Several Surprise Treasure Finds...

[Grandpadave52]

The last on-line auction I "attended" was near the end of September, 2021. Several tool lots; won a few; several I didn't. Most of my purchases

were more L&G related stuff so I won't bore you with that. However, one lot turned out to have some surprises.

 

Actual auction site pictures. I bid on this lot thinking the tool box might be an old Craftsman or ??? hip roof tool box. Didn't look inside the toolbox

really at the pick-up site. It was kinda frenzied there and I was under a time crunch to get back in time for grandson's football games plus my stuff

was located all over and you had to pick and load everything yourself.

 

I wasn't sure I could carry & load the tool box by myself after I grabbed it off he bench. Good thing I got there early and was parked pretty close.

  

 

I figured with the tool box and the random stuff I'd bid up to $10. The tin on the right had a couple dozen or more random drill bits + driver bits,

+ a new 1/4" dr, T-15 or T-20 torx bit  (don't remember now). There was another tin directly below that was full of miscellaneous screws etc.

The bucket + Folgers containers were loaded with new, packaged, random hardware.

The grandsons were happy with the (2) Official Little League baseballs.

  

 

Right picture shows the toolbox. A really nice HD box that someone fabricated likely in a HS metal working class. Its HEAVY even w/o any tools but...

  

 

A few tools were in the tray. I could see some of them in the auction picture. A couple of chalk lines. Left one is a newer Irwin model. Gave it to

daughter's fiancee'. Right one is a Straight-line...needs some work. Some 1/4", 3/8" & 1/2 drive sockets and extensions. Once they hit the wire

wheel, then buffing wheel, all but one went to daughter's fiancee'. So why was this box so heavy beside made from 1/16" steel?...

 

 

...cause all this was in the bottom. A few treasures as it turned out. Next picture does some 'splainin' Lucy...

 

(#1) is a Stanley Handyman, 10" (IIRC) swing ratcheting brace. Still has the decals on it. Probably late '60's-early 70's? Needs some TLC, but it

works. (keeper)

(#2) Stanley, Sliding T-bevel. 1st look, identified it as a No.25; more to come later. (pry from my cold dead hands type of keeper)

(#3) Stanley 481A-18 (oz) masonry hammer; needs a little work, oh & a handle but don't make them like this for a long time. (keeper)

(#4) Wards-Master (Monkey Wards) 1/2" drive speed handle; probably from the 1960's?? I have one (same brand) that

was my grand-dads from the late 40's-early 50's. Been my user & in my tool box since the late 1960's so daughter's fiancee' scored it too.

    

 

So what else of interest is in there? Well..let's see. First lots of 1/4" & 3/8" shallow well sockets, mostly metric and mostly Taiwan. Cleaned 'em up

passed them on to daughter's fiancee'

(#1) A Snap-on, combination box-end wrench from late 40's to early 50's. It may have been plated or could have originally been black oxide

coated. NO evidence of ANY plating remained. more pictures at the end.

(#2) A Craftsman combination box-end wrench from the 40"s to early 50's by logo.

(#3) A Craftsman combination open-end wrench from the late 30's to early 40's Probably was plated originally, but long gone; pics at the end

(#4) 1 of a set of Proto combination open-end wrenches from 1/2' to 1-1/16"; missing the 3/8-7/16" wrench. Cleaned up very nice; gifted to daughter's fiancee'

The remainder is still in the box waiting on spring for next step. except the (2) 1/2" drive, deep impact sockets on the left. Already in my "shop box"

 

Snap-On wrench is 1-1/16" x 1-5/16".  In a former life, these sizes were used quite often. I actually have a newer version of it. The Craftsman is

15/16" x 1". I've since completely removed all the rust from both, coated with wax then wrapped in wax paper until I decide their fate. Likely, I'll

clean again, then cold blue them along with some others in the box. I've since found another Craftsman, same era (3/4"x13/16" IIRC) in the box.

  

 

The Stanley masonry hammer. Re-furb started, but will have to wait until spring now to finish. You know my rule...?

"...if your tongue sticks to the metal, too cold to be working in the shop"

 

Last, remember that Stanley No. 25 sliding T bevel? Well, I finally dug a little deeper when I removed a little more rust from the blade...

Made everything else a bonus IMHO. Typing this makes it a 6C, (AA) circa 1923-1935. It likely had a bright (not plated) finish but could have been

blued too.

 

I don't see any indication that bluing every existed (later version) but IDK for sure. I'll decide when warm weather returns to 

cold blue or not. For now, it' cleaned, waxed, wrapped in wax paper to keep my tongue from sticking. Maybe @steven newman will weigh in

with his suggestions?? The rosewood body is excellent and the brass also very good. I'll do a final stand alone refurb update at that time.

 

Oh, total for all these treasures including the baseballs $9.20 with buyers premium and I made it back in time for both football games.

Thanks for riding along.

 

Edited January 21, 2022 by Grandpadave52

[lew]

Did you wear your bandit mask when you picked up the stuff 

[Grandpadave52]

11 minutes ago, lew said:

Did you wear your bandit mask when you picked up the stuff 

N95...about the same isn't it?

[Gerald]

What a haul , for the daughter's fiance. I see the T Square on eBay from 13 to 383 so who knows.

