hand powered tools & accessories.

[Chubbo]

Hand powered tools And accessories. After giving this matter some thought, I thought that our younger members, might be interested in the Tools, and accessories, that we old fogies used before power tools, calculators, computers etc., came into being. I'll name some as they come to mind.

Hand saws, by Henry Disston, Millers Falls, and others.

Slide rules, that came before hand held calculators.

Wood bit braces, and bit extensions.

Hammer Twist drills, and bits.

Fountain pens, before ballpoint, and gell pens.

Wood, cold, floor, and mortar joint chisels, to name a few.

Tin snips.

Hand files.

Awls.

 

[WardenRoss]

I gave my youngest son (40) a bunch of my late dad's old tools. He enjoys them immensely.

He said "What is this?"

I tried to explain how the impact driver worked, but he couldn't get his head around it.

But, I do love watching my son work with my dad's tools.

 

[MRB1]

I have, and still use all but the slide rule(and round ones) and the fountain pens. Modern power tools are handy, but I've never had to be concerned with batteries with the old boys. Plus, the old stuff was built to last, not to fail.

 

[zeke]

Years ago had opportunity to visit the "field", to check on a recently approved dam rehab. While visiting with our vaunted " tough young workers", quickly learned not a one even knew how to use a shovel, level with a rake or use a real deal jack hammer. Once off the skid steer, they were lost. Granted a skid steer was huge improvement for a lot of things, but not everything.

 

[WR Moore]

Decades ago I was going to take a machinists test and was advised to bring a calculator. The night before, I decided to check the batteries on my calculator and they were dead and there were no stores open. (Remember I said decades ago.)

After a few minutes thought I pulled out my slide rule, practiced up and was ready to go. When I got there, they'd never seen a slide rule, couldn't believe it'd do everything a calculator could (and more) and refused to let me use it. They found me a calculator.

 

[mtgianni]

A real blow torch powered by gasoline with a long flame.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

My everyday tool bag only has hand powered tools in it, One that none of the modern children know how to use is a folding ruler! One most are unfamiliar with is a block plane! and one that really surprised me was and Arkansas stone, They never thought to sharpen a utility knife blade! I couldn't believe that not one man, on the 14 man maintenance crew, owned a hacksaw!

I bought every man a 4-n-1 screwdriver and made them learn how to properly to turn screws on door hinges and door knob locks! I met a lot of resistance, until they saw that it is both easier and faster! Plus they didn't have to lug a cordless drill everywhere. (in 5 or 6 story buildings, it makes a huge difference)

I'm retired now and always have a pocket knife (SAK) and a 12" folding ruler in my pocket, with a little knowledge, you can fix 75% of things you run into! and if you can't fix it, you know the proper size of the replacement.

Ivan

 

[walkin jack]

Good timing for this topic. I have using all my dads old tools since he passed away in 2009. I decide to retire them rather than move them all up here. I decided to start over and get all new stuff.

Just to show you how far back the old tools went I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to learn that the "chucks" on new drills/drivers don't require a "key". Truly an idea who's time has come.

New tools are cool. You can quote me on that.

 

[delcrossv]

I have a variety that get frequent, or less frequent, use:

Hand drill
Hand saws: rip, crosscut, coping, hacksaws
Brace and bits
Impact drivers (less since I got rid of the motorcycle)
hand pipe threaders
Packing chisels (lead seals for cast iron soil pipe)
EMT hickeys (I think you have to be a Chicago electrician to know what these are)
Hand punches for panelboards

 

[dave1918a2]

Disston D-23. Best handsaw ever.

 

[Rustyt1953]

Ruthie has an emergency tool kit in her car.

 

[BC38]

I gave my youngest son (40) a bunch of my late dad's old tools. He enjoys them immensely.

He said "What is this?"

I tried to explain how the impact driver worked, but he couldn't get his head around it.

But, I do love watching my son work with my dad's tools.

These are indispensable when working on older Japanese bikes. The motors were all held together by a million big phillips screws that were installed with toque drivers. Pretty much no way to get them out without some kind of impact unit, and a lot of them were in places that an impact gun wouldn't fit.
Harbor Freight still sells these as a kit pretty much exactly like you have pictured.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Got a set of tools from hubby's grandpa that included vintage tap extractors. A tool probably quite alien to most young folks.

