I Have Been Fishing Around In My Drawers.
It’s been a joy to find
As I have been digging around the barn to get her dolled up I have been finding all sorts of stuff, I didn’t know I had. I know, I know. But alot of todays stuff, would have been mixed in with other stuff. And lots of it, from my Father, and his father. The concept that these tools were used by the generations before me is far more than romantic. Its eye opening.
An old WW2 USN knife. A wonderful tool
Small wood working and gun tools
Funny thing about age, at a younger age you don’t appreciate what age has taught others. I regret not noticing it. Deeply regret it. But as I go through old boxes of stuff. I have been peeling away a little more of my DNA.
A mixture of all sorts of tools and custom stuff hand made
Is it a tool, or art? Or art of a tool.
More and more and more to come
I can fill another table with hardware and other stuff
Line. Very cool line
I do recall my father and grandfather the Admiral, always oiling tools. And guess what, it sure paid off. Cause these are like new. So I cleaned each one, put linseed oil on the wood, and a light grease on the metal.
Wood working tools and masonary tools
Old horse hair shop brush and scale thing
Some sort of pointer trowel ???
An old tool carring case my Grandfather built from a Fruit Box
The Steel, AMERICAN STEEL.
Drill Bits
All home with the furniture from the same place. There is something very Zen about all this
Now I will set up an area in the new Barn Gallery for a display of the old family jewels I found in my drawers.
They’re works of art, just like our boats. Then add the family history and you’ve got something super special, Matt. I hope you can find a way to store them so they can be seen.
My great grandfather on my mother’s side was a Swedish immigrant and a carpenter. What I would give to have some of his tools.
Very cool. I have a bunch of old tools myself and still use some of them. Especially the wrenches. Sometimes I find with the different shapes they made they are the only thing that will work.
Hey Matt…What is that tool captioned above as “The Steel, American Steel” ?
I think some sort of masonary concrete tool. Or spreading mud on a plater wall.
The self powered auger bits and brace, back when men were men and carpal tunnel was a way of life,
As a note, they were very advanced for that time, cuz they were cordless!
You are going to have to build a new barn and a new workshop by time you are done turning that one into an art gallery/museum. Don’t worry, we will be supportive, and we all promise not to tell the Boatress!
Very cool! Old tools are often better than newer ones, as they were made in the USA, back when that meant the world’s best & built to last. Even more awesome that they were used by your ancestors.
My husband bought some engine building equipment from a long time friend of my dad last spring. Some of it is older than us! Beautiful old stuff – the id plates are definitely works of art.
I always felt that companies who were proud of their products put nice, metal tags on them. But today, a peel off decal that disappears in a year is the norm. Probably because in a year, the tool is beyond its useful life.
Have, use, and revere, all of my great grandfather’s tools…plus many I have collected over the years.
Old tools rule.
John in Va
Wow, what an impressive collection, John.
My grandfather had the only gas station in Cumberland Ctr Maine in 1946 where I grew up. He added a 24 x 32 bay on the left side with hydraulic lift that could handle tall Kurb side work trucks. He had so many tools I missed out on when he sold it in 1978. I think a cousin snuck out all the vintage Snap On hand tools. One of the items, a vintage Kwik- Way valve grinding machine looked like something out of Jules Verne 1000 Leagues Under the Sea submarine with all these cool handles that were wheels with rotating grip points to adjust valves to the proper angle and depth of cut. Last time I saw one in use was at Matt Fairbrass’s shop in northern Ontario who rebuilds vintage marine engines of all types. The manufacturing company’s label was artwork in itself. Having driven through Cedar Rapids, the home of Kwik-Way, you wonder what ever happened to these companies.
I too had a Swedish emigrant, carpenter grandfather. His 100+ year-old Stanley miter box helped build over 100 homes in Sac County, Iowa before power tools were a thing—and is a prized possession. Cherish these things.
Dragged this hand pipe threader around for years. Was really happy I did when I re-plumped my new house.
Amazing! So many are mint! Do you ever find “heirloom” tools that are beyond repair? Rusted, bent or otherwise broken? What do you do with them?
I love these old tools, have some myself. Always makes me wonder where they have been and how many jobs have been made easier by using those specialty tools.
Just last night I needed a set of pliers with jaws designed to easily install/remove those pesky wire spring tension clamps (heater hose clamps) that GM used in the 1960’s. I’m replacing some on a Chevrolet big block restoration project and want it to look correct.
Ordered the pliers on Amazon at midnight and they arrived at my house at 9:00 today. Oh how things have changed.
my grandfather Rhude/Ruud/Ruudsberghaugen was a carpenter. I have many of his tools and I use many of them. He gave me a light hammer once, that belonged to his Norwegian immigrant father. A few years ago I got a big old tool chest stuffed with tools from my dead aunt’s home. We were not certain at the time if they belong to grandpa Rhude or her husband’s clan. I finally looked at them recently and many of the wooden handles are embossed with “I Krigsvold” name. So, they belong to her husband’s (my Uncle Einar) Norwegian immigrant father Ingvald Krigsvold.