Art & Inspiration Whats your sentimental shop item?

This happened to be my Dads favorite tool, a small ratchet screwdriver
circa 1920. It's a Yankee No. 15 made by North Bros who made special
screwdrivers since the 1880's. They sold to Stanley in the mid
1940's. I like to keep it on my work bench, and still use it. It
will be passed on to my son.
Rich

 

My pick would be the 2-sided Neon sign that was given to me 40+ years ago by the local Ford dealer in the small town where I grew up (Fred Sayre Motors in Ripley, WV). He was good friends with my family and figured that I was a young car guy who would appreciate the sign. Although he died many years ago, I think of him and smile every time I light it up in the garage.

Jim

 

There is one of these in the drawer of my wife's old Singer treadle sewing machine. HRP

 

My Granpa's wooden handled screwdriver, must be close to 100 years old and still sits on my shadowboard , and just above it my Granma's "good" scissors, they both still get used and sharpened. My grandparents would be mighty upset if those things were just sittin there, not getting used!

 

My Granpa Clint's 1939 Atlas Lathe, I have had it since he passed on in 85' and think of him whenever I use it.

 

Same here, anything of my Dads.

 

The plates from my first hot rod, and a really beat up top box that belonged to a late friend, seems him and another guy were moving his tools after too many beers, box fell from the truck at speed. Being a body and fender guy, beat it all back into shape cause he couldn't afford a new one. Drawers work well enough to use, I'll never part with it.

 

Do you have any pics you would like to share?

 

My Grandpa's Snap-on Box. He got this when he ran a Texico station after the war when my mom was just a baby. He built a Olds powered '47 Merc ragtop out of this box around 1950. He ran a small family trucking company with it in the 60's - 80's too. I've still got his trucks logo-ed door magnets inside the lid. He gave it to me just a couple of years before all of his other tools were stolen out of a truck in Mexico. I had it striped.

 

My father in laws tools. My favorites are the modified wrenches,vice grips, and other problem solver tools. He was a crafty man. Makes me smile everytime I use em.

 

When I was a teen I obtain a first edition of a Snap-On tool box/chest filled with tools for 100 dollars from a retired Chevy/Olds dealership mechanic. Whatever mechanical problem I encountered he was always a phone call away. He owned a semi-custom 58 Impala and went by the name of Smokey.

 

The sheetmetal toy gets lots of attention, the handle sticking down operates it. Its cool as hell.

 

unfortunately, dad sold most of his tools in an estate sale when he and mom sold their last house and moved into a condo. what he left me was a lot of "bargain bin" stuff, but i still have a nice set of tappet wrenches!

 

The clock out of my late Uncles Chevrolet Dealership , later our garage. Been ticking since 1961. Flux

 

Couple of body hammers, I ran the metal repair shop in a GM stamping plant for a while. The guys in the "boneyard" hammered, picked, filed repairs all day for 30 years. They were fast and the repairs were perfect. These were some hammers that a guy had the tool makers make for him because the others "just weren't right" and we're his daily set. Gave 'em to me when he retired.

 

I forgot about this one. My garage is 22 X 24 feet with two role up doors. Between the doors I "planted" my 1890 patent, Corey fire hydrant. I found it in a bare field about 20 years ago, but waited a couple of years before going after it. The very next week they broke ground for the new Saturn Dealership that went in there. The hydrant was about 7 feet long being it was still connected to a large T-pipe. I loaded it into my pickup truck alone, unloaded it alone, and unbolted it from the T-pipe so it was only about 5 feet long. I've had guys ask if it was a functional hydrant. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

- Like for others, several tools that were my mom's and dad's.
- A few pieces from the Thorsen 3/8" drive ratchet set that my grandmother gave me as a mid teenager. years Later I decided even though she was a sharp old gal my dad probably picked it out. I used the speed handle just the other day. A few years back I took it down the Philadelphia ship yard when we were having a 36.5 MW / 50,000 HP HTS motor assembled there. pages 15-22 here-
http://www.htspeerreview.com/2008/pdfs/presentations/tuesday/plenary/dod_perspectives.pdf
The millwrights seemed to be glad to have the use of it, as some of the motor components were secured with LOTS of lock nuts.

 

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I have a fridge named Bill

Bill keeps the beer just right.
















These are the emergency beers






Bill can bring tears to my eyes.



.

 

The drill press my Dad built when he was in high school.

 

I inherited my Grandfather's tap and die set. Everything in perfect condition. Just the solid wood box is a work of art.

