What's In My Box? Machinist Tool Box Tour 

I'll bet everyone that watches this is going thru their own boxes in their mind and the memories. When I was right out of high school, I went to work for a large company as a production mechanic and after about a year I asked if I took some machinist classes from the local tech school, could I use some of the equipment in the tooling shop. They kind of shot me down and I said I didn't care I planned to take the classes anyway. The next day after the first night class, the old tool and die maker asked me how it went and I told him we had a lot of safety training and we got to turn a lathe on and reverse it. That was it, they moved me into the tooling shop and I continued school and he trained me. I think there's a lesson there about just taking the first step. I'm retired now, but I think about those days all the time. They are some of my fondest memories of some really great people I had the pleasure to have known.

Hi Keith, I enjoyed the tour and stories. Nitro pointed out how to adjust a caliper with shim stock. There are others where you use the provided pin to push the dial stem off the rack. If the rack gears point down the access is on top and vice versa. Mitutoyo has the rack facing up. Remove the dial clamp and screw from the bottom of the dial, then slide the jaws so the pointer is at TDC. Push the pin in the clamp hole and lightly (but firmly) push up to dis-engage from the rack and simultaneously close the jaws to zero. It often takes a few tries to get the right tooth. Minor adjustments of a few tenths can be made by loosening the rack screws for those like me who are truly OCD and absolutely have to have TDC. Starting as a production machinist I ended up preferring a .200 dial for faster reading. Now I'm always double checking when I use a .1 dial. I saw a file card with your files but no aluminum bar. They work great for cleaning files especially when they're gunking up with soft materials like ......aluminum! For those who don't know rub the end of the bar across the file in line with the teeth. The aluminum will wear into the troughs of the file and push the clogs out sideways. Having one of those trig table books helped teach me trigonometry and I still refer to it often. I'm glad I'm not the only one with the little orange book. Thanks for the reminiscing fun and 'Happy Turning'!

I hate to see peoples prized possessions auctioned off to people that dont respect them.But whoever had that box before is smiling now and I really enjoyed the story behind it.

It's a HG Gerstner Tool box made in Dayton ,Ohio. I know because I worked there in 1980 until I went into the Army

I always find it interesting as to what tools others have found they use. Kieth I am one who has bought many of my stuff because at the time I did not feel the cost of new was a need but a want, so used was appropriate for the job. I appreciate both you and Adam Booth actually educating many of us on jobs that we do not have been able to figure out what it would take to do some job we were asked to do. Thanks for the tour of your tool box. I have similar tools in many cases. In my little shop I have several tool boxes, like all my metric sockets, wrenches in one big Proto roller cabinet. Then my American tools in another Proto roller cabinet. You said it when you said we never seem to have enough drawer room in one cabinet. Thanks for you guys help with many of us who do not have some one who we can call on for advice on certain jobs. Shop storage origination is another never have enough bins, and drawers.

As a novice machinist, this was inspiring!

Keith....I want to personally thank you for your volunteer service to the Museum! If these old machines could tell stories, we would all be in awe of their lives. I look at your videos and think the same thing....your experiences, your stories and your knowledge are invaluable to the hobby machinist as well as those of us who grew up on these older machines. Being an 8 year Navy Veteran and a Machinery Repairman in the Navy has taken me on a wile ride over the years and all of them relate back to High School, where I began my passion with metal and wood working as well as Mechanical Drawing (now referred to as Drafting and CAD Design). I was fortunate to have 5 years in school where I was in every hands on class offered. In today's school system, the hands on wood and metal shops have all been replaced by Computer Labs. I worked in the Automotive industry from Metallurgical to Machining to Manufacturing, and I owe all of those wonderful experiences to my High School teachers. In short (since this is getting rather lengthily), You are very appreciated by my self and many others, who are still old school machinists and enjoy the way things used to be. You capture my attention every time I view one of your videos and sitting through this nearly hour long video was an absolute pleasure. Keep them coming!! Cheers!! Zip~

