And the hands that hold them.
I was going to do a post on toolboxes (that’s mine above), but then I got into looking inside them and seeing some of my favorite tools. From there I got thinking about the hands that have used these tools over the years so decided to combine all three:
Let’s start with my Father in Law:
He has two tool chests, but the older toolbox here is a Snap-On dating from the early 1970’s. It’s full of professional quality tools that are heavily worn from 30 years of constant use. His hands are also worn from those 30 years but he still has some powerful mitts on him, all his fingers are thicker than my thumb.
This is Pa’s 1958 Chevy work truck, note the same door lettering as the toolbox. Carl worked up to running his own brake and suspension shop, but left that in the late 80’s. Since then he has been selling cars (mostly Ford) which has been a great benefit to family members looking for a quick and fair deal on a vehicle.
The torque wrench is my personal favorite, it’s a fine tooth ratchet Snap-On probably dating to the late 70’s. I borrowed it regularly until I got my own last year (which is not nearly as good I might add). Whenever I need something specialized like an offset wrench he can find it, with lots of opening and slamming of drawers: “Slam, slam slam… There it is, no wait that’s the old worn out one… Slam, slam… OK there you go”
It’s a wonderful family resource, and another fine reason to have married Mrs DougD.
This is my Grandfather’s saw. I’ve substituted my Dad’s hand, since my Grandfather has been gone for over 30 years. He was born in 1906 in the small town of Hazerswoude-Dorp in the Netherlands. Leaving school after Grade 6 he became a carpenter and millwright, as in wind-millwright.
In early 1950’s Holland things weren’t getting much better after the war. Some of his wife’s cousins had emigrated to Canada, and although their life was hard too it seemed that progress was being made. So in his 40’s he also emigrated, enduring an uncomfortable voyage on the SS Volendam.
He arrived in Ontario with a family of 8 to feed, and only a few dollars in his pocket.
My Grandfather was never completely at ease in the new country; he worked for a Dutch homebuilder and spoke Dutch at home. But with the proceeds of his work, with these hand tools and homemade toolboxes he was able to raise his family and even build his own house. The house still stands, although the 1946 Oldsmobile is long gone.
Every Saturday he would go to the basement, and using a fine file and this tooth bender he would sharpen his saws for the coming week.
We have several of his old saws, and they all have a big curve at the butt end where years of filing have removed depth from the blade.
Grandfather’s toolboxes are a treasure trove of old stuff, like folding wooden rulers and a solid brass plumb bob. I’m glad he kept them when he retired and moved into an apartment.
Here’s my hand with one of my favorite tools. It’s a Starrett 1″ micrometer, an Ebay find from California. That’s why it’s one of my favorites, it’s a real made in the USA tool with a leather pouch rather than a new Chinese one with an uninteresting plastic case. It works and zeroes just fine, it’s obviously been well used and I do wonder where it has been in it’s career.
The pouch has FMC stamped on it, which makes me wonder if it came from the tool crib at a former gold mine.
I’m a pretty skinny guy and not built for heavy labour, so unlike my Grandfather and Father in Law I have never made my living with my hands. I was encouraged to become an Engineer instead of a Mechanic and that’s worked out pretty well, but I’ve spent many a happy hour using my tools. In the words of my wise mother “It’s cheaper than therapy”.
I love everything about good tools. The design and craftsmanship that went into them, their function and the possibility of building or fixing something myself. I love the connection I feel when I wrap my hand around the wooden handle once held by my grandfather, and when I watch my son measure the thickness of a bass guitar string with the micrometer.
Like cars, every tool has a story and it’s the stories and connections that make them interesting as well as useful.
A terrific assemblage of tools with the curved saw perhaps being my favorite. The last pictures with your VW split and you with your younger brother is a good shot. It also confirms my suspicion that Snap-On tools really are that good and durable.
As one who has started to become heir / caretaker of items from grandparents, there is a certain comfort in that even though my acquisitions are non-tool items, such as this telephone that went into service when my grandparents moved into their house in 1961. Yes, it’s in my downstairs bathroom; that’s the only other operable telephone jack I have. After replacing the cord, it works like a charm.
The split photo is me and younger me 10 years ago when the VW was but an empty shell.
Oh I know. You did a great job on that picture.
It would have been cool if you could have done that with the TR4.
I loved reading this. It is so true that a guy’s tools will make you remember him forever.
