Technical Obscure tool collecting

Looks like a palette knife, used by artists.

What is a palette knife used for?
A palette knife is used for picking up, applying, and mixing paint onto your palette. It's also used for other mixed media as well as paint and can also be used for cleaning your artist/mixing palette. Painting knives are used for painting just like you would with art brushes.

 

That's a combination Crescent wrench, one side is metric, the other SAE.

 

Some of my small collection of old tools and my favorite, a Bear tire run-out gage.......

 

Ooops! Sorry, guess I don't know how to properly size my pics ^^^^^^^^^

 

For most online posting a maximum of 1000 to 1200 pixels on the longest side is usually enough. Plus they'll upload and download faster if you don't have a whiz-bang internet connection.

 

I used that Oil can to lube the chain on my bike when I was a kid, that little saw is real steel and wood, I got a Tool Kit for Christmas when I was 7 or 8. All the tools were real, just smaller for little hands. The bottom box is a 1968 Mac, I got out of the Army in April, bought that in May, was the first "big" purchase I made after getting out. Top box is a '69 Snap On. The Bottle Jack came with the first new truck I bought in 1973, that and a lug wrench came with a new Frieghtliner. It's got several million miles on it, never added any oil to it. They don't make stuff like they used to!! Merry Christmas.

 

I have the same snap on kra 59 top chest only mine is from 1972

 

I made a video on the two tools I had previously posted if anyone wanted more information.

 

This wrench is amusing. SAE on one side, flip it over for metric!

 

Vacuum Grip tool. Was told by a Union Boss these were used to assembly Indian Motorcyles. Not sure they were in Cleveland.

 

I have a lot of antique tools but my favorite general purpose tools are a WW2 British army "Girder Major" adjustable wrench & a set of Sears & Roebuck lineman pliers from the 1920s.



Due to the I-beam profile the wrench is extremely stout and thin and has really come in handy a bunch of times. Never rounded a nut and it's very easy to put a cheater on it for extra leverage.

The lineman pliers are great to have around if you have to do electrical work in a pinch because you can use them to cut & strip wires and work great to crimp connections. I keep these two in my toolbag along with a set of standard wrenches and have always been able to fix my cars on the side of the road with them.

 

Bench Mount saw Blade Vice.
Tilts for filing angles.

 

Here they are the worlds smallest "water pump" pliers LOL.
Actually they were part of set of Distributor tune up tools, there were very small screwdrivers included, that my father bought for me way back in 1963 when I had enough pestering from my mom and teachers telling me I had to go on the collage bound course in high school because of my very high scores on the USA wide tests they gave grade school kids across the country.

Of course they are wizard brand sold at Western Auto my fathers favorite because we were always short on funds with 4 kids and he could pay over time there.

My stubborn little self told them in no uncertain terms "I am going to trade school and take the Auto mechanics 3 year course".

I used them frequently they were great for removing the nut on points sets that held the condenser and other wires.

 

I’ve got a couple sets of those pliers but different brands. The pair that was given to me by my grandfather are so worn out that you can’t even use them anymore. Can’t say I didn’t play with them a lot though the years

 

It was brought to my attention that I have a really cool blow gun collection. Made me realize, if I’m at the swap meet and nothing grabs my eye, I’ll walk back through and grab one of these little critters.

 

hand forged blacksmith chisel found at an estate sale yesterday

 

My property was a stone quarry from 1830-1900
Find things that turn up digging.
2 stone chisels.

 

I have a hand forged oven crane that would have used that tool, to split the wrought iron when forming.

 

more stuff that keeps piling up,
an old compressor and oxygen tank that might find their way together..

 

While looking for something else, I came across these two distributor points spring tension gauges I had forgotten about. I remember service station guys wearing them in their shirt pockets, when I was a kid.
The one with the picture measures 0 to 12oz and the other one measures 0 to 48oz.

 

I like that, me being younger I had to use my finger if I was troubleshooting.

 

Found this when cleaning out parents house. I remember him leading cars in the 60s.

 

I've been collecting reamers lately. I bought all the reamers an old machine shop that was closing had, both fixed and adjustable. I also acquired a .8135 king pin reamer the other day.
Interestingly, I got it from an ex-employee / friend of mine, who bought it from a Mac tool dealer that lived about a block from me when I was growing up. More interesting than that, it seems I'm the only one that has ever used it since new. I borrowed it from the tool dealer 40 years ago to ream the king pin bushings in my '41 Ford.

 

Not exactly obscure but surprisingly hard to come across anymore. K-d off engine valve spring compressor. This one is an older one but despite signs of shelf wear it doesn't appear to have been used. Been wanting one for awhile (not necessarily this brand just this style

 

search for snap on date codes theey are marked with a stamped figure codes go bake to 1927

 

Used to know a guy who had some old Model T tools in their wood cases. Wish I had pictures of them, they were really neat!

 

A gift from my own mom…as a 20 something in college.

I am not a tool collector per se, but if I keep an old tool or tools long enough, they become useful again after a long spell in the tool drawer or compartments. Whether they were hiding from lack of use or just forgotten tools, when found, they become active again. In this modern day, despite the old age factor, they came alive again.

Hello,

My mom gave me this sharp knife during my college photography class days. She saw I was using a pair of scissors to cut the edges of photos, after drawing a line. I did not have a paper cutter at the time. So, she said on the old cardboard table, this knife is what she used to use to cut paper, material for dresses and clothing. It was odd looking, fit perfectly in our hands and the top of the blade had a flat edge for a forefinger pressure on the force to cut on the sharp edge below.

So, how old is it? She told me that she used it as a teenager and kept it all of these years as a major contributor to her own work and repairs when necessary. Who would have thought it was older than me…? Ha! Plus, it was so sharp. Our mom used a sharpening stone and honed it to pin point edge for the fine cuts.

My fine cuts for matboard and other photo papers came out super sharp on the edges. I also used it on several old wax resist rods used for jewelry casting methods. Those wax rods were perfect for exhaust tubing with angle cuts for our model car race cars, without the mis-shaping of the round openings usually made with scissors. angle cuts, down tube cuts, and even shaving to make a slight curve was carefully made.

I used it several times and put it away as I finished a project. Then over the years, it was a forgotten tool, lost in the desk drawer, the move to the backyard garage tool boxes, then finally a garage drawer prior to selling the house and moving to the OC in later years.

In our 4 house moves in the OC, I finally found the knife in a nice “extras” labeled, closed lid box. Now, it is invaluable and compared to the newly designed Xacto knives, it is stronger in the blade, sharper after I honed the blade. Due to the wider handle, more comfortable in my hand to make cuts in all sorts of padding, poster boards, backing boards and thin plastic to shape for the small model car parts.

Jnaki

I have no idea the age of the sharp tool. But the design is ever lasting and now is the sharpest physical hand tool in the garage drawer. The “sharpest tool” is the one using it for the endless projects that pop up for work in the small garage protective counter top. (Home, cars or just repairs.) YRMV

 

my suggestion is to go to the LumberJocks Woodworking Forum

and ask there. you will have to join (free). there's a fellow named "mafe" that's a Japanese tool guru!

mafe | LumberJocks Woodworking Forum

good luck

 

This is actually a fairly new tool of an old design. Don’t use it often but do think it’s cool! Slip joint at back makes it adjustable for different size nuts.