thank you very much for the tour keith, it seems that whenever i am visitin old friends or vice versa we always end up in the shop infront of a toolbox sharing stories about this tool or some kink. there's just something about that. one of my fondest memories of a significant uncle of mine who has passed years ago happened one time when i visited him with my wife. he was in his 90's at the time and couldn't walk. so we were sitting in his living room talking and he asked me to go down to his shop and bring back a specific tool box. it was chock full on tools of course, mostly measuring and gauges of all sorts. we went thru the box and each piece i'd pull out for him he had a story. like when he worked for some railroad shop in baltimore he got that one to indicate the holes for railroad wheels he had to bore out on radial drill, or he had an old starett gauge to set the draft on molds, which he gave me as i was in the mold making trade at the time. (since retired.) i had never seen one before infact. it was way old but like new in it's box like all his stuff. a grand evening was had by us that day! thanks for reminding me of it. as for the biggest mill. i think i have you beat, though i just went up to the shop and it wasn't in the box i thought it was, you can never have too many tools perhaps but finding one can be tricky at times. my big one is 30 thou over 2.5", homemade for a job, out of A2. i have a 2.5" crescent wrench i got from my dad when i was younger and always had it under the bench where ever i worked so i could say i had the biggest wrench, nobody ever beat me, though i saw one once big enough to put yer head in at a foundry my dad worked at years ago. it had a handle length of maybe 4' usually when they get big like that they had a short handle and a striking lug to smack it with a sledge but this one didn't for some reason. i have tools from my dad and his brothers and a saw of my grandfathers and a prybar of my greatgrandfathers. many of the tools were homemade or from toolshops long gone. i got a 0-1 mike my dad made when he started out, it is dead on, which is handy cause it doesn't have any way to adjust. anyway thank you again, very much, you brought back some nice memories.

Hi Keith, I think you got both of us whipped with that big tool of yours. What I want to see is it cutting in your horizontal mill. Great video. Its like snooping in somebodies box. All the best, Tom

The large Kennedy box with the riser is the only way to start. It worked for me all my life.

LOVE THE KENNEDY,SURE MISS MY MANUFACTURING JOB.

I love these type of videos a lot. It is always good to see what other tools machinist have. Thanks for sharing I really do appreciate it a lot and I love the stories behind some of your tools.

Thank you for sharing, very helpful video. Im 24 and starting my Tool & Die apprenticeship through work at some point in this first quarter of the year, so this helps me get a general idea of what I need to start picking up. I found a machinist handbook from the 1970's at my grandmothers house that she let me keep, and I have a lot of the basic tools (files, hammers, rulers etc.) I really like the wooden box, now I have to find one!!

I kept three of the most important tools in my tool box and never saw another machinist with them . They were. Knife fork and spoon

Keith, everybody enjoys a machinist toolbox tour. Thanks. I really enjoy your channel. Keep up the good work.

Lots of tools end up with relatives that just want to get rid of stuff they don't want. Great way to aquire tools.

Nice tour video Keith. I love the story on your wood box. Cant wait to see that Planer/Matcher make some wood chips.

All I'm gonna say is that I ENVY YOU!! Love your tools wish i had a set like you.

Great story Keith! Thanks for the tour!

You have some nice tools Keith, and some interesting stories behind some of them. Thanks for sharing them with us. It is nice going though others tool boxes and seeing what they have. As for who has the biggest endmill......I think you may have me beat! LOL I know at one time we had a couple used 2" endmills but Id have to see if I can find them.

Excellent! I have a great story regarding tool chests /tool boxes as well. And i can hardly wait to video it and speak about it. great video thanks for posting and sharing.

Some also may have said it already - but that is a Gerstner Box - very famous tool box maker.

Good show Keith that machinery handbook is handy even if your a millwright . Keep up the good work. My Best Tighe

Very enjoyable presentation. I enjoyed the tour and learned something new to boot! Thanks. Looking forward to a new year of your very fine video programs. Where I live there are no flea markets nor swap meets. It is not part of the culture here. I can tell that you enjoy a good find now and then and you deserve good tools. Again, thanks.

Thanks for the video Keith. Very fitting to watch while transferring some tooling over to my new Kennedy box!

As a guy going into college for CNC, this was very informational! Thank You!

Loved your tour, thanks. Just dabbling in it. Picked up an old Craftsman 109 a few months back.

Thanks for the awesome tour! Added a few things to my tooling list

As always, thanks’ for taking the time to make this video! And I support this site. ~M~

stay with it....nobody dose it old school any more its refreshing to someone like my self keep up the good job tom

Thanks Keith nice show and tell, enjoyed the tools and your stories relating to them.

Thanks for the great video. Always enjoy and learn something.

Thanks for your time

Wonderful "Box tour" Keith! I loved the story behind the wooden tool box. I have the very same story in my shop. I bought a wooden box filled with tools and lived the history of the previous owner when I went through his box. It even had a pair of safety glasses and I put them on and had a real personal moment. I have kept a lot of his tools just to have his history with me. I think if you appreciate tools and a persons skills going through a box is a personal and surreal experience. I will have to get off the dime and make a shop tour myself. I really enjoy your channel and your easy lay back style of presentation. Thank you!

