Someone got me this week

Someone got me this week, my Snap On dealer and it was with a toolbox. Always was on me for my older US General box I started with in 2005. Finally noticed it was starting to fall apart in a spot and seen it in his tool truck on Tuesday. Seen me look at and saw I was interested in it asking him how much. Gave me a good deal on it and said I will take it, paid it all off. A 68 inch Epiq that was a repo and I had my eye on it for 3 weeks. I love it and took the US General home today. I already have a top box on order for it

 

I do and have been great to me

 

Great news. I am very happy for you.

 

Retired now. But in my working days I used a craftsman tool chest. On a multi drawer base cabinet. Then a second rolling tool box to roll to each repair or maintenance site. Never saw a need for a huge monster tool box setup. But each their own.

 

I need it, specialty tools needed for the job. Plus my Snap On dealer is awesome, he takes care of me very well and great service out of him. Warranties tools on the spot with no questions asked and I pay him on the spot when he comes if I owe money to him

 

I am not criticizing anyone who feels that they need the storage. Far from it. And I had a few specialty tools of my own that I made. Silly as it may sound. But a lot of special tools didn't exist for a long time. I guess I am dating myself time wise. LOL. We did without our made our own. Now there is just about a tool for everything.

 

I have specialty that are pullers pulling crank pulleys, timing tools, for diesels and a tool kit for the 2004 to 2008 F150s extracting the broken part of the spark plug out of the 3 valve 5.4s are a few examples

 

I worked on industrial machinery. Some specialty equipment. And some parts fabrication.
Also involved electronic drives, wiring etc. Plumbing related to production machinery etc. Everyday was a new crisis . When a production line went down it was drop everything else and hop right on it.

Yeah, I am familiar with the Ford #3 sparkplug blowing out due to short threads. I have replaced a couple. The first one was a learning experience. After that it was just another job.

 

Back when I started work in 1966 at age 15 and a half, I worked in a motor re-engineering shop. I learned how to rebore and hone engines as well as recondition cylinder heads, but didn't do any fitting of the machined parts. We had a fitter called John for that work, and he told me of an old boy he knew back when he first started in the business. This old boy (whose name I forget) had worked as a journeyman fitter for Daimler back in the early 20th century. As such he had to work on the Daimler Double Six engine quite a lot. This was a V12 sleeve valve engine and the old boy had some odd shaped bits of metal in his toolbox. When John enquired what they were the old boy told him they were his timing tools for the sleeve valves. By inserting one of these oddly shaped bits of metal into the sleeve at the bottom of its stroke in one cylinder, he was able to adjust the sleeve in another cylinder to get its opening and closing timing correct. Apparently these odd shaped bits of metal were made by the old boy himself, as Daimler didn't supply such things. So he had to invent and shape up a tool to make his life easier.

Apparently he was a dab hand with a flat file as well, and he regularly used to win bets in pubs by saying that he could file the top of a round bar of steel flatter than a lathe could cut it. When a lathe cuts the top of a round bar of metal, it normally shows up around 60% blued (using engineers blue). The old boy could file the top to around 80% blue or more, he was that good. He'd then go on to win more money (or beer) by saying that he could file a dent into the flat top of a round bar of steel, so that only the outside edge would be blued, and the centre would not. For this he turned over the file so that the tapered side was used. It's not the case nowadays, but back then a 12 inch file had one side that was flat, and the other side tapered from around half the length of the blade. The old boy would use this point where the blade began to taper to file out the centre of the flat surface so that only the outside edge would blue. Clever huh?

The skills that have been lost along the way over the years make me look back with some nostalgia at a time when people did stuff for themselves instead of expecting someone else to make up a special tool for them.