Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

[cjforumadmin]

http://www.bangshift.com/blog/Barnstormin-Requiem-for-a-Dead-Man-s-Tools.html

[Gary 351C]

Re: Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

On one hand it's kind of sad, but at least you and your dad have all of it instead of winding up in a dumpster. My wife and I have already had the "talk" about what to do with all my crap when I kick-off. I suggested to her that for the price of a coffin she could buy a 40 foot shipping container and bury me and my mess all in one shot. :D

[STINEY]

Re: Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

I suggested to her that for the price of a coffin she could buy a 40 foot shipping container and bury me and my mess all in one shot. :D

That idea has merit..... hmmm.....

[antmnte]

Re: Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

I kind of had a story like that ,when I bought my home some of the previous owners tools where still
here so I kept them then find out by a friend who lives in the neighborhood that he had a 68 Impala
years ago that he loved to work on,now a few of those same tools help me with my Monte Carlo.The
screwdrivers probably turned the idle screws on a q-jet before too! Pretty neat.

[HillbillySailor]

Re: Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

Glad you and your Dad will make these tools live again Brian. This has the making of a cool story. Think you could take some pics of the old/unusual tools and post them on here for us?

[Caveman]

Re: Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

Tools have a life and a character of their own, some lent by their owners, some inherent to themselves.


I have a set of wrenches used by my grandfather... some of which came with my old '39. They are funky offset open-ended wrenches that I can picture my dad and gramps wrenching on the ole girl together when it received its first tuneup after my great-aunt gave it to my dad as a sort of graduation gift. Funny, she supposedly was an ornery bitch, but she apparently had a soft spot for my dad.

That car WILL be resurrected outta the dang barn someday. But I gotta get the '56 ready for Loring first.


Brian, now your tools will have a story to tell about YOU when THEY go to tool heaven someday. May they be good ones. And may they serve you well.


Tony

[SuperBuickGuy]

Re: Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

when my brother was killed in auto accident last year, a couple friends, my wife and I boxed up his tools. They're still boxed up waiting for us to sort them... given that experience, it'd probably be best if my tools ended up in some stranger's hands - they'd use them to their full potential (and beyond) without the memories.

[oldrustycars]

Re: Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

I love my tools. They are the only thing of value I own. I keep a roof over my head with them. Brian, use those with reverence, even if he hated his job at the end, at some point I'm sure he was excited about it. I recall being excited on the day the Snap On man would come.
I hope you'll post pictures.

[skykeith]

Re: Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

My father has just moved into assisted living and we are in the process of sorting his tools. He was an aircraft mechanic in the old radial engine days and has a nice assortment of rare old tools. We are giving them to a grandson who is putting them in a collection to be saved.

[Brian Lohnes]

Re: Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

Great thoughts/stories all!

I'll share photos as we clear the tools and equipment out. If I have time tonight, I'll throw a couple up that I took the other day when rooting around.

Brian

[toquick4u05]

Re: Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

This is a neat story. Some of my tools have been handed down from my dad, and grandpaw. some are just general wrenches and some are little specialty tools, like a lisle spark plug puller form who knows when i found in my grandpaws toolbox its pretty neat its short and you can fit 2 fingers on and actually get a pull on that stuck boot, unlike some of these new ones. and a few other odds and ends. My grandpaw has a pretty neat barn style garage that one day that if i had my way would never come, does then i hope that without resolve of family issues which shouldnt be since none of them wanted anything to do with them anyways, i will have his old quincy air compressors one thats is like a 2000 model but one is from 1955 and out runs that 2000 model any day of the week.and whats even sadder nethier one of them hadnt ran in over a year. till recently. And a kick ass 28 inch wide snap on tool chest that looks like its fom atleast the 60 or 70s. And hes got some neat old school body tools, welders, cutting torches thats probally twice as old as im am and im 23. Oh and dad I got something to send you when i get a chance. That old round, gray air pressure gauge, I still have that, I hung on to it cause i know you wanted to hang on to it. I found it when i was going back through all the doubles and tripple wrenches and sockets in the storage unit, when i was putting my tools back together.

and a P.S. Now im one of those mechanics that is picky about his tools, but whats the deal with buying a damn double or triple bank tool box and then layin your shit out all side by side. I dunno some input on that, or maybe im just a realist and dont mind putting a few tools on top of each other, cause i see it as the tools make you money not how big and how many tools you can layout side by side and end to end that makes you money.

