When equipment was built to last

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My grandfather was a machinist for Tension Envelope in Minneapolis. He started there as an office boy after dropping out after eighth grade, and eventually became plant manager. He worked there about 60 years before he retired. My uncle followed in his footsteps, and became manager of a couple of their other plants.

Most of his tools went to others, since I was half a country away, but he gave me a few things. My favorite hammer, which has a big M scribed on the head (his name was Merrill), a nice old metric socket set (with the 10mm socket) and my favorite small adjustable wrench. Nothing special, it has good movement and a great feel and it holds its position. It went with both my Nortons in the tool pouch for a long time.

Last month or so, my wife went to use a wrench out of my tool chest and I have not seen this since. Hopefully, it will turn up.

When equipment was built to last


But my favorite from their plant is this Vendo 81A c.1956. 10 cents to get a bottle. We have had this in our family since the early 70s and I have had it since the early 80s. In university, I would fill it full of beer and have fun watching everybody scrounge for dimes. I rewired it so that the light would work without a motor, so it makes itself seen. It still works. My mom has never told me how when she was a kid, her an my uncle got two cokes out for a dime. I have never been able to do it.

When equipment was built to last
 
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I have all his tools, mostly Snap-On, that are now approaching 80 years of age. The Snap-On 3/8 ratchet has a worn pawl, and slips. Snap-On will trade me a new one, but I would rather keep my Dad's worn out 80 year old.

Slick

Rebuild kits for old Snap-On ratchets are available on fleabay. Many seem to be aftermarket kits; however, a few years ago, I did find a genuine NOS Snap-On kit for a torque wrench. In the days when my dad was a Ford mechanic, the Snap-On tool man would rebuild ratchets in his tool van at no charge.

~998cc
 
I recall seeing some of those old Coke machine as a kid, and there were also the chest type, in small back town gas stations...and yes they were a dime. Shorty bottles...ice cold & tasted great.
I've got a very old Central 0"-4" mic w/gauge pins for changing over sizes. An old yankee gave them to me in the late 60's. Smart fella that taught me a lot. I think he bought them in the late teens or early 20's. No complaints.
 
I recall seeing some of those old Coke machine as a kid, and there were also the chest type, in small back town gas stations...and yes they were a dime. Shorty bottles...ice cold & tasted great.
I've got a very old Central 0"-4" mic w/gauge pins for changing over sizes. An old yankee gave them to me in the late 60's. Smart fella that taught me a lot. I think he bought them in the late teens or early 20's. No complaints.

Mine will fit long necks, shorties and stubbies no problem. It has adjustable rails on the internal racks. Also has a side rack which is not on it to collect empties.
 
As a 10 year old, around 1957, I easily learned how to extract two bottles out of the vending
machine for one dime. It's analogous to prisoners in a jail figuring how to smuggle contraband
into the jail. Always one step ahead of the jailer. I always pay full price now.
 
I have a 70-year old wooden boat. Which means I do a lot of work on a 70-year old wooden boat! What amazes me is how many tools I have that young people don't understand (and I'm not really THAT old!). Like my brace with a large screwdriver bit. It was the original cordless driver! You could once go to any garage sale and find a brace with a bunch of bits. But apparently people don't have much respect for the history of boring tools (yawn). The screwdriver bits are harder to find and I suppose that people are now to the point where they throw them out because they don't know what they are for. Try setting a #24 X 5" bronze wood screw without one.

Simple, use the #24 x 5” bronze wood screw app...
 
I recall seeing some of those old Coke machine as a kid, and there were also the chest type, in small back town gas stations...and yes they were a dime.

You guys must be kids...they were a nickel in the "old days." :)

Of course, the price might be location-based as well. I lived on a farm in Kansas and at the nearest "corner" store( there was nothing at the corner of dirt roads except that store) they were a nickel from that machine. Maybe a dime in the big city!
 
You can't beat a good quality hand plane for good work. Powered hand planes are great for taking some off of the top or bottom of a door, etc. Otherwise..it''s an old "cordless" Stanley or one of the modern (EXPENSIVE!) versions from folks like Lie-Nielson
 
We used to punch holes in the coke bottle tops still in the machines (with an awl, tool content for the thread), and sit there with our mouths open till our jaws got sore (it came out kinda slow).

Used to get a phone call for a nickel instead of a dime or two nickles, just pop the coin return at exactly the right time as you inserted a nickle, and you'd get the dial tone...

No more of that nonsense...
 
! it is sad that our country has lost it's metal industrial prowess.
Can't even learn the skills anymore. Who teaches anyone how to use a milling machine?
Where can a machinist learn the trade? What schools actually teach how to read and
convert inches to metrics? What's a micrometer?

It wasn't well taught in the 60s either. I graduated high school in 72 and worked in a few local machine shops. The actual running of the machines was not that hard to fathom, but the setup was. A lot of what I needed to know involved algebra, geometry or trigonometry. All of which I paid absolutely no attention to in school because the teachers presented it as an academic exercise rather than showing how such skills would be used in the real world. The emphasis was always on higher education for it's own sake rather than making a living.
 
You can't beat a good quality hand plane for good work. Powered hand planes are great for taking some off of the top or bottom of a door, etc. Otherwise..it''s an old "cordless" Stanley or one of the modern (EXPENSIVE!) versions from folks like Lie-Nielson

My "regular use" Baileys, the jointers are corrugated, and the little #3 is probably my favourite all rounder

When equipment was built to last
 
It wasn't well taught in the 60s either. I graduated high school in 72 and worked in a few local machine shops. The actual running of the machines was not that hard to fathom, but the setup was. A lot of what I needed to know involved algebra, geometry or trigonometry. All of which I paid absolutely no attention to in school because the teachers presented it as an academic exercise rather than showing how such skills would be used in the real world. The emphasis was always on higher education for it's own sake rather than making a living.
Sure it wasn’t motorbikes, beer & beaver that distracted ya?
My Sophomore Algebra teacher had a pint of vodka in his desk, and wasn’t afraid to use it. Hard to take it all seriously.
 
We used to punch holes in the coke bottle tops still in the machines (with an awl, tool content for the thread), and sit there with our mouths open till our jaws got sore (it came out kinda slow).

Used to get a phone call for a nickel instead of a dime or two nickles, just pop the coin return at exactly the right time as you inserted a nickle, and you'd get the dial tone...

No more of that nonsense...

You could get free phone calls at a phone booth using a paper clip! Straighten the clip, insert in into the base of the phone receiver where the cord is attached - slide the paper clip alongside the cord into the phone. When it bottomed, touch the other end to any unpainted metal part of the phone box - the lock on the money box was the best place - and VOILA! a dial tone and dial/talk all you wanted!
 
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