What Did You Buy Today?

[projectnut]

As a bit of a coincidence, I was trawling eBay (here in the UK) for decent sized vices yesterday. I currently have a modern Wilton that I got cheaply from Amazon Warehouse which is fine for using as a beater.

There are quite a few old Parkinson, Record and Woden vices available for reasonable money (£30-£60) but who knows the condition they're in? For a lot of these sellers, 'restoration' means a lick of inexpertly applied paint; I don't mind putting on some new jaw faces but don't want to have to completely rebuild the damn thing or worse, pay £50 for the privilege of taking an assembly of old beaten steel lumps to the recycling centre.

And don't get me started on perfectly good, if a bit grubby and scratched, 5 drawer, wooden tool chests from the likes of Emir, Union or Moore and Wright, 'restored' and then sold on as 'furniture' pieces for £300+.

If you want to store your jewellery or nick-knacks, buy a bloody jewellery box and leave the functional storage to those that want them for their intended use, not as 'cool' vanity items. A few months ago, I saw a smallish unbranded tool chest that had had its simple, plain, metal drawer knobs replaced with faceted crystal knobs; the seller was asking £200-odd.

God, I'm only 53 but I'm turning into Victor Meldrew.

I'm not sure who Victor Meldrew is, but you do sound like a grumpy old man. In my younger days the wife and I visited antique shops on a regular basis. One thing every shop had was machinists' toolboxes. They were so plentiful they often went for less than $20.00 a copy. Even at that price there were usually some tools, union handbooks, or contracts in the mix. They didn't usually bother with anything that wasn't in perfect condition. If they were damaged or missing parts, they usually went in the scrap bin or were broken up for fireplace kindling wood.

Over the years we bought more than a dozen. Some were restored and went to relatives as jewelry boxes, others ended up in my shop or were given to friends for their tools. We still have 6 in the house. One the wife uses for jewelry, and the other 5 are full of tools in the shop. If they hadn't been purchased, I'm sure by now they would all have all gone to the scrap bin. Who knows if they will still exist in another 50 years, and if they do exist what they will be used for.

 

[RandyM]

A Park Tool OM-1 benchtop overhaul mat

I hope this will reduce the amount of those “where the h*** did I put that” moments.

I hope you don't have high expectations of this. I think you are going to be disappointed.

 

[woodchucker]

As a bit of a coincidence, I was trawling eBay (here in the UK) for decent sized vices yesterday. I currently have a modern Wilton that I got cheaply from Amazon Warehouse which is fine for using as a beater.

There are quite a few old Parkinson, Record and Woden vices available for reasonable money (£30-£60) but who knows the condition they're in? For a lot of these sellers, 'restoration' means a lick of inexpertly applied paint; I don't mind putting on some new jaw faces but don't want to have to completely rebuild the damn thing or worse, pay £50 for the privilege of taking an assembly of old beaten steel lumps to the recycling centre.

And don't get me started on perfectly good, if a bit grubby and scratched, 5 drawer, wooden tool chests from the likes of Emir, Union or Moore and Wright, 'restored' and then sold on as 'furniture' pieces for £300+.

If you want to store your jewellery or nick-knacks, buy a bloody jewellery box and leave the functional storage to those that want them for their intended use, not as 'cool' vanity items. A few months ago, I saw a smallish unbranded tool chest that had had its simple, plain, metal drawer knobs replaced with faceted crystal knobs; the seller was asking £200-odd.

God, I'm only 53 but I'm turning into Victor Meldrew.

On a wood working forum years ago we all agreed jewelry boxes were good for the thieves. It gave them single stop thieving.

 

[projectnut]

There was a blurb on a local channel a couple weeks ago about domestic break-ins. One person being interviewed was a professional break in artist before spending some time in jail. She noted the first place she went was the master bedroom and looked for the jewelry box.

I think she would be sorely disappointed if she broke into our house. My wife is not a jewelry person. Everything in the box could be purchased at Penny's, Kohls, or Goodwill. The box itself would be worth more that the contents, and it would bring about $50.00 on the retail market.

 

[FOMOGO]

Also a good place to meet the business end of a 9mm. Mike

She noted the first place she went was the master bedroom and looked for the jewelry box.

 

[SouthernChap]

I'm not sure who Victor Meldrew is, but you do sound like a grumpy old man. In my younger days the wife and I visited antique shops on a regular basis. One thing every shop had was machinists' toolboxes. They were so plentiful they often went for less than $20.00 a copy. Even at that price there were usually some tools, union handbooks, or contracts in the mix. They didn't usually bother with anything that wasn't in perfect condition. If they were damaged or missing parts, they usually went in the scrap bin or were broken up for fireplace kindling wood.

Over the years we bought more than a dozen. Some were restored and went to relatives as jewelry boxes, others ended up in my shop or were given to friends for their tools. We still have 6 in the house. One the wife uses for jewelry, and the other 5 are full of tools in the shop. If they hadn't been purchased, I'm sure by now they would all have all gone to the scrap bin. Who knows if they will still exist in another 50 years, and if they do exist what they will be used for.

