I recently brought home some old tools that belonged to my Grandfather. A few of them I didn't recognize. I was able to identify the "Masterench" on the lower right which were made in the '20s but the others shown are a mystery.

Included was a ladle and a lead-filled pot. So they might be Plumbers tools? Offset punches to seal the asbestos rope seal for fitting joints? The clamp may be for that as well? I dunno

Any help?

Dawg-a-roo

 

I think the three crooked ones in the center are for working lead into the bells on cast iron pipe (sealing the joints in drain pipe) the wrench on the bottom works like a pipe wrench... when you apply pressure it clamps tighter... sorta like a pipewrench that is self adjusting... maybe up to 1/2 ??

I've seen the clamping thingy before but dang if I can remember where and are those shears on the far rght ???

john

 

I don't know anything about the tools you have but they are cool mainly because they were you grandfather's. Have you just sat down and held them in your hands to feel your grandfather's presence?

My dad was a mechanic over half of his working life and the rest he was an electrician. When he died I cleared his garage of all his tools, there's a not so nice story to go along with this but that's not for now. I just took every tool he owned to preserve them and to keep them from going to someone I knew he would never want to have. Anyways, I do a fair share of auto repair and my occupation involves industrial electrical systems so I have many chances to use my dad's tools. Every time I am using one of them I'll just look down at it and remember something we worked on together. All of them have some kind of imperfection, a knick here or a gouged handle and I remember when it happened and can feel my dad near by. It's even greater when my son, who was born two years after my dad died, is using one of his tools. I'll stop my son and tell him a story about the tool. Some of the tools have broke over the years but I won't throw them out, I'll just put it in the drawer in the tool box.

This is the same feeling when I'm chugging down the road in my F-2, hearing the sound of the flat six and heavy 4 speed, the sound of the pedals hitting the rubber stops under the floor, the smell of the oil and even the pedaless accelerator shaft coming through the floor, just like it was the time my dad drove it.

 

I've got one like the one on the far right. I don't have a clue what it's for.

 

Thats a fine looking group of old tools Dawg. Old tools are fantastic.

Now you just need to wire them to an old weathered and gray 2x6 and hang them up on the wall of the shop.

I have a bucket of old tools that I've aquired over the years that I've been meaning to do that to. I just haven't found the right piece of old timber yet.

Have fun with them
Bobby

 

I have my Dad's Craftsman box wrench set on the original metal holder and his Craftsman socket set in the Craftsman metal tool box. I remember helping him work on the old Ford 8N tractor with them. Good tools and good memories!

 

As John said the three bent thingies are for packing okum, lead rope etc in sewer pipe bells to seal them - The ladel and pot full of lead were used as the outer seal on the pipe, there was a collar that fit around the outer edge of the bell with a pour hole to keep the lead from spilling on horizontal or angled runs - You would heat the pot with a blow tourch then dip and pour the joint - Helped my dad do that every time we had to dig a new septic system - The worst part was trying to get the old pipe apart without breaking them
The big z if it has tapered ends was used for prying boards
Check to see if tthe vice will fit in a post hole on your truck
The thingie on the right may have been used to cut nails off to remove boards - Some of the hard wood would marry those old nails

 

The one on the far right is an alligator wrench. They were a multi purpose tool for square head bolts and nuts. The V opening should have serrations to grab different sizes. I have a couple different styles.

I have a bunch of tools that were my dads, and some that were his dad's......I won't ever get rid of them.

 

Yep, they were like a crescent wrench, in a way, one size fits many.

 

Here's your alligator wrench...

 

Great feedback and very much spot on. My Grandfather died in '45 a few years before I was born. My Dad told me he was a "Jack of all trades" who made his living as a "handy-man".

Thanks !

 

I have to find me an alligator wrench.

 

At least I now know what I have. Thanks.

 

I love old tools, especially those with history. When I was young we could go to auctions a lot. My dad would tools that he didn't know what their use was just so he could figure it out.

 

I have many old tools that were handed down to me from my dad and uncles who worked on the railroad. Most are to heavy and too specialized to use on anything that I work on but I just like to hold them and think about where they have been and how treasured they were to those who used them.