# Most useful hand tools that are no longer made



## Rhyolith (23 Jul 2016)

Going round modern tool shops I am always struck by how gimmicky the hand tools are and how it would be much better if this was a tool shop from 50+ years ago. As such my hand tools are sourced nearly exclusively secondhand, more often than not they just do the job better. 

So whats the most useful hand tool you own that is not longer made? Including ones that are still made, but not the the quality you would like. 

----

My pick would be this classic, the 131 size Yankee screwdriver:



Yankee by Rhyolith, on Flickr


Spiral Ratchet, the Yankee Screwdriver by Rhyolith, on Flickr

I first discovered these while boatbuilding, and found them superb for dealing the delicate brass screws as they were fast but still had that full manual control drill/drivers lack. Since then my North Bros 131A (above) and my first Yankee, a Stanley 131 (below), have done an excellent job of keeping my electric drivers in their boxes 



Stanley England &quot;Yankee&quot; No.131 by Rhyolith, on Flickr


Stanley England &quot;Yankee&quot; No.131 by Rhyolith, on Flickr

Note: I am specifically choosing the largest size (131) as I don't find the smaller ones quite as useful.

I have heard rumours that these are still made in Germany, but as yet no examples to prove it or confirm they are good quality.


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## NazNomad (23 Jul 2016)

What, no Jubilee clip around them? :-D


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## Stanleymonkey (23 Jul 2016)

I'm with you on the pump action drivers. So useful - but I normally end up with both my kids 'helping' drive every screw in because they are so much fun to use.


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## Derek Cohen (Perth Oz) (23 Jul 2016)

Add to the list a push drill. Great for starting or making screw holes. This is a Miller Falls ...







Regards from Perth

Derek


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## Argus (23 Jul 2016)

Stanley 82 scraper..... the older version.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=stanl ... jOmc1gM%3A


Hard to find in the UK.


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## t8hants (23 Jul 2016)

As a boatyard apprentice you weren't allowed a Stanley Yankee until you were out of your time, as the damage you can achieve with one on finished work is quite outstanding!


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## Phil Pascoe (23 Jul 2016)

I've two Spiralux 131s. I also have a snail countersink that has been honed on the inside that will take out a 1/2" countersink in one push.  If was screwing down decking or anything I kept a screwdriver in one and the countersink in the other.


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## bugbear (23 Jul 2016)

Given how cheap they are at car boots, I own a Yankee, but I don't like it; I tend more to use a ratchetless brace to drive screws, access permitting.

As an aside to karlpolly10, I prefer ratchetless braces (where usable) since they're lighter, shorter, and have no wobble or lash in the head. A ratchet always has a little slack, and a poor ratchet has lotsa' slack.

If you can only afford one brace it has to be a ratchet, because sometimes you need a ratchet, but if (in the age of £1 s/h braces) you can afford multiple braces, you can probably use a ratchetless 80% of the time.

BugBear


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## dickm (24 Jul 2016)

t8hants":nzhx05zx said:


> As a boatyard apprentice you weren't allowed a Stanley Yankee until you were out of your time, as the damage you can achieve with one on finished work is quite outstanding!


+1 for that! 
Years ago, I was chatting to a joiner who worked on the Royal Trains in Wolverton workshop, where apparently they used them all the time. Commented on the ease of trapping bits of finger between handle and bit holder and his comment was "yes, but you only do it once!".


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## bugbear (24 Jul 2016)

t8hants":20if7ldg said:


> As a boatyard apprentice you weren't allowed a Stanley Yankee until you were out of your time, as the damage you can achieve with one on finished work is quite outstanding!



They're "OK" on Phillips/Pozi/Torx. Straight-slot, not so much.

BugBear


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## CHJ (24 Jul 2016)

t8hants":3687u0f8 said:


> As a boatyard apprentice you weren't allowed a Stanley Yankee until you were out of your time, as the damage you can achieve with one on finished work is quite outstanding!



They were very much frowned upon around Aircraft as well, the resultant dings and scratches in fuselage or wing skin being a good source of corrosion or start of a fatigue crack.


