I gotta wonder why so many stand in line to buy NEW TOOLS when the older stuff is often way better. I just picked up this OLD Sun Compression Tester - granted it needs a new cord, but for the paltry amount I gave for it I can swing the cost of a cord!!! I don't know why, but I love the fact that the same button activates the starter AND releases the compression. Way cool!!!!
Almost all my tools were either given to me or bought at garage sales. I have quite a few really old tools. Some of them my grandpa bought new back in the 50s others he got used at the time. The only complaint I got is some of them fit a little sloppy after being used for a half century or better.
I still have my dads Craftmans, full toolbox, he carried in his 50 Nash. He picked the Nash at the factory and drove back to Portland, Oregon. Bought the tools in Kenosia,Wi. Carried them in every car since. And NO, he didn't really know how to use them, but just in case! Took them out of his new Buick Parkave last year, hes 95 and won't miss them.
I'm a machinist, it seems like there is always a machinist selling some tools, thats what I buy, the older the better you just have to watch for wear, I've got a buddy at work that says he has 5000.00 in his tool box but is constantly borrowing my old ones, cause their better.
Agree 100% I still use my fathers and my grand fathers gently used well taken care of tools including mic's gauge blocks, and so on... a mater of fact I still pull out my grandfathers eixth edition "American Machinists Handbook" 1935
Well I do have some new tools but I am the guy that goes around all summer to all the shitty yard sales and flea markets looking for the older/used tools to by . OK maybe I am cheap but the older tools are usually made right here in the USA and just because it's not the "UPDATED MODEL" doesn't mean I need a new one either . As long as the tool works for me , I really don't care how old it is . I find a ton of great deals too ! RetroJim
I got a guy thats going to sell me a hole bunch of miss match body tools he bought used in the early 70 all in nice shape for a $100 , I better go grab em before one of you used tool conesuers beat me to them .
You know my brother inlaw I take it. I hunt the local flea market for end wrenches (especially 9/16 I've planted a bunch and none have grown yet) and my collection of tools is pretty diverse. My vacuum gauge spent the first 40 years of it's life on an old Allan test machine. I used to frequent a pawn shop in the mid 70's that priced their loose wrenches and sockets according to size rather than size and brand and got some real deals until they got wise. At the time they sold metric wrenches and sockets for about half of a similar size standard unit and I picked up some bargains there as I was working in a Pontiac, Jeep, Fiat and Jag shop at the time. I collect automotive tools that are pretty well obsolete and look for those when I hit the flea markets and yard sales. <input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden">
I like Plomb, but there are annoying and hard to fill gaps in the set; hard stuff to find, and now the focus of another damn cult that is driving prices up... I also use old Snap On, 1960's and back with some of the Model A specials dating back to 1930. Lighter and better finished than new, bulletproof, really just as good as Plomb. By most bestest SO breaker bar is from 1941, and has an etched Naval Aviation ownership mark on it...I always wonder what that wrench saw in its first lifetime! My first "real" toolset is based around a Craftsman 1/2" drive set my Father gave me for Christmas in 1962. It has been used hard, really brutalized at times when I did not own the right tool for a job and had no money, and so far NOTHING has failed. I try to supplement it with extra sockets and stuff of similar vintage. The downside is that I have come to actually dislike most tools that I can just go out and buy, and dislike even letting the new stuff touch an old car. This means that I have wasted WAY too much money and time finding tools rather than doing deuce stuff. By the way, all of my Fords have original factory tool kits...nothing has failed on those, either. My '48's original kit, the full export model set, was used HARD for a while because I had almost no other tools!
I used to work in a "British" shop. I was at an estate sale and there was as set of whitworth. They didnt know what the deal was, all they knew was they didnt work on any thing. $1.00, full set. I have 2 full mech red boxes, both Mac, with side boxes and they are full. I have bought tools when they went on sale at work, That was a sweet deal. 60lbs of sockets,$20.00. All s/o and some Husky. Same with wrenches. I have to agree. Full price for tools is a sucker's bet. If your back is against the wall, thats one thing but...
