The Weekend Hobby Thread (5/4/24) Authored TRex

Welcome hobbyists. Do not adjust your interweb. A spin of the Ace of Spades “wheel of hobbies” has come up with tools. In this case, “tools” refers to implements of hobbying rather than people who are annoying.

Interested in your favorite tools, tools you’ve acquired or inherited, mystery tools, tools that you wish you used more often, tools that you’ve acquired or tools that you’ve built, tools loved and lost, tools that saved the day, most obscure tools, oldest and newest tools, and tools with sentimental value. What tool have you bought knowing you had absolutely no use or need but couldn’t resist because it was impossibly cool and clever? Come forth with your stories of tools.
Looking forward to silliness and shenanigans until CDB releases a fresh music thread.
As usual, keep this thread limited to hobbies. Politics and current events can wait for other threads. Wear your safety glasses and do not smash your finger with a hammer.

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What time is it? Tool time!

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Top photo: The modern crescent-style wrench did not come from the US. Instead, it traces to inventor J.P. Johansson in Enkoping, Sweden. He earned a patent for the first crescent-style wrench in 1892. (In the U.S., Crescent Tool Co. first built a crescent-style wrench in 1907.) Wrenches were made in Enkoping under the Bahco brand name for many years. The large-scale sculpture was installed in a Enkoping round-about as a nod to its history.

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“TRex, I have an old wrench that could use some restoration. How can I do that?”
Well-made tools can have multiple lives: Restoring an old wrench

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“TRex, I’ve heard that some people collect wrenches. Do you have an example? What’s the most desirable wrench for a collector?” Glad you asked.
John Deere originally made plows. In 1912, the conservative company considered expanding into tractors. A board member, Joseph Dain, was tasked with developing and building a prototype. He did and it was tested. 100 were made in 1917 and 1918 and sold mostly in the Dakotas. In 1918, Deere bought the Waterloo Gasoline Tractor Company and its Waterloo Boy tractor which was much cheaper. That was the end of the Dain tractor. Apparently, Deere repurchased almost all, had them destroyed, and didn’t really acknowledge the Dain. Only two are said to remain. By this point, you’re likely asking, “TRex, what does any of this have to do with tools?”
A wrench was delivered with each tractor. Only nine (or eleven? Or twelve?) are known to survive. One was sold at auction in 2017 for $16,500.

Other sales have brought big money, so that wasn’t an aberration. Collectors aren’t just looking for wrenches: A rusty toolbox that was mounted on the tractor was sold at auction in 2018 for $10,000.

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“TRex, can I use a wrench to apply leverage with my screwdriver?” Yes. Yes, you can (presuming you have the right wrench and screwdriver).

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“TRex, I know this isn’t the gun thread, but my hobby is firearms. What basic tools should a gunsmith have?”

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“TRex, what happens with all those tool returns to Home Depot?” Apparently, some of them get bundled together on pallets and sold in bulk at liquidation auctions.

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“TRex, are there sites on the interweb with unusual tools that I didn’t know existed and didn’t know I needed?” Yes, yes there are. Life has an endless supply of use cases and clever people developing solutions.

Popular Mechanics: 13 Weird Tools You've Likely Never Seen Before (My favorite is the “Dogleg Reamer,” mostly because of the name.)

Family Handyman: 15 Bizarre Looking Tools and What They’re Used For (Don’t miss the Lignatool Set Schnittführung)

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Engineering flowchart:

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“TRex, isn’t duct tape the world’s most useful tool?” We won’t wade into the “duct v. duck” tape debate, but this video has a ton of history:

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This thread is sponsored by Binford Tools.

posted by Misanthropic Humanitarian at 05:30 PM

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