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## bugbear (24 Jul 2016)

CHJ":j2lx64qc said:


> t8hants":j2lx64qc said:
> 
> 
> > As a boatyard apprentice you weren't allowed a Stanley Yankee until you were out of your time, as the damage you can achieve with one on finished work is quite outstanding!
> ...



That must have been a later development; in footage (pathé films etc) of WWII aircraft being built, they're everywhere,

BugBear


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## Argus (24 Jul 2016)

Thank Gawd they invented the electric drill-driver, that's all I can say..... :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink: :wink:


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## CHJ (24 Jul 2016)

bugbear":2xeoerjm said:


> That must have been a later development; in footage (pathé films etc) of WWII aircraft being built, they're everywhere,
> 
> BugBear


A few dings were not a major consideration in WWII were they,-----Average lifespan? Priorities? Airframe speed? Pressurisation?

If I or in later years any of my team servicing this and it's fellow trials aircraft had been seen with one they would not have been flavour of the day.
Putting your name to the Form 700 for flight clearance and design drawings for something like this makes you very conscious that peoples lives depend on being quality conscious.




History



Sorry for the thread Hijack *Rhyolith*, but it's a very rare occasion my pump drivers come out of the toolbox, some things just get drummed into you very firmly.


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## Random Orbital Bob (24 Jul 2016)

I understand your reservations about them in specialist applications like aerospace and boat building. Myself, doing general round the home carpentry, find them still really useful in any application where I still want to "feel" the tension on the screw to avoid over tightening. So I still use them in situation where having the National Grid driving the tool is overkill. I have 3 sizes, the monster, middle (most oft used) and a diddy one that I rarely use. 

The bits are (obviously) kept in an Old Holborn tobacco tin


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## CHJ (25 Jul 2016)

Random Orbital Bob":1y5ru2ul said:



> The bits are (obviously) kept in an Old Holborn tobacco tin


No way,it's got to be one of Dads St. Bruno Flake tins.


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## Random Orbital Bob (25 Jul 2016)




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## CHJ (25 Jul 2016)

Oh for a kit full of "Perfect Handle Screwdrivers" they have always been a thing of desire for me, unfortunately the ones that were in the family went walkabout many years ago.


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## joethedrummer (25 Jul 2016)

Good morning,, regarding the tobacco tins,, just had to go out to the shed and check a few,, and it sure is true that my forbears had no
allegiance to any particular brand and by the quantity they sure liked to smoke !!!
,,,joe,,,


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## RogerP (25 Jul 2016)

http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/Per ... -of-4.html


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## toitoi (25 Jul 2016)

CHJ":3nxedzmp said:


> Oh for a kit full of "Perfect Handle Screwdrivers" they have always been a thing of desire for me, unfortunately the ones that were in the family went walkabout many years ago.


I bought a set of Perfect pattern Screwdrivers from Workshopheaven awhile back. They are all i use with Brass Screws now. They have such a wonderful feel in the hand.


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## CHJ (25 Jul 2016)

RogerP":25cx88su said:


> http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/Perfect-Pattern-Screwdrivers-Set-of-4.html



That's another bit of the pocket money gone as soon as they are back in stock, thanks for the link, guess they might spur me into better attention around the market stalls to try and find some older versions the same as the oak handled ones that we used to have at home, two were in the sewing machine draw last time I saw them.


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## Jacob (25 Jul 2016)

I used yankees a lot. 
One not so obvious advantage is the "aspect ratio"; a very long thin screwdriver gets you into tight internal corners such as fitting window catches with the screws close to the glass, with the added advantage of the ratchet and spiral screw for better control and less likelihood of camming out.


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## Random Orbital Bob (25 Jul 2016)

I couldn't agree more, in fact the desk I just built for the youngster had me reaching for the Yankee for exactly that reason. The brackets joining the apron to top underside were close to the legs so I wanted the flexibility of movement that long length gives you to avoid knocking into the legs with my knuckles. That coupled with the "feel" that a manual gives you which (despite clutches on drill/drivers) electricity takes away.