 

[WardenRoss]

These are indispensable when working on older Japanese bikes. The motors were all held together by a million big phillips screws that were installed with toque drivers. Pretty much no way to get them out without some kind of impact unit, and a lot of them were in places that an impact gun wouldn't fit.
Harbor Freight still sells these as a kit pretty much exactly like you have pictured.

Yep. I've still got my Craftsman model I purchased in 1970 for my dirt bike.

We would remove those large Phillips head screws and immediately replace them with Allen head screw kits.


,

 

[WR Moore]

If you're going for precision, you gotta verify those folding rulers/scales. I had one that was a hand me down from a grand father I never knew. I found out that one end was dead on, the other off about 1/16 of an inch. Yes, that made a difference in the work I was doing.

I'm not wild about hand tightening drill chucks. Maybe OK if all you're drilling is pine, not so much if you drill hard woods/metal. It does help if your drill bits have those 3 flats to get a better grip.

 

[Kinman]

I gave my youngest son (40) a bunch of my late dad's old tools. He enjoys them immensely.

He said "What is this?"

I tried to explain how the impact driver worked, but he couldn't get his head around it.

But, I do love watching my son work with my dad's tools.

I used my impact driver just the other day, just the thing for a stubburn screw that holds the centering drill bit in an older Milwaukee hole saw driver.

 

[Golddollar]

Different kind of tools, but I was using them for 38 years when examining titles to real property. Protractor for determining bearings and scale (a type of ruler) by Dietzgen for drawing straight lines and a compass for drawing curved lines so I could draw a picture of the legal description of a parcel of land. There are now computer programs to do this, but a surveyor friend once said to me, "Sometimes it's good to plot something out by hand, it makes you think about what you're doing." Even though I am not a licensed surveyor, my ability and experience in working with land descriptions allowed me to become an Associate Member of the Maryland Society of Surveyors.

 

[tndrfttom]

My dad was a carpenter and cabinetmaker who retired about the time cordless driver-drills were becoming common in day-to-day use on the jobsite. He was a wiz with a big old Yankee screwdriver and a Miller-Falls eggbeater drill and of course a brace and set of wood bits. I got him a cordless drill (I believe it was a Makita) for Christmas one year but he preferred his old hand-powered tools. About the only power tools on his truck were a well-worn Porter Cable skill saw, orbital sander and Craftsman 3/8 drill. Dad passed away about 10 years ago but I can't get rid of any of his old tools.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

A few of my dad's tools that passed on to me:

Vernier calipers
Micrometers
Slide rule
Sheet metal snips (left, right, straight)
Hand saws (crosscut, rip, box) in handmade wooden case
Chest brace (manual drill)
Woodworking clamps
Chisels (wood, metal, masonry)
Spirit levels (2', 4', 6', all mahogany and brass)
Sharpening stones (carborundum, Arkansas soft & hard)
1/2" drive socket set with ratchet and breaker bar
Plumb bob (an indispensable tool at least once per lifetime!)
Ball peen hammers (small, medium, and truly serious)

In addition to being an excellent automobile mechanic, sheet metal fabricator, and a skilled welder, Dad was a serious carpenter (cabinet maker, finish and trim work, framing, every phase of the work). Very much into precision workmanship, no detail was allowed to be less than perfect.

Dad passed away in 1980. Talked frequently about construction work before and after WW2 using gasoline-powered saws. He would have loved today's rechargeable tools!

 

[BigBoy99]

Modern Kids Don't Know Tools!

During one summer we had several co-op students assigned to our area and supposedly these were engineering students which had three years of engineering school. I wanted shelves mounted in an area and I had marked the holes which were to be drilled, and I gave one of the students a battery-powered drill, a drill bit to drill the holes and a Phillips bit to drive the Phillips Head screws which held the brackets. I left to do other things.
I came back in about an hour and discovered nothing had been done. When I confronted the individual about the lack of progress, he told me that he could not drill the holes. I was astounded and asked him to show me what he had been doing. He produced the battery powered drill with the Philips bit mounted in the drill chuck and said it wouldn't drill a hole. I removed the Philips screw head driving bit from the drill and put in a drill bit and proceeded to drill first hole. He could not believe what I had just done. He had no idea of how to use hand tools. I suggested to him that perhaps he ought to change majors from engineering to some other major because he needed to understand and use tools. While talking to him I asked him how things got fixed around his house. He said his father was a lawyer and if they needed anything fixed they just called someone and the repairs just happened.