I used to go to this used tool store near where I work. It was awesome because you could buy things you needed to either make a specific functioning tool or pick up some cheap used stuff to replenish what you misplaced out at the junkyard last weekend for extremely affordable prices. They closed their doors a little less than a year ago. It bummed me out because they also had a great selection of vintage tools to look at that you could occasionally pick up for a decent bargain as well. -Mike
I sewn up a copy of a original tool pouch for my 37 chevy p/u and will be on the hunt for old tools to put in it,we have a small swapmeet during the cold months and there usually is someone selling old tools and I hope they show up now that I need them. I might try the flea markets too.
My grandpa just brought home some wrenches that has fomoco stamped in it and says 1912 and he also had one with a ford oval from 1928. pretty neat pieces to sit and think about what they have been used on over the years.
I had the strangest thing happen a few months ago, a good freind of mine and fellow rodder called me and asked if I had a stepladder and would I bring it over, when I got there he said come here and give me a hand, he got up on the ladder and handed me a kennedy top box, ( over the hood of his 41 willy's), I sat it on the bench, he opened it up and it was filled to the hilt with I.D. mics, O.D. mics, calipers, all sorts of old machinist tools, said they were his dads who retired from Rocketdine in the 60's, and he wanted me to have them, I was floored and kept telling him I cant take your daddy's tools, thats wrong, he insisted, but now I'm affraid to even open it, just seems wrong.
Clearly he wanted someone to use and enjoy those treasured tools rather than let them languish in the attic. Obviously you ARE worthy that's why he chose you! I had a guy at work do the same thing - gave me an old beat up Gerstner machinist box - from his wife's father. I tried to tell him that they should stay in his family and be handed down to a son, daughter, grandson, grand daughter etc, but he was insistent I have them. They were just starting to rust and I think he figured they be ruined before he could find a family member who wanted them - so I got them. I'm STILL trying to fix the box - the lid was left open so long it warped the back and I have had it resting the opposite way for a year in an effort to slowly warp it back into position - it's closer but needs more!!!!
We have something here called "The 150 mile long Yardsale" on highway 64 every August. I always score good tools. This year it was oversize Craftsman (1" +) wrenches for $7 ea and a 60s era Craftsman steel and cast miter saw for $15. They all go well with my Craftsman tools bought in 1967 lol.
I was given by my Mother-in-law, all of her Father's tools. He died in the the late 1920's. They are from his Model"T' and his 1920's Chrysler saden. My Father-in-law told me in the 1960's, him and his Father put wooden paneling in his Father's garage on the wall. They covered everything that was between the studs. He said there are tools engine parts and even a crochet sets still in the walls. I have been tempted to go to the house and tell the guy that owns it about what is hidden in the garage. George
I like looking for old tools at garage sales and second hand shops. Old wrenches, screwdrivers, etc. made in Canada or USA are better made than lots of the China crap now avalable. This may sound wierd, but I like to think there is history in an old wrench or screwdriver I may get.
With the economy in the toilet, craigslist is a goldmine! This is what I've picked up just in the last 2 months. Milwaukee hammer drill - $10 Wilton vise - $60. Before and after restoration pics. Hein-Werner 1-1/4 ton jack - $40. Currently undergoing restoration. '27 RPU - $800. Model A frame - $125. And my latest find, just picked up today, Craftsman ol' skool drill press - $200. Everyone is dumping everything! There's a couple of automotive shops in my area, right now that are selling all their equipment, for pennies on the dollar on craigslist! This is kinda like the months after the dot com bubble burst. Those who got out before the crash had extra cash to buy up all the depressed stocks. With the situation today, if you have any uncommitted cash, you may want to start scouring craigslist! The deals are endless! But be forewarned. This won't last forever!
I have my great grand fathers hand tools some are dated 1890's a Stanley chisel full perfect set dated 1903 & his hand made wood tool box pre 1900 Danny.
The Jalopy Journal