[Cal]

Nice haul Dave!  Tell me a bit more about the cold blueing process...

Great tool box too, what became of that?

[steven newman]

Use the Cold Gun Blue paste....works much better.  

[Grandpadave52]

2 hours ago, Cal said:

Nice haul Dave!  Tell me a bit more about the cold blueing process...

Great tool box too, what became of that?

Cold bluing = using gun barrel bluing. I use Birchwood-Caseys paste but also use their liquid from time-to-time. Steel must be clean, rust free. I usually use an aerosol "brake cleaner" or Denatured alcohol to clean before applying. Important to throughly clean bluing with water after, then apply some type of protection (oil, wax, etc). Depending on the number of coats, it leaves a nice blue/black finish. Far easier than DIY black oxide kits and appropriate finish for some tools.

 

Tool box is in limbo til warm weather returns. Needs refinished.. Not sure yet what I'll use it for yet. It's so darn heavy just empty.

4 minutes ago, steven newman said:

Use the Cold Gun Blue paste....works much better.  

Agree Steven, especially for blades. I only use the liquid for small parts unless I'm out of the paste. It's often out of stock in our area.

What are your thoughts about bluing this blade? It will provide some rust protection if waxed after; just not sure if it's appropriate based on age?? I probably won't use it much if at all. I have a much newer No. 25, plus the later version with plastic body as users.

[steven newman]

I usually just wipe them down with 3in1 oil....then fold the bade into the handle when not in use.....The only one I have WITH a blued blade..

Is the small, 6" SW one...

[HARO50]

 

You forgot to 'splain the box in the upper right corner!

[Grandpadave52]

2 minutes ago, HARO50 said:

You forgot to 'splain the box in the upper right corner!

Good eye John. Empty coffee (K-cup) type box; used to collect other treasures from same auction...Donut shop blend...best of both worlds in a cup

 

[HARO50]

10 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Empty coffee (K-cup) type box;

Empty before or after the donuts were consumed? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Grandpadave52]

1 hour ago, HARO50 said:

Empty before or after the donuts were consumed? Inquiring minds want to know!

Before

[steven newman]

Was thinking that it might have been a "Work-in-Progress"

[p_toad]

That snap-on looks a lot like these...  any idea of a company code or anything?

[Grandpadave52]

On 1/22/2022 at 12:31 AM, p_toad said:

That snap-on looks a lot like these...  any idea of a company code or anything?

Sorry Pete, I missed seeing your question.

Certainly is a close resemblance. IDK if Snap-on made wrenches for other brands or not? Thorsen has been around for a long time too. In fact I have a few myself although none that looks like yours.

[steven newman]

That wrench was usually for trailer hitch balls...Had one around here for a while...

 

Something for you all to ponder...

Was in MY dad's tool chest...

No markings, but looks purpose built..

There is the remains of a bolt inside there....might be an early "Clicker" style Torque Wrench?

[Grandpadave52]

2 hours ago, steven newman said:

There is the remains of a bolt inside there....might be an early "Clicker" style Torque Wrench?

Good guess.. Yes it is a "clicker type" torque wrench known as a pre-set. Used a lot of them.It would have been set up for a specific application and calibrated to a specific torque with the wrench end as installed. It would have been used in a manufacturing environment where repeatability based on volume and production speed was necessary.

 

While the wrench body might be used in many applications with different wrench ends, each wrench end had to be calibrated and certified with the body and remain with that body. To ensure accuracy after initial set-up, the wrench would require on-going re-certification checks with a master torque calibration device. Often there is a gage # etched on the tool to identify it in a gage tracking system. That # usually always contains the torque setting for that wrench either in in/lbs, ft/lbs or nm.

 

In my old environment that frequency was based on x# of shift changes which typically averaged around 3 months of use. Some were used multiple times in a day, others maybe only a few times a month. We only used them where access with a pneumatic or electric powered torque tool was restricted or volume didn't justify a powered tool. At one time we had over 1500 preset click type wrenches in use across multiple machining and assembly areas. 

[Cal]

@Grandpadave52 - Hey Dave, I am sure that you are already aware of this, but it was an interesting short article.  Seems we are rushing headlong into the future, whether we are ready or not!

 

https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/john-deere-s-first-fully-autonomous-tractor-to-begin-plowing-this-year/?ecms_id=fe748d6a-7fc1-4813-be6a-7f6ce14a8eec&ecms_short=ART6444&doc_type=ted_video_article&parent_id=7b3c90f7-16bf-4483-89ef-dc81bb708485&utm_content=featuredvideo&linktype=title&channel=email&campaign_type=thomas_industry_update&campaign_name=tiu220125&utm_campaign=tiu220125&utm_medium=email&utm_source=thomas_industry_update&tinid=227258085

 

Maybe one day we will see our food with labels "No Autonomous Tractors Used In Our Fields!"

[frenchwwr]

It will an organized boycott, like the boycott of self checkout lanes at the stores. 

 

 

[HandyDan]

12 hours ago, steven newman said:

There is the remains of a bolt inside there....might be an early "Clicker" style Torque Wrench?

 

9 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Good guess.. Yes it is a "clicker type" torque wrench known as a pre-set.

 

...and then there is This Wrench