 

[kenjen]

when I was younger I worked in a store that sold building materiel. this old bricklayer would come in every once in awhile and buy steel beams. all he ever used was a wooden folding ruler and tell me he wanted a beam 6' 22'', always made me laugh.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

I have 4 kids, but let me talk (brag) about my daughter! She is a "Stay at home mom" of triplet boys. (now 10 years old) She and her husband own 8 to 10 rental units as well as their home. When repairs need done her husband is not at home. So she started doing the maintenance. Since I had done maintenance for 4 decades, I really thought she would call me a lot!

The only serious job she called me on was the repair of a large Samsung front load dryer that the high limit kept shutting down! She had watched some YouTube videos, them fixed the dryer, but it still didn't work. She called and wanted some advise. I ask a few questions and found out that the dryer vent had been clogged with lint. I said she had to pull the dryer from the wall, disconnect the flexible hose and remove all the lint, INCLUDING INSIDE THE DRYER! An hour later se called and said it still didn't work. I ask how far did she clean out the inside of the dryer? And found out she just reached in and got everything she could see. I explained that she still had a little less than 2 feet more of vent after the turn and would have to remove the back and take the internal ductwork out and clean it. She called back and hour later and said it worked. It never occurred to her that he dad might know more than a YouTube Video! (It never occurred to me that there were free videos on how to fix everything!)

So she and her husband buy a 1920's 2 story shack two doors down the street from her home, as a project. They are in a Federally Protected Historic area and the shack is grandfathered in. All Renovations must be up to current code and she must stay within the footprint of the original structure. She decides the front view is too plane and need a dormer! She watches 3 videos and takes measurements and goes and buys lumber, lays it out, and makes all the saw cuts at once. When Saturday comes, her husband and her are on the roof, The triplets hand up the pieces and they assemble it. Not one piece needed to be replaced or recut. I AM IMPRESSED!

She not only has beauty and brains, but skill too! She owns tools & knows how to use them!

Ivan

 

[chief38]

I consider myself Tool Obsessed BUT, I actually use my tools almost every single day and have a rather large and well stocked Work Shop. Many of my tools belonged to my Grandfather and my dad who were much the same as I am. I've got Braces & Bits, at least a half dozen Hand Drills (egg beater style), Wooden Rulers that fold out, Planes, Mic's and all sorts of Machinists tools that are older than I am, and the list goes on and on and on of vintage tools. Once again, I do not have them as show or conversation pieces, I actually use them on a regular basis and enjoy every minute of that!

I've also got a slew of modern tools and about 12 years ago I sold ALL of my Cordless Tools and replaced them with corded ones. Replacing the batteries drove me crazy and the older they got the shorter their battery life was on the job. I went out of my way and made it a quest, but found most of the corded tools I wanted as new old stock - made in USA. I did pay a premium for that but to me it was worth it! Most are Milwaukee but there are also a Porter Cable and a few DeWalts thrown in for good measure. Other than 2 tools they were all USA made but I simply cold not find the model Hammer Drill and Scroll Saw that I wanted made in USA so I settled for them being made in The Czech Republic if memory serves.

I have outlets all over my home including outside and don't mind running an extension cord. I have full power all the time and never concern myself with batteries any more.

I'm into Fountain Pens, Antique Fans, Player Piano's, Mechanical hand cranked Victrola's, Vintage Phones, blah blah blah.... the older the better as far as I am concerned. My Wife says I was born an old man - LOL!!

BTW I also have a fully restored and fully functional Vendo 81 Coca-cola vending machine (circa 1951-52) that is just absolutely pristine! It was fully restored by the Company that does it for the Coca-cola Company and they did an outstanding job! I might be selling it if we wind up moving one day.

