I thought I'd lost my old socket set

[Russ Erickson]

After returning from Moab, I couldn't find my Thorsen 3/8" drive socket set. I bought this set new in 1960 when I was 11, and have used it hard ever since without any failures. To my great relief, I found it this weekend. It's great having the old set back, because I was heartsick about it. That socket set has been my constant companion for over 40 years. The only greater loss would have been my set of Barcalo combination wrenches that my Dad gave me for my 6th birthday in 1955. Good tools are truly a lifetime investment.

[METALMAN]

Barcalo tools now theres a old time tool brand I havent heard in years .I remember that brand wrench I think I even have a couple of em somewhere.Thorson also has been around a long time + I know I have some old time Thorson sockets + a breaker bar.I see Thorson is still sold at Advance auto parts + have found a couple current sockets + wrenchs in junk cars + use em till I wear em out or lose em .They dont have the feel or quality of old time Thorson tools.

[Gordon Maney]

I have tools I have collected since I was in high school. I also have tools that were my father's, the tools I first used when I worked on my 1953 Ford car.

Some of my most favored tools are those I have had the longest. Even though they may not be so pretty, they have been well cared for in the important ways, and they have escorted me down some very dark streets, so I look to them with confidence and affection.

When I was very young, I remember looking at my uncle's tools. He was a dealership mechanic, and I looked up to him. His chest of drawers contained Snap-On, Bonney, and Blue Point. My father's tool box contained a lot of SK wrenches and sockets, and a variety of special tools he had made himself.

[Jeff in N.Tx.]

This got me to thinking. My dad was a pretty good mechanic. He worked a second job for many years at a gas station where he did minor tunups and serviced cars. However, he never owned a socket set, or many tools at all. He had a few combination wrenches, a Crescent wrench, a small shop hammer, and a couple of screwdrivers. He carried these everywhere he went in a small box. I remember him doing a lot of repairs on our cars, but these were the only tools he had. It amazes me that he could do so much with so few tools. I have a BUNCH of tools, and never seem to have the right one.

[Gordon Maney]

That is the thing of it. The more tools you have, the more exacting you become in your choice, hence the, "I don't have the right tool..."

[Clint Dixon]

I have a socket set in a wooden case that my Grandpa purchased when he was a mechanic in a Chevrolet Garage in 1928 and 1929. It is time that I dig them out to look at them again.

[Todd Somers]

My uncle's socket set that he used in 1916. He died in the flu epidemic of 1918.

[Russ Erickson]

That's pretty neat, Todd. I'll bet there's someone reading this Forum that some tools that date back to the 19th century. Old anvils and vices are often over 100 years old. I have a Savage model 1899 that topped 100 a few years ago, and I have a Remington model 12 that will soon hit the century mark. I bought the Remington used when I was about 10 years old for $20.00 from a local hardware store. It still looks and shoots great.

[Todd Somers]

I've also got an old anvil, a post vise, and home made smith tongs, my grand dads buggy and harness and........

[Jeff in N.Tx.]

I have several old woodworking tools that my great grandfather brought over from Germany. Also have a real big, all wood, vise. It has a hand carved wood screw that moves the jaw. The screw is about 2 - 3" in diameter. Really pretty neat.

[MoparNorm]

Originally posted by Russ Erickson
That's pretty neat, Todd. I'll bet there's someone reading this Forum that some tools that date back to the 19th century. Old anvils and vices are often over 100 years old. I have a Savage model 1899 that topped 100 a few years ago, and I have a Remington model 12 that will soon hit the century mark. I bought the Remington used when I was about 10 years old for $20.00 from a local hardware store. It still looks and shoots great.

Russ, that's even more amazing,..that is to think back to the time when we could buy firearms in any store, at any time, for any reason. I have a Model 59 Winchester, not that old, but a rare glass barrel 12 guage. It is similar to one my Dad had when I was a boy, just as my W200 is his old truck, I guess there is something old and true about that, and those times.
MN

[powerwagontim]

Rus, I know how you feel, I have a wrench which was given to me as a kid by a friend of my fathers who I looked up to. It isnt anything special, just a 1/2" and 9/16" combination box end, but it fits me and is always the first one I reach for. Last summer I had a kid working for me and he was assembling something on a trailer in front of the shop. that was the last I saw of the wrench. I searched high and low, but to no avail and finally gave up. Now, a year later, I was going for a tool in a large drawer and there was the wrench!!!! Christmas never felt that good. I was on a high the rest of the day.

[Russ Erickson]

It's good to hear that you found that wrench. Most of the tools that I misplace are ones that I put in a "safe place." I must be related to the squirrel family, because anything I put in a "safe place" is usually lost for a long time but mostly show up after several years.

[Bruce]

I have my father's tools, he was an electrician, I have a few of his fathers tools, most of them are in the Smithsonian, 400 plus pieces, all sub-miniture, hand made by him. He was a jewler and antique dealer. My fathers step mother & step sister got everything else, I don't miss it cause I never had it. Someday I'm going to see those tools, I have an ashtray that he made, it is a power boat, tied up to a dock, has a search light and lines on the bow tying it to the pier, all in sterling silver the ash tray it self is 3" X 4.5". It is very cool!! BTW, his name was Ira Newton Clarke, born and buried, Baltimore, MD.
It is true, the tools you are looking for, you find when you don't need them, right now, I'm looking for my 1/4 " snap on rachet....