What is your most sentimental tool?

[ALinCarolina]

I have quite a few tools that mean something to me. Starting with some Craftsman tools I bought with my paper route money while in junior high school in the early sixties. I also inherited a partial set of SnapOn Ferret socket sets from my father. I heard he won them in a poker game while in the service during WW2. But I think my most meaningful is this little ball peen hammer that was my grandfathers.
I need to go through all my tools with my son and let him know which ones have meaning to me so that they may also mean something to him when I am gone.

 

[Noworries]

It has always amazed me the old ball peen havinf that skinny neck on the handle...

 

[coljar]

Probably had to be my 1/2" drive Plomb ratchet with my grandfather's first name, "POE", stamped on it, which is how he marked his tools. I still use it regularly.

 

[seber]

My fathers Disston hand saw. He would have bought it in 42 or 43 and used it every day until he retired in 93. It has been sharpened so many times the end has no strength left and has buckled. It now hangs over the door to my shop. I have a pair of Disstons that I use, but this one is retired.

 

[ForrestT]

For me it’s the Klein, SK, Channellock and Craftsman made in the USA tools that my dad has given me over the years for birthday and Christmas gifts. Also, I have a pair of crescent cee-tee made in the USA pliers with red grips that he must’ve given me as young boy in the mid 80’s that were one of my first big boy tools. Still smile every time I see them and use them.


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[ecally]

For me the 3/8 New Britain round head ratchet my Dad gave me. He gave it to me in the early 1990’s, he had it for quite a while before that. I use it regularly.

 

[davethorik]

I recently did a trade with my dad and got his Mac MB1500 tool box that he bought brand new in 1989. I always thought it was so cool, and now it's mine! He is a retired diesel mechanic and needed to free up some space in his garage. I also was in desperate need of a home box, so it worked out.

 

[bwringer]

I inherited several of my Dad's tools that have this little "RW" monogram thing engraved into them.

The ones I use most often are Crescent brand adjustable wrenches, made in Jamestown NY and light-years better quality than the execrable trash now produced in China and stamped with the once-proud name.

 

[klassenl]

1. I have the Black and Decker belt sander that was a fixture in my grandpa's shop for as long as I can remember. I still use it.

2. I have a pipe wrench that I got for Christmas mere days before my mom died. There's nothing special about it other than its the last Christmas gift I got from my mom.

 

[jeepnut24]

Craftsman v 3/8 ratchet that I promptly left in a junkyard .... the one in my profile picture

Small Stanley block plane that was my grandfathers

 

[PelicanPines]

Craftsman Spinner Ratchet... won't use it... won't load it out... I fondle it.

 

[BiggityBen]

mine was the very first tool i ever owned, my father gave it to me when i was like 6 or 7 years old. an old (i think Craftsman) hand saw that the cardboard "sheath" was a picture of a shark. when i was 19 i brought it to a friends house to cut some firewood with, we ended up getting hammered and in the subsequent bonfire and it got left outside. it was left at his house for a couple of months until i needed it one day, remembered that's the last place i used it, and found it still sitting outside, a rusty piece of garbage at that point. i threw it away and it hurts me to think about that today.

otherwise it's a little wooden tool box my grandfather made me and wood-burned my name into. i've had it since as long as i can remember even though i didn't start having any tools to put into it until i was older (always just borrowed my dads)

 

[tarmy]

My dad’s and my gramps vices...have both mounted on one of my benches...think of them every time I use one.

 

[Millwrong]

I have quite a few of my Grandfathers tools, but this Starrett British made 93C tap handle and the Zubi thumb wrench are my favourites. His name is deeply engraved on both, and I use them regularly.

 

[steaks&anvils]

Kitchen tool. My Grandma's hand crank meat grinder, from sometime after 1918. The clamp on, silvered finished, top feed kind. It only has one set of blades now, but still works great. I use it a lot. It is one of just two things I have from my grand parents.

My mom was an oops baby, Grandma was 45yrs old when she had my mom. Mom's next sibling is ten years older than her. Mom is 83yrs now and she remembers the grinder as always being in Grandma's kitchen, even when she was little. I can imagine that grinder was used for grinding baby foods.

No tools from Grandpa, he was a banker... and My dad's family were dirt poor, eleven kids, nothing left to hand down.

 

[nicks78camaro]

USA made Craftsman 9/16" 6 point 3/8" drive short socket.

Goes back to the days when my dad and I were restoring the 78 Camaro he bought brand new.

We always seemed to lose the 9/16", to the point where we bought multiple spares and stuck them to the side of the tool box with a magnet.

