- Joined
- Oct 20, 2014
- Messages
- 495
Hi All,
Just got back from what I feel was a productive Craigslist shopping trip, and got the newly purchased stuff put in the garage.
I purchased this awesome Kennedy roll-around toolbox, which came with a surface plate. The surface plate even has a cover! But, as the adage goes, you can't have everything. The drawers don't ride on ball bearing slides, and a few of them take some effort to open and close. And while the box rolls easily enough, it's a bit of a bear to get moving.
However, I think that may be due to the half ton of tools and tooling that came with it.... No, seriously. My poor little Toyota Tacoma had some serious rear end squat going on once we had loaded everything into the bed.
So, without further delay, allow me to don my Asbestos longjohns, and present the tool porn. I put all the images in as thumbnails, click to embiggen.
As you can see from the "unloaded" picture, there was a very considerable amount of weight involved. I unloaded the box with my shiny new 2 ton engine hoist, and it went smoothly and safely. I then replaced the drawers, except for the bottom one (with the height gauge and all the blocks), which I emptied first.
A bit of background - The gentleman I purchased this from is a retired tool and die maker. The box contains all sorts of goodies for measuring, inspecting, and setup. Most all of the items in the box are high-end, big-name. The micrometers are Mituyoto, the dial calipers are Brown and Sharpe. Most all of the cutting tools (taps, reamers, *GOBS* of carbide tooling, and even some cermet) are high-end stuff. Niagra, Putnam, and so on. Even the "cheap" import stuff is darn nice! The cheapest item I found in there is a Horrible Fright dial indicator on a mag base. He laughed and said that it was used on the presses when testing the dies, because it was better to crush $30 worth of import than $300 worth of Starrett.
A lot of the setup tooling is home-made by him. I'll be honest. The fit, finish, and workmanship is superb. The last picture, of the quick-adjust vice, is his work. You flip a lever, slide the bar, then drop the lever and tighten it up. The angle blocks, all the V blocks except the adjustable one, most of the rectangular setup blocks, he made. I've checked them on the surface plate, using my new toys, and found they're darn near dead-nuts perfect. I suppose that's what you can accomplish with skill, and machines designed to make dies the size of a dinner table.
I still have to inventory the box, both out of curiosity and for insurance purposes, and I'll post that inventory here. But I can say this much - This was a working man's box. Starrett, Brown and Sharpe, Fowler, Mituyoto, Niagra, Putnam, Kennedy... Dang.
So, it seems that in one fell swoop, I have managed to not only *VERY* nicely equip my shop, but I have cleared most of my "have to have" and "want to have" lists. I have measuring tools, inspection tools, cutting tools, layout, setup, workholding, manhandling, and pounding tools. There's still a lot that I need and want, but this was too good of a deal to pass up. I sincerely hope that I didn't snatch this out from under a fellow forum member, and if i did, I hope there are no hard feelings.
All in all, I feel that I got a pretty good deal for the $2,500 that I scrambled to get together for this. Yea? Nay?
Just got back from what I feel was a productive Craigslist shopping trip, and got the newly purchased stuff put in the garage.
I purchased this awesome Kennedy roll-around toolbox, which came with a surface plate. The surface plate even has a cover! But, as the adage goes, you can't have everything. The drawers don't ride on ball bearing slides, and a few of them take some effort to open and close. And while the box rolls easily enough, it's a bit of a bear to get moving.
However, I think that may be due to the half ton of tools and tooling that came with it.... No, seriously. My poor little Toyota Tacoma had some serious rear end squat going on once we had loaded everything into the bed.
So, without further delay, allow me to don my Asbestos longjohns, and present the tool porn. I put all the images in as thumbnails, click to embiggen.
As you can see from the "unloaded" picture, there was a very considerable amount of weight involved. I unloaded the box with my shiny new 2 ton engine hoist, and it went smoothly and safely. I then replaced the drawers, except for the bottom one (with the height gauge and all the blocks), which I emptied first.
A bit of background - The gentleman I purchased this from is a retired tool and die maker. The box contains all sorts of goodies for measuring, inspecting, and setup. Most all of the items in the box are high-end, big-name. The micrometers are Mituyoto, the dial calipers are Brown and Sharpe. Most all of the cutting tools (taps, reamers, *GOBS* of carbide tooling, and even some cermet) are high-end stuff. Niagra, Putnam, and so on. Even the "cheap" import stuff is darn nice! The cheapest item I found in there is a Horrible Fright dial indicator on a mag base. He laughed and said that it was used on the presses when testing the dies, because it was better to crush $30 worth of import than $300 worth of Starrett.
A lot of the setup tooling is home-made by him. I'll be honest. The fit, finish, and workmanship is superb. The last picture, of the quick-adjust vice, is his work. You flip a lever, slide the bar, then drop the lever and tighten it up. The angle blocks, all the V blocks except the adjustable one, most of the rectangular setup blocks, he made. I've checked them on the surface plate, using my new toys, and found they're darn near dead-nuts perfect. I suppose that's what you can accomplish with skill, and machines designed to make dies the size of a dinner table.
I still have to inventory the box, both out of curiosity and for insurance purposes, and I'll post that inventory here. But I can say this much - This was a working man's box. Starrett, Brown and Sharpe, Fowler, Mituyoto, Niagra, Putnam, Kennedy... Dang.
So, it seems that in one fell swoop, I have managed to not only *VERY* nicely equip my shop, but I have cleared most of my "have to have" and "want to have" lists. I have measuring tools, inspection tools, cutting tools, layout, setup, workholding, manhandling, and pounding tools. There's still a lot that I need and want, but this was too good of a deal to pass up. I sincerely hope that I didn't snatch this out from under a fellow forum member, and if i did, I hope there are no hard feelings.
All in all, I feel that I got a pretty good deal for the $2,500 that I scrambled to get together for this. Yea? Nay?
