Workshop time capsules

[RAV2]

I’ve inherited a lot of tools and books over the years from my father, grandfathers, and great uncle.

Every once in a while, I come across an item that may not have been touched for years and possibly was last used by one of them.

I find notes deep inside reloading manuals or written in the sidebars of magazines and books. I find tools in the back of drawers that I know were last used by someone other than me.

Today I used an old ˝” hole saw. If you guys remember, it came in the black case of a Black & Decker (orange) drill that also included a rubber disk for sanding, and a white drill stop for setting the depth of a drill, a wire brush, and a grinding wheel.

I noticed that the hole saw contained the remnants of some past work – plugs from past projects. I grabbed a small screw driver and worked out the scraps. The thin layers revealed past efforts to make holes for various projects. Maybe a couple from me and others from my father or grand father.

What time capsules have you encountered?

[Hoakie]

When I inherited my grandfather's RAS, I discovered an old how to build kitchen cabinets book that he must have used when putting in the kitchen in their MN cabin. While flipping through it I discovered a lot hand drawings, notes, shopping lists and receipts.

Pretty cool stuff.

[germdoc]

I got the circular saw that my father used to cut off part of one of his fingers. (He said that his "pointer" finger got a little pointier...)

I didn't find any CSI-type souvenirs from that misadventure though.

[capncarl]

I recently purchased a 1980 era Craftsman wood lathe with the full tool cabinet at an estate sale. All the tools in the drawers were clean and well organized, but with a light coat of rust from sitting for years unattended. In the top drawer I found a New York School of Art metal from an award ribbon with the original owners initials, dated 1914. There were all kinds of modified cutters and bits in the drawers, I wonder what the old gentleman had built. I will keep the metal in the top drawer in respect to him.

capncarl

[dbhost]

Unfortunately my Dad sold off his shop and tools instead of handing them down. A pity, that was some nice stuff. Then again, logistics would have been a nightmare moving it all cross country...

On my own purchased stuff however, there are some tools that I have owned that were in my possession before I even met my ex... And haven't done so much as open their boxes until recently. I found a note from an old high school girlfriend in a cheapie 1980s vintage Taiwan socket set (back when Taiwan sockets were almost guaranteed to break if they even looked at a bolt head...). I can tell you at the time I bought that socket set, I didn't even own a car... I bought it to work on my old 10 speed bicycle... Talk about a time machine there!

[crokett]

In the box of tools that I got from my grandfather before he died I found a pair of scissors that my justice of the peace great-great grandfather had taken away from a drunk doctor who was threatening to kill someone. My dad has them now. I also found some notes he'd written about a project he was working on at IBM. I recognized the project name. More recently I found a coping saw my dad bought me when I was 12.

[schloff]

I was doing some work on my main floor bathroom shower and had to tear the wall apart to acces the water regulator. I noticed something was setting on the 2x4, which looked like a collapsed carboard box, and covered in 30+ years of dust and construction soot.

After the repair, I was about to close the wall and seal it off for another 30 years, I made the effort to purge the stray bit o' trash from the wall. Why not... I was there already, right?

Upon picking up the refuse, I noticed the weight was significantly more than a typical empy box. After I brushed the dust from the item, I realized that I had just uncovered a brand new (30+ year old) 5 piece twist bit drill set. High quality, made in Germany.

Ok, so it wasn't a stack of $100 bills that I was hoping for, but it's better than an empy box.

[dbhost]

Does the attic above the workshop count? I found some stuff up there that has nothing to do with me, but was somewhat interesting...

#1. A wreath holder with the foam floral ring thingy, and a large black bow. I assume it was a funerary wreath for a relation of one of the prior owners.
#2. A Estwing 20oz framing hammer. Use it all the time...
#3. Baby clothes. LOTS and LOTS of baby clothes. These were washed and donated to Goodwill. (Was single at the time...)
#4. Transformers action figures. They were in pretty sad abused shape, but were the originals from the 1980s around the time the house was built... There was the Decepticon that turned into a Revolver, and Optimus Prime...
#5. Misc NASA paraphanalia. Posters, mission patches, stickers etc... Considering how close I am that is no shocker...
#6. Wedding album with the bride cut out... I think I can guess what happened there.
#7. planter hanger woodworking project. Looks like it was done with a jig saw and a sander... Not very good work at all...

