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+-- Thread: Mystery solved! (/showthread.php?tid=7237109)
Mystery solved! - tshiker - 03-06-2016
This must be why so many chisels are found without their handles!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/vtg-Old-Antique-...~oAAOSwFNZW04WI
Re: Mystery solved! - C. in Indy - 03-06-2016
I'll let my wife know that at least one other person is as obsessive about old tool auctions as myself !
Re: Mystery solved! - Bill_Houghton - 03-07-2016
I bet the handle, which looks like it was in brand new condition, was cheaper than a plumb bob when some young carpenter was starting out, or when a homeowner with kids and therefore no money needed one. Pretty clever, although I also bet it was marginal as a plumb bob - not enough weight to settle to plumb quickly. But needs must.
Re: Mystery solved! - Mike Brady - 03-07-2016
$5.53 for a vintage chisel handle
Re: Mystery solved! - Arlin Eastman - 03-07-2016
I never heard someone calling a chisel handle "Primitive" To me that is an outright lye and it is not a plumbob either.
To many dumb people out there just looking for money.
Arlin
Re: Mystery solved! - Downwindtracker2 - 03-07-2016
Plumb bobs were not expensive, the Stanley ones were cheap. Even the brass Hercules?? didn't cost a fortune.
Re: Mystery solved! - EatenByLimestone - 03-07-2016
I've used a nut on a string a few times. Its close enough for rough carpentry.
Re: Mystery solved! - tshiker - 03-07-2016
I went to a vocational school for carpentry and had a classmate who made and sold 50 caliber bullets as plumb bobs. Ever kid in class had at least one!
Re: Mystery solved! - Bibliophile 13 - 03-10-2016
It's amazing what some older folks would do to save a nickel back then. For a lot of people, the mindset that the Great Depression created never disappeared. I genuinely admire the frugality and creativity of such people, but occasionally they took thrift to almost silly levels--and this is one good example.