Mini Tool Gloat

Yep! Sometimes you have to appreciate things for what they are, and what they represent.

Harold

Hey, I was going to say that!

It really is cool!

I have a few of my father's tools, a carpenter that died in '69. No value placed on them.

Harold

Excellent!

And Greg? Be sure to show poppa your work now and then, and ask his advice about how to do things. Even with failing mental abilities..it will make him feel warm and fuzzy to know his tools are actually being used, and that you think enough of him to ask his advise.

We are all going to get there someday..so treat him like you would be treated. Its good for our egos, and better when one feels useful.

And take care of your new tools..that lil lathe is capable of making superb and esquisite things. And pass it along when its your turn.

I often wonder who will get my machines when I no longer need em, or can use em.

Gunner

"Considering the events of recent years, the world has a long way to go to regain its credibility and reputation with the US." unknown

Yeah... When my FIL died, he had hundreds of tools... All 99-cent "pocket-buster rack" stuff with the blades bent, rusted, and not worth the gas to take them to the dump. He owned no less than six broken electric drills, all of a quality that cost at least $7.95 at retail.

Good stuff is a remarkable find.

LLoyd

Oh how I wish that I could "sit at the feet of the master" but his mental abilities have ebbed over that past few years..... His instructions so far have been," You put the ,the ,the...stuff in the thing that goes around and the you use the sharp thing and ah...... you use the whatamacallit to make what you need.... Are the Cubs or Sox on today?"

I have shown him pictures of the lathe's ways after I cleaned it and he was very proud that he had been able to keep it from rusting......

It's kind of strange, the last time he was in the hospital (brought back from the edge of life,or death, once again) he was agitated and angry at everyone and every thing (I think it was the pain meds) but when I sat a talked to him, he calmed down and became almost lucid. There must be some kind of bond between us that I'm not aware of.

I had the same Kind of relationship with my next door neighbor. He was a retired carpenter and ten years, his body gave out. He would start a project and not be able to finish it, so I would. He always felt bad about that. I told him and "Everyone needs a hobby and you are mine..." When my folks died, he and his wife asked me if they could "adopt me". I was honored. "No one should be an orphan, even if they become one at age 50" was their reasoning...

BTW way, both my FIL and my neighbor were/are cranky, cantankerous old farts, and I seemed to be able to bond with them very well. Maybe they recognized a "cranky old fart in training"....

Greg

I had the chance/pleasure/honor to do that with both my father and grandmother before they died and it was wonderful.

--snip--

(Take photos of the WW tools and I'll try to help name them for you. I do not enough of either, but more woodworking than metalworking, and old hand tools (all trades) have been my focus for years.)

(Goodonya, Greg!)

Great idea.

Bwahahaha! "Who" indeed. You mean "What ARMY", don't you? Your little collection could start up an entire college shop or three, huh, Gunner? ;)

- Press HERE to arm. (Release to detonate.) -----------

And, and --- just when youall though Gunner had no sensitive side!

What a great way to pass good tools on. Sorry for your FILs failing health, but it no doubt pleases him to know his prized tools are going to someone who will use and appreciate them, as he did.

- - Rex Burkheimer Fort Worth TX

Greg Postma wrote:

My FIL sold off all his tools right before I met his daughter. Had a nice collection too, from what I heard.

It is interesting to observe how actual discussion of real machine tools, actual metal working consistently brings out the better side in the group, almost as reliably as politics brings out the worst.

Let me add my congrats, Greg. Getting ones first real lathe is a happy thing, to be savoured. I have (somewhere) a 1954 Sears tool catalog that shows that lathe, along with a small miller, some other pieces. That was a dream machine for me, in my early teens (in the 70s BTW, not 50s, the catalog was my dad's) .

Adam Smith, Midland, ON

Then you and I should get along great!

Harold

My father in law had some pretty nice tools. Which is as it should be, as he was a toolmaker who worked for L.S. Starrett. He started working there full-time in 1941 and, except for a couple of years at the end of WWII, worked there his entire career. He was still putting in 40+ hour weeks when he died in 2001. His son, however, inherited his things, which was fine with me as I already had most of the hand tools I need.

My great grandfather was a cabinetmaker, and I have his tool chest and many of his tools - some of which may very well come from his father or grandfather. Plus, I have my grandfather's tools. It's when I work with those that, if I take my time, I can often hear the tools talking to me and feel their hands guiding them along with mine. I'll sometimes surprise myself with how well I do something, then realize that I had help.

Not much soul in a broken electric drill, but a hundred-year old plane or gouge or micrometer is a different matter.

John Martin

You are soooooo right Adam. I would dearly love to visit with some of the regulars here, like Harold, to see if a cranky old fart and a cranky old fart in training would get along or Gunner to see a world class scrounger/horse trader in action. I'd like to meet Ed Haas to see his world class collection of wheel weights or DoN and hear his squeeze boxes play. Or Tom Gardner to watch him make the machines that make "the best wire wheels in the world" (according to Gunner).

I'd like to meet Ed Huntress, a gear head that writes in complete sentences and uses proper syntax. Or sit with Ernie for a while and learn why my vertical welds look like that were made by a sick pigeon flying past.....

There are so many interesting people here that share their thoughts and wisdom so unselfishly, answer the same questions time and again and contribute to the education about and the furtherance of metalworking in it's many forms. I want to thank you all, in advance for answering my newbie questions.

Greg

be gentle with that lathe - I used to have one, and it is fine if you don't over stress it - I didn't know what I was doing at the time (not that I do now), but I once took a cut (bad technique) and had the tool dig in - the headstock just moved about 2 inches and the tool tip went under the work (and messed up what I was trying to do) - on a "better" machine it would have broken the tool or stalled the machine - and of course a better machinist would not have made that mistake in the first place.

No shit!

michael

Go shave your face, you damned old hippie.

Harold