Good Storey along with another Good Video. Thanks Keith.

it's amazing how things just work out LOL thanks for sharing .

Don’t know what it is about fellas named Virgil but they make a lasting forever impression that stay with you forever I’ve known two both were some of the smartest and best examples of men I’ve ever met

great report thanx

Saludos buenos días se aprende mucho del uso de las herramientas y maquinas me ha servido muchísimo su enseñanza les felicito sigan con las ideas geniales

I enjoyed your tool box tour and the story behind the wooden toolbox. Im a young machinist and i enjoy your channel

My late grandfather’s machinist chest has near identical dark honey stain on oak and hardware. His was made by Union Manufacturing Co. in NY. His layout is different, more closely resembling your common Gerstner.

Hi Keith, Thanks for the (what's in your box) video. I picked up some new ideas on tools and loved the giant mill bit and also I'm a very big user and collector of files even made my very own file machine and can use Boggs tool as I have lots of old files (over 30 years worth of accumulation) some of which I make or have made other tools and parts from. Now I can send my favorite ones to Boggs tool for reconditioning. Thanks again. George

Thanks for the video. I inherited the same stacked tool chest full of machinist tools and you saved a lot of mysteries for myself. I'm hoping to get into the hobby soon.

Ugh - my Sr year in College we used slide rules in Physics. Calculators took several more years to be started. I have 3 or more rules.

Enjoyable Keith thanks.

Sounds like you have thrown the gauntlet to Adam and Tom! Lol That was a big end mill. I enjoy these tool box videos it shows tools that I may need to find. Although my tool boxes are pretty full, I just need to learn how to use some of them. You Tube is great for that.

I have my fathers machinist Kennedy tool box. It's the same one you had on the top. Great memory's.

that was a great find at a auction

A wholesome and informative video.

I have a protective hard cased with pick apart foam for my measuring tools. I have broken 2 before so now I prottct

Thanks for the tour, Keith. Not as may auction sales and flea markets where I live, but it is nice to go to and you can find some unusual pieces for use or collecting. Even found a few things at the local pawn shops. Happy New Year. Hopefully sometime I can make it down and visit the museum. Sounds like a nice place to visit and for you to volunteer at.

Hi, Keith, love this video on your tool boxes; I don't have a Kennedy, but Kincrome brought out a very nice wooden toolbox (looks like a Kennedy...) and when I saw it I had to have it. The store owner kept it for me until I could pay for it, and it keeps all my precision tools (as you do!). There is a fellow here in Oz, in Queensland who sells aulde tools, he's not cheap, but he does send mew emails of his new stock and sometimes you can bag a bargain. My woody is filling up and it lives in my home office. I am getting to the stage that I need a "wrizzit" book to keep track of everything!

Great story about the box. You should restore that box. Thats a beautiful antique flame/tiger maple (I think) box

Great video! Thanks for sharing

Just giving you a shout out. Im a Milling Machinist from Hartford Connecticut. Keep making videos. They are great!

Keith, a delightful look in your tool box. I'll bet you could machine out a nice black powder cannon.

Ha talk about table books - 16 places for log10 and loge and 24 places for trig. Used in the days of slide rules and very large computers. These are Government Printing documents. Dad my younger brother and I were high tech and home shop types.

I've chemically sharpened files in the past (Boggs use an abbrasive method acording to their site). As I recall, I used a strong caustic solution to remove the oil, dirt and pining The the files were thouroughly rinsed and immersed in battery acid for some time. Some people have reported good results with spitit vinegar.

TuMiCo stands for Tubular Micrometer Company.

Poor people have poor ways, when I was turning a wrench every day and the Snap-on truck stopped every week I bought Snap-on (or Blue Point) tools, then when I started fixing tires full time I started buying new Britain tools from NAPA, S-K & Harbor Freight tools. I had a set of Buffalo 3/4" drive socket set from 7/8 to 2" with a ratchet and a breaker bar I bought for $50.00 that 1 socket from Snap-on cost $150 to $200 and those expensive micrometers are very easy to calibrate. also tools that have been used and passed down from mechanic to mechanic or machinist to machinist have a sole - a use. keep up the good work

Great stuff...⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

That's an awesome story in the beginning!

