Inheritance gloat - Old 'Arn of a different kind

[cpw]

Well, 37 years after my Great Grandfather passed, I finally got the last of my inheritance - a 50 ft. Wardmast'r Nickel Plated Steel Measuring Tape in the original box from Monkey Ward.



Anyone have any advice on determining the vintage? There aren't any dates on anything.

 

[cpowell]

I don't know how to determine vintage and so on but I really think it would be cool to use a tape that my great-grandfather had used. That's a gloat in my book!! :icon_thum


Chuck

 

[sapwood]

Clearly your grandfather treasured it to keep original box and original condition. :icon_thum Enjoy it and the memories to evokes.

Roger

 

[Joe Lyddon]

Very NICE gloat / inheritance!

I've inherited a few things too... it seems that smaller things have great impacts and continue to remind one of where they came from.

Enjoy!

 

[cpw]

Have you looked at the label with a magnifying glass? Sometimes printers marks will indicate the date of printing.

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to check it out.

 

[KC7CN]

Well, 37 years after my Great Grandfather passed, I finally got the last of my inheritance - a 50 ft. Wardmast'r Nickel Plated Steel Measuring Tape in the original box from Monkey Ward.

That's great! Did you know him well?

I have a few of my Grandfathers tools. He was a carpenter! A long wooden level, about 4'' wide and 7 feet in length. A couple of wood planes, hand plans, hand saws, and miscellaneous hand tools. I made a frame with peg board, for a shop display.

-Don

 

[NCPete]

I've got my Grandfather's ole (craftsman) #7 plane. I had thought I had explained clearly that I wanted everything in his old carpenter's box, but most of the contents made it into the yardsale after my father passed. Mom did save that one piece tho' and it makes a great user plane... now if only it had a great user.:BangHead:

looks like that will make a nice old tape!

 

[cpw]

That's great! Did you know him well?

No. I was only six when he died, and he had already had a couple of strokes. I don't ever remember him speaking. Mom's told me a lot. Her parents split shortly after she was born so her grandparents (my great-grandparents) raised her, and her mom went to work at the hospital in Sylva to pay the mortgage on the farm.

I have a few of my Grandfathers tools. He was a carpenter! A long wooden level, about 4'' wide and 7 feet in length. A couple of wood planes, hand plans, hand saws, and miscellaneous hand tools. I made a frame with peg board, for a shop display.

Dadoo was a jack of all trades. He had a small mill on a sled so he cut and rough sawed lumber and made things for around the farm. He did a lot of sharpening on the side, too. I have a small chest of tools. Most of the good stuff was gone by the time I got it (unscrupulous renters). One wooden plane, but I think it's beyond use. The coolest things in there were a sharpening stone on a flywheel and his adjustable sawtooth set.

 

[jeff...]

Do you have a pic of the end of the tape? Does it flip down and have little spikes or is smooth?

 

[cpw]

Do you have a pic of the end of the tape? Does it flip down and have little spikes or is smooth?

The first inch of the tape is a loose swivel loop that has a tight swivel attached. The tight swivel has spikes on it. Sorry the pictures aren't clearer. My camera does not macro-focus very well.

 

[Gotcha6]

It's sad to see the way we often discard the old tools & ways. With laser rangefinders & such people don't seem to have a use for the old stuff. You can't even find a decent carpenter's square anymore. Most all the ones you see @ the BORG are simple 'framing squares' & the clerks don't seem to know the difference. With the advent of engineered trusses & prefab homes the carpentry trade is getting 'dumbed down'. Hold onto the tape. It looks like a keeper!