Imagine you were looking for functional tool chests and all those tool chests you saw were in a 'restored' condition that made no difference to their value to you and they all cost north of $350.

You'd be pretty bloody grumpy too.

But hey, thanks for your input.

 

[projectnut]

Toolboxes have always been expensive. They're geared towards the professionals that are using their tools on a daily basis and earning a living with them, not hobbyists looking for a bit of nostalgia at yesteryears prices. Even new metal machinists' boxes regularly go for $600.00 or more.

If you think they're expensive start looking at Snap-On mechanics toolboxes. Decent size ones start about $4,000.00 and can go to well over $40,000.00. Many years ago, I was in the auto repair business. Snap on tools were the go-to brand because of their strength, service life, and ability to get into tight places. Even then they were ungodly expensive, but necessary if you wanted to make the flat rate time. Their storage boxes were equally outrageous, but once again heads above the competition as far as quality and longevity.

The last time I turned a wrench professionally was in the 1980's. I still have all the tools and toolboxes I bought from the late 1960's to the time I left the industry. Everything still works as it should. The initial cost was mind boggling compared to the hourly rate mechanics were making at the time. A top of the line fully certified (NIASE) Master Technician was lucky to make $15.00 an hour in the late 1970's, or around $30,000.00 a year. Yet they were required to have an inventory of tools and storage boxes that easily exceeded $15,000.00.

The cost of tools, tool storage, and continuing education were the main reasons I left the industry. Every model year required an additional investment in tools and storage. Minimal tool investment was around $2,000.00 a year, with additional tool storage every 2 to 4 years at another $2,000.00. Add into that schooling which usually ran about $1,000.00 a year. You were spending 10% or more of your gross income just to stay current.

I loved the work, but it wasn't paying well enough to make ends meet. In the mid 1980's the wife convinced me to take a job in the engineering department of a local food manufacturer. For a short period of time I was conflicted. I was missing out on the latest technology, and advancements in the automotive field. I quickly got over it when I was assigned a member of a team to bring a new product to market. My responsibility was to help design the packaging line. It was totally different than anything I'd done in the past and opened a whole new arena of possibilities. It turned out to be the best move I ever made.

Just one grumpy old man to another.

 

[dkemppai]

Toolboxes have always been expensive. They're geared towards the professionals that are using their tools on a daily basis and earning a living with them, not hobbyists looking for a bit of nostalgia at yesteryears prices. Even new metal machinists' boxes regularly go for $600.00 or more.

I used to think they were expensive. Then I started adding up the value of the tools I had laying around the shop. Turns out the toolbox is WAY less expensive than what they store. After I did that, I didn't flinch buying toolboxes when I was running out of space. Just keeping that stuff organized is worth what the toolbox cost.

 

[Provincial]

As a bit of a coincidence, I was trawling eBay (here in the UK) for decent sized vices yesterday. I currently have a modern Wilton that I got cheaply from Amazon Warehouse which is fine for using as a beater.

There are quite a few old Parkinson, Record and Woden vices available for reasonable money (£30-£60) but who knows the condition they're in? For a lot of these sellers, 'restoration' means a lick of inexpertly applied paint; I don't mind putting on some new jaw faces but don't want to have to completely rebuild the damn thing or worse, pay £50 for the privilege of taking an assembly of old beaten steel lumps to the recycling centre.

And don't get me started on perfectly good, if a bit grubby and scratched, 5 drawer, wooden tool chests from the likes of Emir, Union or Moore and Wright, 'restored' and then sold on as 'furniture' pieces for £300+.

If you want to store your jewellery or nick-knacks, buy a bloody jewellery box and leave the functional storage to those that want them for their intended use, not as 'cool' vanity items. A few months ago, I saw a smallish unbranded tool chest that had had its simple, plain, metal drawer knobs replaced with faceted crystal knobs; the seller was asking £200-odd.

God, I'm only 53 but I'm turning into Victor Meldrew.

My post was geared toward those of us here in the former colonies. We don't see many English vices (British spelling) here. I did run across a 4" Record in perfect condition for $15.00 at a garage sale a few years ago, which I put to work. The seller had no idea what it was really worth!

 

[SouthernChap]

My post was geared toward those of us here in the former colonies. We don't see many English vices (British spelling) here. I did run across a 4" Record in perfect condition for $15.00 at a garage sale a few years ago, which I put to work. The seller had no idea what it was really worth!

Sounds like there are enough old Wiltons around that a bit of patience and a short trip to see the item can net a good vice.

I could look for an older York vice (I believe the Czech founder nicked the design from Wilton) but I'm mostly seeing the newer Yorks that are off lesser quality (although possibly better than the Chinese vices everybody seems to sell).

I'd be happy to pay a decent price for an old Record No. 5 or 6 that I knew was in a decent mechanical condition or a Parkinson or Woden but eh, it's the fear that I may end up paying to do someone else's recycling.

It's not like buying an older lathe. Happy to trolley up to the blasted wastes of the North for a Boxford to take a looksee. Four hours travelling just to see a vice and find out that it's a basket case of rust and knackered threads is probably a bit much though.

Eh, maybe £50-odd + £15 postage isn't too much to take a punt I guess.