interested in antique tools? today at the house of hacks, that's check-outwhat i have loaded in the jeep. [intro] hi makers, builders and do-it-yourselfers. harley here. over thanksgiving holiday, my wife and i tooka road trip to california to visit my dad and step-mom. and while we were there, i spent a coupledays with my dad cleaning out and organizing his workshop.
in the process, he gave me a jeep full ofantique tools that he got from my granddad, his dad's, workshop when my granddad passedaway, it's been close to 10 years ago now. when he passed away, i got a lot of his toolsand i currently have them down in my workshop and use them on a regular basis. over the years he and my grandmother, forchristmas and birthday, would routinely give me tools for my own use. and it's rare that i work on a project thati don't use at least some of the tools that they've given me. many times, most of the tools i use were givento me by them.
and so, it's a cool legacy that they've passeddown in this regard. my paternal grandfather was probably the onegrandparent that i was closest to in terms of interests that we shared. he was a self-taught machinist and had anextensive workshop behind his house. he had a metal lathe that i now have. and did quite a bit of machining on his own,just for general projects around the house and cars and things like that. so it's quite an honor for me to be able toget some more of his tools and outfit my workshop a little bit more.
some of these things that i got are actuallythings that i want to refurbish and put on the shelf sort of as museum pieces almost. i won't be planning on using them. i also got a library of books all on machiningthat i'm looking forward to reading and learning more about machining. i wouldn't call myself a machinist by anystretch of the imagination but i do have his metal lathe and would like to learn how touse it more effectively in projects and make more projects out of metal. let's start unpacking.
[music] ok! so this is the haul. i've got a table saw and a lathe and thesewere purchased by my granddad in probably the mid-50s or so. they came as a set of three. there's also, that i've had for awhile, ajigsaw. and they're all kind of the same style. they're all craftsman.
they're kind of like an entry level, beginner'scraftsman set for that time period. my plan for these is to kind of fix them up,clean the rust off them. i haven't decided if i want to paint themor not, kind of get them back to more period colors. most of the paint has kind of chipped offover the years. so i'm kind of up in the air over what i wantto do with finish on these. but i do want to at least clean them up andmount them with probably a some sort of, maybe an inexpensive drill or something, just tomake them turn as kind of a demonstration unit for those three units.
the jigsaw that i have down in the basementis probably the one that's in the roughest shape. it needs to be completely disassembled. it has more rust on it and it has some woodparts on it that need to be remanufactured. so that's kind of a side project that i havefor the winter months. i also got this arbor press. it's a small bench mount unit. it was cracked. i'm not sure how it got cracked or where itgot cracked but my granddad did a repair on
it and mounted it to a really heavy base. the base probably weighs as much as the arborpress itself does. but that'll be nice if i need to do any pressingfor anything. i picked up an anvil. it's probably... i'm not sure exactly the weight on it. it's somewhere in the 80 to 120 pound range,i'm guessing, just based on how heavy it is to lift. i think it's heavier.
my dad thinks it's lighter. he thinks it's about the weight of an 80 poundbag of concrete. i think it's a little bit more than my 100pound weight set down in the basement. but it's somewhere in that range. one person can move it by themselves. i got an old kodak slide projector. i've got a bunch of slides that i actuallywant to transfer to digital and make a home movie out of it. my grandparents had slides for their 50thwedding anniversary and there's also notes
in there that they read as they did the slidepresentation. so i want to redo that kind of in video formatjust for some family history. i think that'd be kind of cool. i got a later model sander/grinder unit thattakes the 1 inch wide sanding strips. it's also a craftsman but much newer thansome of these other things but it's still old enough that it's all pretty heavy dutysteel. so i'm guessing that's probably 70s vintagewould be my guess. i've got some corner clamps that are new thatmy dad didn't want anymore. he'd picked those up a couple years ago fora project he was working on.
so those aren't antiques, anything special. i got a couple task lamps: a black one anda white one. we'll put those up, probably one in my wife'ssewing room and one in the workshop, just for general task illumination. again, those aren't super old. i'm guessing probably 70s vintage would bemy guess. i got a wood vise that i'm not sure exactlywhat the vintage is on it. it is probably, i'm guessing, 50s vintage. i got an old manual blowtorch that ought tobe kind of fun for the museum shelf.
it'll kind of go along with these. i'll clean it up a little bit but i don'treally anticipate using that. propane torches are so much easier to usethan these. i got a vacuum pump. i have no idea what the condition is on thator really anything about it. i don't know when my granddad picked it upor what he used it for. but figured that'd be a handy thing to havearound the shop. a couple t-squares. nothing of particular note there.
