Dad's tool collection
From ChapmanCentral
I don't think I collect tools, as such, though my wife would probably disagree. I do, however, find it hard to throw them away, and it's difficult to pass an interesting tool in Drew's without feeling at least some temptation to buy it.
My father also likes tools, and many of the tools I now have were his - or were accumulated by him from other relatives (we have a lot of my great-uncle Rube's tools, including some hand planes and a spokeshave). Dad also liked brass plates with instructions - I must look out some of these.
These are some of the more interesting tools I've picked up along the way.
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Smiths "chronocounter"
The chronocounter is part counter, part stopwatch, made by Smiths Industries. I would guess that this originated with Uncle Jimmy, since he worked for Smiths before moving to the Post Office. It is most likely a legacy of Dad's time lecturing on abrasive wheel safety. The counter will clock up one per revolution, and the watch hand is a standard 60-second stopwatch timer. The timer runs when the mandrel is pressed in; the plan is that you press the mandrel to the rotating thimgumajig and let it run for somewhere around a minute, then divide the counted revolutions by the time.
 The chronocounter |
 The chronocounter |
 Instructions |
Smiths abrasive wheel meter
I don't actually know the porper name for this tool, but wjat it does is obvious from the instructions. It is designed for measuring rotational and surface speeds of abrasive wheels. The spindle can be applied to the ub of the wheel to measure rpm, or the surface speed wheel can be used to measure cutting speeds. The surface speed wheel does not look to have been used much, if at all. I presume one is supposed to cover the abrasive wheel surface with something to stop it wearing the speed wheel down.
 The rev counter |
 The rev counter |
 Instructions |
Sykes-Pickavant brake pipe tool
I acquired this second-hand when I was rebuilding Harold the Barrel, the missing parts were never there (you buy the tool then buy the collets you need for the sizes of pipe you'll work with). It's a pretty standard brake pipe tool, and with it I made new brake pipes for several Minis and sundry other vehicles. It will produce convex and double flares, the former being standard brake unions and the latter used for end-to-end connections to join two pipes together. Top Tip: don't forget to put the union on the pipe before flaring it. DAMHIKIJKOK. As with a lot of tools stored in my dad's workshop, this one has become somewhat corroded and could do with a good clean.
 The brake tool |
 The brake tool, note the pipe cutter |
 Brake pipe in collet |
 This is the result |
 (not a very good one, the pipe was protruding slightly too far) |
 Instructions |
A folding 12" ruler
Apparently a freebie from the Rawlplug company (I'll put in some pictures of Rawlplug tools at some point), this is a folding 12" ruler in a leather pouch.
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