Building time machines

[Doug]

I drove home late from work today, I stayed to sand blast a Coleman stove....

An old one from the 40's I am restoring.
I cleamed, primed it and hung it in my little corner near some lanterns from the 40 & 50s.
Across from some blow torches and old tools from the 40s to 60s.
Near some fishing tackel and an outboard from the 30s and 40s.
And of course the Petteroid and some old saws and farming stuff ( yes I own a plow don't ask me why )

And then I cut the grass with a 40 year old lawn mower.

It struck me.

I am trying to rebuild my child hood and I am surounding myself with things from camping trips, house hold chores.

Weird eh?
I know a lot of people here collect stuff too some of it valuable some of it not.
So am I alone is this a common thread with us because everyone here seems to have a fascination with old things?

I've been thinking about Mortality lately ( no I am not dying some smart ass will ask ).
Am I trying to make a link of some kind from the past to my son because he is involed and interested in all this stuff just cause Dad does it righht now.

I don't know lets see where this thread runs.....
 

[Petersbpus]

Old stuff is simply better.
I don't own a vehicle I haven't had the engine out of at one time, never made a car payment,
Never broken down on the side of the road when I didn't deserve it cause I didn't tend to a problem I knew about.
and yes when my "new" Roid project is up and running I can return to my grandfathers Iowa farm whenever I want too.
He a John Deere "B" that was old even then.
I realized the other day I used my  ring compressor on the Roid piston, I bought in 1969 or 70,
I upsets me when something has to be tossed away because one part went bad and cannot be bought.

I did toss out my Dad's old coleman stove, it had a copper cylindrical tank, oops.
Bob

[DaveW]

Doug -

   Weird is as weird does.  I have a passion for old hand tools, but especially Stanley hand planes.  I have most of the more usable models restored and in use.  One of my hobbies for the past 50 years has been building furniture.  My model 45 Stanley now comes equipped with blade shapes that Stanley never dreamed of.  Using a flat piece of tool steel and making my own is far more satisfying than ordering a custom router bit.  The thing that surprises most people is that I can do a better job (and almost as fast) as a shop equipped with big screaming power tools, and my neighbors don't complain about late night noise.
  Mind you, I'm not crazy.  I have big saws to cut the lumber just oversize to start a project.  But from there I prefer to work by hand.  I still sharpen and set my own saws, and make my own custom chisels.  This is not crazy, nor weird, just a small spot of sanity in an increasingly strange world.  My little workshop, often powered by a Lister, is my haven.

[mobile_bob]

my first set of real tools that i bought with my own money was a set of 1/2inch drive sk sockets,
7/16-1" with a ratchet, an extension, sparkplug socket  all in the green crinkly finish metal box.
cost me a bit  18 bucks plus tax way back when.

i had friends borrow them, and manage to refind each and every piece to put back,
as an adult i had an employee take them home to work on his car
and i found them scattered in his back lawn,, but somehow i found each and every piece.

just like a trusted friend they kept coming home,,

then a few years ago, another employee decided to liberate the complete set and i never saw them again

then the other day i was thinking about them, and looked on ebay
bought another set, but guess what my winning bid was?

first set in 1968 , 18 bucks plus tax
ebay set 2008  ,  81 bucks plus shipping

isn't it wierd how often the inverse relationship pops up!

then i learned something else
alot of folks collect sk, sk wayne tools!

i guess i never thought of them as collectables

btw, yes i am a fanatic about collecting old stuff
old books, a 55 chevy 2dr that i have had for the last 34 years, and a bunch of cool stuff the ex stole

oh well, what she took i just went out and replace with cast iron!

bob g

[rcavictim]

I have had an interest in television technology most of my life and instead of collecting antique radios I decided to start collecting antique television sets back about 11 years ago when I moved in to my current place where I have, err had room to collect stuff and display it.  I collected only the round screen sets from the 1940's and the very early round screen color receivers, the first color sets being introduced in 1954.  I collected enough to open a small museum over about five years and then had to stop bringing them home due to lack of any more room in my house.     These are interesting glimpses into the past when life was simpler and consumer goods were designed to be repaired. Wooden furniture was actually made out of wood, not plastic or resin and sawdust.   I have restored a few of them to operational condition but most have left unmolested.  I especially enjoy watching the early round screen color sets.  That was quite an amazing piece of tech for the era.  What is even more amazing is how good the engineers back then involved with setting the standards that TV was based upon got it. With the exception being only the relatively recent HDTV formats, the method producing a television picture on all of our TV sets is from virtually unchanged from the standard (525 line, 60 field/sec, interlaced scan) adopted in North America by the NTSC (National Television Systems Commitee) back in the 40's.  The compatible color signal (analog non HDTV) is the same today as the format accepted by the FCC back in 1953.

[Ratman]

Parafin lamps and heaters, brought up on the things, love the smell. Trouble is parafin is just so bloody expensive now.
Imperial measurement, feet and inches, pounds and ounces, pints and gallons.
Rob.......lives in the old times.

[Doug]

So these are time machines....

[t19]

I just finished restoring my 78 Camaro Z28

just like the one I had in college... its not a mid life thing, I just really loved that car ...and my hair, and my 32 inch waste...

[mactoollover2005]

t19,,, congrats on completely restoring your camaro, but sorry to hear about the hair and waist. Guess u need to get out of the puzzle palace and come back to the working side of DND

Derek

[t19]

I am a Civilian Silly Servant at the Puzzle palace having retired 1 May 08

I am now working to make your pay and HR experiance more meaningful for you..  Oh yes I am from HQ and I am here to help

BTW
Getting a new girlfriend is like joining the army. You get a new haircut, new clothes and all information is given to you on a need to know basis.

[Flyingpony]

Strange times in deed.

I'm looking at buying a 4wd, no doubt a '67 or so model but as for motorcycles, anything made before 2000 is too old - ha!

[mactoollover2005]

T19- congrats on your retirement, only 10 more for me and i will have 35.
Derek

[Stan]

Congrats Andrew.  I'm currently in Ottawa, overseeing the raising of our newest grandchild, 2 weeks old yesterday.
Stan