Classic Tools anyone?

[Paul240480]

Just wondered if anyone has any interesting old tools or ones with sentimental value

I have a box set of imperial Elora sockets. I estimate them to be around 50-60yrs old now. They belonged to my Grandad & assume he had them from new.



Up until a few years back the box was rusty and discoloured . I gave it a clean up & then painted it with Hammerite, but in the original colour scheme.

About 5 years ago I was using the wrench and stupidly broke the ratchet (never 'cheat' on a wrench).
In the box you can see 2 wrenches. The lower one is the original. The other is an Elora I picked from fleabay to replace it.
I wasn't happy tho' as it did not match.
So I contacted Elora in Germany to see if they could help, explaining what I'd stupidly done.
Guess what? They offered to repair it if I sent it to them That I did & after a few weeks it was back, repaired & they did that FREE of CHARGE They even paid the return postage too

So what have you got

[GHT]

That's a cracking toolkit that you've got yourself there. Although I don't get my hands dirty, to be honest, I do know my way around the internal combustion engine, but haven't skinned my knuckles since the late 1960's. I learned to climb the greasy pole and made enough to pay others to do it. However, MG's up to the Y-Type, made by MG before the formation of BMC, had a toolbox that created the lid of the battery box. I didn't know this when I bought the car. Moreover the tools are all cast with the MG octagon and MG initials. How I would love to find a set.

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[rich.]

paul, my father had the same socket set in the 70s.. it didn't last too long with my brother about since my dad died i collected some of his tools, they make me think of him when i use them i have also got my grandfathers brass plane, its too nice to use..

[gazza82]

I'm hoping my Grandad's tool box is somewhere in the garage at my Mum's .. buried under junk and hidden by my Austin.

Nothing special .. just a WWII Ammo box! (Think it may be a Lewis gun belt box!)


Mine never came in a box .. they appear to have come out of a factory a couple at a time ... ... courtesy of my Dad and his work at an aircraft manufacturer. A real mix of makes but mostly AF. They all have the companies name engraved on them .. and scratched out!

[GHT]

Apologies for two things, one that these two items are not tool kits, and two, it might come across, although it's not meant to, as bragging.
Back in the 1950's, as a schoolboy, I stayed with my Grandmother during the long school holidays. Granny had a fish & chip shop, not only did Granny spoil me but her neighbour, who had a cafe, a sort of truck stop for white van man of the day. The cafe owner had a jukebox, when a popular record was on the decline it would be removed from the jukebox to be replaced by a new chart entry. The old record would be put back into it's sleeve and given to me. I still have all those records.

Granny had a fabulous radio, actually it was called a wireless because that was what radios were known as before the acronym of R-A-D-I-O came about. Granny's wireless was a walnut affair and like her neighbour's jukebox, it was valve driven. The clarity of that radio was amazing.

When Granny had to go into a nursing home, she gifted me that wonderful radio. Sadly my grandmother passed away not long after, but I always remember her whenever I tune into my/her wireless.

The story doesn't end there, The cafe owner died about the same time as my Grandmother, he had long since sold his business and retired. The letter that I received from a solicitor initially scared the crap out of me, then I read it again. When the cafe owner sold his business, he kept the jukebox, and now it had been bequeathed to me.

I hope you all like my story, so here is my/Granny's wireless and my/Uncle Stan's jukebox.(We always had to call friends of parents and grandparents, uncle or aunt, back in those days.)

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jukebox.JPG (170.96 KiB) Viewed 15005 times

[harvey]

What a great story!

[Paul240480]

Thats 2 very cool items GHT. Especially the radio.
I too have an old one. A Bush in my case. It was my Nan & Grandads. Whilst staying in New Cheriton with them on long summer hols, My bro' & me would listen to the top 20 countdown on a Sunday before bed.
Move on some years, they had moved to Bishops Sutton, on a visit I found the radio in a skip on the front drive!
I asked if I could take it, of course the answer was yes.
Some years later I went to an Antiques Fair in Pompey Guild Hall.
One stand was vintage radios, one being the same as mine. I asked the chap if he could repair mine, and of course he could.....and did.
Now 30yrs on its still going strongly & I have all the original defective valves too. It has a lovely tone.
Not quite as 'up market' as your Fergy GHT, but nice all the same.

[Atodini]

Back on topic,

I still have and occasionally use a socket set that was a Christmas present from my late dad in 1969. It was at the time a make I'd never heard of - Kamasa!!

It came in a metal case, light green metallic green in colour and was WW, AF and metric.

Amazingly the only things I've replaced over the years is the case (fell apart), the ratchet (broke) and one socket (lost - 10mm - what else?).

The original steel case rusted out years ago at the hinges so the sockets were relegated to a drawer in my tool cabinet but about 5-6 years ago I found an empty plastic Kamasa socket box at a car boot and for just 50p it was worth a punt. To my surprise everything fitted perfectly (with 2 spaces for one bigger metric (26mm) and AF (1"")

I then got keen, went on e-bay, and was able to source the extra 2 sockets and a 10mm one too - all Kamasa ones. Having replaced the ratchet years ago with a Snap-On one, I haven't replaced this.

Now it has pride of place on my bench.

I do have a newer Halfords Professional set I mostly use nowadays but it still gets used occasionally when I've Whitworth fixings to do (some on the Kitten are Whitworth) or need to access bigger bolts as the "everyday" set is only 1/4 and 3/8 drive.

John

[GHT]

Back on topic, I still have and occasionally use a socket set that was a Christmas present from my late dad in 1969. It was at the time a make I'd never heard of - Kamasa!! It came in a metal case, light green metallic green in colour and was WW, AF and metric. John

Whitworth, American Fine & Metric eh John, that's some tool set. Owners of MG cars with the X-PAG engine would find your tool kit very handy. The website won't let me download the details, but if you want to have a look, Google X-PAG engine, it's on page 17, of 54. The engine's original design is French, so all the measurements are metric. Morris Motors, changed all the hex heads to WW, so you now have a Whitworth head on a metric thread. A system owners have dubbed: Mad Metric.

Thats 2 very cool items GHT. Especially the radio.
I too have an old one. A Bush in my case. It was my Nan & Grandads. Whilst staying in New Cheriton with them on long summer hols, My bro' & me would listen to the top 20 countdown on a Sunday before bed.
Move on some years, they had moved to Bishops Sutton, on a visit I found the radio in a skip on the front drive!
I asked if I could take it, of course the answer was yes.
Some years later I went to an Antiques Fair in Pompey Guild Hall.
One stand was vintage radios, one being the same as mine. I asked the chap if he could repair mine, and of course he could.....and did.
Now 30yrs on its still going strongly & I have all the original defective valves too. It has a lovely tone.
Not quite as 'up market' as your Fergy GHT, but nice all the same.

Paul, like most appliances, radios were built to last, the term, planned obsolescence, was yet to be dreamed up. You do have a lovely radio there, and from memory, if you drive down to Portsmouth on the Southsea side, there used to be a shop that dealt in antique radios and similar wireless appliances, I hope he's survived.

Next time you are on the M1 heading north, look to your left about five miles past The Watford Gap services. Those masts on the hill are the BBC's Daventry masts. Most radios had Daventry on their dial. This was the BBC's World Service.

[suffolkpete]

I have a Kamasa socket set, a present from my wife in the 70s. 1/4 and 3/8 in drive, A/F, metric and BA. The green metallic case is still going strong although I've broken two sockets and the nut spinner and lost one socket. It is my socket set of choice for most jobs, I have one of those excellent Halfords sets but I generally only use it for heavy engine and suspension work.