Currently viewing the category:
"Antique Tools"
Our ability to use tools is one of humanity’s defining characteristics. For as long as we’ve been around, tools have made our work easier and helped us accomplish tasks we never could’ve done without them. Recently scientists in Malaysia discovered some very old tools indeed — 1.8 million years old, give or take a few.
If I happen to run across Antiques Roadshow playing on PBS, I almost always see some kind of tool-related item being appraised in the show somewhere. This plane/ax combo owned by some lucky bastard in Tampa is a fine example of gear you just can’t have.
If you watch the video you can make out all the handwork and fine carving in the top and sides of the piece. It’s a work of art all by itself, but I’m more than a little curious to know what kinds of projects a plane like that builds.
The appraiser valued these at $3,000 to $4,000, but the owner said he’s not going to sell them. Of course it would benefit everyone else who wanted a crack at ‘em if he just ran home and slammed ‘em up on eBay — however we’re hoping that didn’t happen.
18th-Century Austrian Tools [Roadshow Archive]
It never ceases to amaze me how basic implements like a sharpened stone and bits of carefully formed sticks coupled with a little human brainwork can literally raise a mountain in the middle of the desert. I’m reminded of this by a sweet article over at reshafim.org that talks about the composition and development of ancient Egyptian tools. These people did extraordinary things thousands of years ago with a few simple items — this idea flies completely in the face of those folks who can’t do anything without a shop full of the latest gear.
Just to be fair, the whole point of modern tools is that a few or one person can do the work of many, and faster. I bet if I had a workforce 10,000 strong I could whip up a few bookcases before lunch, but since I don’t I’ll just have to take my modern equipment and do it solo in a tenth the time it would’ve taken someone back then.
Composition and Development of Ancient Egyptian Tools [reshafim]
In 1902 sponge divers discovered 81 fragments of an ancient, unknown tool at the bottom of the sea near the Greek island of Antikythera. Dated around the first century B.C., this early “computer” was the most complex technology of its time – and for another thousand years. Originally thought to be an astrolabe, the mechanism tracked and predicted the cycles of the solar system and the movement of heavenly bodies.
It’s good to be Norm. Sometimes it seems like those New Englanders have all the fun, and I can’t say I blame ‘em — if I had a chance to go to the Brimfield Antique Show in Massachusetts and paw all over an eighty-year-old Rosewood level, I’d do it, too.
The Archimedes drill predates the Yankee screwdriver by a few hundred years, but it works much the same way. When you drive the handle down in a linear motion, the small chuck at the right end of the threads spins the drill.
I found the picture above on an antique site — this particular Archimedes drill was designed for jewelers, to drill tiny holes in soft metal. I’m sure the torque is nothing to speak of, and the RPM is somewhere just above a plain old screwdriver, but this actually makes it perfect for a few applications.
I’m cheating — the owner of this tool told me what it was, but I had to ask. He said it was frozen stationary, but he finally managed to loosen it up. The stone on the right-hand side now spins and moves back and forth in an arc when you crank the handle. He mentioned it’s about a hundred years old, but I don’t have any more detail than that.
Post your guesses here before you check out the notes I posted on my Flickr account with an additional picture.
Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]
Before handheld can openers, getting to the food inside a tin can required a hammer and chisel — or, for many soldiers, bayonets, knives, or even rifle fire. The first claw-shape, lever-type openers were developed in Britain and America in the 1850s by cutler Robert Yates in Middlesex in 1855, and by Ezra J. Warner of Waterbury, CT, in 1858. The U.S. Army adopted Warner’s design for the Civil War and issued the bull’s head can opener (above) with its rations of canned “bully beef,” or shredded corned beef mixed with gravy. (British and Australian soldiers regularly consumed bully beef, too, usually with hard tack crackers and, on Christmas Day, whiskey.)
This plumb bob level might look clunky next to a level with a bubble vial, but back in the day this may have been the only type of level you could make yourself, unless you had moderate glassblowing skills. Union Hill Antique Tools markets this particular level as “one of the great super-rare levels of the world. A Bradford Union Patented Cast Iron Inclinometer, Bradford PA. 18 inches long. Best one of 2 known.”
You can own this antique level for the price of a bulldozer, $15,000. Or, if you’re just looking for a good DIY project or a conversation piece, you could probably save a little money by making one yourself.
Bradford Level [Union Hill Antique Tools]
Before the days of the slick Snap-On or behemoth Waterloo Industry tool chests, machinists stored their tools in wooden machinist chests. Gerstner’s been making ‘em since 1906, and they remain the standard against which wooden machinist chests are measured.
In 1910 Gerstner designed the #41, a typical chest, to hold precision instruments for machinists. You can cover the #41′s seven lined drawers with a front lid, and you can lock the whole thing up — including the lined top tray — just like a contemporary machinist chest. Gerstner makes the chests with tongue and groove wood panels in your choice of golden oak, maple, cherry, or walnut. You can further customize the chest with hardware finishes and black or green felt. It also features a mirror mounted to the lid, one feature you don’t see too often in contemporary chests.
In today’s world the wooden chest has become more of a showpiece than an everyday necessity, and the prices reflect that — the #41 has a street price of $710 to $740 depending on what finish you decide on. Gerstner produces a “Gerstner International” line for those who want an economical option — the overseas manufacturers who make the International line hold themselves to less-strict standards. Either Gerstner USA or Gerstner International chests could become prize pieces to enjoy for a long time.
Gerstner #41 [Gerstner]
Via Amazon
TM on Flickr
Recent Comments
{ I own a Toro Dingo, and I'll tell you these things are much more versatile then you think. With my 4-1 bucket I can just... } – May 19, 7:00 AM
{ Useful info. Fortunate me I found your web site accidentally, and I am surprised why this accident didn't happened in advance! I bookmarked it. } – May 18, 10:40 PM
{ Excellent post. I used to be checking continuously this weblog and I'm impressed! Very helpful information specially the closing part
I care for such... } – May 18, 8:10 PM{ I have built several systems that do everything listed above and more.... Currently we use my system for critical resin applications and general spray painting... } – May 18, 1:00 PM
{ I just found one of these very old Nelson sprinklers. The rear wheels do not move they seemed to be locked. I have not found... } – May 18, 8:17 AM