03-10-2018, 05:15 AM
When I visited the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, I was surprised to see how many of the telephone tools on display I was still using. It is often easy to overlook the value of old non electric tools. While I am not adverse to new technology, I used a brace and bit throughout my career. Early on, when we were using feeble, underpowered electric drills, the brace and bit was sometimes the only was we had to drill difficult holes. When you have to drill a 5/8” (16mm) hole through a log cabin beam, you soon learn the value of a sharp bit. A very useful tool we carried on the truck was an auger bit file. This was a small file with safe edges (no cutting grooves). One end had safe edges; the other end had safe faces. I bought a couple for home use. Lee Valley sells them Here is a link:
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/Page.aspx?p=70693&
Here is another information link to the Nicholson file they carried in the past:
http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.as...89&p=32954
When I retired, I still carried and used the Yankee push drill in my tool pouch. The old Star drill, which we powered with taps from a hammer, was still in my toolbox, but rarely used. My block and tackle rescued me frequently, as did my crowbar.
Today everything is battery drills. I used them, too, and was glad to have them. I was also glad to have my brace and bit for difficult work the battery drill could not handle. (By the time Mark's eighteen volt tools came along, the underpowered issue was controlled.)
I like using older tools. Using them reminds me of former owners, often my father or grandfathers.New tools become older quickly. Even the metric wrenches I purchased new in 1971 would be considered as older tools by some.
Our present standard of living is in large part due to the craftsmen and tools of the past. Today we can purchase a high quality Morakniv for around the same cost as a large pizza. The pizza will be consumed by the end of the day, however, the Morakniv will belong to my grandson someday.
Ken
http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/Page.aspx?p=70693&
Here is another information link to the Nicholson file they carried in the past:
http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.as...89&p=32954
When I retired, I still carried and used the Yankee push drill in my tool pouch. The old Star drill, which we powered with taps from a hammer, was still in my toolbox, but rarely used. My block and tackle rescued me frequently, as did my crowbar.
Today everything is battery drills. I used them, too, and was glad to have them. I was also glad to have my brace and bit for difficult work the battery drill could not handle. (By the time Mark's eighteen volt tools came along, the underpowered issue was controlled.)
I like using older tools. Using them reminds me of former owners, often my father or grandfathers.New tools become older quickly. Even the metric wrenches I purchased new in 1971 would be considered as older tools by some.
Our present standard of living is in large part due to the craftsmen and tools of the past. Today we can purchase a high quality Morakniv for around the same cost as a large pizza. The pizza will be consumed by the end of the day, however, the Morakniv will belong to my grandson someday.
Ken