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Tools of the Trade

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  • KC_Jones
    KC_Jones Member Posts: 5,739
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    hot rod said:

    JUGHNE said:

    Hot Rod, I am too young to figure out the knob, rod and cylinder in your picture under the Pb ladle & cauldron in your posting, please enlighten me. (Notice I used the periodic table symbol so as to not draw the attention of the EPA.....Pb is from the Latin "Plumbum" when all pipe were made of Pb, including the wine cups the Romans used. (Part of the downfall, supposedly)

    So does that mean "Plumber's Butt" is a real word, derived from the Latin "Plumbum"? :)

    Good eye and good question.

    That tool would form flanged tailpieces used to connect sink drains. So every time you one of the factory formed tailpieces you could flange another. no need to scrap the cutoff pieces.
    And people think they are "green" now. We need to get back to some of the "old ways" I many times think we were less wasteful. Make the old "frugal" be the modern "green".
    2014 Weil Mclain EG-40
    EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
    Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
  • BobC
    BobC Member Posts: 5,478
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    I have a cellar and a garage full of frugal, what I don't have is the ability to find what I'm looking for.

    Bob
    Smith G8-3 with EZ Gas @ 90,000 BTU, Single pipe steam
    Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
    3PSI gauge
    Harvey Ramer
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,529
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    Brilliant.
    Retired and loving it.
  • KC_Jones
    KC_Jones Member Posts: 5,739
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    I have some of my grandfathers "frugal" in addition to my own. The best I have done is organize by category, electrical, plumbing and misc. I too can't always find the stuff I know I have. My wife stays out of the garage and workshop...otherwise it would all be in the garbage. lol
    2014 Weil Mclain EG-40
    EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
    Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
  • Tim McElwain
    Tim McElwain Member Posts: 4,625
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    I am old so all my tools are old. I have tools handed down to me from my father and my grandfather. If I have some time I will dig out those old tool boxes and see what is inside.
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
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    BobC said:

    I have a cellar and a garage full of frugal, what I don't have is the ability to find what I'm looking for.

    Bob

    If you can't find it when you need it, do you really have it? I say not.
    ChrisJ
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,529
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    Harvey, that's a classic!
    Retired and loving it.
  • BobC
    BobC Member Posts: 5,478
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    It's like forgetting something, the memory is still there - you have just lost the ability to locate it rapidly.

    Every once in a while I decide to jettison some stuff and it seems I end up needing that exact thing a week later.

    Anybody need a #45 vacuum tube or a 1920 Cornell Dubilier cap substitution box (made of mahogany)?

    Bob
    Smith G8-3 with EZ Gas @ 90,000 BTU, Single pipe steam
    Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
    3PSI gauge
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,529
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    Bob, do you have that in oak?
    Retired and loving it.
  • BobC
    BobC Member Posts: 5,478
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    Sorry, oak is too large grained for this kind of application (3/16" thick)!

    Bob
    Smith G8-3 with EZ Gas @ 90,000 BTU, Single pipe steam
    Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
    3PSI gauge
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,529
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    Cherry? LOL
    Retired and loving it.
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
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    DanHolohan said:

    Harvey, that's a classic!

    Makes sense, I picked it up from an old fart who picked it up from an older fart.

    https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M1be72d2963fc1fbe70225957a6e06f32H0&w=212&h=164&c=7&rs=1&qlt=90&o=4&pid=1.1

    I wish I had one of these around. Not to use.. Just to look at. We had one in the shop at home and I used to be the little heathen running around drilling everything in sight.
  • george_42
    george_42 Member Posts: 121
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    I still use an old thumb operated oil can that I got from my father and he got it from his father. And i am 74 and still working
    Tinman
  • Robert O'Brien
    Robert O'Brien Member Posts: 3,541
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    Kennedy box still in daily use after 40+ years
    To learn more about this professional, click here to visit their ad in Find A Contractor.
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,529
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    40 years = many stories.
    Retired and loving it.
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,708
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    Harvey Ramer said:

    DanHolohan said:

    Harvey, that's a classic!

    Makes sense, I picked it up from an old fart who picked it up from an older fart.

    https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M1be72d2963fc1fbe70225957a6e06f32H0&w=212&h=164&c=7&rs=1&qlt=90&o=4&pid=1.1

    I wish I had one of these around. Not to use.. Just to look at. We had one in the shop at home and I used to be the little heathen running around drilling everything in sight.
    That's called a bit brace. :)
    Single pipe quasi-vapor system. Typical operating pressure 0.14 - 0.43 oz. EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Control for Residential Steam boilers. Rectorseal Steamaster water treatment
    Harvey Ramer
  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,576
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    Or Brace and Bit.--NBC
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,708
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    nicholas bonham-carter said:

