A Hank Of Stainless Steel Wire

There must be the better part of 100' of the stuff there.

I miked it and got a diameter of 0.047" (approximately No. 18 U.S. standard wire gauge, 0.0475").

That deserves its own nail to hang on from a joist, next to some hanks of ordinary steel wire.

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A Clev-Dent No. 21 Dental Pick

The Clev-Dent firm appears to no longer be with us.

The pictured tool is 5 13/16" long; its octagonal handle is 3/16" A/F (Across Flats). It's made of stainless steel.

Dental picks are also useful as mechanics' tools; they're just the thing for persuading o-rings to vacate their grooves. Princess Auto carries a couple of dental pick sets.

This one can go in the drawer where I have some similar tools.

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A 1/2" Brass Punch

That's the first hex-headed punch I've ever seen. It can go in my chisels and punches drawer.

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A Gray C2 Cold Chisel

Gray Tools is still a going concern, and 'C2' is still their catalogue number for a 1/2" cold chisel.

This can go in the drawer with all my other cold chisels.

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A MAXTECH 1/16" Nail Set

Quite a spiffy nail set this is. This is the first I've seen of the MAXTECH brand.

This can join my other nail sets in their drawer.

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A Gouge Handmade From A Nail

That's a six-inch common nail that my dad did a beautiful grinding job on to make a small gouge chisel. It may have been for some gunsmithing purpose -- for modifying a rifle stock, possibly.

Nail steel is not tool steel, so the gouge wouldn't hold its edge very well, but for a one-off use, I'm sure it worked well.

This can go in my chisels drawer.

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A Mystery Nozzle

I'm not even certain that it is a nozzle.

I've called it a 'nozzle' because it's vaguely nozzle-shaped, it's hollow and its large-diameter end is threaded inside for about 5/16".

The major diameter is just over 1/2", so I'll stash it in my 1/2" rod & tubing bin. I really can't think where else to put it.

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A Stitching Awl

At least, I think that's what it is.

On the handle, it appears to say, "ARROW No. 2". It's indistinct; I can't be certain I've read it correctly. I can find nothing relevant on the internet. There is an Arrow Fastener Co. that makes staplers and other fastening tools, but I doubt they ever made this sort of thing

It's a finely made tool. The nose of it is a collet chuck. The cap is flatted on two sides for a 3/8" wrench. Here's a view of it taken apart.

The needle's major diameter is 3/32".

Anyway, I'll put this away with my Speedy Stitcher; they sort of belong together.

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A Necchi Oiler

This little oiler is quite a piece of work. If you loosen the cap a bit, you can pull out its 2mm diameter brass nozzle a little over three inches, like so.

The nozzle has an exquisite little machined brass cap that screws off.

Necchi was an Italian sewing machine manufacturer. There's no website, so I can only take it that the firm is no longer with us. The odd thing is that there's not even a Wikipedia entry about the firm.

From what little I did find via Google, Necchi was once a major player in the sewing machine field. There are three good advertising illustrations here. (The second one is awesome -- we're talkin' sewing machine porn here.)

Anyway, this item can go up on the shelf where I keep my other small oilers.

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A Couple Of Chuck Keys

These both appear to be more-or-less the Jacobs 'KG1' type. The 'L'-handled one at the left has a couple of chipped teeth.

Chuck key specifications/part-numbering is one of those areas of workshop arcana that no one seems to have a good handle on. What information there is is sketchy at best.

Anyway, with these two spare keys added to my stuff, I'll dedicate a drawer of a small parts cabinet to chuck keys.

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A Handmade Miniature Cold Chisel

My dad must have made this from a broken-off length of 9/32" diameter round file. It's quite a skillful piece of work -- grinding long tapers like those is a delicate bit of business.

This can join all my other cold chisels in their drawer.

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Mystery Part

Well, what on earth might this be?

I googled the part number embossed on it (MBC-444-E), and discovered that it's a DeVilbiss spray gun part. [Scroll down to page 5 of the pdf document -- it's item 3B at the upper right, the 'needle'.]

