My Nana passed away a few weeks ago, so Dad and I were over at her house cleaning out the garage. My grandfather was a toolmaker way back in the day. He died before I was born, so I didn't know that much about him. Anyway, I was looking through a book shelf and I came across all of his old text books from when he was training to be a toolmaker (I'm an apprentice toolmaker now), he served in the Second World War, so he has heaps of military training books. Dad grabbed most of them, but I came home with a copy of a 1943 "Fundamental shop training for those preparing for war service". This book has so much good stuff, it has a whole section on airplane construction that is filled with some of the best information I have ever read on fabrication. The other cool find was; as a hobby he used to build steam engines from scratch, he did all the casting, turning, everything himself. We found two unfinished projects, and the plans to finish them. It looks like my brother (a fitter and turner in the army) and I have a new project. I'll get some photos up when I can.
Cool to have a connection with your grandfather now. He actually drew up plans for the stuff he made, thats nice. Good luck finishing them.
The thing I thought was cool aswell was that these books we're what the men who built the style of cars we are building learnt from.
Wow!! What a cool way to make a connection with your grandfather. It's even better that he left an unfinished project for you to get involved with. Be sure to keep those books you found in good condition. They don't print stuff like that anymore. My grandfather was my door and window to the wonderful world of mechanics and machinery, I was glued to him when I was young. Frank
The Jalopy Journal
