Old-school shop tools

My grandpa used to teach shop class (wood, metal, auto) in Harvard, Illinois. Both of my grandparents on my mom's side have been in poor health lately, and are now in an assisted living facility—but this post isn't meant to bring everybody down.

My mom and her siblings have been working to clean out 50-plus years worth of stuff from their parents' house, and my mom sent me some of his old tools. Micrometers, telescoping gauges, dial indicators, and things of the sort—all with their original cases. Grandpa Eugene took better care of his things than I do, clearly.

Among those findings is this:

I would say I'll have a fun weekend going through this stuff, but actually, I have a bunch of old 35mm color slides to scan. It's still going to be a fun weekend.

Looking forward to more pictures. I have a thing for old tools.

Looks like he also bought high quality tools. Carry his mantle with pride.

Made about 12 miles from my house. I have one from a family friend and it is in sad shape but still works. Nice find. Keep Grampa proud and keep it dry.

Excellent. I want a description of how it works.

I have an awl that I thought belonged to my grandfather. Turns out it actually belonged to my great grandfather. It's starting to show some nice patina on the wood handle.

I have a bunch of tools that were my fathers. actually, I have used some of them my self when I worked for him Mostly engine rebuild stuff. Then some saws, hand drills, planes etc.

Very cool. they really dont build stuff like they used to. My neighbor just gave me a bunch of woodworking tools from the 70s. They look brand new and have all the boxes paperwork and spare blades/ bits too. The only thing is the chords are kind of dry rotted. So I dunno if I should put new cords on them and go to town or just keep them as is because they are neat to look at.

Keith Tanner wrote: Excellent. I want a description of how it works. I have an awl that I thought belonged to my grandfather. Turns out it actually belonged to my great grandfather. It's starting to show some nice patina on the wood handle.

Center the rubber knob on a rotating shaft, remember the starting position, have a watch with a second hand. Leave your thumb over the dial to feel the small knob, and each revolution of the dial is 100 revolutions. Count number of times you feel the knob in 60 seconds, which gives you 100's, add the difference between where it started and where it ends, and you have revolutions per minute.

Edit: I see that one has two dials. Theory same, some other counting strategy.

My grandfather was a machinist and I inherited a bunch of small stuff, in addition to his table saw (with a heavy cast top) and his drill press.

Here's the aluminum vice that he made:

I once found a sun 404 distributor machine in a dumpster, I ended up selling it for $175 to someone who restores them.

My grandpa left my dad about 8 or so old Disston hand saws. Just found out the big ones are worth $200 or more to the right people.