The needle's diameter is 9/64"; into the 9/64" rod and tubing bin^[1] it goes.

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Note:

[1] It just dawned on me that I don't have a 9/64" bin. I do have a 1/8" and 5/32" rod and tubing bin. That will have to serve as a 9/64" bin as well.

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A 1/4" Wood Chisel

This is another CANADIAN CHAMPION chisel. The tools were beautifully made. I can find nothing about the firm that produced them -- lost in the mists of time, I guess.

The chisel needs to be properly ground, and now that I have my new belt sander/grinder, that should be a breeze. Meanwhile, this can go in my chisels drawer.

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Miniature Nail Puller?

This item has me baffled. It's exquisitely made. There's no maker's name on it. I've never seen one of these, whatever it is, before.

I think I'll hang it on a nail on a tool-board where it'll stay in sight, and see if a use suggests itself somewhere down the road.

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Filing Machine Files

They're both made by Nicholson. They're pretty obscure items. (The small one is broken at one end.)

There are such things as 'filing machines'. They're roughly analogous to scroll saws -- they reciprocate a file, rather than a saw blade, up and down through an opening in a table. This outfit offers the makings of one.

If I had limitless resources, I'd get one of those. I could see that being a very helpful machine for some types of delicate work. But I don't have limitless resources, so I'll just stash these in the drawer where I keep files.

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A Miniature Tubing Cutter

It's quite an exquisite little tool. I already have one. Into the spare tools drawer it goes.

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A Long 1/4" Masonry Drill

It's a little over 13" long; it's in very good condition.

On the shank it says, "1/4" 6.5 MM P&N"

Hmmmm.

Bullshit metric equivalents irritate me. 1/4" is 6.35mm. I put a caliper on the drill's business end, and read 6.65mm diameter. I think what it ought to say on the shank is, "Close enough to 1/4" 6.5mm."

Anyway, it looks like a fine tool, apart from that little quibble.

"P&N" stands for "Patience & Nicholson" -- a New Zealand firm that makes all kinds of stuff. P&N is now fifty years old. I have a set of their screw extractors that I bought when I was a teenager. So, as my son pointed out to me at the dinner table this evening, I must have been one of their earliest customers who helped get them going. Here's a view of the screw extractor set.

The closed lid of the container (which refuses to close properly) looks like this.

On the lid it says, "P&N SCREW EXTRACTORS SET 15 Nos. 1-5 MARYBOROUGH VICTORIA AUSTRALIA". I guess P&N moved from Australia to New Zealand at some point.

I googled that logo image, and came up empty. I didn't see a 'P&N' logo quite like that come up. (Note the superimposition of the upper part of the 'P' over a silhouette of Australia.) Do you know how old all of that makes me out to be? I'm so bleeping old that I have things in my possession that not even Google can find. I may as well be as old as the bleeping pyramids in Egypt, fer chrissakes!

Anyway, this drill can join the few other long masonry drills I have in the second shallow drawer of my big tool chest.

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Coping Saw Blades

They're 6", 14 tpi blades -- two left from a package of twelve.

I still have occasional use for these things; they're not as obsolete as auger bits are. That blister pack can hang on a hook with some similar items.

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A Rubber-Headed Mallet

It's small and light. 'Just the thing for gently nudging or persuading something along without bruising it.

It can go in the spare tools drawer for now.

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An Auger Bit

I still have a few of these. I think the last time I used one was when I was a boy. The spade bit and the power drill have pretty much obsoleted these things. (Boring a hole with an auger bit bears a distinct resemblance to work. Boring a hole with a spade bit and a power drill bears much less resemblance to work.)

The pictured bit is a slightly oversize 5/8". It's in pretty good condition. There's no maker's name on it.

It can join my other auger bits that I never use anymore.

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A KUTTO Carton Cutter

This is a style of knife I've never seen before. The design provides for very exact depth-of-cut adjustment.

