what to do with engraved tools?

[volpster31]

hey all,
ive recently been looking for vintage tools on ebay & other places & found a lot of them are engraved with previous owner initials...im assuming this is a big negative in the value & collectibility??? should i buy these type tools,and if i do,should i just leave them alone or try to remove the markings somehow?

im suddenly mesmorized by plomb tools & want every one i see,but a lot of them are marked

 

[sk farmer]

when i went to college they made us mark our tools, since then i have avoided it like the plague. i try to avoid engraved tools at all costs. the only other engraved tools are an initialed blackhawk set i bought dirt cheap.

 

[petty4243]

if you have them, i would leave the initials alone... looks better than a wrench with a lot of grinding on it to cover the small letters..... I also prefer none initialized, but sometimes, if the price is right... if they are vintage 1950's and older, some people say initials add to the character of the tool... the big difference would be if they are being bought to be used or to collect.... if being used, does not matter as much... JMO

 

[Islands62]

imo, if you are buying them to collect and not to use, and it bothers you to see engraving, you should simply pass them up. Buying them knowing you will be unhappy with the mark is just mindless aquisition.

 

[Paladin]

As a general rule, I don't buy engraved tools. It bugs me having tools with some other dudes mark. But, my road box has some engraved stuff. I won't buy engraved unless it's a VERY good deal...

 

[fatfillup]

Live with the engraving or don't buy. Grinding the initials off is far worse.

 

[lauver]

USE THEM; Markings don't affect performance or usefulness.

 

[Thedroid]

I have numerous tools in my box that have initials on them. I try to keep my tools clean, but the last thing I have time to do is polish them everytime, and scrutinize every mark. If I did this than I would be scared to use them out in the field and possibly drop them on the ground. Use them if that's the intention. If it for collecting, don't buy them leave them for the guy that needs them. I'd love to get a hold on some nice vintage Plvmb ratchets, but the 'collectors' drive the price up to the point where it's not worth it. I'd love to come across some discreetly tainted vintage tools that the collectors passed up because they were tarinshed with the scent of another man.

 

[Merkava_4]

Live with the engraving or don't buy. Grinding the initials off is far worse.

I totally agree with you, but if you ever want to buy a tool for using as a work horse and you hate the engravings on it, you can do like I said previously below:

Use the flat side of a Dremel 541 to take out the engraving and then follow up with a Dremel 413 for buffing out the fine grinding marks left by the 541. This method is fairly fast and removes a minimal amount of material.

 

[HandyManny]

hey all,
ive recently been looking for vintage tools on ebay & other places & found a lot of them are engraved with previous owner initials...im assuming this is a big negative in the value & collectibility??? should i buy these type tools,and if i do,should i just leave them alone or try to remove the markings somehow?

im suddenly mesmorized by plomb tools & want every one i see,but a lot of them are marked

Attempting to remove the engraving will result in a horrible gouge anyway. No way to do it without marring a good tool. If the deal is good and the tools are in good shape, and you can live with some other dudes mark, then buy em. If not then don't buy em. Simple as that.

 

[billymade]

This may sound strange but I actually kinda like vintage tools with marks on them; shows they were used and gives them a certain place in history.... Someone, also cared enough about the tool to mark it; if you work in a big shop and everyone has the same stuff, you will know why people mark their tools! I buy everything so cheap; I don't worry about it, use your tools and every time you see that mark, just know someone appreciated the tool as much as you do! If you just can't stand the idea of marked tools; just pass on the marked ones...

 

[Bolster]

hey all,
ive recently been looking for vintage tools on ebay & other places & found a lot of them are engraved with previous owner initials...im assuming this is a big negative in the value & collectibility???

Did you see the recent poll we did on that question?

Moderate engraving pulled down the average price that GJ forumites were willing to pay by about 40%.

So go ahead and buy engraved tools if you want to, but you should insist on a 40% discount or you'll likely lose money when you try to sell. (Unless you sell to one of those guys who says they don't care about previous owner markings, because all their tools happen to be marked by someone else, and they're experiencing cognitive dissonance.)

See the poll here

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31129&highlight=mark

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

I have a fair amount of engraved tools, currently, that were bought in lot's, that consisted of engraved, and non engraved tools. I was looking for specific things, and found them in these lots. The engraved ones, will either be given to my father (doesn't use much), or more likely, used to bring people into garage sales, to fund other purchases. These allowed me to get better deals on the non engraved ones, then I could have got otherwise.