I've definitely embraced modern technology for many tools but I'll never throw out the baby with the bath water and hand planes, chisels and Yankees remain a permanent part of my toolkit.


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## Pensioner1947 (25 Jul 2016)

A company I worked for banned Yankee drivers, they fitted window bars and got fed-up replacing windows.
The Stanley Hinge Gauge was a useful gadget.
COMMENT ABOUT THIS SITE. If I click on QUOTE, it takes me to an advertising website.
Dave


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## bugbear (25 Jul 2016)

Pensioner1947":24r6pbvg said:


> A company I worked for banned Yankee drivers, they fitted window bars and got fed-up replacing windows.
> The Stanley Hinge Gauge was a useful gadget.
> COMMENT ABOUT THIS SITE. If I click on QUOTE, it takes me to an advertising website.
> Dave



Works (obviously  ) OK for me?

BugBear


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## Phil Pascoe (25 Jul 2016)

bugbear":1sgtee09 said:


> Pensioner1947":1sgtee09 said:
> 
> 
> > A company I worked for banned Yankee drivers, they fitted window bars and got fed-up replacing windows.
> ...



And me :lol:


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## D_W (25 Jul 2016)

Good quality resharpenable scrapers like a stanley 82. I just found an immense amount of use for one, it sharpened only on a stone (too hard to file) but still held a burr and did a wonderful job on a section of floor I had to refinish. There are new scrapers, but nothing similarly nice to use and customizable in terms of grip.


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## memzey (26 Jul 2016)

I don't like yankee screwdrivers - could never get on with them. This is the hand tool that isn't made anymore which I think is really useful:





So handy in this size for getting in those awkward spaces. Made in East London too - not that far from where I grew up .


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## t8hants (26 Jul 2016)

+1 
I took my Leytool drill apart as the grease had gone hard, now with fresh grease and it will last another 40 years.


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## ajmacleod (27 Jul 2016)

memzey":2jacus1c said:


> I don't like yankee screwdrivers - could never get on with them. This is the hand tool that isn't made anymore which I think is really useful



Totally agree on both points... I was told on here that the Leytool drill was not a good choice as my only hand drill but that was rubbish - it's just great to use and my cordless drill almost never comes out of its case now. Any bigger jobs go to a brace obviously but the smoothness and ease of control of the Leytool make it a joy to use.


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## Rhyolith (27 Jul 2016)

Yankees need a lot of control to use, if you go in too enthusiastically they can do a lot of damage very quickly... not unlike a electric drill. I am a fan of them because they are a nice middle ground between speed and control, though the latter requires practice (as I found out  )

+ 1 for leytool, very useful drill. However I recent years its been somewhat over shadowed by this fancy ratcheting offering from America i was lucky enough to acquire:



North Brothers &quot;Yankee&quot; No.1530A by Rhyolith, on Flickr

Because its got 2-pinions it loads up better than the leytool and the double ratchet allows it to crank in smaller spaces than the leytool (though its longer, so that can be a limitation).


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## custard (2 Aug 2016)

Here's an old tool that still gets an outing once or twice a year in my workshop, a Stanley 386. 

If I've a job that requires a precise, but non standard bevel on an edge (say something like a corner cupboard), then I'll often dig this tool out. The advantage is that I can leave it set up on a spare bench plane for the duration of the job, where as if I've cut the bevel on the spindle moulder or ripped it on a table saw, I can't then leave those machines out of action while they're set up for that exact angle. 

It's surprising how precise the 386 is in terms of both set up and consistency, certainly better than a tenth of a degree and I'd struggle to return my machinery to a previous angle setting with that degree of accuracy. So if something goes wrong in the build and I need a replacement component with the exact same angle (happens to us all!) it's the work of minutes to quickly knock out a new one.


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## memzey (2 Aug 2016)

I have a 386 as well and love it too. I thought a couple of manufacturers still made them across the pond though?


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## DTR (3 Aug 2016)

For me, the most useful tool that's no longer made (properly), is the humble hand brace. Best cordless drill / driver I've ever owned!