[horsewidower]

Re: Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

I had a wonderful Father-in-law. Great gearhead, we hit it right off. I had owned a '66 327/350 'Vette Roadster and he was restoring a '66 427 Roadster. He and I could talk on the phone for hours and I truly loved the guy. Then he died young. Shit. And his son, who only knows that the car is valuable, is letting it rot at my Mother-in-laws house and his tools are sitting there gathering dust. Makes me so sick, I can't even go down there anymore.

My Dad still uses his tools, and at one time, made his swag as a machinist. He's got parts sitting on Mars, he was that good. He wants to give me his machinist tools, but only after I get a mill and some of the other equipment so that I can use them. But, they are just out of my reach.

I've got a bunch of auto related tools, maybe I'll give them to a vocational program (if there are any left in California when I die) so that some one uses them. I can't think of anything more sad than an unused tool. I've got an old accordion style fold up ruler that my Grandpa used, he carved his initials on the edge so that you can see them when you fold it all up. I still use it today, and I'm sure my Grand dad would approve.

My kids aren't interested.

As to placing tools side by side instead of storing them on top of each other, it makes it a lot easier to determine if you have all your tools or if you are missing some. I also don't have to read the size of the tool, cause its in its place. Organization can be a key to speed.

[oldrustycars]

Re: Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

and a P.S. Now im one of those mechanics that is picky about his tools, but whats the deal with buying a damn double or triple bank tool box and then layin your shit out all side by side. I dunno some input on that, or maybe im just a realist and dont mind putting a few tools on top of each other, cause i see it as the tools make you money not how big and how many tools you can layout side by side and end to end that makes you money.

My wrenches are all in organizers so I know right away if one is missing. As a construction equipment mechanic I often have many tools out, and all over. If I don't know if one is missing until days later the machine it might have been in is long gone. Take a 5/8 combination wrench, long. You might not use it every day, or notice if its gone. From Snap On, that wrench is $50. 99% of my sockets are on rails, so I can grab them and climb on top of a machine. The ones in the main part of my top box are screwed down and on rails, but I can reach in and grab what I need, its almost 6 feet high. Pliers are where I know where they are, and again I know whats missing. That drawer is fairly shallow. My box is crammed full, with only on drawer really a junk drawer, with miscellaneous drill bits and homemade tools and whatnot. I really need a bigger box, but I'm not dropping $5000 for one.

[HEMI]

Re: Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

Kinda o/t but everytime I see an old(say 150 years or so)gun,sword,stagecoach,I always
wonder about the people who owned/traveled with them.Who were they and where were they going?
Wonder about that about my Model A.Who bought it new and where?How did it survive to this day?

[milkovich]

Re: Barnstormin': Requiem for a Dead Man's Tools

I've actually thought about the estate sale they'd have if I kicked the bucket. Stuff no one in my family knows the value of. I imagine the conversations of the buyers picking over the goods. "This here miller plasma cutter doesn't come with any extra electrodes, will ya take $25?" "Oh, is that a mint rubber bumper for a 74 firebird? Will ya take $15?" It turns my stomach some times but then, that's where I've found some great deals. A lot of the body tools came from an estate sale of a guy that used to restore Packards and Deusenbergs. I even bought the skylark as a favor, the previous owner killed himself and his family needed money to move back home so I bought it sight unseen.

From dust we came is the way I look at it but I'll still stop and look at the black sweatband around the handle of my favorite BFH and think about how many more stories that hammer must have then me.