Hemmings Motor News Blog Blog

Hemmings Motor News Blog

Hemmings Motor News has been around since 1954. We're proud of our heritage, but we're also more than the Hemmings full of classifieds that your father subscribed to. Aside from new editorial content every month in Hemmings, we have three monthly magazines: Hemmings Muscle Machines, Hemmings Classic Car and Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car.

While our editors traverse the country to find the best content for those magazines, we find other oddities related to the old-car hobby that we really had no place for - until now. With this blog, we're giving you a behind-the-scenes look at what we see and what we do during the course of putting out some of the finest automotive magazines you'll ever read.

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Hand-Me-Down Tools That Still Get Used

Posted June 21, 2018 9:00 AM by dstrohl

Over the years word has gotten out around my family that I collect vintage tools, so whenever a member decides it’s time to get rid of theirs, they tend to call me first. Fortunately, many of the hand-me-down tools I’ve received I can still use. Some of them came from my grandfathers, but I also got others, along with a Craftsman toolbox, from my wife’s uncle, Lenny.

A few of the more noteworthy pieces are shown in this article. One of the go-to tools of this group has been Lenny’s vintage model 6404 Makita 3/8-inch corded drill. Regardless of the fact that its reverse function doesn’t work anymore, I still find myself reaching for it regularly for typical tasks, which also include taking rusted car parts down to bare metal with a 3M paint and rust stripping disc. So far it’s been indestructible.

Tools that last a lifetime-plus. Imagine that. Got any hand-me-downs on your workbench?

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#1

Re: Hand-Me-Down Tools That Still Get Used

06/29/2018 10:44 AM

Here is one that gets used at least on a weekly basis. I wish they still made them like this.

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#2

Re: Hand-Me-Down Tools That Still Get Used

07/01/2018 12:06 AM

My dad purchased this saw for $50 in 1950. That was a week's salary back then. I received it back around 1992. Gets used frequently. One tricky part is that it has a 1/2 inch arbor. Most blades these days are for a 5/8 inch arbor.

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#3

Re: Hand-Me-Down Tools That Still Get Used

07/01/2018 12:15 AM

This is a router that was gifted to my dad from his former boss about 20 years ago, when he gave up his woodworking due to poor eyesight. I received it a few years ago when my mom and dad were downsizing into a retirement community.

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Guru
Hobbies - DIY Welding - Wannabeabettawelda

Join Date: May 2007
Location: Annapolis, Maryland
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#4

Re: Hand-Me-Down Tools That Still Get Used

07/01/2018 12:24 AM

When my dad purchased this saw, he was building a two and one-half car garage for our house in Hingham, Mass back in the early sixties. He figured if the saw lasted long enough to get the garage finished, he would have got his money's worth. Still going . . . .

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