As with many utility knives, the handle is a spare blades storage compartment; it opens up like so.

On the handle it says, "(KUTTO) PAT'D 1-10-40^[1] MFG'D BY THE MODERN SPEC. CO., 4140 W. HARRISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL."

That outfit still exists, but their address in Chicago has changed. They still make a very similar knife, but I don't see this exact style in their product list.

Into the spare tools drawer with it.

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Note:

[1] That date was a bit indistinct; I may not have transcribed it quite correctly.

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A Double-Edged Pruning Knife With A Sheath

That sheath is a length of bicycle inner tube, stapled shut at one end. It fits the blade remarkably well.

It's quite a nice knife. There's no maker's name on it anywhere. The handle is excellent -- plenty substantial so you can really get a grip on it.

The garden tools drawer is getting crammed; this can go into a different spare tools drawer.

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A Cheap Little Spanner

The small end at the left is 10mm. The end at the right appears to have been filed for some particular application -- it's sort of 1/2", but the jaws aren't parallel. I'll see if can improve that end, and clean this thing up. Maybe I'll even give it a paint job, just for the heck of it.

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Here it is all fixed up.

I had a little bit of dark blue spray paint left, so I used that. It's actually not a bad colour for a tool. I drilled a hole through it so it can hang on a nail with a few other small spanners. (Also, the hole was needed as a place where I could 'screw' the thing onto the very first thread of a long wood screw, so I'd have a means of holding it for spray painting. That accounts for the slight flaw in the paint job right at the hole.)

I squeezed the large end in the vise to correct the parallelism of the jaws. That turned the large end into a slightly oversize 12mm spanner.

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A Dunlap No. 30830 Bevel Gauge

This bevel gauge is way finer than either of the two that I already have. It's going to get 'pride of place' in my measuring tools cabinet, in place of the low-end Stanley bevel gauge that has so far occupied that space. The Stanley bevel gauge can go snuggle up in the drawer with the really low-end bevel gauge.

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A 2" Plane Iron and Lever Cap

They're in pretty rough condition. The plane iron (blade) looks like it's been used as a chisel -- the upper end is mushroomed a bit from hammering.

I searched for that "BLACK-DIAMOND" logo and came up empty. The name 'Black Diamond' is in use here and there, but not with that logo. I guess the BLACK-DIAMOND outfit that once made planes is no longer with us.

I have a retired 2" plane iron that dwells in the bottom of a tool box. These two items can join it, like so.

There, they even have a slipcase now; they can't complain about the accommodation.

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A General Flaring Tool Die

The flaring cone yoke is missing, though, so it's not much use to anyone.

There's no model number on it, but it's probably the low-end model 151.

I already have a better flaring tool than this one -- an Imperial Eastman 195-FC. The General die can go in the drawer where I keep the Imperial Eastman tool.

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A 20-Ounce Ball Peen Hammer

There's no maker's name on it. The handle looks like a replacement. The handle is well-fitted and wedged. This is not a bad tool at all.

I'm fairly well equipped with ball peen hammers as it is, though I don't have a 20-ounce one. This can go in a spare tools drawer for now.

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A Stanley 382a Block Plane, Maybe

I found one example of this exact plane at the website of an outfit known as Rose Tools Inc. The '382a' model number doesn't appear anywhere on this plane, so I can't be certain of that model number. I'll assume that Rose Tools knows what they're talking about.

On the plane's base it says, "MADE IN USA". On the 1 5/16" wide blade it says, "DEFIANCE by Stanley MADE IN CAN No. 1248".

This plane has an unfortunate problem; the blade-clamp's threaded stud is broken, with part of it seized in the iron cap's female thread, like so.

That will be a challenging fault to rectify. This can go on my 'work-in-progress' shelf for me to attend to.

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A Mystery Thread Chaser

The business end's thread is 7/16"-27. 7/16"-27 is a listed UNS (UNified Special) thread, but I've never encountered an application of it. I suspect it may be used in some sort of pipe-fitting fastening.

