If only...
#11
One could buy one of these tool boxes, today...
   
Would it be one of these?
Or..step up a wee bit and buy Chest #B?
   

Or, IF you had the $60?
   
Maybe Tool Chest #C?

Too many to keep track of..and maybe a fancier chest?
   
But fewer tools, more for doing wood work? You could set this up at the back of a bench, and get to work?

However....the way my tool budget is...maybe just a "starter set"?
   
just enough to start?   Only $15.00...Catalog these came in?
   
From "The James Swan Company" back in 1911...
Show me a picture, I'll build a project from that
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#12
If only a person could time travel and drop a today $50 on one of those old tool sets in new condition.
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#13
(04-07-2025, 08:42 AM)stav Wrote: If only a person could time travel and drop a today $50 on one of those old tool sets in new condition.

Oh, they still exist, you just have to look for them... and they cost a little more than $60.


Attached Files Image(s)
   
Zachary Dillinger
https://www.amazon.com/author/zdillinger

Author of "On Woodworking: Notes from a Lifetime at the Bench" and "With Saw, Plane and Chisel: Making Historic American Furniture With Hand Tools", 

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#14
(04-07-2025, 08:58 AM)ZachDillinger Wrote: Oh, they still exist, you just have to look for them... and they cost a little more than $60.


Cool
Yes
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#15
(04-07-2025, 08:42 AM)stav Wrote: If only a person could time travel and drop a today $50 on one of those old tool sets in new condition.

Yeah, but if Scotty beamed you back to 1911, your weekly average wage is maybe $20, so there's that.
Credo Elvem ipsum etiam vivere
Non impediti ratione cogitationis
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#16
Yep..
   
Yep...
   
When the shop is open for Business..
   
otherwise..all these opened doors..
   
Will be closed up..
   
except when I need a tool from them..
   
Show me a picture, I'll build a project from that
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#17
(04-07-2025, 09:39 AM)Admiral Wrote: Yeah, but if Scotty beamed you back to 1911, your weekly average wage is maybe $20, so there's that.

More like $10-12.  But still something you'd either buy on credit or saved for over several months, if not years before purchasing one.  I wonder if a lot of those tool kits were shared between several craftsmen, though.
Still Learning,

Allan Hill
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#18
I would have to go back and look again, but...one tool chest set used  Stanley No. 4, Stanley No. 5 and a Stanley No. 6 for the hand planes, along with the Stanley block plane...remember, this catalog was from 1911....

Imagine what those would be like now?
Tool Chest "No. C"   Block plane was a No. 220....

I do have that No. 945 Ratchet Brace, 10"

While they did provide files to sharpen saws, there isn't a saw vise....but there is a saw set.
Not sure about the 2 hatchets they provided...mine is by Plumb...fiberglass handle..

One of these days...I might sit down, and go through my stash of tools, and see how close to one of their sets I can get...
Show me a picture, I'll build a project from that
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#19
So....maybe this was an "Entry Level" or Starter Set of tools, back in 1911? 
   
Style "G" Cabinet, $15.00.....27 pc tool set, with Cabinet...
   
Nail Hammer, and a 7-1/2" Try Square...
   
A set of 3 chisels ( 1/4", 1/2", and 3/4" widths) and a simple brace drill ( they sold a Victor Brand name)
   
3 Irwin bits..#4, #8, and a #12 size....was also to have a 3pc set of German Gimlet Bits..I only have this one..
   
A #5 size...
   
And the rest of the tools....Saw in this case, is a D8 (pre-hyphen) 18", 10 ppi, crosscut Panel saw..

The Drawing Knife is an 8" one...a 4" tapered Saw file, a #5 Tool set, a Knurled Nail set, a Counter sink bit...My Lufkin No. X46 is standing in for a Boxwood Rule..a Pair of flat nosed pliers...I USED to have a pair of Gas Line Pliers..not sure where they took off to...Block Plane was called out as a Stanley No. 120...

So...wondering IF there is enough lumber in the "Leftovers" pile..
   
To MAYBE try to build a Cabinet for this set of tools...?

Just Imagine what a set like this would cost, using all NEW tools?  Plus that cabinet...hmmmm?
Show me a picture, I'll build a project from that
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#20
That sounds like a cool project.  Kinda hard to tell from the pile but you might need a few longer pieces.
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