Probably of No Interest to Anyone But Me

Paul Douglass

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I got up in a nostalgic mood today, I guess and was looking over some of the stuff I have from the past. My Dad was a jack of all trades, but a carpenter by profession when I was born. He use to do remodeling and building on the side for people in addition to his full time job. Often he would let me go with him to help out as best I could (normally just fetching tools as he needed them). Anyway, when he died, (way to young) Mom told us boys to pick tools we wanted to have. These are a couple I took and use routinely today. He built them before I was born, so they are over 70 years old. I have three of his sawhorses. I have used a pattern off them to make other also, but his old ones are my go to ones. They still work fine and are holding together . This is one of them:

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This is one of the tool boxes he made to lug tool to the worksite. I did re-finish it once. It was pretty rough because he would weld near it and it has a lot of burns from welding spatter. Many of the hand tools in it were his.

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Loaded with tools it was a heavy thing to lug around.
 
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Pretty neat! I'm sure you think of Dad every time you use the tools, too.

BTW, I can see why you have the box on a wheeled cart - that thing's gotta weigh a couple hundred pounds when it's full!
 
Good stuff! :thumb: Always like to see home/shop made tool boxes. Always interesting to see how others organize their things. I need to build a few of those sawhorses. I've got a set of metal ones around, but that's about it. Dad always had a bunch of wider benches around the shop, which were lower and good for finishing cabinets on. He'd build new horses at each job site rather than lugging a set around.
 
Great stuff, Paul! I have a few items that my father used. It's nice to have those memories. I keep thinking how great it would be for him to still be around and enjoy my shop with me. The only shop he ever had was half of a two-car garage, but he made the most of it!
 
Paul, did you remove the horizontal shelf on the sawhorse that runs usually end to end for support?

I'm saying the same thing Paul did my Dad's saw horses & my saw horses don't have a shelf for 2 reasons their shin busters & they don't allow the horses to stack nicely for transport. With out the shelf you can stack the horses one on top of the other put them on your shoulder & pack them clear across a large building site & put them in the truck. Most carpenters pack their tools in a leather apron the only thing needing to be set down is the skilsaw & it can set on the ground/floor, or on a scrap of wood.

The pair of saw horses I built the tops were made of wide enough material that I can use them as short scaffolding the tops were made of either 2x10 or 2x12.

Not knowing or remembering the proper measurements, I found a kit that had all the measurements & the proper angle for the edges of the top so I made notes & re-sized the horses to the way I wanted them, that was in 1992 or 1993 & they are still going strong.
 
Very nice! A box full of memories.

My tools some very old and handed down mean way more to me then just tools.

You want just tools? Go to Sears or Harbor Freight and buy them.

You want real tools with memories attached to each one -- you gotta earn them!

You want to borrow some of my tools???? I have kidneys and other body parts that I would loan out easier than most of my tools. Even the ones that may look to you as junk.

I have been lasering now for over 10 years. I have a very thin, well worn small scrap of paper that I use as a feeler gauge when focusing. It has some notes on it from an early laser job.

Its value is $0.000001 but it's worth to me is priceless. I plan to be still using it many years from now. Loan it out (not that anyone would want it) or a tool of better worth ----are you crazy??
 
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That's great Paul. Good memories are worth a million bucks.
All I have from my Dad is a few pictures, some of his USMC insignia and one shirt that my wire still wears but I have eons of wonderful memories. He passed in 1969 when I was 19. We had all sorts of firearms, fishing stuff, his USMC footlocker with all kinds of souvenirs, lots of Masonic regalia and personal stuff. All was lost in a fire that burned down the house he left me in South Tamworth, NH.
 
I've got a bunch of my granddad's tools, including the handmade metal toolbox that he used on the job as a refrigerator tech. Won't be getting rid of them. ;)

Bob, sorry to see you lost a bunch of your dad's stuff. :(
 
Wow you are looking at old threads! I used those saw horses just last month and told my wife, it is time to say good-bye to them. They are now unsafe. After 70+ years, they have served their purpose. I really wish my kids were interested in this sort of thing, because the tool box is still in good shape and I would like to pass it on to someone in the family that would treasure it as I have, but, ah, doesn't seem like things like that are not important to the younger generation, least not mine.
 
Really interesting Paul. For the question of passing stuff along, you might be surprised, ask around maybe someone in your family would be interested, you never know who will turn out to be handy, don't forget to ask the girls too, both of my daughters are very handy, and have learned to do things for themselves, and are even artistic, that is one they have on me, I'm not artistic. Ask, it would be good to have your dad's stuff stay in the family, and not get picked over at a garage sale.

I like that sawhorse design. I was taught that very design by my grandfather. I once got a summer job at a construction sight, as a helper, I helped pick up garbage, clean out units that had been roughed in, would help carry boat loads of drywall up three flights of stairs etc. but it was a good summer job. Five of us showed up on the job site on a Monday morning for one job, the foreman looked us over, I was the youngest at about 17, he said "Build me a set of sawhorses" and pointed us to some lumber. I was the second one finished but the first set one guy did would only touch three legs at a time, they were bad, mine were good enough to get me the job, worked my butt of that summer, and in the end the foreman asked me if he could keep the sawhorses, I said sure, and he took them. I used a hammer and nails, and a circular saw, an old Sears beast that my dad had lent me.

Great memories. :D
 
Well you are wrong ... this interests me also.

As I've been cleaning out the garage and filling the dumpster to make room for my new lathe I have run across a couple of my Dad's old things ....

1 - Old B&D 3/8" drill that has a cord on it for those that remember

2 - Old Handsaw

3 - Old wood level that is as flat as a piece of steel and works

4 - Have an old tool box he made still hiding in the collection of junk that hasn't surfaced yet
 
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