Connection with the past

[MontanaLon]

Slowly tearing into the lathe and got to the gear box. Need to get the lead screw off to and to do that I need a thin wrench the right size. Besides some wrenches that came with some other tools I’ve got no thin wrenches and don’t have even a thick wrench the right size and the big crescent won’t fit.

So I go digging through my tools looking for something that will work. Go through everything and find nothing. Then I remember my Grandfathers tool box I got 15 years ago when my Grandma died.

My Grandfather died before I was born. Came home from work at Ford and laid down for a nap before dinner and never woke up.

When I got the toolbox I looked through it and it was mostly hex wrenches. Every size imaginable from tiny to 3/4 inch or bigger.

So I open it up and start digging. Found a chuck key which is cool, some shim stock and all the way at the bottom 2 thin wrenches that are the same size and pretty big. One of them looks mass produced but the other looks shop made or at least shop modified. No size markings on either.

Walk them over to the gear box and they are the perfect fit. Have the lead screw off in a minute and then I think about it.

55 years ago my Grandfather used those wrenches for something and put them away for the next use that never happened until yesterday. We never met, but we used the same tools and that is kind of cool.

 

[rock_breaker]

That is cool! Inhereted and gift tools make working in the shop a better experience.
Have a good day
Ray

 

[markba633csi]

True stories of a tool inheritor!
Might have been a tappet wrench, they are often thin

 

[Rooster]

Wonderful, thanks for sharing.

 

[richl]

My shop is my grandfathers saw shop. I have a few of his tools, 1/2 dozen oilers and his old shop chair. I love the connection to him. I keep the chair facing the mill and big lathe so he can sit down and watch.
It's great to hear stories like yours, connections to the past are part of this special hobby.

 

[Firstram]

I keep the chair facing the mill and big lathe so he can sit down and watch.

That's Awesome

 

[MontanaLon]

Went back and dug in the box some more. Found a bunch of carbide tool inserts. I had assumed the first time I saw them that they were simple square nuts. But I picked one up today and the thing is HEAVY and not threaded. Has a countersunk hole. Things look like they are brand new. KInd of amazing since they've just been sitting in the box in the cold and heat for 55 years.

Seeing how expensive they are, I may have to make a holder and put them to use.