OldTools Archive
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269356 | Kirk Eppler | 2019‑10‑31 | Union Steel Chest Co |
Gathered Galoots. In my rush home last Friday to be prepared for the incoming Publicly Greedy & Evil power shut off due to Public Utility Maintenance Failures (PG&E PSPS is how they spell it), I stopped at an estate sale of a former engineer, in its waning hours, in the expensive part of the Peninsula. Showed up, headed straight to the garage (carport), pawed through a table full of boxes of wrenches, bitstock, nails, etc, gathered a bag of decent goodies, and then headed into the house. Wandered in through the kitchen, ignored the cheap knives, then saw the outline of a #5 on a table silhouetted against the Living Room window. Beeline that way, saw a few drafting sets, including one in a nifty wooden box, but not paying $75 for a box. Turned back towards a corner, and saw an oak tool box. Tried to nonchalantly make a beeline that way. Get over to it, it is a nice oak Union Tool Case (not a chest, no top bin). Reasonable price tag was on the top, poked into the drawers, a nice mix of both vintage and more or less new tools (some just old enough to smell like barf, yippee). After agreeing to buy everything, of course I forgot I spent $90 cash for something when the vendor's credit card reader failed the previous weekend, so I had to run down the hill to an ATM, and back up, through rush hour traffic, to get back to the sale before they closed. Adrenaline rush! Looks like is a roughly 1949 - 1953 vintage box, per Tool Box Ted's guide. All in decent shape for 65+ years old. Looks like someone set a shellac bottle on top, and left a huge lumpy ring, but otherwise decent exterior, and few areas of rust on the tools and transferring to the felt. All the pencil mark #s on the drawers match the case stamping (115), the keys are present and functioning. The drawers all slide and have intact pressed metal pulls and felt over the tin bottoms. Here are a few pics, and a bit more of the box's story in the comments. https://kirkhmb.smugmug.com/Woodworking/Tools/Union-Tool-Case/i-ZBpgmhJ And here are the trivial tools gathered from the garage https://kirkhmb.smugmug.com/Woodworking/Woodworking-Tools/i-8DTGLRB -- Kirk Eppler in Half Moon Bay, CA, where bumpkin season will mostly end tonight, and we can get back to more or less civility. |
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269357 | John Ruth <johnrruth@h...> | 2019‑10‑31 | Re: Union Steel Chest Co |
Kirk, Who says there are no more good tools at good prices floating around “in the wild?” You certainly have a gloatable haul there! Part of the fun of buying boxes, cases, and chests with contents is sorting, inventorying, and organizing the contents. The “0600” might be a model number or an “article number” rather than a serial or “assembly number.” The leading zero supports this. The “115” is an “assembly number;” further examination of the case interior may reveal another “115””.” Finding TWO correct keys in an antique chest tool chest or case is unheard of !!! The Irwin stubby screwdriver in one of the top left drawers is almost perfect for the slotted screw which holds the chipbreaker onto the iron on most planes, both wooden and metallic. The spline wrenches, a.k.a. Bristol wrenches, are an unusual find. When you need one of those, nothing else will do. The “chef’s hat knob” is another bit of unobtainium that’s frequently MIA from the parent tool. The three-jaw chuck with the bitstock shank is a winner, as is any bitstock screwdriver. ( My go-to tool for stubborn wood screws. ) You now have a mission: collect a complete set of bitstock-shank twist drills and display them in an attractive block. I think they were sized by 1/64ths, so a complete set is fairly extensive. John Ruth Sent from my iPhone while being head-butted by two cats sitting in my lap. |
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269358 | Michael Blair <branson2@s...> | 2019‑11‑01 | Re: Union Steel Chest Co |
> Who says there are no more good tools at good prices floating around "in the wild?" You certainly have a gloatable haul there! Not me. Five years ago, I picked up a Norland double bit hatchet for $5. A couple of months ago I snagged a stirrup adz in useable condition for $10. Such things may be more scarce, but they are still out there. Mike in Woodland |
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269359 | Ed Minch <ruby1638@a...> | 2019‑11‑01 | Re: Union Steel Chest Co |
And I recently got a $3 Stanley #1 in excellent ++ condition. 3 shots, so scroll to the right https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/48994966663/in/dateposted-public/ Ed Minch |
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269360 | Michael Suwczinsky <nicknaylo@g...> | 2019‑11‑01 | Re: Union Steel Chest Co |
Saw what you did there! Michael-Stlll jazzed over last months anvil find. On Fri, Nov 1, 2019 at 5:18 AM Ed Minch |
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269361 | Mike Rock <mikerock@m...> | 2019‑11‑01 | Re: Union Steel Chest Co |
> Michael-Stlll jazzed over last months anvil find. > > Up here in Swiss-consin there was a long time sawmill shop that went out of business. I got one of the two saw tensioning anvils, 100# of it. It had been in use since before WWII. Also got a lath making machine, a resaw of sorts. It has 8 blades spaced to cut 1-1/2" or 1-3/4" boards into plaster lath thickness. It was belt driven, converted to V-belts. They sliced the beautiful cast iron frame to sneak the belts through and cobbled on a repair part. Should have used those belts made of a jillion segments and saved the frame..... Place was Harry Schell, Sawmill supplies, in Blue River, WI He showed me how to tension saw plates, specifically my 52", in 1976. I finally got a Gaar Scott sawmill to go with the plate in the mid eighties. It's an art! He also did big band saw blades, 4" and wider, some 30 feet long. Most were much shorter. Fun stuff. |
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269362 | galoot@l... | 2019‑11‑01 | Re: Union Steel Chest Co |
I don't see any #3's, but where is the original of the pic of a studiolo in tromp l'oeil marquetry with a frieze of latin in gold on blue?? Enquiring minds and all that.... Esther Quoting Ed Minch |
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269366 | Ed Minch <ruby1638@a...> | 2019‑11‑02 | Re: Union Steel Chest Co |
Esther Not a #3, but a $3 #1The room is in the Met in NYC and the technique is called intarsia. It is making pictures out of colored wood. This room is one of the more astounding for its condition, but most examples are smaller or on furniture. Ed Minch |
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269367 | Ed Minch <ruby1638@a...> | 2019‑11‑02 | Re: Union Steel Chest Co |
Forgot to answer your question!! I got the picture off the innerwebs - so not a large image. It’s better in person. Ed Minch |
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269372 | Ed Minch <ruby1638@a...> | 2019‑11‑02 | Re: Oldtools message which mentions sawmill blades |
> On Nov 2, 2019, at 6:40 AM, John Ruth |
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269377 | John Leyden <leydenjl@g...> | 2019‑11‑03 | Re: Union Steel Chest Co |
Kirk et al, Do I surmise correctly from the photos of your chest that its coloration when it left the factory was more like the very light interior than the darker exterior that we see today, or was the exterior stained while the inside was not? Just wondering. |
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269434 | Kirk Eppler | 2019‑11‑21 | Re: Union Steel Chest Co |
On Sun, Nov 3, 2019 at 7:15 AM John Leyden |
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