Old tools - - Neat finds....

[RCW]

Certainly anyone is welcome to add any neat tool finds to this thread.

Couple weeks ago, we spent a Saturday doing final clean-out of my mother-in-law's house...We hear closing is coming quick!! WOO HOO! They're saying below zero week away, so sooner the better!!

The house in the city looks exactly as it did 40 years ago, when a country redneck, former farm boy, now kitchen worker, showed up to court their daughter....

My father-in-law passed 30 years ago. He never fixed stuff much, nor had many tools. His "tool box" was a shelf along the cellar stairs where stuff was piled up. Had some other stuff in the garage.

All of it fit in a couple 5 gallon pails, but found a couple neat things. I'm not sure he came to have them, but they're cool.

He had a S-K 1/4” drive breaker bar. Never seen one, and a lot heavier than anything you see today. I have my Grandfather’s S-K 1/2” drive socket set that dates back to the 1940’s(?).

I found some metal working hammers and tapered files. Don’t recall him ever doing that type of work. One hammer had no handle, will put one on.

What were the tapered files for? One is broken off, but still quite long...

In the other picture, a New Britain 1/2” drive breaker bar 12” long. Finish is rough but in great shape. I have an 18” bar with Grandfather’s S-K set, so a nice alternative.

Lastly, some oil cans. I haven’t even started to clean them up.
One on right is quite old.

 

[SidecarFlip]

if you want a matching SK breaker bar, I have one in much better condition I'll send you (you pay the postage). Have no use for it.

 

[skeets]

Only tool I ever found was a snap on screwdriver in the side wall of my tire when I was going through town, I had to get a new tire but the snap on guy was at the tire store and he gave me a new screwdriver for that one, which I managed to loose in about a week

 

[SidecarFlip]

Only thing I ever had stuck in a tire was an old intake valve. Knew it wads an intake. No carbon on the inner face.

 

[RCW]

if you want a matching SK breaker bar, I have one in much better condition I'll send you (you pay the postage). Have no use for it.

Flip - - that is very generous, and I appreciate it very much.

I still have the box my Grandfather's S-K set came in. As we were dairy farmers, I don't remember it having any paint on the box in my 56 years. It was used and used hard when needed. I honestly don't know how old that set is....

I know what was "his," and cherish it very much.

I'm named after my grandfather, so I prefer to keep it as a "his set"....

Again, appreciate the offer, Flip. Any other circumstance, I'd take you up on it.

 

[Bmyers]

Does an old Sears and Roebuck hay rack count? We mowed a ditch and was working along a fence line and found a rack half buried. It took both of our tractors to get it out.

After we got it freed up, I pulled it up close to the barns where dad looked over it. Sadly, the years of being left out in the weather destroyed it. We don't know if grandma or grandpa parked it there. In the latter part of their lives, both were suffering from dementia and grandma got really good at hiding things before we moved her in with my parents.

If that doesn't count I have a few barns full of old tools, just need to get some picture.

 

[RCW]

Holy smokes that’s cool![emoji41]


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[sheepfarmer]

I like old stuff especially if I think it might have some farm application. I found this in an antique store somewhere near Manhattan Kansas, so this should be right up D2’s alley. I believe the lettering on the top says Topeka Foundry. It’s heavy.
There are 2 suggestions as to its original function. What do you guys think?

 

[SidecarFlip]

Good paper weight / door stop?

 

[Bmyers]

A couple more pictures

 

[jajiu]

I like old stuff especially if I think it might have some farm application. I found this in an antique store somewhere near Manhattan Kansas, so this should be right up D2’s alley. I believe the lettering on the top says Topeka Foundry. It’s heavy.
There are 2 suggestions as to its original function. What do you guys think?

Looks like a horse stop. Watching old westerns, people would have a weight like that in the buggy and tie the reigns to it when there was no rail to tie the horse to and leave it on the ground until they were ready to go off again and they would remove the reigns and put the weight back into the buggy.

 

[RCW]

Looks like a horse stop.

At first I thought one of those balance scale weights, but shape and labels aren't right from others I've seen.

Never saw a horse stop, but this sounds more plausible.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Well that is what I thought it was when I bought it and lugged it home on an airplane 50 years ago but someone said it might be a windmill weight . The Topeka Foundry is still in existence so I suppose someone there might know. Or maybe they just made them and you could use them for whatever. It has just sat on a corner of my fireplace all these years.

 

[SidecarFlip]

My wife has this large old school flat iron (the kind you heat up on a wood fired cookstove) she uses for a door stop that I regularly stub my toe on when I go upstairs. Must weigh 10 pounds and is a wonderful toe stubber.

My wife collects antiques (including, but not limited to me).

 

[D2Cat]

Sheepfarmer, how about taking a couple of pictures that are a tad bit clearer then you have here and send them to the foundry. I'd be interesting what their response is. You probably already found it, but there address, etc. is posted here.

http://topekafoundry.com/history/

 

[Lil Foot]

Picked these up at a recent estate sale for $1 each.
Williams 1 1/2" wrench & a #3 tap wrench, no brand, but same design as a TRW or Greenfield.

 

[Lil Foot]

Same sale, same price, Klein Tools reversible double sided ferrule crimping tool.
Logo is heavily worn, but says:
Klein Tools
M Klein & Sons
Chicago USA
Est 1857
Trademark Reg
Also shows a lineman on a T-type power pole

 

[D2Cat]

Here" what I used before I got a chain saw!

 

[RCW]

Here" what I used before I got a chain saw!

Got interested in antique chainsaws ('40's-'50's) a few years ago. Met a guy that restored them at an antique Car Show.

Don't remember brands now, but one was related to Envinrude (?). A friggin' Ox with 4-foot bar and bicycle handles. He let me run it some. Bar rotated 90* degrees, since the engine couldn't be for felling.

Amazing the RPM's and power it generated. I think he said it was 6 or 8 HP, and RPM were 6-8k. I could hear it from across the fairgrounds, and it definitely got my attention. All I could think was "that's a big saw".

Can be bought for a song, but parts and proper replacement chain can be a challenge.

Saw a big old Mall sell for $10 at an auction. Maybe 3-foot bar with 2-man handle on the end.

Was tempted but cold, so I kept my hands in my pockets....

 

[BXHoosier]

Picked up this Westcott adjustable at a swap meet. It is built much heavier than anything made today. From what I can find, these were made in the 1920-1930s.