My grandfather Albert Keck was a farmer with some top notch mechanical skills. Although he died before I was born I have come into possession of some of his tools. Some, like the 6 foot pry bar/lever are seldom used. But his ball peen hammer has been my go-to for decades whenever a mechanical job needs its persuasive touch.
My greatgrandfather was a cobbler, and I have a hand-made wooden box full of his tools. Can’t imagine having any real use for awls and whatnot, but cool to handle the tools now and then.
My paternal grandfather had owned a Pure Oil service station, but he died about the time I was born and his tools are long gone.
There is an old legend that I learned from my grandparents and other oldtimers when I was a kid. You never give away a sharp edged tool. It will cut the friendship between the two people involved. Charge a penny, or a nickel if they don’t have a penny, but never just give it for free. Even if you’re not superstitious, it’s nice to know that someone thinks enough of you not to risk losing your friendship.
My favorite mechanics hand tools have all come out of pawn shops…well-worn Cornwell and MAC ratchets are my favorites, Snap On sockets and wrenches (but not ratchets, something about the “feel” doesn’t quite work for me) and other odds and ends.
Shiny new tools are fine (and expensive if they come off the tool truck) but there’s something about handling an old tool that’s clearly seen some work that you just can’t replicate with new stuff. I bought some Proto ratchets one time, black oxide finish of some sort, that allegedly were used in the repair line at the Ford assembly plant in Hazelwood MO…cool backstory, never was able to confirm it.
I love the de Havilland sticker on your toolbox! I had a walking tour through that factory one time, and a friend of mine still works there (now known as Bombardier of course). What’s the connection you have to DH? I had a long career at another aerospace company.
I got a de Havilland Tshirt and sticker for father’s day one year. So I never worked there myself, but I know people who work(ed) at P&W and Fleet.
https://redcanoebrands.com/shop/de-havilland-t-shirt-burnt-yellow/
https://redcanoebrands.com/shop/de-havilland-sticker/
Here’s where my shirt and sticker came from
I have the baseball cap with the same logo, I got it in Toronto about a decade ago. I keyed on that sticker immediately as well…
Weird as I was thinking about pulling that hat out of a bin last night and giving it to my 9year-old airplane freak kid, we are going to an airshow today.
My dad worked his way through college in Meadville Pennsylvania working at the Channellock factory there. https://www.channellock.com/history/
Whether he got an employee discount, an employee “pocket discount”, or bought the tools later because they’re damn good, I don’t know, but all my pliers, wire cutters, and channellocks are from the 1940’s and from that plant, and I still use them today. Can’t tolerate the feel of the bulky, sloppy, cheap modern stuff in my hand somehow, and besides, I think of my dad every time I pick one up.
The only tool from that set that isn’t in perfect condition after all these years of use are the wire cutters. There’s a big 8-gauge-wire hole melted into one of the blades. That happened when I was about 14, and we were doing some house renovations. I was elected by my dad to cut out a length of heavy house wiring upstairs – my sister was on fuse-box duty downstairs to make sure the power was off….and she got a little bored and lazy. Fortunately, apparently I cut into the ground wire before the hot wire, and only got a flying lesson – oh and from-then-on naturally curly hair.
As one who has a bit of a hard time getting rid of anything (well, except cars for some reason, why is that?), I enjoy my ever expanding set of tools and as I do more home/house related work, am finally starting to upgrade my power tools after making do with functional but either more cumbersome or not as well suited ones over the years for way too long or too many projects. I finally supplemented my old 10″ Craftsman miter saw with a new Hitachi 12″ Dual Compound Sliding one last year and was amazed at the greater functionality and joy I am getting out of using it, the only downside is that it is much less portable due to its weight and more bulky due to its greater size and capability which makes it worthwhile though.
I also replaced my old ebay sourced tiny tile saw with a larger semi-professional one with a stand and much larger sliding base table and full size water tray. And then finally just recently replaced my old SkilSaw with a new Bosch unit that will actually hold an angle instead of constantly loosening up.
I think my next purchase will be a good portable table saw, likely the Bosch unit as well. Having used my ex-neighbor’s on a project I was very impressed by it, with the integrated folding wheeled stand it still takes up room but is easy to move and load into a vehicle. Certainly better than my first attempt at a table saw which was an excellent JET cabinet saw I bought at Costco about fifteen years ago but sold when we moved as i didn’t want to be the one to move it…
But of all my smaller hand tools, my hands down favorite is one that belonged to my Dad – it’s just a simple Phillips screwdriver, but Made in Germany with a translucent red handle and a black tip. I remember him using it for as long as I’d been watching him use tools and it still works as well as it ever did and has a marvelous hand-feel. The tip has held its shape forever and it just seems to work better than any other Phillips I’ve used or owned. I guess at this point I’ve been using it longer myself than I’ve been watching him use it but I still consider it “his”.