When I move out, I need to make sure I take my stuff out, or donate it...

[Shep]

My B-Day present from my parents was a home-built router table they bout at an estate auction. The guy who had past away used the router table in making different types of gun stocks. I can only imagine some of the time he spent there. Makes me humble.

[BobSch]

The closes thing I've found besides my great-great-great-uncle's saw horses (Built sometime around 1900 and I'm still using them!) is an Easter basket we took out of my mom's attic when she moved.

While digging around in the plastic grass I came across a candy Easter egg my brother or I missed. Can you imagine what a 50+ year-old Easter egg looked like?

No, I didn't taste it

[scmhogg]

When my FIL died, I inherited over 100 jars of every type of screw, washer, grommet, etc. that you can imagine. Several good old tool were included.

But, the real time capsule was a dozen shoe boxes packed with QSL cards. My FIL was W6SPQ and a DX'r, or a Ham that tried to make long distance radio contact. It was the custom to send a personalized post card or letter [QSL] to commemorate the contact. There are thousands of these cards, dating back to the 1920's. All have old stamps from the countries of origin. Many are from countries that don't exist anymore.

LOML envisions going through those cards with a future grandchild, with a little luck.

Steve

[sailor55330]

I have an entire set of machinist and welding books from my grandfather when he was a student at the Milwaukee school of engineering from the 30's . Who knew it would go on to be one of the foremost schools in the countryfor engineering (or so I'm told). I also have progress reports of his grades and even a receipt or two from my great grandparents where they paid his tuition along with a letter informing them of his progressfrom the dean. I also have a few tools that were his and now are mine (mostly adjustable wrenches). They have my (our) last name hand scribed in them with an electric engraving tool that he used. Makes me feel good to use them from time to time and I think he'd like that.

There's even 1 book that is entirely on the correct use of a combination square. It's about 150 pages long.

They are all hardbound and it very good shape. On the market, probably not worth anything, to me, priceless.

The other piece I have is from my great grandfather's collection. It's an 8 inch table saw. Atlas Tool model 242 from 1949 as far as I can tell. The motor has been replaced, but it still runs and cuts well. The saw is all cast and probably weighs close to 125lbs without the stand. I could post pics if anyone wants to see some history.

Not sure if these qualify as time capsules, but thought I'd share

[Pappy]

I have my Dad's Stanley #5. That is what started me collecting planes. It sat unattended for many years before my Mother gave it to me, and a couiple more years before I decided to tune it up. It is now been restored to near new condition and is displayed along with a few other tools. Among those some are estate finds sales, but included are a couple of block planes my FIL sent home with my wife the last time she saw him before he died. One was his, the other was her Grandfather's and was used in the carving/construction of a ship he made from a single block of wood. The ship always sat on Harold's mantle. After his funeral, Ann asked me to clean up Harold's shop. None of the 3 son's, nor the grandson that lived with them, were asked. (one son was not even allowed in the shop) When she asked if I wanted any of the tools, I declined, telling her they belonged to his sons. When we got home my wife handed me a pair of Rosewood based Stanley squares. I had said that I would hate to see her brother get them, knowing how he abused his tools.

[Eagan]

I recently re-acquired the very first power tool I ever owned. A fascinating multi-function tool from 1965, it combined a saw, lathe, sander, and drill press in one unit. Doubt my folks ever powered it up, so the wood chips in it must have been mine from way back then. I believe the manufacturer is still in business but don't think there is anything like it available today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXjvorbtL5s

[schloff]

I almost forgot about this gem that I found.

It's Audel's Carpenter's and Builder's Guide 1. Reprinted in 1947.

It has some really neat joint ideas in there.