Most treasured hand tool.

[Gr8trim4u]

Curious what people feel like is their most treasured hand tool. Inherited, passed down, legacy tool from you past. Whatever it maybe.

Mine is a 10" drywall knife. I have had it since 1994. I had relocated from the west coast to Elizabethtown Ky to work for my fathers drywall company. The knife was brand new. I was chasing my father through the house he was running a Bazooka(any of you know what taping tools are, this thing can keep 2 guys busy trying to catch it). I was wiping down and the knife was leaving no mud behind. My dad grabs it out of my hands proceed to a door jamb. Both hands on each end and proceed to slam it right in the middle of the jamb. TO this day it has the perfect bow for taping. Every time i handle it (less frequency these days) I still feel a sense of pride and knowing its history. My father passed 5 years ago. Every time I hold and use that knife i have a connection.

My second one would be an Occidental trimmers belt my kids gave to me on fathers day some 20 years ago. I have given to my son who know trims with me on the summers when he is home from college.

 

[DB10]

For me my 20oz Estwing claw hammer, nothing special about this hammer and it can still be bought today and looks exactly the same with its blue handle although over the years the handle has turned a dark green. But when I bought this hammer I was 16 and just starting out as an apprentice carpenter on site, it cost me nearly a weeks wages and my boss at the time said buy the best tools you can afford and they will last a life time, I've had it now for nearly 34 years and apart from one not so nice hand plane that got superseded my hammer is the only original tool from when I first started out, It goes everywhere with me and I've mislaid it numerous times over the years but always managed to find it again, so I guess it just reminds me of starting out.

 

[mwhafner]

For me my 20oz Estwing claw hammer, nothing special about this hammer and it can still be bought today and looks exactly the same with its blue handle although over the years the handle has turned a dark green. But when I bought this hammer I was 16 and just starting out as an apprentice carpenter on site, it cost me nearly a weeks wages and my boss at the time said buy the best tools you can afford and they will last a life time, I've had it now for nearly 34 years and apart from one not so nice hand plane that got superseded my hammer is the only original tool from when I first started out, It goes everywhere with me and I've mislaid it numerous times over the years but always managed to find it again, so I guess it just reminds me of starting out.

That is pretty much my story as well.  I was 15 when I bought mine, but otherwise identical.  The milled face is almost completely smooth now. 

 

[HarveyWildes]

A wood handled screwdriver with a full shaft from my grandfather.  He may have made the shaft, but at some point I know he put a new handle on it.  It's the only bit of his workmanship that I have - I've had it for over 40 years now.  I do use it occasionally.

As far as tools that I bought myself, I love the 22oz smooth head, fiberglass handled Plumb hammer that I got when I was framing just out of college.  They still make the 16oz version, but the balance and feel of the 22oz hammer, and the way it absorbs shock, is just wonderful.  I jealously protect it when I'm working with other people.

 

[hrrb]

...not sure it can be categorized as a hand tool.

My dear son gave me a swiss army knife at my 40 yrs birthday almost 10 years ago.
The knife hasn't left my pocket ever since!

/Henrik

 

[curt boyer]

Most treasured hand tool? Who your favorite child? Very tough choices, so here are some tools that I carry in my tool vest every day that make work easier and put a smile on my face when I use them!
Cheers
Curt

 

[clark_fork]

My Kapex Jr.

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[leakyroof]

Winchester Hand Plane, made for them by Sargent. It was my Grandfathers, then my Dads', and now mine.  It's worth a chuckle to see the Winchester Scirpt on the tool as well, knowing it was more at home on a rifle. I think it's from 1925.... [scratch chin]

 

[Lemwise]

My Veritas low angle block plane. Personally I think it's the best block plane ever made and I like everything about it. The width, the adjuster, the PM-V11 blade and the handle and knob that you can screw onto it. Before the Veritas I used the Stanley 60½ (just like every other shipwright in The Netherlands) but I never got along with it. I was so fed up with it I wanted to try a better quality plane so I ordered the Veritas. I instantly loved it from the first moment I tried it. I have two blades for it. The A2 blade that came with it with a 35 degree bevel angle for difficult wood and the PM-V11 blade with a 27 degree bevel angle for everything else.