The tool doesn't look like it's ever been used. I'll stash it in the drawer where I keep all my odd taps and dies.

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A 2 1/2" C-Clamp

It's missing the pad for the end of the screw, and that's a pretty lame looking screw.

There's a logo on the frame that looks like a capital 'F' enclosed in a 'diamond'. I don't recognize it.

Fabricating a replacement pad for the screw could be an interesting problem. I must give some thought to how that could be done.

Meanwhile, this can go in my spare tools drawer.

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A Harris 4" Putty Knife

The blade is in fine condition.

Harris appears to still be a going concern.

This can join my other putty knives.

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A 3/4" Wood Chisel

And it has its own leather edge protector.

On the front it says "ARDEX", and on the rear it says "GERMANY". It must pre-date WWII, since there's no indication of 'West' or 'East' Germany, and it's unlikely to be from the time since reunification.

I'm sure I've seen the name 'Ardex' on tools before, but the 'Ardex' I find via Google doesn't appear to be a tool maker.

Anyway, it looks like quite a fine chisel, though it does need to be reground properly. Into the chisels drawer it goes.

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A 12-Ounce Claw Hammer

It's a cheap, no-name tool, but it's quite decent. The handle is well secured and comfortable. I like it. It can go in my spare tools drawer for now.

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A Faucet Valve Seat Ruiner...er...Reamer

Perhaps there are those who know how to use these things to good effect. I don't.

I think I'll stash this in my bin of 3/8" diameter stuff. If I ever need a 3/8"-16 ring nut, I'll know where to find one.

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A Mystery Chisel

It looks to me like a variant of a woodturning parting chisel, but my dad didn't do any woodturning. It may have been a gunsmithing tool. There's room for it in my lathe chisels rack. I'll put it there and see how it is as a parting chisel.

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A 3/8" Square Drive Spinner Handle

Can I ever use this. I have a couple of these in 1/4" drive, but I could often use a bigger one. This is going to get a hole drilled through the handle so I can hang it on a nail on a toolboard.

All it says on the handle is "MADE IN U.S.A." The quality looks as good as Snap-On, but there's no maker's name on it.

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A Little Specialized Spanner

[I've been away from this project for quite awhile; 'time to get back to it.]

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Here's a little spanner that I have no idea what its purpose was. It's about three inches long; about one inch across the full width of its head. It's quite nicely made.

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Wouldn't it be neat to have a time machine? A time machine that you could show an item to, and say, "Time machine, take me back to when and where this was in use, and let me be a fly on the wall there." There is, of course, the downside possibility to that that you might learn things you'd really rather not know.

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In any event, this belongs in my 'little specialized spanners' drawer. Where else?

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A Small Handmade Carving Knife

This may be a gunsmithing tool. The blade must have been made from a length of rod that was heated and hammered to shape, then ground and sharpened. It's not pretty, but it was quite nicely done.

It can go in the drawer I keep chisels in.

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A Curved Cutter

The handle looks hand made, and the blade appears to have been curved and ground by hand. This may be a gunsmithing tool.

The name Herberholz is etched at the base of the blade. Herberholz GmbH is a German firm and a going concern, but they only make valves and associated gear.

I'll stash this in a drawer where I keep chisels; perhaps a use will suggest itself someday.

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An X-ACTO Razor Saw

This one has about had it -- its teeth are a ruin.

I got the handle off and apart.














The saw can go in a scrap metal bin; it might be useful as shim stock if nothing else.

That handle could make a fine file handle with a bit of work. I'll stash it with some other file handles I have that I've yet to install on files.

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A Salvaged 1/2" Garden Hose Fitting

It's a pretty rough-looking bit of gear. I'll chuck it in the lathe and see if I can tidy up that torn ferrule remnant.

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A bit of lathe work and some solder and voila.

No one will ever accuse it of being pretty, but it's not too shabby considering what I started with.

Into the hose fittings bin with it.

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