Vintage work crew photos

[PJs]

Paul,

I remember the Blue Chip Stamps and S&H too. They were a big thing around our house too and had some real value compared to coupons today. I too still have Dads "Egg-Beater" drill an older Brace n' Bit and his first Craftsman 1/4" electric (mid-late 50's), the polished cast aluminum one. He was pretty proud of that and we used it for years (decades). It started giving a little zort thru the case about 30 years ago and took the chuck off it for use on a hand chuck with a broom handle...but couldn't toss it. Thought one day I'd take it apart and restore it with a grounded plug and change the bushing and brushes if I can find them, but never have. Yet still smile every time I see it and remember some of the many, many things we built or repaired with it.

Absolutely true about not needing fancy or top of the line tools all the time to get things done or even build tools to do the job...Hence HMT and what it represents that way.

PJ

[hemmjo]

The best tools can not make up for poor workmanship. They just make it faster and easier to really mess up.

[Jon]

Fire Extinguisher Dept., American LaFrance factory, Elmira, NY - 1918.

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[DIRTYJOHN]

I still have MY Dad's old Craftsman polished aluminum 1/4 drill. I need to do the same thing. It howls, growls and shocks. But have the same memories.

[Jon]

A view inside the Catskill Aqueduct in Yonkers on May 10, 1912, showing the 11-foot-wide steel pipe before a cement mortar lining was placed (foreground), with the lining (middle ground), and before the wooden forms were removed (behind the men)

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[marksbug]

HMT??hit and miss technology?..... we too had that old polished drill....worked awesome and lasted long tyme. nowdays if you buy a corded drill it might lasy 7 months before the bushings are dead or the motor burns up. Imho the best to buy is a good batter operated drill like ryobie or ridged, they seem to work pretty good. but the issue is the batterys in most cases. a lot of sellout companys(B&D& many more) change the battery shapes so you will need to buy a new drill when the crap battery dies,ebay has a great selection of different batterys. I have a 2002 ryobie drill,saw,sawzall,flashlight vacume cleaner set ( neibor threw it all away, it looks like new)that had 5 batterys 2 still hold charge,and 2 battery chargers. well I got on flebay and did some research and found that they still use that battery!!! but even better is it is now avalible in lithium!!!! at 3x the power range!!! for about $30 vs $50 for a **** battery that wont last. but the lithum batterys take a different charger... well apparently when the battery started dieing the neibor bought a new charger.... he got the universal charger!!! it charges all the ryobi batterys!!!! ryobi is possiably the best out there now days.Ive never seen a wore out ryobi. B&D & dewalt are the same company and pure ****. I do have a few D&D 18 volt drills I got on 75% off clearance from after christmass 3 years ago. they are possiably the best B&D I have ever had and they have the lithium batterys. other than that get the cheepest harbor fright stuff and throw it away when it dies.it will usulay last as long as the name brand corded stuff does at 1/2 the price.... speaking of dewalt....I have a real nice 12 or 14"compound miter saw that has a bad bushing for the last 10 years it's been in the shed.( it's about 12 years old) I decided to take it appart and make a bush for it( the bush has been obseleite for over 8 years and size shape was changed due to it was ****) I grabed it up and... the plastic main housing just crumbled in my hands....... way to go dewalt!!!!! well atleast I have a real nice degreed rotating thingys to mount somethen else on...hmm I could make a sun dial!!!!! on another note... the may tag repair man just left the house....he did not work on squat... he just told us that the $700 washer has 1 seeting that washes.and about 12 that dont. and 1 that might...... well at least he seems to be honest. as for maytag.... they need to stop makeing tv adds and make something that works...atleast half way works. yall have a great day!!!

[VinnieL]

I bought a 19.2 volt set of Craftsman drill, impact , 2 Nicad Batteries and charger a few years ago. Of course the battery life was limited. So when the same thing was offered in 19.2 Li-Ion I bought it. One battery internal charging circuit went bad. I got on Flea Bay and ordered 2 batteries for like $64.00 from China. Got them and the darned things would not charge. They were completely dead. Wouldn't read anything at all on the voltmeter. I remember reading that if completely dead, smart Li-Ion chargers will not sharge, so I used a DC variable power supply with clip leads to charge the batteries up by tapping the connection to the battery and holding it 15-20 seconds. (This is the manner that LI-Ion batteries charge so not to overheat and explode) and brought the batteries up to about 12 volts. The charger then charged them fine. What ticks me off is that B&D/Stanley who bought out the Craftsman line is not doing any backwards support whatsoever, only selling their new line with a Craftsman name.

[marksbug]

yup I has to put a "serface charge" on the batterys before the "smart charger" would work when I charged the old batterys, the new battery was charged. I usualy opt for the extra $2 priced batterys from the usa selers so I get the fast and a little eazer to deal with if there is a issue.I thin the battery was hear the next day. a week after I found a bigger size had just came out...I do nee to get another one so...that will be the next thing. Ive not been able to run down this one yet,I reckon the next size bigger will alsy me a life time before rechgarging. I love the lithium stuff. Im thinken about getten one for my car.

[marksbug]

my brother loves his ridged lithium set, he even took his old what ever brand and cut the things up and made the ridged battery fit them.....

[PJs]

I bought a 19.2 volt set of Craftsman drill, impact , 2 Nicad Batteries and charger a few years ago. Of course the battery life was limited. So when the same thing was offered in 19.2 Li-Ion I bought it. One battery internal charging circuit went bad. I got on Flea Bay and ordered 2 batteries for like $64.00 from China. Got them and the darned things would not charge. They were completely dead. Wouldn't read anything at all on the voltmeter. I remember reading that if completely dead, smart Li-Ion chargers will not sharge, so I used a DC variable power supply with clip leads to charge the batteries up by tapping the connection to the battery and holding it 15-20 seconds. (This is the manner that LI-Ion batteries charge so not to overheat and explode) and brought the batteries up to about 12 volts. The charger then charged them fine. What ticks me off is that B&D/Stanley who bought out the Craftsman line is not doing any backwards support whatsoever, only selling their new line with a Craftsman name.

Good Tip on the surface charge for your C3 batteries, Nice save, Vinniel! I did the same thing with some old Ryobi batteries and it works fine...just be careful as you stated. I had great luck with my C3 stuff for 8-9 years now, except for the chuck on the 1/2 Drill was crap and only lasted a few years. Replaced with a Jacobs from Amazon, ($12 higher now than when I bought it but a great chuck). Have had issues with the small capacity Li-ion not lasting long but picked up the 4Ah a year or so ago and it is great. The big thing to me is the PRICES for the buggers...Outrageous from mfg cost perspective...another Printer Ink Tactic! You can get a new drill and battery on sale for what a 4Ah cost.

Been tempted to take one of the dead ones and replace the batteries in it with 16850's as I've seen some videos on YT on how to do it. My experience with Li-ion/LiPo's is fairly high from an electronics standpoint from products and projects I've developed, but found some are good, some are bad and would look for a reputable source/mfgr! Doesn't look difficult and as long as the thermal protector isn't shot should be fine...even those are available on Mouser or Digi-Key.

Agreed about the B&D/Stanley sell off but there will be back stock and replacements for a while from sears parts. I tried to pick up some batteries when Lowes shut down OSH but they were the first to go.

About the old 1/4 Aluminum Craftsman; it's nice to hear that others have the had the same experience and the nostalgia with them. The days of products lasting 50-60 years is long gone I'm afraid! I did some looking on EBay and found similar. I think my dads was either a 315.7901 or a 315.7080 but it's in storage in a box some where...but the chuck is still in my tool box on the broom handle, Hand Chuck!

PJ