 

[Paul G]

If amount of use corresponds to treasured it would be my Benchmade Axis lock pocket knife. It's been used every day for about a decade and it's still going strong. About the only thing to make me part with it would be the TSA.

 

[#Tee]

a nice tape measure is normally my first go to tool and i treasure it as its pretty beat up lol.

 

[morts10n]

First boss in construction told me to get a tool belt, hammer, utility knife, and tape measure.
I was renting a house and the only thing in the whole house was a hammer in the kitchen drawer. Plumb fiberglass finish hammer. That was in 1985 and I still use it everyday. It pretty much looks exactly the same now as then. Lost it once but found it under an ( installed) cabinet after an hour of head scratching. When I lose it I'll retire!!

 

[Peter_C]

Mine would have to be a piece of family history that I have never used and never will use. In the late 1800's our family registered the spur brand. I have the long one for horses and my cousin has the shorter one for cows. Otherwise I have "gimme" handout tools from a tractor business our family used to own in the early 1900's. 14" levels engraved with the family/business name, and a crow bar I have used so much, most would consider it destroyed. One of the levels is still in the original wrapper.

 

[demographic]

Another vote for Veritas Low Angle Block Plane.
When my father died he left his offspring a little money (not a huge amount, something like seven thousand pounds split six ways) and most of my share just went on my mortgage but I spent a little of it (eighty five pounds to be exact) on the block plane.
I wanted something that I would use a lot.

I like to think of it as his last gift to me and its a beaut.

I have no regrets at all about that one and have recently bought a PM-V11 iron for it.

Most people don't even notice it as being special but I do.

 

[Lemwise]

After thinking about it I have to say the Veritas isn't my most treasured hand tool. It's this little guy.

I made it about 18 years ago from beech. I made a 2.5mm thick high carbon steel blade for that's bedded at 45 degrees. It has a slot in the back that engages with a 4 mm thick nut. One of the flat sides of the nut sits in the slot of the blade. This prevents it from spinning so I can adjust the depth. The adjuster also has a self locking nut (and a plastic washer) under the plate it's mounted to to hold it tightly in place. The plastic washer is there to make sure it can still turn. The slot in the back of the blade is mated perfectly to the nut, I have to use a bit of pressure to pop the blade in place. This way there is also no backlash whatsoever. It's the same type of adjuster as LN uses, just a lot tighter. The little throat plate can easily slide up and down by loosening the screws depending on the work. Lastly, the wooden cap has a half round groove in it that prevents it from moving.

 

[HarveyWildes]

[member=60576]Lemwise[/member] - very cool.

 

[Lemwise]

Thanks Harvey I remember I was very proud when I made it because it works so well. It was at the beginning of my career as a shipwright and it's the very first tool I made all by myself. I haven't used it for years because I completely switched over to metal planes but I will never get rid of it. It still serves me as a reminder of what a bit of creativity can accomplish.

 

[six-point socket II]

Hi!

The 300g Estwing "Schlosserhammer" my Dad gifted to me.

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[Bob D.]

When I was about 5 my Dad was getting tired of me getting into his tools so he bought me a set of tools for Christmas that year. Nothing really great of course as he expected they would be left laying around everywhere the same way I had been 'forgetting' to put his tools back that I wasn't supposed to be into on the first place. I got a small metal toolbox with a hammer, a small tape measure, a try square, a youth sized handsaw, a couple screwdrivers, and a pair of pliers.

Anyway, it's 56 years since he gave me those tools and the only one I have left is a pair of Craftsman slip joint pliers. They are just a good as the day I got them, mostly because it's a tool I found little use for, then or now. But it's one of the few things I have that my Dad gave me, not the most important, but still It's my most treasured tool. He's gone but I'll always have those life lessons he taught me and that pair of pliers, which I'll probably never use but will hang on to forever.

 

[jdw101]

Mine is an estwing framing hammer, it's been around since I was little and I am now 46.  I learned to drive a nail in one hit with it as a kid and it reminds me of good times with my dad framing houses.  He's long gone, and I don't do construction or even woodworking for a living but I look at that hammer all the time and smile.