Anyone with tools that have sentimental value?

[HemiBenny]

This small sample belonged to my Wife’s Grandfather and they work beautifully after all of these years of use. They, along with many of his Craftsman tools, reside in my toolbox at home and I use them regularly.
He made sure to inscribe his initials, AE, on all of his tools. I think it’s cool to be able to keep Art’s tools in the Family and doing what they were meant to do.
Anyone else use tools that have some sort of sentimental attachment?

 

[BISCUT]

I have a large number of tools from my grandfather. He was a senior machinist for Worthington Compressors and then Atlas Copco when they bought em out.

Lots of huge metric monster wrenches. 30mm to IIRC 50mm and a host of other cool tools.

I could never ditch em so I saved em.

 

[WylieCoyote]

I still have a Craftsman socket set that my parents gave me for my 16th birthday (1986).

 

[oldhp]

Some of my Grand Father's tools and lots of tools from my Dad. My favorite from Dad is a Sears 1/2" drive beam type torque wrench.

 

[Zaedock]

I have a bunch from my old man and his, but the tools that have the most sentimental value to me are those I had borrowed from my brother and then he died back in '07.

 

[CleanSump]

Some of my Grand Father's tools and lots of tools from my Dad. My favorite from Dad is a Sears 1/2" drive beam type torque wrench.

My parents gave me the same Sears torque wrench when I was in High School. Rebuilt my first engine, Pontiac 400 V8 with it. My second, a Chrysler 225 slant six, too. Still have it 45 years later. I haven't used it in probably 30 years, but it is staying in my box where I see it when I open the torque wrench drawer.

 

[BigGeo]

I have some vintage Ridgid pipe tools from Dad that I couldn’t let go. I believe they are from the 50’s.

 

[AutoMechanic]

I have some tools that my dad has given me that I won’t get rid of. His grandfather was a Chevy mechanic back in the 30s and 40s and I still have his certificate from all his certifications from Chevrolet. It means the world to me even though I never got to meet him. It’s in a frame in my bedroom drawer I haven’t gotten to hang it up yet. Unfortunately never got any of his tools nor did my dad. My grandfather from my moms side had tons of tools but he died in 1999 before I was born and all the tools went to my cousin and who knows what happened to them now because he doesn’t have any tools hardly. He was 10 when he got all of them. But that certificate is what I care about the most so I’m happy to have that. My dad pretty much gave me all his tools that he had because now he has me to fix everything lol. I have a whole Craftsman socket set and everything and some screwdrivers and a few older hammers.

 

[gman2304]

I have the same set that HemiBenny posted pics of along with the tool box with a lift out tray. I bought the set and box in about 1972, the same year my oldest son was born. The 3/8 ratchet came apart in about 1982 and Sears gave me a new one on the spot.

 

[Timmastertech]

I own the business my grandfather started in 1960 in the same building. I grew up in that building with my Dad, uncle, and Pop so that in and of itself has a lot of memories. Pops top tool box sits on my bottom. His tools got split between me and Dad depending on who had space for what. I have some tools that Pop bought in the 60s. Its an awesome feeling when I use those tools, the connection with him and the past and knowing that those tools helped keep a roof over our heads and food on our tables for 60 years. One of pops ratchets needed a head put in it, handed it to the snapon man and he handed me back a shiny new one since he didnt have a head kit for the old one. Handed it back and told him to order a head kit in. I didnt want a new one, I wanted Pops.

 

[BISCUT]

Great thread!

 

[wings&wheels]

Dad's 60's Craftsman timing light w/ advance wheel, still works.

Grandfather's drill index circa the 50's through mid-70's (replacements as bits were consumed) and a few others. He was a submariner from the 30's through the early 50's, Senior Chief Petty Officer and loved the sea. I make it a point to use these tools on the boats. Used them extensively when I restored an old inboard a few years back.