 

[Semi-hole mechanic]

My dad's Craftsman 1/2" drive socket set that he got for HS graduation in 1948. Most of it has been replaced over the years, but the box, speeder (stored in the box lid), the breaker bar, and several sockets are original. I still use the breaker bar quite often. It reminds me of Dad everytime I open the old tin box.

 

[rharman]

My dad's hand yard clippers. Still with the electrical tape handles. I rarely use them anymore but I always smile when I do. He's been gone 34 years now. I've probably had them for 40 years at least.

 

[PugetDude]

1. Two 6" Craftsman screwdrivers-1/4 slotted and #2 Phillips- that I got from my dad- we used to joke that he owned two screwdrivers and only know how to use one of them.

2. A set of SK 3/8 Metric sockets in the green metal holder-first purchase with my first credit card, 40+ years ago.

 

[ChevyEFI]

My 3/8 SK set was from Dad along with a 3870 and that's good to remember.

But I have my late Grandpa's SK 3870 and that's special.

 

[MJOPE]

1. My grandfather’s Delta Unisaw. My dad said my grandfather bought it while he was away at war (WW II) and remembered it when he returned in 1945. We figured he bought it in late 1944 or early 1945. Still runs amazing with original motor. Grandpa and dad were both carpenters and used the saw regularly for cabinetry.

2. I have a lot of my dad’s and grandpa’s tools that were all painted to distinguish them while they were on job sites. Grandpa’s were light green and dad’s were bright orange. I smile when I pick up a tool with those old familiar colors (some were painted with both colors - hmm) as I tell my grandkids why the tool has these goofy colors. I cherish all of them. It was how they put food on the table.

Mike



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[MushCreek]

I don't any heritage tools at all. My father died when I was 12, and Mom traded all of his tools when she needed some work done on the house. He didn't have a lot of stuff, but it would have been nice to have something- even a nail set or some other small thing. I had a grandfather that was a carpenter, but he passed many years before I was born, and his tools are long gone.

Thus the tool heritage starts with me. I hope i-I can pass some cool stuff along to my son, although a lot of it is specialized tools that I made for the tool and die trade, so not anything he could actually use. My favorite tool I made is a radius and angle dressing tool for a shaping grinding wheels on a surface grinder. it's a beautiful piece, and took many hours to make. My favorite tool I purchased is my Gerstner machinist chest. I always wanted one, and finally was able to afford it. I paid $225 brand new; they're north of $800 today. Impractical as hell, but beautiful to look at.

 

[jd_1138]

My mom was an oops baby, Grandma was 45yrs old when she had my mom. Mom's next sibling is ten years older than her. Mom is 83yrs now and she remembers the grinder as always being in Grandma's kitchen, even when she was little. I can imagine that grinder was used for grinding baby foods.

Wow, so your grandma was born in 1892. My grandfather was born in 1892 (my dad in 1942), and grandfather died in 1955 17 years before I was born. I've been seeing some of those vintage grinders at yard sales for a few bucks. I think I need to pick one up, so I can make my own hamburgers/steakburgers.

My most sentimental tools are my SK and Powr-Kraft tools that I inherited from my stepdad -- ratchets and sockets in all sizes and metric/SAE. His screwdrivers are all CM USA.

 

[HalfTonTom]

My brother-in-law Steve.

 

[bsaint]

My brother-in-law Steve.

Lmao thats pretty good.

For me its probably my orange hard handle screw driver I bought off the Snap on truck. And my helper kid two years ago used it as a pry bar dumb mother f*cker. I was able to bend it back but still.

My tools from my dad go to my son. I never really got attached to them.


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[lardy1]

I have the tool cart that Ternstedt (Became part of Fisher Body) let my father build and take home as a retirement gift. I have his 24" Port Austin cast aluminum level with the original vials. I kept a few of his C-clamp type Vise-Grips. A couple have his initials engraved. I use those tools still. That's what he would have wanted.

 

[Rickster]

My first set of wrenches. Craftsman USA double box offset SAE wrench set. Doesn’t get used as much any more, but still has a place of honor in my wrench drawer.

 

[steaks&anvils]

Wow, so your grandma was born in 1892. My grandfather was born in 1892 (my dad in 1942), and grandfather died in 1955 17 years before I was born.
I've been seeing some of those vintage grinders at yard sales for a few bucks. I think I need to pick one up, so I can make my own hamburgers/steakburgers.
.

Yep, amazing that long ago was really not that long ago. Think what lives these wonderful people lived, what they saw, what they did and created.

My grandma died in 1983, she was 90 or so and still sharp as a tack. She did seem to physically shrink as she aged though. We always thought of that as concentrating her vim&vigor.