those are relatively new. my dad bought those in the 80s i think. i got an old microscope that my granddad had. and a bunch of books. and really the big unit is this jigsaw andthe mounting base that my granddad made for it. those are pretty heavy. i'm guessing the mounting base is probablyupwards of 80 to 100 pounds and the saw itself is probably, again i'm guessing, probablyover 100 pounds based on what it takes to
lift it. it's all cast-iron. again a craftsman, vintage, probably the midto late 50s. i got some sheet aluminum that my dad hadlying around the place that he didn't have any need for anymore. so i brought that home, just to have stockon hand for various projects. and then i got a box over there of small handtools and books. i'll go over those in the workshop down belowafter i get out of the wind and where it's a bit more quieter.
i've got a bunch of books in here: gas andwelding, how to use power tools, just some old things, a pattern making book. that ought to be pretty interesting to perusethrough. this is some project templates that granddadhad lying around. one thing that i got, i think some of it isin here, was a... the guts of a clock. this is a pattern for the case. a couple articles on miscellaneous thingsin and around the workshop, making some tools and sharpening. just some articles my dad had pulled out.
an old magazine, science and mechanics inthe workshop. a book on the basics of welding. i'd like to get into welding here in the relativelynear future so thought that'd be a good text to just kind of read up on. directions for a water level. the water level's in here somewhere. probably the most interesting in here's amulti-set library on machine shop practices. so there's, i think, eight volumes in heregoing from machine shop work and pattern making and foundry work and tool making and metallurgyand blueprint reading and mechanical drawing.
i'll put this up so it's readable here. there's the whole set of eight books likethat so you can read those titles. that ought to be interesting to go throughand see what's in there. grandpa was a self taught machinist and thiswill be interesting to go through. i think there's some markings in there, thingsthat he made, notes that he took, things like that. some string. dad probably threw that in there at the lastminute. some workshop projects and idea books.
sheet metal shop practice book. more shop machining workbook. this one was precision measurement and gaugingtechniques. again, that ought to be interesting to gothrough and look at. i'm not sure what this is... machine shop operations. oh, just... this is in the same series asthat eight series book, same manufacturer. more information on how to do machine work. that was some lathe tool grinding stuff.
cutting threads. and more machine work for the lathe. this will be really good to be going throughand getting that information. i'm really looking forward to that. making whirligigs. another book. this is a face plate for that old lathe thati brought home with me to just kind of complete that kit. band clamp that dad had lying around.
this is just an aluminum project box. again just miscellaneous stuff. put that in the projects stuff. somehow i got all these screws. miscellaneous sheet metal, or not sheet metal,machine screws that dad had around. again, i thought that had gotten left thereat dad's but apparently it got migrated to my box. some sanding belts for that grinder. i was actually looking for one of these andi got two of them.
these are solvent containers so they're completelycontained for solvents, so you don't have fumes in the shop. but they have measured, metering valves hereso you go like that and get just a measured amount to put on a rag or something. i got two of those. this is one that granddad had... somethinghad happened to the bottom. i think they're made out of brass and so usuallythey're impervious to chemicals. something apparently happened to the bottombecause the bottom had been cut out and grandpa had soldered in a new base.
the other one is in its original condition. these are probably vintage 50s or so. there's another one buried in there. ok. this is an interesting piece. this is the optics out of a norden bombsight. grandpa, after the war, found a norden bombsightat a surplus store and had taken it apart just to see how it worked. this is all that remains of that one thathe took apart.
the machining on this is pretty amazing. it has a mirror, some optics that go through. it looks like there's a prism inside herethat things bounce around through. i've never really investigated it. i don't know really exactly how they work. dad mentioned that when they got close totheir target, the control of the plane was actually transferred to the bombardier andhe'd guide the plane in through the norden bombsight and the bombsight apparently wassomehow connected to the avionics on the plane. those planes all had mechanical, they didn'teven have hydrolics, they were all cable driven
going to all the control surfaces on the plane. so apparently this was some sort of, kindof big mechanical computer that the bombsight was connected to the cables controlling theplane and it just, the bombardier just kind of guided it in. that was kind of one of the secret weaponsof world war ii for the allies. so that was kind of interesting. i got that for the ol' museum shelf. an interesting piece. i'll clean it up a little bit.
it's a little dusty and stuff so i'll takesome q-tips to it and clean it up and it'll be kind of an interesting to look at. probably inspire me to go look at the wikipediapage for the norden bombsight just to see how they really operated. as i proceed to dump things all over the place. this is just a fluid level for hook up toa garden hose. so you can hook up a garden hose between theseto measure things... to get things level between two distant points. like if you're trying to get a fence levelacross a large distance outside in the garden
area or something. put water in it, connect a garden hose inbetween. water seeks its own level on both sides andso the top of the water will be at the same level regardless of how far apart these are. kind of cool little instrument. very simple. and i just dumped a whole bunch of screwsand nuts and things all over the box. the important things in here are these screwsthat hold the jigsaw to the base that grandpa made.
some drill bits with counter-sinks. more books. these are all electronics books. oscilloscope. solid state electronics. motor control circuits. experimental circuits. just things to play around with. increase general knowledge.