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## Rhyolith (3 Aug 2016)

DTR":3awmvz6m said:


> For me, the most useful tool that's no longer made (properly), is the humble hand brace. Best cordless drill / driver I've ever owned!


http://www.workshopheaven.com/tools/Han ... _Bits.html


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## DTR (3 Aug 2016)

I stand corrected! I bought a new Stanley(?) brace once, it was awful.....

A brace with a 3 jaw chuck would be useful, but not £64-useful :-k


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## Eric The Viking (3 Aug 2016)

Can I just pipe-up for Abrafiles?

Thankfully I have an "acceptable" stock, but when I've finally used those... :-(


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## Jelly (3 Aug 2016)

Breast drill?

Often overlooked by woodworkers as it excels at tasks requiring a bit that's more easily controlled in a brace for wood and a plugging chisel would be used in masonry... But in metal, plastic and composite it's much more controllable than an electric drill.

Pattern-makers gouges & firmer gouges are also very useful, but are thankfully still in production... Just.


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## rxh (3 Aug 2016)

Sandvik sandplate.


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## Benchwayze (4 Aug 2016)

t8hants":9nbskzbk said:


> As a boatyard apprentice you weren't allowed a Stanley Yankee until you were out of your time, as the damage you can achieve with one on finished work is quite outstanding!



And the damage to yourself when the locking collar wears, and they suddenly spring open and the inner-gubbins shoots out! I soon learned to point the thing away from me. Mine is still in the rack, sans bits, which I keep in my old 'baccy tin!


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## John Brown (4 Aug 2016)

memzey":2zp9vicl said:


> I don't like yankee screwdrivers - could never get on with them. This is the hand tool that isn't made anymore which I think is really useful:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 I had one of those(may still have it somewhere...), but the chuck jaws and springs got all mixed-up.


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## ED65 (4 Aug 2016)

DTR":nmw6fjgm said:


> For me, the most useful tool that's no longer made (properly), is the humble hand brace.


No longer made _properly _is a bit of a cheat, lots of things could be added to that particular list :twisted: 



Rhyolith":nmw6fjgm said:


> DTR":nmw6fjgm said:
> 
> 
> > For me, the most useful tool that's no longer made (properly), is the humble hand brace. Best cordless drill / driver I've ever owned!
> ...


What DTR said does still apply, while those French ones are apparently decent enough there are dozens of different makes of vintage ones that are better, and not forgetting the availability of various sweeps on top of that.


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## AndyT (4 Aug 2016)

I think it's interesting that this has been quite a slow thread - it's hard to think of categories of tools that are no longer made at all. In that respect, woodworkers are better off than, say, photographers. Good luck to you if you want to explore film-based photography without the infrastructure of film makers, chemical suppliers and anyone making equipment to use in developing and printing. Wood is still plentiful, and can be cut by hand in just the same ways as it was a century ago, or a millenium.

However, there is one category I'd put on the 'red list' of endangered species - files. 

Eric noted the rare Abrafile as having gone, but the problem is wider than that. 

Files are really ancient tools. Millions upon millions were made, by hand, following a laborious sequence of heatings, hand cutting with hammer and chisel, tempering, straightening etc. Throughout the early industrial revolution, they provided the common way to shape iron, until the rise of the machine tool and its rotary cutters in the later part of the nineteenth century. 

But to a woodworker, files are important because they make saws possible. There's no need to repeat all the content of the testing work done on saw files in Australia - you can read it here - petition-for-quality-saw-files-t71552.html - but to summarise:

Pretty much all production of files has ceased in USA and Europe; what is available from cheaper manufacturing areas may look like files and bear a familar name, but lack essential, functional details that used to be universal. 

Worldwide, major trades which used to use files by the boatload - metalworking, shoemaking, clockmaking - have switched to quicker methods for bulk production.

So if you want to use old saws and keep them sharp, buy all the good old saw files you can find. And if you want to do small scale metalwork by hand, stock up with good old files of any shape you might need.


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## Rhyolith (4 Aug 2016)

Rhyolith":1cgport0 said:


> So whats the most useful hand tool you own that is not longer made? Including ones that are still made, *but not the the quality you would like*.