 

[ImportTuner]

Back in the 60's, when we would work on cars together (bunch of guys in high school), everyone was encouraged to mark their tools, since we were sharing tools also ..

 

[TAMPAGT07]

I have mine engraved. "Jay Leno." Just kidding. If you like the tools enough and it's a cool name, just change your name to match the tools.

 

[RRmech]

Engraved tools never bothered me, since a lot of my tools were yard sale/flea market finds.
Besides, once they got dirty, you can't see the initials anyway?

Steve

 

[fatfillup]

The engraved ones, will either be given to my father (doesn't use much), or more likely, used to bring people into garage sales, to fund other purchases. .

Great idea. I love capitalist thinking. That is certainly a great way to fund a hobby or project without depending on household funds

 

[speed bump]

Use them or be like me everything I collect tool wise is probably in worse shape than anything I actually use and I don't do much to clean them up.

 

[Frank Elson]

I don't care whether tools are marked or not as all mine are for using.
but some people don't know when to stop when marking tools.
I have a spanner with a guy's initials out of blobs of weld... and lots with up to three or four gouges made with a grinder... wtf?

 

[Moose-LandTran]

I use them, only a few are engraved and while i don't particularly like it, i stil use them because they work fine. I'd rather carefully remove the engravings myself than have them there.

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

I don't care whether tools are marked or not as all mine are for using.
but some people don't know when to stop when marking tools.
I have a spanner with a guy's initials out of blobs of weld... and lots with up to three or four gouges made with a grinder... wtf?

The garage where I worked, had two mechanics who are retired now. I guess in the 70's they had some huff, and started marking their tools. The one mechanic went over a ground a single grind on one of his tools. The other one made two marks, and said that one of the tools, that the first mechanic marked was his (they bought together, was what I later heard). He took it over and added a second mark.
The marking contest was on, and the owner was just about on the floor in laughter, at the two acting like 5 year olds.

 

[T56 Impala]

For user tools, the ones that get the work in my garage, I hate marked tools. None of mine are marked, never will be and I will not buy a modern (1967+) tool that is marked. Clean ones are out there. Sometimes you just have to wait for them. Most of my modern stuff is fairly new and I tend to buy them new, not from a resale.

Vintage stuff is different. Anything from 1948 - 1966 I would much prefer unmarked. I do have a few pieces that are lightly marked though. The 1947 and earlier tools are just fine if they are marked. As some one else said, it gives the a place in history. Especially the war era tools I collect. I even have a few 1920's era with full names on them. I wonder what that person would think of today's designer tools?

 

[stricht8]

True that older marked tools are interesting. Just make an analogy to something else like a house. My house is 200 years old and someone engraved some of the window panes and interior wood panels with their initials dating back to the mid 1800's. I actually think that this gives the house some more value. Does that mean that eventually newer marked tools will have more collector appeal once they become "vintage"?

For user tools, the ones that get the work in my garage, I hate marked tools. None of mine are marked, never will be and I will not buy a modern (1967+) tool that is marked. Clean ones are out there. Sometimes you just have to wait for them. Most of my modern stuff is fairly new and I tend to buy them new, not from a resale.

Vintage stuff is different. Anything from 1948 - 1966 I would much prefer unmarked. I do have a few pieces that are lightly marked though. The 1947 and earlier tools are just fine if they are marked. As some one else said, it gives the a place in history. Especially the war era tools I collect. I even have a few 1920's era with full names on them. I wonder what that person would think of today's designer tools?

 

[wantedabiggergarage]

. Does that mean that eventually newer marked tools will have more collector appeal once they become "vintage"?

Depends on who marked them. If you got tools, from someone famous, and had the chain of custody down, I bet they would be worth more. Think of having some engraved tools from someone like Shelby.

 

[Bolster]

For user tools, the ones that get the work in my garage, I hate marked tools. None of mine are marked, never will be and I will not buy a modern (1967+) tool that is marked. Clean ones are out there...

Vintage stuff is different. Anything from 1948 - 1966 I would much prefer unmarked. I do have a few pieces that are lightly marked though. The 1947 and earlier tools are just fine if they are marked. As some one else said, it gives the a place in history...

