The old man cherished this thing; I used it on occasion as a youngster. Had one of these, too. Good thing about these tools was their reliance on steady, straight handling by user; it taught manual dexterity. My Mother had some, too. One is still in our kitchen drawer today, used fairly often, much quicker than dragging out the electric mixer. Circa about 1950, still very practical. He had 2 of these, large and small. Very heavy, clutter in the tool box, rarely if ever used. I used it as a hammer! Being a Tool & Die Maker, he was tool-oriented of course, though his trade employed a different kind of tools mainly, such as lathes and milling machines: BIG engine lathe, meaning it stands alone on the floor. "Bench" lathes rest on a separate table. Really BIG lathes are often turned upright, making them Boring Mills. This lathe can rotate a 12-foot diameter part! Such lathes were used in Henderson, Nevada during the War to bore freshly-cast titanium metal out of huge crucibles in which it was produced. This was then "TIMET", Titanium Metals of America, another huge facility primarily built for the war effort. Frank
@Beth Gallagher The image is of a very old tool, I believe. The metal parts are mounted in a wooden block, therefore explaining the name "Block Plane". Hand-made clever wooden parts are less prominent nowadays. Frank
@Frank Sanoica -- I remember my dad and grandpa using a 2-man crosscut saw. Like you, they built their own houses, pack houses, barns, etc. I remember a bunch of old woodworking tools.
I remember my dad using all of those tools, too, and probably more that we never see today. He mowed the lawn with a mower that looked almost exactly like this one.
I own nearly everything that has been pictured here so far. Since I have no electricity at our camp, I have used them there.
The hand tools shown above were the same as used by my grandfather. The mower was used by me. I was a source of cheap labor back then.
shortly after moving to Maine, I bought one of those manual mowers. Then, when I cleaned out the shed in the back of our yard, I found another one. The old one works much better.
One of my summer chores was mowing our lawn. Since we had nearly 3/4 of an acre, it was a chore and a half. It dwindled when my father had a pool installed.
I've inherited all of the above tools, except the giant lathe, and still have them. Used the Sinclair wrench recently because it was the only one I could find. Plus this. Someone speculated it's used to tan hides. It has my dad's name stamped on the other side. Maybe he used it at the rubber factory?
@Nancy Hart Very similar to my Dad's wallpaper knife, of which I can find no similar images. I last used it hanging paper ~ 1966. Frank
I own, or have owned all those tools pictured, including the Metal Lathe, except for the Brace & Bit. The "Monkey Wrench" is properly known as a Stillson Wrench. My Lathe had a 9" Swing and 24" Centers. I used it for many hobby projects, machining Brass, Aluminum, and Steel parts for various science projects Hal
Another thing that my dad had was an awl. I used that to punch holes in leather things, like belts or bridles for my horse, and he also had an old hole punch that had a variety of sizes that worked better for punching holes.
Hand crank grinder My grandfather had one of these and my cousins and I used to sneak into the garage when we were kids just to take turns cranking it. Apparently it didn't take much to keep us entertained. lol
One place in the country that we rented for a while had an old shop/garage with an ancient grinding wheel. It was used for sharpening larger tools like axes and such. I remember my dad used to sharpen the lawn mower blades every now and then, but I don’t remember what he used to sharpen them.