A lovely article, and one that brings up a few pangs. As a kid growing up I was not exposed to any real tools or relatives with any mechanical interests or abilities. In Austria, everyone lived in apartments, and my extended family were all educated and thus did not work with their hands.
And in the US we had no relatives. My father was literally challenged by a can opener. What little mechanical/practical skills I have I got from my mother who was solely responsible for keeping everything in the house running and/or hiring the trades as necessary. My father would have nothing to do with any of it. He married someone that had very complementary skills and abilities. And my mom did have a kitchen drawer with some basic cheap hand tools. So you can see how deprived my childhood was. 🙁
But I did love finding older guys in the neighborhood who were mechanical, and I’d just hang out with them, trying to pick something up through osmosis. It’s not quite the same.
I did rebuild my beloved Craftsman 3/8″ ratchet recently; that was satisfying. It was getting balkier over time. I didn’t know about this common ritual of rebuilding them with a little kit that one can buy online (I spring for a genuine NOS Sears kit), and now it’s…better than new.
Love that split image picture! Too bad you don’t have a split window VW to go with it. 🙂
As the son of a highly educated European adult immigrant who also never needed to work with his hands, perhaps partially because he and his family may not have had any possessions to work on, it was also my mother (who emigrated to the US as a child) who was the handyperson in our family. I inherited some of her tools, though not much of interest with the exception of a pair of SnapOn needle nose pliers. A tool collector site suggests they date from the ‘30’s, though I suspect she picked them up at a thrift store or garage sale in the ‘60’s or ‘70’s. My personal favorites are a set of metric combination wrenches, Montgomery Ward PowrKraft, that I got as a gift from my parents around 1973-74. Made in USA, still my go-to metric wrenches though the 19 mm disappeared about 10 years ago. My next favorite is a machinists hammer I made in high school shop class in 1973. I finally had to replace the handle a few years ago.
Unfortunately, I am away on vacation so can’t get photographs any of my tools, so my words will have to suffice.
My father was a professional mechanic, largely self taught, who began as a youngster messing around with cars from the 40’s. He was fond of older vehicles with their mechanical controls.
Though I have, in part due to his advice, taken my life in a different direction, he nourished, actively and also by just allowing me access to his tools, my interest in repairing vehicles and other things. As a result of use of his tools and advice in my formative years, I rarely take any of my vehicles to the shop.
Dad’s tools, some of which he got from his father, and the toolboxes in which they reside(d) have given me many fond memories. He largely bought Snap-On, and, as you might expect for a man in his trade, was a proponent of quality tools, and also having the right tool for the job. Though my budget as a home mechanic precludes the purchase of truck-brand tools, I purchase the highest quality tools I can justify.
Dad was, as a rule pretty lenient with me; he allowed me access to his hand and power tools even when he wasn’t around, and he also allowed me to mess around with our family vehicles, despite the fact that my attempts to improve them generally had the opposite effect. Most of the few times I recall him being openly angry with me were when I would, after messing around with my bicycles, leave his tools laying around the yard, use screwdrivers as chisels, and just plain losing his valuable tools. He went so far as to lock his box one time, but, perhaps subconsciously, did a poor job of hiding the key, so I was, for a time, more careful about putting tools away.
Many favorite tools come to mind, many of which have moved into my toolboxes now that Dad is gone. The Snap-On square-handle screwdrivers, some of which replaced ones that I once used to dig up stones and left out in the yard to rust, have great sentimental value, as do a sets of open-end and combination wrenches that I once used to repair my bicycles and make my first attempts at automobile repair.
Though I had already assembled a substantial tool set by the time Dad’s tools began to come my way, I have made room for his, and I especially enjoy using them to work on my old F-100s, vehicles that Dad would have appreciated.
In addition to tools, Dad also accumulated all kinds of vehicle-related hardware, which he squirreled away in boxes. I have saved some of this, which I find many uses for in repairing my old truck. It feels as though I bake a little bit of Dad into my repair jobs and keep him with me in a way that he would have appreciated.
Tools do have stories, as the original author astutely noted, and I appreciate the trip down memory lane that this article took me down.