 

[JeffKeryk]

My older brother Greg owned and operated Comprehensive Mechanics in Santa Crus, CA. On the West Side, near the University. He was known as the only sober mechanic in Santa Cruz.
Greg got cancer and died at 44, 25 years ago.
He left me his hand tools. I gave numerous to his 1st employee, who was with him from the start. How many flex head Snap-On torque wrenches do I need? I have his big SO roll away and his smaller pull around SO box. I have all his engine building tools, which I have no idea how to use. Greg was the bathtub, early 911 and 912 Porsche engine rebuilder. He like the 4 cylinfer models for some reason.

I often feel guilty, as $20K worth of SO tools need to be in the hands of a real mechanic, who does this for a living. Not a lowly programmer like me.
My favorite, besides the 3/8 SO torque wrench, if the big Bonney torque wrench.

 

[HemiBenny]

Great thread!

I'm glad that you think so. I'm really enjoying these stories/memories that people have attached to their tools. I told my wife about this thread that I started and she started tearing up while going through it and thinking about her Grandpa (Art).
I hope that it keeps going with many more stories/memories to come.

 

[HemiBenny]

My older brother Greg owned and operated Comprehensive Mechanics in Santa Crus, CA. On the West Side, near the University. He was known as the only sober mechanic in Santa Cruz.
Greg got cancer and died at 44, 25 years ago.

I often feel guilty, as $20K worth of SO tools need to be in the hands of a real mechanic, who does this for a living. Not a lowly programmer like me.

You shouldn't feel guilty, I believe that those tools are where they belong.

 

[Wheel]

I have a fair amount of tools (planes, drills, saws and such) that were my Grandfather's and Great Uncle's. They worked making cabinets and furniture before and after World War 2. One of the oddest is a Lion mitre trimmer, a lever operated shooting plane essentially. They still make them. I think of them every time I use those tools. My other Grandfather was a mechanic and worked out of his garage. My Dad lives there now and we still use his tools (mostly Craftsman). His garage has a pit, which is pretty handy for a fair number of jobs. I never got to wrench with him, but I'm awful lucky to have made some furniture with my other Grandpa. I did also learn to knit and sew with my Grandmother. My Mom still knits with needles she had, including wooden ones she had as a kid.

 

[Trav]

I still have the first pair of cheap pliers I ever bought with my own money when I was 13, they were not used for very long and have not been used in almost 50 years, I just cant bring myself to toss them, every time I look at them in the drawer I still see this little kid all exited buying them. I even plastidiped the handles just to finish off the can.

 

[dlundblad]

I have a 1/4” SK ratchet that belonged to my mom’s father. He died when she was 11.

 

[Timmastertech]

I still have the first pair of cheap pliers I ever bought with my own money when I was 13, they were not used for very long and have not been used in almost 50 years, I just cant bring myself to toss them, every time I look at them in the drawer I still see this little kid all exited buying them. I even plastidiped the handles just to finish off the can.

I have the first socket I ever bought with my own money, Snapon 9/16 deep socket. Needed it to loosen the tire on my bike. I think my snapon man sold it to me for a buck or something like that. I was probably 6-7 years old

 

[ecotourist]

These are the ones that come immediately to mind. I have a number of tools inherited from:
1) My father. Terrible worn out tools, a hammer with a cracked handle, a small plane that has been dropped and broken - then brazed roughly together with a missing front handle. A shoe last for do it yourself shoe repairs. And a few pretty good tools - a rosewood square, a larger square, an adjustable square, a level and a pry bar. My father was a pretty good carpenter in spite of using using these terrible, worn out tools.
2) My father in law. A pretty good plane and a gasket punch.
3) My wife's great grandfather. A cobbler's hammer and an awl, from England where he worked in a shoe factory.
4) My brother. A 36" T-Square and metal drawing templates. He was an engineer too.
5) Rodney, a great friend and mentor. A machinist's square engraved with someone else's name. How many hands has it been through?
6) My own tools. A Craftsman socket set, a gift from my parents for my 21st birthday. A bamboo slide rule in a leather case and a set of drawing instruments from my days as an engineering student.