Some of my other Grampa's tools

Oct 16, 2009 27 Replies

A few years back I inherited some of my Dad's dad's planes, and they have a place of honour in my shop, and I try to use them as much as I can. They included a Stanley #8 that had a crack in it that I had repaired.



This summer we travelled from Saskatoon to Thunder Bay, Ontario, and on the return trip stopped to visit one of Mom's sisters outside Winnipeg. She loaded a couple of buckets full of my other grampa's tools into the back of our van, and I've finally had a chance to do an inventory. Unfortunately, they'd been stored in an unheated garage for who knows how long, so rust is something of an issue, but not on all of the tools.



Besides a bunch of files with varying degrees of rust from light to severe, and a number of different pliers and snips, I found a smaller Yankee driver, and a smaller, similar driver marked "Hoppe, Germany" with several pristine auger bits in the handle. As well, marked Starret, what appears to be an adjustable handle for small files.



And then, the planes:



Two Stanley 110's in reasonable shape.



A body for a number 130, jappaning bubbled, rusty



The rest are in good to very good condition:



Two #4s, a #5, #80, #90, #151 and a #40 1/2 in really great shape.



Knowing Grampa's history, most of these tools are probably 50 years or older.



Pretty soon, I'll them all cleaned up and in use. Then I'll have two grandfathers smiling down on my shop.


That is a great way to keep a family history going. I'm sure you are and will put them to good use. Hope when the time comes you have someone you can pass the tools on to and keep the family history going.

Paul T.

Yes you will.

You might consider taking pictures and combining a bit of text to save that history for the next user(s). It'd be a shame for that not to be passed on with the tools...

The 80 and 90 aren't the steel-cased rabbet planes by any chance, are they?

R

That's an excellent idea. Thanks, Morris.

Daughter and son both have some interest in wooddorking, I'm trying to infuse them with enthusiasm, but for a parent to push to hard can be a mistake.

I don't *even* want to know what that is. :-p

You're not from 'round here, are you?

I'm not from Kentucky either. I think they do some dorking up there. :-)

My guess is much older than 50 years which would only put them about

1960 vintage.

Due to WWII, my guess many of these tools may predate 1940.

Lew

Search the archives for the term.

That's quite possible, Lew. Mom was born in '39, and he was woodworking before that.

Unfortunately, in his later years he sold off much of his shop to support his addiction. I'm very happy to have what I do.

I remember some of his work from when I was you (10 or so, which is 40 years ago) and even filtered through questionable memories he was a superb woodworker. The bottle and a RAS took most of his left hand about that time, alas, and he really never came back.

I have fond memories, he was always good to me.

So your only intent was to act like a prick? Welcome to my killfile.

You might not see this as you are boycotting Google groups, but I want to congratulate you and express my jealousy. I am trying to get to my grandfather Luigi's tools in Montreal (my brother has been promising to ship them to me for the last 20 years or so), but my grandfather Umberto's tools in Italy are all gone. Enjoy your patrimony, and may you smile down on your grandchildren's shops.

Luigi

Very nice. I can certainly relate. When Dad's father passed away, I asked for his toolbox. Not woodworking tools, but I spent lots of summer afternoons in or under the combine, swather, or other equipment helping him make repairs. Nothing fancy in that toolbox, but Grandpa could fix anything with those tools. It brings back good memories when I use one of them.

That makes your mom a mere babe.

Those are the best kind.

Lew

I'm sorry, *I'm* acting like a prick?

Let's look back.... I make a little joke at what I took to be a typo, and added an emoticon to indicate I was teasing.

*You* are the one who started the smartass replies with your little, "not from 'round here" comment, when all you had to do was say, "It's an inside joke," and maybe even explain it.

So nice try, though, by turning it around on me, but it didn't work.

But, you won't read this though, because I'm in your killfile. Ooooooooo!

Stop being a dick. Your little joke was about someone's kids, and would probably have left you with a fat lip if you said that to the person's face. It was a dick move, you should have known it was a dick move, you're defending a dick move, and you're being a dick for not admitting your ignorance.

People like you give dick's a bad name.

R

Not only are you guys hypocrites, you're thin-skinned ones at that.

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