I grew up with a father that had a collection of some crappy hand tools and an occasional decent tool that was usually either missing pieces (sockets) or had some other issue. Those early years of having to tackle jobs with a pair of vise grips or a crescent wrench in lieu of the right tools usually resulted in a barely adequate half-assed result at best and taught me to collect and maintain tools which were both of good quality as well as right for the job.
My kids growing up would always wonder why dear old Dad was always adding to his tool collection until they were old enough to start working on things themselves. I remember my oldest daughter and son trying to wrench off the brass nuts some idiot had over-tightened on a torque converter only to watch it start rounding off. “Hey Dad, how do we get these off now?” “Well you could suffer as I did in my youth with a pair of vise grips, a crappy hammer, and hours of uttering obscenities or you could use this little kit that I keep on the shelf for such situations.” “These things look new, how many times have you used them?” “Less than a dozen in the 20+ years I’ve owned them, and I thanked God every time I did use them that I had the foresight to buy a decent bolt/nut remover set.”
My father-in-law also knows the value of good tools and he bought the kids their own Craftsman tool sets when they were teenagers (before the brand turned to dogshit).
My favorite has to be this toolbox. It was my dad’s, given to him for Christmas when he was 15 and working on his first car. He gave it to me i 2001 or so when I was in high school driving my ’71 Beetle. A couple of stickers were his and I’ve just added to them.
I completely understand where you are coming from regarding tools, when I open my toolbox it is like visiting old friends, and I get really upset if even a socket gets lost.
They bring back such memories, the ancient mole grips I was given that were made in Newport Mon, my birthplace. The same torque wrench I used on my BSA A10 and Wosleley in the 70s, my Ford Cortina in the 80s and still in use.
One thing I would be lost without, a bent BSA motor cycle stanchion from the 70s, I have used that hefty tube to straighten and lever all manner of things when nothing else quite does it
I have a lot of old tools laying around that still get use many of them inherited from my father who just bought the best he could afford when needed his old Kane 1/2 inch drive socket set performs well apparently its a semi finished SKWayne set the knurling is missing on the ratchet handle, Most of the rest are Crescent or Sidchrome but with lots of off brand stuff Ive accumulated to fill in some gaps, I can recall raiding dads toolbox many years ago to repair old Minx/Humber 80 cars I had as a teen and it all comes back when doing anything to my current Minx still with the same tools.
I had accumulated lot of specialised tools over the years when I owned 1971 Alfa Romeo 1750A Berlina, 1982 Buick Skylark, and 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity.
The V6 motors in both Buick and Chevrolet had the most ‘inaccessible’ spark plugs adjacent to the firewall. They were accessible by feel, not by sight, along with tight space for socket and extension bar. I had broken a lot of ceramic insulators when I didn’t angle the socket and extension bar correctly.
One tool that saved my mind every time I change the spark plugs was this flexible extension bar as in the photo. I remember paying about $125 for this one in 1986. Ever since I had this tool, not one broken ceramic insulators.
Clarke sells them as well.
I have an old (plastic) tool box that started out as my lab kit in college. I used it throughout my career beginning with the Qualex lab (Kodak) in Stoney Creek where it began collecting stickers mostly from the photo industry. Kodak logos and badges from Noritsu printer processors and various other things.
During those 11 years I also used a service cart which also gathered similar decoration. Id plates from scrapped equipment etc. When we closed the lab in 2009 I took the cart home with me since they were going to throw it out anyway. I tried using it around the garage but it was just in the way. I posted it for sale on our car club’s forum and got no takers. A suggestion was made to bring it along to the swap meet hosted by a Toronto performance shop that specialises in Nissan/Datsun. Speaking with the manager there a deal was made for a nominal fee. He asked about the stickers and I told him they were a legacy from my 11 years in the photo industry. That was 8 years ago. There have been other swap meets held there and I always look for my cart. Stickers, badges and id plates are still there and a few more have been added as well. It’s a little greasier now but it wears it well from working hard.
My old tool box stayed with me through my TV years and at the radio shop where I now work. A reminder of where I’ve been.
I have a small amount of specialty tools from a tool box that belonged to my dad’s best friend. He was a retired Datsun mechanic and one of my early mentors when pulling wrenches many years ago. He approached me once and asked if I wanted his tool boxes. He had not used any of it since he retired. He passed away shortly afterward.
I had a Elva Courier, so I noticed the Elva sticker right away.
