oil drain pan and a hammer
an ax
i dont get too sentimental with tools, they are for work and get beat

 

[rquackenbush]

I still have the toolbox that my grandfather used when he was in the air force. He passed it to my dad and I still have it. I hope to pass it on to one of my daughters one day.

 

[Scout Driver]

All of them. 20+ years ago, I got an old (circa 1970) Craftsman box full of mostly Craftsman tools that had been passed down from my Grandpa on Mom's side of the family. There's a permanent imprint in the carpet of my '78 Scout where that box rode many miles. It spends time in the garage now, but may go back to Scout duty.

Scott

 

[knotheads]

i have a sears brand metal body 1/4 inch drill motor and a sears brand metal body scroll saw. in 1962 i mowed lawns to get the $15.98 the pair cost me. i was almost 12 yr. old at the time. both are still in working condition.

 

[c/o say]

I still have my williams 6in cresent that lived in by back pocket from 9 till I started driving. I could rebuild my bike with it. I also still have all my S/K tool set I bought when I first started wrenching . Its all 20 to 25 yrs old now including top and bottom tool boxes.

 

[american lockpicker]

Stanley tape measure. Back when I was a wee lad I noticed they had these tiny Stanley tape measures that had a key ring. For some reason or another I just had to have one, so I bugged my mother and grandmother for a while and they picked me up a similar model from a yard sale but it didn't have a key ring so I tossed in a drawer and kept asking for the key chain model. Finally I got one but its was cheap **** from China/Taiwan and I had broke it within a day of having it but still have the other.

 

[brian90505]

Not sure about first hand tool or electric tool, but I still have (and use) my first air tool: a Rodac 1/4-inch die grinder that I got in 1978. It won't die.

 

[Jim C.]

All of them. My dad bought me a basic set of Craftsman sockets and wrenches back in the early 1980s. I've just kept building around that set ever since.

 

[Vicegrip]

K-Mart 1972

The IDIOT

Oh man, I had that same set for about 2 years also purchased right around 1972. Lent it out and it never came back. Still remember how suprised I was that someone could stridenty promise to return something and then disapear for good. He has likely saved many a tool for me since as I was far more carefull with my tools both in my use and on loan after that.

For my birthday I asked for a tap and die set when I was 12. (1972) My mom was scratching her head wondering why I wanted some odd tool kit rather than something "fun". Little did she know.... Got a nice Crafstman Kromedge set. Good tool and better made than the modern sets. Still have it except I stupidly broke the 1/4 20 tap about a year ago when I was in a hurry. Am looking for a 70's vintage 1/4 20 tap to re-complete the set.

 

[NeilH]

my first tools that i bought with my own money was a T936, F936 & S936 i bought at the same time when i found out i got myself an apprentiship as a mechanic.

i still have all of them, my T936 has had a repair kit under warrenty.

 

[Milton Shaw]

My dad gave me a 3/8 SK ratchet and socket set when I was 8, That was 1956 still have them and use some of them every week. Lost a couple of sockets over the years but still have most of them. He had given me a japan set of wrenches the previous birthday and I still had them except for the broken and spread out ones. So he started giving me quality tools the next year, he never was mechanically inclined but he sold tools and knew the value of quality , you only have to buy quality tools once, cheap one you have to buy again and again.

 

[jdv]

I have my Craftsman SAE raised panels that I got when I was probably 7-8 years old. I still use them everyday and they look good as new.

 

[SMKS]

When I was 16 (in 1998) my parents bought me a CD player from Sears for my birthday. I returned it and bought one of the large socket and ratchet sets. I've lost some of the 1/4" sockets and sold some of the SAE sockets here in the classifieds. I still use the 1/2" and 3/8" metrics as my main set.

 

[DrunkSmurf]

I've lost a lot of things over the years but I have a small Kawasaki tool kit from a 90cc dirt bike I had back in the early 70's as a kid.

I also have a few Craftsman raised panel wrenches and an ancient ball peen hammer my Dad had for as long as I can remember.

I can remember my Dad also having that Kmart socket set posted as well..lol..He probably still has it to be honest.

 

[Craftsman_88]

Only 22, but I still have every tool I got from when I was13-14. Have a nice 3/8" craftsman ratchet and socket set from the 60's, a craftsman tool kit from the late 80's, and a few poower tools I dont use. Just dont wanna get rid of them. I like having that stuff. I wanna keep it to someday hand down to my child. Hope they will appreciate as much as I do.

 

[brucercolbert]

I still have the spinner lug wrench from my '49 ford, new to me in '65

 

[Dust]

I still have my first real toolbox. It's a small nineteen inch portable made by Stack-On. Dad gave it to me for Christmas about ten years ago, when I first started taking auto shop. It lived in the trunk of my car for years as my emergency box, then later became my machinist box. Still has most of the stuff I used in my machine shop classes in it.

 

[Gort the giant robot]

I bought my first tools in 1970. In 1980 somebody broke in my office at my wrecking yard and stole my kennedy tool box with most of my tools. Of my original tools i bought back then i still have 6 S&K Wayne sockets and a Yale & Towne 1/2 ton chain hoist.

Gort the giant robot.