When my son got married and bought his own home I assembled a few tool boxes worth of tools for him - he's actually learning to use them slowly but surely. My Daughter just recently got her own apartment (with her fiance') and I am now in the process of assembling a tool set for them as well. I won't be around forever!

 

[WR Moore]

BigBoy99s comments about engineering students shows nothing much has changed. 54 years ago I was an engineering student and we had a brand new engineering building, complete fitting out was still in progress. One day I got borrowed from class and taken to the mechanical lab where they were designing the frame for the gasoline engine dynamometer (Ford had gifted us an assortment of new engines).

I was there because I'd a reputation for being able to work on cars. The cream of the graduating engineering class (all of whom had jobs waiting for them) running the project couldn't figure out where the engine mount locations on the engines were. When I pointed out the proper sets of bolt holes, one of the geniuses said: "That's where the oil filter goes!" I then showed them what an oil filter looked like and left. I later had a brief discussion with the mechanical engineering prof who, after realizing I wasn't kidding, put his head in his hands. No doubt thinking of the hit his reputation might be about to take in industry.

 

[Chubbo]

Flairing tools for copper tubing.

Multi small size tubing benders.

Centering scales.

tools to install pop rivets.

Wood augers.

Pencils, made of wood, and carbon.

Fish tapes, used to install conductor wires, in conduit.

Button hooks, used to install shoe buttons, in shoe eyes.

 

[delcrossv]

...

Button hooks, used to install shoe buttons, in shoe eyes.

Still use those?

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

How about a froe to make wooden shake shingles?
Wrench for buggy/wagon wheel nuts.
Ok the froe is not that old, I made it about 30 years ago. I bought the
wrench at an estate/farm auction just because some blacksmith had
forge welded the handle, it cost a whole dollar. I'm assuming it is at
least a 100 years old.

 

[Chubbo]

Corn Cutting Stuff

Corn knives. A favored brand was 'Cut Sweet'. I had, and used, my grandad's, 'Cutsweet', but it was lost in life's shuffle.

A wood handled corn shocking rope. I used 'em, but don't know the proper name for 'em. It was a 10ft., or so length of 1/2", hemp rope with a 3/4 "x 1ft. Length, piece of wood attached, to one end. This rope was used with one hand, to throw around bundles of hand cut corn bundles held in the other hand. Binder twine was then fastened to the board, and pulled back around the bundles of corn stocks, so they could be tied together, into a corn shock, later to be husked.

Husking peg. A steel hook, fastened to a steel plate, that was worn over your gloved hand, to tear the ear of corn out of its husk.

Bumper board. The buckboard in the corn wagon that deflected the ears of corn into the bed of the corn wagon.

Huskers Lotion, and Bag Balm, used to treat, cramps, dried skin, cracks cuts & abrasions, fatigue etc.

Drain tiling spades. The short handled long-bladed shovels used digging ditches that open-ended, clay tiles were buried in, to provide drainage to farm land. It was backbreaking, monotonous, work. My grandad, was said to be able to spade backwards, faster than most folks could walk forward.

I doubt that many of you will be able to understand my crude description of these s old implements. They were used by most farmers of that era.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

In about 1967 dad cleared about 5 acres of wooded creek bottom and made it a corn field. He forgot to make the access road wide enough for the corn picker! My brother and I had to pick it all by hand and corn-knife! From then on it was a hay field (narrower equipment!)

I have learned to love a good corn knife in the woods. Great in the woods but much lighter than even a small machete! We always kept one on the mowing tractor for along the woods line/fence row. (every time you mow, you cut back those limbs that stick out into the field)

Ivan

 

[Engineer1911]

I found out about a speed handle for driving Phillips head screws in the air force. In 1979, we bought our first house. My first home owner task was to install new cupboards in the kitchen alone. I used a Stanley egg beater drill to make pilot holes in the oak face frames, Yankee screw driver didn't drive cabinet screws in oak, but my old speed handle did.

I used that speed handle until my first Milwaukee 9 V battery drill in 1986. The Milwaukee still works but the second battery holds a charge for less than 5 minutes. I have many of my Grandfather's old saws, Stanley brace & bits, framing square, and 1951 Craftsman table saw.