The grinder is fun. Be careful of your counter top you clamp to. Also, lube it as you grind with some olive oil or veggie oil. You can grind onion, garlic or ginger into the meat too!

 

[richfinn]

I still have my first 3/8 Snap-On ratchet from the late 1980s and my 70th anniversary ratchet screwdriver

No heirlooms yet as my dad is still "kicking ***" at 86

I dont ever want to inherit them to be honest, I want to retire before he goes up the carpenters shop in the sky

 

[Kev442]

My Dad's Williams set. I think its older than me, was always around my whole life.
He just passed in April @87, so to say I think of him when using it puts it mildly. The ratchet was the exact length needed to get an alternator bolt out of a tight spot last week

 

[Robbie B]

My grandfather’s tool chest from when he worked in the cotton mills. It’s an actual wooden chest with a tray that sits inside of it. It has a bunch of his old hand tools in it. My brother inherited it when my dad died and then I got it when my brother died. All of us have used some of the tools in it at some point so the chest carries a lot of history for me.

 

[CN Spots]

I have my late uncle's Mac tool chest from the '70s. The only tools that survived were the metric combo wrenches and a set of sockets. He had bought the entire set of Mac tools and boxes right down to the AC service kit for his shop/business but was killed in a motorcycle accident shortly after. My grandfather had all of them in his shop when it was burglarized in the mid '70s and the boxes I have and the sockets and wrenches were the only things they missed.

 

[Ray-CA]

I had an old 3/8ths metal case Craftsman drill that my Dad bought when he first returned Stateside from Korea. I used it for several years and the brushes finally wore down and it wouldn't work anymore. Shelved it for a decade or two and finally got around to repairing it. Gave it to our youngest for Christmas a couple of years ago.

Also have my Grandfathers old Craftsman, metal cased (seeing a common theme here?) jig saw. Use that thing several times a month.....

Ray

 

[RoninB4]

No heritage tools either, father and grandfather weren't tradesmen. As a toolmaker for over 30 years my sentimental favorites are the vises, angle plates, and various tooling components I made. Nobody to leave them to, would have been nice but that's life.

 

[Old Man Roger]

When I was about 16 I bought a speed square, and a Black and Decker circular saw. I worked with my older brother for a few years, building houses. He's about retired now, he's been a general contractor most of his life.

I didn't really like working in the construction industry, but I often miss working with my brother.

 

[Iowafox]

For me as of the time typing this it would be a set of Craftsman 1/2 drive SAE socket and a wrench my wifes dad gave me as a gift when my wife and I got engaged. He isn't much of a tool guy just a DIY weekend car fixer but it means alot to me.
I also have a incomplete set of Craftsman sockets metric and SAE with the 1/4 and 3/8 ratchets from my grandpa I wanna complete it someday.
I also have my other grandpa's old waterloo toolbox he got in the mid 80's for a factory he worked in. I got it will a few of his old tools. It is the same toolbox I recall working in every weekend growing up helping him fix the old hotrods and classic cars he had and still has. I give him the most credit for getting me into old cars and tools. I also have a few tools I bought and gathered that I hope my son and daughter cherish and have great memories of using them every time they use them.
I hope that every tools I have or most will go to my children.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I do not have a favorite tool that makes me sentimental. I do have a Ruston Hornsby single cylinder engine from an Alberta Wheat Pool Grain Elevator. I remember these engines from my preschool years when I went with my Dad when he was delivering grain to the elevators.
The engine is a 640 cubic inch single cylinder Diesel. It was made in Lincoln, England around 1930. Somewhere I have the OEM tool set for this engine. The engine weighs over 4000 pounds.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Channellock 420s and a 10" Crescent adjustable that my dad's mechanic gave me when I was 4.

 

[McFarmer]

The black leather handled Estwing hammer of my father’s. Only hammer I ever saw him use.

 

[tV8bird]

Thanks to everyone who posted before me for sharing your beautiful stories. Most were bittersweet, and some were painful. I was moved reading all of them before sharing my own.

My MOST sentimental tool is the Craftsman Mechanic's Socket Set (129 pieces or so) that my father bought me when I was only about SIX. I had asked for a toy version of some tools, and he scoffed at it. As a reward for a good report card from school, he brought me to Sears and picked out this HUGE set that I could barely lift. That afternoon, I was learning hands-on how to adjust the seat height on my Huffy. It's still in use today.

I also love my grandfather's 16oz. Estwing claw hammer with the leather handgrip. And I have ALL of my father's tools, but I wish I didn't, if you know catch my drift. They all bring back many memories when I use them, which is frequent.