That's close to my approach too. I'm more lax with markings as the tools get more rare.

However I am very strict with eBay sellers that don't disclose markings. They are stealing 40% of the sale price when they don't disclose.

I will give a seller **** if they don't disclose, and I hope all of you do, too. The more **** sellers get for nondisclosures, the more they start disclosing.

 

[Vicegrip]

Scratch them up on the concrete while working on cars and don't look back.

 

[Tool Pants]

Just happened to me. Bought this 1/4" Craftsman V-selector on ebay on April 5th and received it today. Little pictures on ebay so I asked the seller to send me some better pictures before I bid. He did, but I could not see 0181 engraved on the head. All I saw in the picture was what looked like minor scratches from use. This was because the seller took a picture of the head straight on.

I have started to collect this stuff and would not have bought it if I had known it was engrave. Of course the seller did not disclose it was engraved.

I just passed on an old New Britian/Craftsman style because the seller said it had JS engraved on it, which had to be the owner. And a stainless steel 3/8" Craftsman ratchet that had a number 14 engraved on the head. But in these cases it was disclosed. Some ebay sellers will have in their listing that there are no non factory markings.

I have learned my lesson. Pictures alone are not good enough.

I assume 0181 is the last 4 digits of a social security number. I'm not going to change my social security number....

 

[rsanter]

for collectors tools I think its better to have no markings. now depending on the rairity and value of the tools you have a choice to make. if its a really hard to find tool you might live with the markings untill you can find one that does not have them if its a common tool then you may want to just get one without the markings.
there are ways to fill the markings in if they are deep. you could weld them up and then grind and finish the area back to what it should be. if the tool is crome then you could fill it with silver solder and then have it recromed, if that is worth it to you.

if the tool is for use then I would say that it is up to you, how do you feel about tools that have someone elses initials on them?
I prefer to either have my markings or to have none at all I have a few tools that have had other markings on them and I have removed them because I did not want someone elses name on MY tools.
I have a few tools that I have bought at auction that have inventory numbers or QC markings on them. these I will leave alone as they are non-descript.

bob

 

[rhandwor]

I try to avoid initials but if the price is right and I need it I will buy it for my use. I wouldn't buy for a collection with initials.

 

[GDA]

Buff em out. Toss them across the garage concrete a couple times to a friend who is helping you with a project and no one is ever the wiser that a mark was ever there.

Tools are purchased to be used first, appreciated and admired for the project that they helped accomplish and complete. Pretty simple IMO.

 

[Tool Pants]

The 0181 engraving looks like it may be down to the copper. When I took it out of the bubble wrap envelope it was the first thing I saw.

First pic is from ebay. Second is what the seller sent me. Third is my Craftsman 1/4" drive collection so far. I bought the 0181 to collect, not use.

It is my fault for not asking if it was engraved, rather than asking for a better picture.

Seems to work. I will be taking it apart.

The lesson for me is that if you want to collect, ask a lot of questions and for pictures if dealing with ebay stuff that you cannot see in person.

There is nothing special about this V selector. It is not rare, and did not cost a lot of money. I had tried to find a v selector style at the local flea market so that I could see it with my own eyes. But that V sticks up so much that the ones I have seen have a beat up selector.

 

[Tool Pants]

Took it apart and is in great condition.

 

[Bruce Lancaster]

I actually like the sense of history decent engravings add...though I dislike the gouges left by the grinder-vandalism school of marking territory. My tools, mostly Plomb and Snap-on, are almost all ancient, mostly older than I am. I know perfectly well that their history did not begin with me, and I enjoy finding a cryptic link to some long dead mechanic who once was using the tool exactly as I am now.
And not all the marks are people...my favorite Snap On breaker, dated 1941, has a neatly engraved mark that pretty clearly is something having to do with Naval Aviation.
Was it at Pearl Harbor?? Did it change the sparkplugs on an SBD before Midway? Whatever it did, it was part of something damned interesting and I'm glad that it carries a bit of a link to its past.
Many of my old tools are Ford specific, Model A-B-V8 stuff, and it is fascinating that I need them for the same reason as their original owner needed them, and now, 70 odd years later, the Ford and the wrench are still cooking...and both are worth more than they were in 1930.