My grandfather worked for Chesebrough Manufacturing, in the mail room I believe, from sometime in the 1920’s to the early 60’s when he retired from Chesebrough-Ponds. No tools to speak of. My Manhattan born father, after getting out of the Army in 1946, was definitely a natural salesman by nature. Apparently even General Eichelberger noticed that. Again no tools and no mechanical ability just a great sourcing ability.
So I have no hand me down tools to speak of. However, once I got my first car in 1969 I have been acquiring tools of all sorts ever since. There is a 5 ft. tall rolling tool chest (like the picture above), two carry tool boxes, shelves with larger tools in the garage and my tool box down on the USS Hornet. Tools range from large automotive tools all the way down to tiny screw drivers to take apart vintage cameras.
To this day my father wonders where the mechanical ability comes from since I am in the professional health field.
My grandfather was a retired dairy farmer, and when I was clearing out the old family home, I found a rake he’d made for me when I was a little boy. Just a piece of dowel a yard long, the right size for a four-year-old’s hand, and a piece of wood nailed on the bottom with nails hammered in to make the prongs. I’d forgotten all about it (he died when I was seven), but it sure brought the tears to my eyes when I found it – that he, about whom I remember so little, made that for me.
The memories of tools….
My Dad was an old school mechanic and I couldn’t tighten a nut straight so there were a lot of misunderstandings and hurt feelings growing up. He would be in the garage working with my friends on cars and I would be in the house hating everyone. As time went on I admired his (and my buddies) patience and skills and he (who never so much as had a bank account) came to appreciate that working with numbers for an accounting office required its own special skills.
He knew his collection of tools would be wasted on me so when he passed one of the happier jobs was to bring the three of my friends he was closest to and divide his garage up.
That was 20+ years ago. The tools are still being used and appreciated and for some of them thats 60+ years of continuous use. And that is the story of my Dad’s tools.
Great memories. The link to our mentors is what carries us forward. I often use my Dads’ tools with my sons. Although trained as a aircraft mechanic during WW II he did mostly woodworking and had junk for mechanics tools. His high quality hammers, saws and files see weekly use in my shop.
On a side note, my sister and I have picked up four full tool boxes from the curb on trash days. Each contained well worn but useful tools and bits of history. One had clips used to hold film strips to dry after processing and another a set of 50 year old ViseGrips. Sad how the link to the old owner died when they hit the curb.
Need a dandy and cheap cheater bar? Find a wrecked ’93-’02 Camaro or Firebird. Pry open the door skin. Inside is the door reinforcement beam. Unbolt it and you have a nice long angle-tipped heavy metal pipe. Trade secret from working in a wrecking yard for three years.
I still have the Thorsen toolbox my Dad bought for me when I was 14 or so. Its dappled in paint and dented, but it still sees use. I thought of getting rid of it a couple of times, but I can’t make myself do it.
My Grandfather had some 22 jobs including owning a 22 table pool hall. He built only one house somewhere around 1912. I still have his hand saws; a matching pair of rip and crosscut.
I also have the screwdriver I filed down in 1966 or so to fit Austin Healey distributor caps. I still have my Su Carb tools, but nothing with an SU carb, or any other carb. Tools in the late 1960’s were much more expensive. Snap on and Mac tools are still nice, but there are many brands which are usably nice.
I have a modest collection of tools I’ve come across haphazardly since the early 80s. Most are of fair quality, some are high quality, but I try to avoid low quality tools. You can always tell a low quality tool when you use it.
This may come across as laughable, but I’ve always had trouble with knife blades. Pocketknives, razorknives, you name it. My solution? My best knife, one that always cuts whatever needs to be cut? My dad, who worked as a locomotive mechanic for Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna, always said to have a serrated steak knife from the slverware drawer. It always works, wihout drama and injury. Say what you will, but I say no toolbox is complete without a steak knife in it.
My favorite old tool is these wooden spool clamps, which I use for music instrument repair and other woodwork. They used to belong to my grandfather and are at least 100 years old. When I was a small kid,I liked to swipe these clamps from him and roll them on the floor. 45+ years later, I’m still playing with Grandpa’s tools.
My first car was a VW beetle and none of Dad’s tools fit the bug. Dad took me to Sears and for $50, you had a choice of a tool box full of metric or standard tools.
Since then the tool collection has grown to two rolling tool chests with additional purchases from Sears, JC Whitney (remember them), garage sales, flea markets, my father’s shed, and a folding ruler from my grand father.
I have most of the original Sears set minus a socket or two. I live near the Sears store where we made the original tool box purchase in 1973 and have gone there recently to buy the missing sockets. Lots of memories came rushing through when I stepped in the door.