What are the most beautiful tools that you own

[tibi]

Hello,

It is rather quiet in the hand tool section of the forums lately, so I would like to wake it up a bit.

What are the most beautiful/precious/valuable hand tools that you own and why are they valuable to you (e.g. you made them, family heritage, or you got it from famous woodworker, etc.)? You can also include pictures.

{if the tools are really valuable, please do not reveal your address }

Thank you.

 

[clogs]

Tibi,
I have one flat screw driver that was a gift when I was 16....now 73........
plus a not very pretty Eswing claw hammer I was given before my friend died......
the rest I dont care......

 

[robgul]

A square that was my grandfather's - and a pair of traditional pincers that were my great-grandfather's (so I'm told) - and I'm also rather fond of of my Yankee screwdrivers.

 

[Jameshow]

Norris type plane.
Dad's record plane...
Sandvik tenon saw.

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Here are some tools I made:

Bridle Plough Plane (modelled after a Matheson) ..

Cutting gauge ...

Mortice gauge ..

Small brace ...

A couple of travishers ...

Router plane (uses Veritas blades) ...

Saws:

Thin plate dovetail saw ...

Restored Miller's Falls #15 1/2 mitrebox along with mitresaw built from scratch ...

I make a lot of my tools. Not really valuable other than personal. Lots more if anyone is bored.

Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[paulrbarnard]

A fair portion of my tools are hand me downs that have travelled through time from my Great Grandfather via my Grandfather, who were both full time wood workers.
The most priceless though to me are the ‘tile’ or little brass sign with sign writing done by my Grandfather and the tool name stamp from my Great Grandfather.

 

[tibi]

Here are some tools I made:

Bridle Plough Plane (modelled after a Matheson) ..

Cutting gauge ...

Mortice gauge ..

Small brace ...

A couple of travishers ...

Router plane (uses Veritas blades) ...

Saws:

Thin plate dovetail saw ...

Restored Miller's Falls #15 1/2 mitrebox along with mitresaw built from scratch ...

I make a lot of my tools. Not really valuable other than personal. Lots more if anyone is bored.

Regards from Perth

Derek

Those are indeed very nice tools Derek. It is a very good feeling to be able to make tools (that might be passed down the line)

 

[imageel]

I have a very old and well used 5 inch bone handled pen-knife that my father used whilst pruning and tying-up plants in his beloved garden, it was one of a pair, the other being maybe 3inches and were originally owned by his father who served in the navy during the period steam was overtaking sail power.
The handles were carved with his initials - they both shared the same forenames and the cutting edge of the larger main blade is arced through years of sharpening with a slip-stone.
I also have my fathers nautical books, one covering knots, splices and 'fancy' knot work back in the day when exposed steam pipes would be bound with rope, the books themselves are decoratively covered, so quite whether they are classed as hand-tools or not is open to debate, they are though a treasured heirloom -

 

[Argus]

.

Not so sure about the term 'Beautiful', but this is certainly interesting.

Many years ago - in the '70s - I, quite idly, kicked a bit of stone sticking out of the sand and gravel in the desert at a place called Seguidine, Northern Niger, near the Chad/Libya border and this Axe-head emerged.

This side is somewhat discoloured by exposure to the winds.

I expect that some 8,000 or 10,000 years ago, there was a man who was very cheesed-off when he lost it.



.

Here's the other side. Quite clean where it was face-down for centuries.

.

 

[bourbon]

That's an easy one for me. two Raybone engineers' squares The 8'' one was my late dads and the smaller 4'' one was my uncles. Her is what makes them special. My late mom used to WORK at Raybone in the 50's. She made them!

 

[Distinterior]

Not what I would classify as "beautiful", but my Grandfather had a very " colourful " life ( a butcher, a chauffeur, a butler, and a professional gambler, amongst other things....!) and spent some of his later working life as a builder & carpenter. He had quite a few old tools that were passed down to my Father when Grandfather passed away.
My dad was not a practical man and very rarely used any of the tools but he did keep my Grandfather's tools and when my father passed, I inherited all the tools.

Amongst other things, I have inherited some really nice old wood chisels and a bricklayers trowel that I would never part with under any circumstances ......I would imagine they dont have much of a monetary value to them, but the fact my Grandfather had used them back in the day, makes them special to me whenever I get them out to use myself.

Some of the other tools have a little arrow stamped on them, some have WD stamped on them, which I believe signify the War Dept...???....He probably acquired them during his time as a mechanic in the RAF during WW2.

 

[deema]

@Derek Cohen (Perth Oz) I’m really really bored!!! More please

 

[Derek Cohen (Perth Oz)]

Actually, I should apologise for those tools. It feels too much like show-and-tell now. (I agree that the hand tools forum is too slow, which is why I responded).

If my workshop burned down, I would save this hand plane before all else ...



It was owned by Jim Krenov. Those are his shavings.




Regards from Perth

Derek

 

[Fitzroy]

My SecretSanta 2020 marking knives, still utterly humbled every time I use them.

What else would I grab in a fire. A pin hammer that was my mum's late husband, not my father but a man who looking back was more important to me than I realised or ever told him, #regrets. My Clifton #7 a present to myself that I love using. 1908 6TPI ripsaw, first saw i renovated and sharpened, still cuts like a dream. A large technical drawing T square in Perspex with an ebony running edge, stolen from my girlfriends father when I was at university, a great tool and memories of a fun girl.

 

[johnnyb]

years ago before I really made ( alot of)stuff I loved making tools. here's a spear and jackson saw with my own fruit wood handle. I did try and make one from scratch and the blades were poo( from Sheffield as well)
I also made the leather wallet thing.

 

[johnnyb]

at the same time I made a delicate spokeshave from kingwood and buffalo horn with a leather wallet but I can't find a pic atm

 

[tibi]

Actually, I should apologise for those tools. It feels too much like show-and-tell now. (I agree that the hand tools forum is too slow, which is why I responded).

If my workshop burned down, I would save this hand plane before all else ...



It was owned by Jim Krenov. Those are his shavings.




Regards from Perth

Derek

Derek, you could tell us a story about how did you get this plane from Jim and how did you get to know him. Were you his student?

 

[NFav]

My Grandfathers Diston panel saw - probably dates back to soon after the second world war when he moved back to Mablethorpe from Coventry and started his building business again.
Also, a marking gauge that I bought as a 16 year old. Several years later my Dad was round helping me with jobs on my terraced house, in conversation it turned out he didn't have a marking gauge, by this point I also had a mortice gauge so gave Dad that marking gauge. After he died I inherited that marking gauge back, oh and his Drummond metalworking lathe.

 

[niall Y]

What gives me most pleasure, is a vintage side rebate plane, in bronze, It is modelled on an old Stanley 79. It came in a home-made green-beize pouch , with a button to close it.
I purchased it back in the seventies, from a market stall in 'Nothcote Road' not far from Clapham Junction. Most of the amazing tools that were on offer had belonged to a carpenter who had worked on the old ocean-liners. Having recently stopped being a student, and consequently, still impoverished, it was the only one I could afford.

 

[D_W]

i couldn't figure out how to respond to this, but not for a lack of pretty tools, either made in house, or received as gifts or trade. It's just not something that I think much about.