I would include stuff thats made badly under the "no longer made" category. Hand drills generally are a good example as they are no longer made to a useful level of quality at a realistic price (bridge city tool works CT-6 :shock: ), least that I am aware of. The reason I picked the Yankee over them is simply that in a "Get the job done" scenario hand drills are actually pretty obsolete for all but a handful of tasks when up against a good quality electric drill driver. 

Bahco seem to make goodish files. However I have never used a sharp old file so may not know what "good" feels like.


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## ED65 (4 Aug 2016)

Rhyolith":1lu30pej said:


> However I have never used a sharp old file so may not know what "good" feels like.


This is the problem most of us face now. Unless you manage to luck out and find some NOS files still wrapped in waxed or oiled paper you're always left in doubt. But it's not hard to find decent Sheffield-made files (or old USA-made Nicholsons) at car boots that a little work can return to good working condition. 

I couldn't say if they're as good as they were when brand new, but if they weren't worn too much or too rusty you can certainly get damn close. And every restored file I've used beats the pants off the modern files I have, although I do have a limited number to compare to there are similar opinions given on many machinists' forums.


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## Benchwayze (4 Aug 2016)

All of my files are old, (over 40 years) but not all of them are good.


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## graduate_owner (4 Aug 2016)

I remember we had an 'all ball' grindstone in the shed when I was a kid. It was a vertical tube bolted to the workbench and it was pedal operated so both hands free. The wheel was horizontal and about 6" diameter x 3/4" thick. There was no grinding rest on ours, just a grinding wheel which could be replaced by a buffing wheel. There was a slot in the tube about 6" long x 1/2" wide, no idea what for.
It stopped working after Dad had owned it for decades, and when he dismantled it he found the gearing was shot because of the quantity of old nails, screws etc that had found their way in - my brother and I had, it seems, found a use for that slot after all.

Dad couldn't get replacement gearing as all ball had long since disappeared. No idea what happened to it then - pity, these days I could probably get parts made up.

Regarding the inserting of foreign objects, my friend had a similar experience years ago when his VCR wouldn't accept a cassette. The engineer handed him toy cars, pencils, just about anything that would fit in the slot. Turns out the boys were playing postman.

So my vote for a discontinued tool goes to all ball. Has anyone else seen these?


K


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## Dee J (4 Aug 2016)

graduate_owner":1bq0ixbg said:


> So my vote for a discontinued tool goes to all ball. Has anyone else seen these?
> 
> 
> K



Yes! The Heyden AllBall grinder. A great piece of kit. One sits in my forge on general sharpening duties. The return spring has failed, but a bungee cord to the foot pedal does duty.


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## xy mosian (4 Aug 2016)

Dee J":3bqewekp said:


> graduate_owner":3bqewekp said:
> 
> 
> > So my vote for a discontinued tool goes to all ball. Has anyone else seen these?
> ...




Yes. I have one in the garage. The only grinder I had for many years. I believe the mechanism is based on a car steering rack, don't ask me which car. 
Last time I used it, it worked fine, that must be a couple of years now though.

xy


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## bugbear (4 Aug 2016)

xy mosian":2f31hrm0 said:


> Yes. I have one in the garage. The only grinder I had for many years. I believe the mechanism is based on a car steering rack, don't ask me which car.
> Last time I used it, it worked fine, that must be a couple of years now though.
> 
> xy



Good to hear;

post1057671.html?hilit=heyden#p1057671

BugBear


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## graduate_owner (4 Aug 2016)

Yes, good indeed to hear of these still in use. Thanks for those replies guys.

K


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## Phil Pascoe (18 Aug 2016)

A set of Record Marples augers bought in 1989. I can't find the 25mm for the minute, but here are the other two.



Three and the handle in a polythene pouch, I paid about £12. Ideal for plumbers and sparks working in a roof - 10mm, 16mm and 25mm. They were obviously geared to be used by hand, even the 25mm could be would in without difficulty. I could have sold this set over and over, and never saw another.


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