Joyflea- great photo of your mom. Our garage landlady was also a 'Rosie the Riveter', she had several similar photographs. See my thread, " great day at the beach, Charlie Brown "

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Grandfather's tap & die set

 

Tap and die set does't look like it was ever used, or at least not much. And the Fridge named Bill; would that be Bill W.? Ha Ha!!! I like the drill press made by a high schooler; that's creative. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I still have my pops, he's a car guy too, taught me a lot and sent me on this wicked path with no redemption. I need to plan a trip with him and my son soon, need to enjoy the time we have.

I have lots of crap hanging on the wall, most of it will remind me of a story.

The ones that jump out in my head are a pair of 1967 Shelby Cobra hubcaps. Yessir, you could option out a Shelby with hubcaps.... Probably got mags the second trip out of the dealer, but...

You see, the backstory is a co-worker knew I was a car guy, and his pop ran service station in downtown Oakland through the 60's and 70's. Most of the valuable stuff had been grabbed and the building was going to be demolished in next coming weeks and anything left was fair game.

I brought a friend and we picked through the station for a few hour grabbing a few trinkets, leftover heater hoses rolls and other crap and were getting ready to leave when we noticed a small attic access hole.

Naturally, I was head first into it and with little surprise there was nothing much of interest, except these old Shelby hubcaps wrapped in newspaper tucked away in a corner.

They're the only things I kept from that trip that I remember and it brings me back to the summers of my mid 20's when I just did random shit like that.

There's other stuff, but I don't have time for that right now...

 

My set of blackhawk tools I won by being first in my trade school class of 1967. It was supposed to be $50 worth from a local parts house that always donated to the school top student in auto mechanics. My instructor said just shut up and watch this when we went to pick them up. They rolled out the set and the instructor got a strange look on his face and said Shit I thought it was supposed to be $100.00 worth of tools. The parts guy kinda scratched his head and said did I say $100.00? Well ok look around and pick out another $50.00 dollars worth.

A few years after graduation that instructor became my service manager in the dealership where I worked. RIP Mr. Richie I still think of him and grin when I use any of those tools.

 

Funny how many of the replys are connected to something that belonged to "The Old Man".
My Dad wasn't a car guy, and was totally not mechanical, which used to piss me off when I was a kid.
I remember having a chance to buy a 2 dr. '55 Chevy with a built 283 and a 4 spd. that my sister's boyfriend was selling for 500 bucks (1966). I tried to explain to him what a deal it was and that we should sell his Plymouth Valiant ( uncool) and buy the Chevy ( very cool - major status changer in High School).He thought I was nuts, and refused. I was heartbroken and very disappointed in him!
He was an artist and sign maker ( which I thought was pretty lame), and a real quiet guy.
When he died, my mother didn't know what to do with his books and equipment, and I ended up with them. The more I looked at the stuff, and his notes and sketches, I realized I had it all wrong- he was a super talented guy, and created a lot of really beautiful things.
I still have his things, and am not sure where they'll end up, but every once in a while when I'm designing lettering for a car , or creating signage for something, I pull out the old books and notes and wish he knew how much I enjoy them .
Thanks, Pop........... Lettering and striping by Ted Kiley , design by me ( and my Dad)- didn't think you'd mind Gary (ATTACH=full]3042589[/ATTACH]

 

I envy you guys with tools from your pops and grand pops. my Grandfather on my dads side died in 1930, the other some time in the 40's. my dad was useless, the only tool he ever owned was probably a bottle opener.

other than my car the only thing with sentimental value would be the BMW I inherited from my buddy Jim who died in 1993. we were good buds from the age of 12, and best friends for 20+ years.... guess this isn't a "shop item" but I wanted to play too.

 

Never taste the same after that do they...Bet Bill got a good unpluggin after that!

 

I have a neon sign that I received at a show in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado in the mid 90's. It has the picture that was on the t-shirt for that year, the neon goes around the picture shaped like wings together

 

When the pad for the shop was still soft,we wrote in it J Loves G Loves J. My Wife,Son and I or visaversa. We had a dog and two cats and they have a place also. The whole place was built the summer my Grandfather passed away and he never got to see it.

 

I was 15 and a buddy and I were working on our first car. My mom pulled up in the alley and pulled a tool box of new "Powercraft" tools from her trunk. I still have almost all of them. She took me to my first dragrace and Roadster show. She was the best father a guy could have.