Your Oldest Tool Or Shop Equipment

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mikedevore

mikedevore

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I bought an enclosed car trailer this morning, it needs a little work. I had my son load up my floor jack. We used it to lift the tounge of the trailer, to hook it up. Well in our haste to get it out of the guys driveway, we left it there by accident. I didn't realize it until we had gotten to my dads house to store the trailer. We looked into the bed of the truck, no jack! Well we made do & got it unhooked from the truck.
Now its been an hour since we discovered it was gone. We returned to where we had left it. While driving there, I was talking to son & going over the history of that jack. I have owned it for 28 years, my son is only 22. Its been thru two cylinder rebuilds & has traveled more miles than my kids. If it was gone, I feared that I wasn't going to be able to replace it.
Well, I was very releived to see it when we turned the corner. It would have been like losing a family member.
So, what is the longest that you have owned a tool or a piece of shop equipment?
 
I have a glass motor oil container from the 1950's. It's got a metal cone shaped cap. It was used by service stations years ago to add oil when you got gas.

It's about 2 quarts in size.

My father got it from his father, who then gave it to me. I don't use it. I just keep it in a safe place.
 
I have a torque wrench that was given to me by my father. Its the one he used in Da Nang (spelling?) to rebuild F-4 engines during The Vietnam Conflict.
 
I have some old punches passed down to me from My father and grandfather .
Use them nearly everyday and they never wear out. About once a year I clean up the ends on the bench grinder. That old steel is super strong knocks the pins out everytime .( I work on German made printing equipment and the engineers love to use taper pins on practically everything).I've bought punches @ various hardware stores and most all were disapointing.New steel is too soft and deflects absorbing the energy that should be knocking the pin out.My old punches never fail Me.:-D
 
I still have my first Sun scope that I brought when I open my first Shop 1970 and still like new. It has a 27 inch screen. still use it on some of the old mopars that I have around the shop.
 
I have a proto ratchet set like new that was bought new when my father was a kid. They definitely dont make anything like they used to.
 
I've got a tap and die set in a wooden box that belonged to my grandfather. Probably about 60 years old now.
 
Pop has the old wheel puller for his cars he had from the '40s. And some of my Grandad's tools from the '50s and '60s.

Personally, the oldest tool I have is an old spray gun from the '30s. Very, very low pressure gun as it took a mason jar as the canister.
 
I have quite a few old tools around that belonged to my grandfathers. I don't have pictures but I have some really old hammers and a planer that come to mind. If I were to dig around, I'll bet I could find 20 tools that are better than 60 years old around here.
The history and quality of these tools is amazing.
 
.............I got a set of old sockets I got from my dad..........they came with the blacksmith shop he bought in the 50s, they were old then...SK Wayne brand..................kim............
 
Lost all of my old tools in the house fire last year. However, I still had my service tools in my truck when the house burned and inside that tool box I have an old plumbers Basin Wrench probably about 60 years old and I still to this day use it every day on lots of plumbing jobs. This wrench will never wear out.
 
My stick welder.... I'm guessing its from the 50's or early 60's 100_0241.jpg

100_0241.jpg
 
No picts yet; 1909 Thermoid Riveter for relining brake shoes, 1920's Thomas Drill press, 1940's Atlas lathe....lots of old, old old hand tools......
 
I've got a little red tool box that my grandmother bought for me at K-Mart for 3 dollars. Sometime around 1968. I've had some of the tools in it longer than I've had the box.
 
My dad works in the Capitol Building in DC and while they were replaceing an elevator they broke open a wall and inside was a two-man saw about 7 feet long it was so old the wood handles had rotten off. It had to be from when they were building or adding onto the capitol It now hangs in his workshop in our basement.
 
My dad gave me a rock as a kid, said it was the first hammer our family purchased. It's labeled "Model 1 50,000 BC" :-D It will go to my son.
 
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