a couple inspirational signs dad had and apparentlysomehow they managed to make it in here. this one talks about requirements being important. two out of three isn't good enough. and this one says: on the plains of hesitationbleach the bones of countless missions, who at the dawn of victory sat down to rest...and while resting... died. a couple books that i actually have on myreading list and so now i don't have to go out and buy them. good to great and built to last, both my jamescollins. those are things that i've been wanting toread.
put that on the end table in the bedroom. read before going to bed. a shaper. sureform i think is what they call them. it's basically just a wood rasp on a planetype handle system. these are really handy sometimes when you'redoing rough forming of wood. here's a small hand plane that needs a littlebit of refurbish work. it's a little rusty. just kind of clean that up and put it on theshelf with the other planes to work with.
a spoke shave. dad's had this forever. it just needs a little bit of clean-up andhave a new edge put on it. it'll hurt you if you're not careful but it'snot very sharp for woodworking at the moment. so that needs to be cleaned up. i think i put... i think you saw in the earlier part of thevideo the slide projector. these are a bunch of slides that i need togo through and sort and take a look at. a brace for drilling holes by hand.
another hand drill. sometimes these are handy if you need morecontrol than you get with an electric drill. slow speed. things where you need to see what's goingon. here's another one of those solvent containers. the interesting thing about this and i didn'trealize this until i was taking a closer look at these... these actually have different throws on them,so you can get different amounts of measured liquid.
this one has a smaller volume amount on therelease than the first one did. and here you can see the size difference betweenthe two. the one that grandpa had repaired is probablyabout an inch shorter than the standard one. again, i was looking for these online a numberof months ago and i wasn't able to find any. so i don't know if they don't make them orif i just didn't know what to search for. some hair trimmers. old manual ones. again just for the museum. here's a hole cutter for the brace.
this is an interesting tool. one of those that if you need it, you needthis specific tool but you'll probably rarely need it. i'll just put it on the shelf for future possibilities. it's actually a sheet metal crimping tooldesigned to crimp the edges of sheet metal for when working with duct work. so i don't really do much duct work. i've done one small project around the housebut, you know, dad didn't have a need for it and was going to throw it away if i didn'ttake it.
figured i'd save it from the dust bin. oh, and here's the innards for that clocki was telling you about that grandpa had. the bag looks like it's been unopened fromthe manufacturer. you can see in there all the bits and gearsand spring and there's the pendulum for it. a couple pieces of plexiglass. just to have on hand for the scrap pile. this is for sharpening chisels and plane blades. you run it across your stone and it keepsit at a consistent angle. i think these are some impact drivers.
so, you hit this on the end with a hammerand it will impart a rotational force to help break things loose if they're tightened up. these are high strength bits to go with itbecause you can break bits if it's not designed for this kind of use. another rasp type device for forming woodwith a spare blade. a handle for safety razor blades. all the blades i have, or handles, are whereyou scrape like this. this allows you to scrape sideways. i figured that'd be kind of handy to havehanging on the wall.
a putty knife. actually this is an ink knife. grandpa was a printer so he'd use this forputting ink on the press. a nut cracker. this will split hex nuts if they're... putthe hex nut in there and tighten this down until it comes off the bolt. this is on the lord's prayer by phillip keller. i enjoy him as an author. i haven't read that book of his so i thoughti'd grab it.
a cutter for a milling machine. it can be used in the lathe also. dad doesn't have any tools that he can usethat in so i got that. you may not be able to see this real well. we'll see if that'll focus on that. but that's a... it's shaped the way and set type was shapedso it would go inline with those things. but it has etched on the front of it the lord'sprayer. it's just kind of a curiosity from the printingindustry.
tape measure with double sided tape on oneside to stick it to the workbench top. a wrench for something. i have no idea what that's for or how thatmade it in there. a whetstone. very fine grade. it needs to be cleaned off. but that's for like putting a final polishon honing a blade. miscellaneous 9-volt connectors. put that in the electronics bin.
a bunch of bolts for different things. i'm not sure what. some bolts for cars. specialty bolts for... i've got a skylark. i've got a '65 buick skylark that that's for. some more miscellaneous car parts. more slides. oh.
these are the notes for my grandparent's 50thwedding anniversary slide presentation that they did. and so it has it organized by title and whowas... what it is and what they were saying and who was saying it. i really want to go through and kind of redothat as a video just for family history purposes. units in the machining of metal. it's a book primarily of machining metal andhow to do measurements. all machining. ought to be pretty interesting to go throughand learn about.
a deburring device. and the rest are all just miscellaneous smallparts that fell out of the bins. this is an on/off switch plate that my dadhad made, oh gosh, a long, long time ago. he never actually finished the project thathe was using it on but i thought that'd be kind of fun to use for something. polish up the brass and it should look nicefor some project. and that's it for this box. well now i need to find a place for all thisstuff in the workshop. as you saw, i have a wide variety of interests,from machining to electronics and things in
between. if workshop and house projects of this natureare things that you're interested in, i encourage you to subscribe and i'll see you again inthe next video. until then go make something. perfection's not required. fun is!