    Or Brace and Bit.--NBC

    That's what people in my family always call it, but I refuse to unless it has a bit. Just sounds wrong to me.
    Single pipe quasi-vapor system. Typical operating pressure 0.14 - 0.43 oz. EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Control for Residential Steam boilers. Rectorseal Steamaster water treatment
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,529
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    Growing up in NY, I thought it was one word: brazenbit.
    Retired and loving it.
    ChrisJHarvey RamerTim Potter
  • 4Johnpipe
    4Johnpipe Member Posts: 481
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    @Harvey Ramer the first "cordless drill"...Ha!
    LANGAN'S PLUMBING & HEATING LLC
    Considerate People, Considerate Service, Consider It Done!
    732-751-1560
    email: langansph@yahoo.com
    www.langansplumbing.com
    DanHolohanHarvey Ramer
  • bob_46
    bob_46 Member Posts: 813
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    if you look close that's a ratshit (sp) brace .

    There was an error rendering this rich post.

    DanHolohan
  • rick in Alaska
    rick in Alaska Member Posts: 1,457
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    I still have one somewhere along with a pile of the bits that My dad got at an auction somewhere in Portland. Also have a few older hand planes. If I ever get a shop to be able to use them, it will be a very fun time. Nothing more relaxing than planing down a board with a hand plane.
    One tool that I had that is now broken is a tool that goes in to a piece of copper tubing and had a bead that would push outward from the inside and roll a ferrule on the tube. Used for making compression fittings. Didn't use it more than once, but it was a cool tool.
    Rick
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
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    bob said:

    if you look close that's a ratshit (sp) brace .

    haha!!
  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
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    rick in Alaska said:

    One tool that I had that is now broken is a tool that goes in to a piece of copper tubing and had a bead that would push outward from the inside and roll a ferrule on the tube. Used for making compression fittings. Didn't use it more than once, but it was a cool tool.

    I used to have a set of three. L-shaped kind of like a hex key, and the ball bearing rolled out when you turned them? I think there's still one left in the basement toolbox, probably 3/8." Needed them for something on a carburetor IIRC.
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,529
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    I wish we were all together with these tools and enough time for stories. Oh, and maybe a keg of beer. (Sigh)
    Retired and loving it.
  • KC_Jones
    KC_Jones Member Posts: 5,739
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    Keg of beer...the most important tool! Lol
    2014 Weil Mclain EG-40
    EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
    Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
  • Canucker
    Canucker Member Posts: 722
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    That's where most of my good stories come from, beer and bad judgment ;)
    You can have it good, fast or cheap. Pick two
    KC_Jones
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,529
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    Yeah, it's inspirational for sure.
    Retired and loving it.
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,529
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    Nice pump, KC. Handmade?
    Retired and loving it.
  • KC_Jones
    KC_Jones Member Posts: 5,739
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    No it was actually my grandfathers. It's probably 30+ years old. It's a commercial unit (Beverage Air). It's built like a tank and I figure my kids will probably inherit it. The handle is solid Mahogany and made by my wife (with some assistance from my father).
    2014 Weil Mclain EG-40
    EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
    Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
  • Mark N
    Mark N Member Posts: 1,115
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    My father's 24" Walworth "Genuine Stillson" Wrench. My father worked for over 40 years as a pipe fitter until he retired in 1991.
  • KC_Jones
    KC_Jones Member Posts: 5,739
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    Lol I have the 18" version from my grandfather.
    2014 Weil Mclain EG-40
    EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
    Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
  • Mark N
    Mark N Member Posts: 1,115
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    Nice, my father's 18" was a Ridgid.
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,529
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    A bit about how that wrench came to be: https://heatinghelp.com/blog/daniel-chapman/
    Retired and loving it.
    SWEI
  • Mark N
    Mark N Member Posts: 1,115
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    That's a great story. One of my great great grandfather's worked in the Brooklyn Navy Yard during the Civil War. He was a carpenter.
  • Gordy
    Gordy Member Posts: 9,546
    edited December 2015
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    Some old stuff
  • Gordy
    Gordy Member Posts: 9,546
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    Here's some more
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,529
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    Beautiful!
    Retired and loving it.
  • Harvey Ramer
    Harvey Ramer Member Posts: 2,239
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    I like that "ratshit". Last pic.

    This stuff is just for looking at. I'll be danged if you'll find me using that handcrank drill instead of my 18v brushless Milwaukee.
  • Gordy
    Gordy Member Posts: 9,546
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    It just shows how far we have come.

    All though I can still drill a hole, and screw a screw when your battery is dead, and no power to recharge it., and i know it will out last a Milwaukee.


    That socket set has some real oddity sizes......15/32

    That Ratshit is a whole different set, before 1/4,3/8,1/2,3/4, and 1' drives were a universal standard.

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