Gifts from my Grandpa - tools

[SED]

This Christmas my father handed me a gift from my grandfather who was a journeyman tool and die maker for Michigan Tool Co. during WWII.  He died 50 years ago.




0-1" Starrett micrometer good to 0.0001", 1-2" Slocum micrometer patented 120 years ago, and an Ideal test indicator.  They are excellent quality tools and still useful!

      


I now have a lathe from one grandfather and measurement tools from another.  My father is more of a wood machinist and made the beautiful tool box from a plank found in the basement of my old house.




For now, I'm the lucky caretaker. 

[fotoguzzi]

I love tools.. it's such a BIG word..

[Joliet Jim]

My granpa's tools will outlast me. Every time I look at one it brings back good memories of watching him work in the basement at his tool bench.

[John A]

I've been re establishing contact with my cousins with the aim of making sure thier kids get Grandpas tools as well as his shotgun. It seems the right thing to do, I've not kept up with them all but it's time for me to figure out what to do with all the tools I've ended up with. I don't want my wife to have to do that for it would be overwhelming, not knowing what is what. We don't have kids to leave the stuff to and I won't sell the stuff that has a history if I can find a home for it within the family. It's something I'm putting off doing, seems like it means I'm on my way out. Or it could just mean I'm lazy.....

[ken farr]

Hey SED:

  Could you explain the tool on the far right to me?
  I like when I see something new to me, that is 100 yrs. old....


kjf

[sign216]

I've been re establishing contact with my cousins with the aim of making sure thier kids get Grandpas tools as well as his shotgun. It seems the right thing to do, I've not kept up with them all but it's time for me to figure out what to do with all the tools I've ended up with. I don't want my wife to have to do that for it would be overwhelming, not knowing what is what. We don't have kids to leave the stuff to and I won't sell the stuff that has a history if I can find a home for it within the family. It's something I'm putting off doing, seems like it means I'm on my way out. Or it could just mean I'm lazy.....

What kind of shotgun? 

[Lannis]

What kind of shotgun?

Schtoom, schtoom ... that's "what kind of 'pellet projector for protein acquisition'?" around here .... !   

[SED]

Hey SED:

  Could you explain the tool on the far right to me?
  I like when I see something new to me, that is 100 yrs. old....


kjf

It works kinda like a dial indicator.  It's got a little finger on it that follows the surface and amplifies any unevenness up to about 0.010".  It looks like it is made to be clamped in a tool holder so I'm guessing it's used to make sure you've correctly centered your work in a lathe or mill, but not sure.  Would love to learn more if anyone knows!   




Hey FotoGuzzi - love your workshop! 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Sure, it's a simple Ideal indicator. They were quite inexpensive back in the day. With the right shank, it can be chucked up in a mill or jig borer and indicate the center of a hole because you can see the needle no matter which direction it is turned. It's a useful tool, but not in the same league as a jeweled dial indicator.

[JukeboxGothic]

My dad was an aircraft engineer that started an apprenticeship when he was 16 working on flying boats. Sunderland's and Catalina's. When I started to play around with British bikes he gave me all his old Whitworth and AF spanners and other tools. He worked for Rolls Royce for a time too doing aircraft engines. One of the jobs was replacing the engines in Sabre jets with Royce ones. Every time I use his old tools it brings me so many memories. 

[twowings]

My dad was an aircraft engineer that started an apprenticeship when he was 16 working on flying boats. Sunderland's and Catalina's. When I started to play around with British bikes he gave me all his old Whitworth and AF spanners and other tools. He worked for Rolls Royce for a time too doing aircraft engines. One of the jobs was replacing the engines in Sabre jets with Royce ones. Every time I use his old tools it brings me so many memories.

Any pics from his time with amphibians?

[nobleswood]

SED,
Nice wooden tool chest your Father made.

John A.

I have inherited many old tools of various types over the years, as I'm sure many on the Forum have. Often pasted down from an older friend or relative. Yeah it's 'just' a tool to many and I'm sentimental. But, to me it keeps their memory alive & brings a smile to my face using those tools.

Handing the tools to younger relatives isn't a sign of getting too old, rather sharing the memories that go with the items before we're too forgetful to do that.

My Mothers father was a pre-WW11 mechanic with his own garage in England. He died when I was 5 never knowing him. Some 'helpful' guy came by the house & paid to take his tools away.
I have two tools from him; nail pullers & a spring compressor for a side valve engine. Neither of which I use but promote a story when someone finds them in the toolbox.

That's to me the purpose of handing on these tools; the anecdotes that add to the character of these relatives that have passed on. 👍

[JukeboxGothic]

Any pics from his time with amphibians?

Hi I do have pics but at the moment I don't have a way of scanning them. They were still flying them up until the 70s and landing them in Rose bay in Sydney harbour.

[Ncdan]

My Papaw gave me this Rocket finish hammer when I was 6 years old and I still use it today. Thanks for the post and a great memory of my GrandFather:)


Click on pictures for full photo

[Lannis]

Handing the tools to younger relatives isn't a sign of getting too old, rather sharing the memories that go with the items before we're too forgetful to do that.

........

That's to me the purpose of handing on these tools; the anecdotes that add to the character of these relatives that have passed on. 👍

It's interesting; this thread has made me realize that almost nobody in my ancestry used tools in making their living.

One great-grandfather ran the "Cozy Corner" restaurant in Remington, VA; another worked in the Department of Commerce in D.C. and retired in 1936.  One ran a grist mill in Tattnall County, Georgia, then sold out and went to manage a contracting outfit in Charlotte, NC.   I know very little about the other great-grandfathers.

One grandfather was the research director of the Pesticide Division of the national ag labs at Beltsville, MD, and the other was a mail clerk who worked mail on the train from D.C. to Monroe, Virginia every day and back.

Dad was a career US Navy sailor, and my father in law was a tobacco farmer who eventually fell to alcohol, sold every little thing he had, and died at age 56.

So all I've really got is my Dad's Bausch and Lomb 7 x 50 "BuShips"-issue binoculars, which I've had refurbished and they are a top-notch instrument for sure .....

Lannis

[Aaron D.]

I'm thinking your ancestors were typical tool users-I bet most of them actually had a toolbox with hammer, adjustable, pliers and maybe both kinds of screwdriver.

[Lannis]

I'm thinking your ancestors were typical tool users-I bet most of them actually had a toolbox with hammer, adjustable, pliers and maybe both kinds of screwdriver.

Come to think back on it, they did - my father had a small Craftsman tool set from about 1958, and I do still have the 1/2" ratchet, breaker bar, some sockets, and speed-handle from that; I just don't think of them as antique collectibles.   He definitely was NOT a mechanical whiz - I had to learn whatever I know now to keep the bikes and equipment running on my own.   

I do have my great-grandfather's pedal-powered grindstone, too.

My grandfather the research lab guy did some woodworking, made a few nice tables and lamps, but I never saw any of his tools - don't know where they went, probably to his brother in law.   My grandfather the mail clerk had garden tools and a Stevens 12g side-by-side lead pellet projector that I got, but I don't think he owned a screwdriver!

All that's going to change when I go.   Whoever gets my shop is going to get a nice big upright tool chest with everything in it, 8 or 10 old bikes, a ton of BSA parts, grinders, compressors, and all the other stuff ... !

Lannis

[Aaron D.]

Maybe you should adopt me.