Your story starting about 4:00 sounds very familiar to me. Recently I found a wooden box like that along with another similar sized box that was 1950's vintage "craftsman" box, but these were jam packed with tools. Turns out the father of the guy selling it was a tool and die maker who recently passed away. There were micrometers, all sorts of metrology tools (inside, outside and dividing calipers, precision rules, gages of all sorts), all types of set up tools and workholding tools such as 1-2-3 blocks, vblocks (he made these himself apparently), angle plates, all sorts of drills and reamers and lots of one-off cutting tools that had tons of character. Like you said, I could take a quick look at it and could instantly tell there was easily $2000 there. Quite a lucky find. I was beaming for weeks afterward.....

Starrett makes such fine tools, the quality of anything they make seems to be leagues ahead of the competition. I have a pretty good collection, myself. All used that I picked up here and there, usually cheap. They are damn expensive new, but worth every penny if you can afford them.

Here is a tour of my tool box I gave away when I moved into the Hi-rise Retirement building - no working on the property. 1983 My Snap-On / Craftsman Tools & Boxes and 1983 Tandy Color Computer 2 - 5 1/4" disk drive

yup its only new til you get it :) love the video

Yeah, I remember those Log Table books from high school, learned to use a slide rule there too. At university I was too poor for one of those newfangled, overpriced HP calculators, so I had to make do with my slide rule.

Thanks for the tour, Keith... And, the walk down memory lane! That was quite the big end mill, there may be someone out there, that can give you a run for your money (not me), lol... It's nice to see your subscriber list climbing! :o] O,

Hey Keith, that box is a Gerstner, and 63 looks to be the date if 69/70 was the last year(s) the box was used. I have the same box and will check to see if mine has dated behind the drawers.

I agree with you on dial calipers! I'm 20 now but I remember the first time running a lathe with my grandpa and he had a set of dial calipers so that's what I learned on. now I'm a machinist and still use the dials! I just can't stand digital stuff haha.

I found out yesterday from a tool forum. I know they have been selling imported supplies and larger items for years, but the hand tool line has been synonymous with Made in USA, and since they have other tool lines, I never thought they would ruin the Craftsman line. To me this undercuts what I have spent decades buying into as part of their warranty, as they will no longer be able to back up the products I've bought with an acceptable replacement. Its also very underhanded how they plan to take advantage of everyones assumption that Craftsman = USA. They have apparently been subtly removing Made in USA off packaging on US made tools so that as the switch rolls out, it will be even harder to notice. The tools will come in the same basic shape (although as the link below shows, thicker to make up for lesser quality steel, rougher finishing quality and less gear lube), with the same packaging part numbers and price. It doesnt look to be stamped with its new country of origin, they just removed the USA and leave you to assume its the same tool you have been buying for 85 years. Just thought everyone should know. To me, its an absolute deal breaker. I only support American made tools.

Keith - would you consider doing a 10 year update when the time rolls around? I notice a drop in the number of rail-related projects lately ?

i find the same thing with the dial calipers over digital ones , i have a few sets of digital ones but i always end up using my dial calipers , i always find the battery goes flat in the middle of measuring something with digital calipers , never have that problem with a mechanical dial !

ITW Trig tables...I knew those would be there!

I prefer the dial too.

Hi Keith, great video, I too am a fan of the dial calipers, though I may have a pair of both dial and digital on the bench in front of me, I always reach for the dial type, force of habit I guess. Thanks for the tip on the file info. Mike

What are the model numbers of the intermediate boxes? Curious how you stack two of them.

Hi Keith, Enjoyed the video I like your explanation at the end on your theory on tool purchases, I agree with your theory, but know in short you are a "tool junky" like me...LOL Best regards Chuck

Thanks for using a microphone, it helps

There was Ebay in 1997?

nice

Do you know if a 30th edition MH will fit in that drawer on an old Kennedy box? Been thinking about getting one for the tools I've accumulated and would like to know if they still make the books the right size. Thanks!

Hi Keith. There's a dart company that makes a special set of points to replace generic dart points. It's a great idea but the points are formed and they're known to break off flush in the dart barrel. Could you recommend a better material for making dart points. Machined dart points. Thanks

EVER TRY WHITE CHALK ON FILES , SO THEY DON'T CLOG ? YOU'LL BE ABLE TO FILE ALUMINUM WITH FINE CUTS .

yes the old dial calipers are better, this new gen doesn't have the feel ..

I want to buy your box my friend, you keep all the tools and the wooden box. How much would it take? I'm a young machinist with a lot to learn from professionals like yourself.

What's the tool box set made by I've been looking to get one just like that what's the company that makes the chest/ drawrs

cool )))

Here's another saying for you. Why buy new when used will do?

Hi Keith! I was wondering if you had any advice on a toolbox for a 18 year old machinist to get? I'm unsure if I wanna just go cheap to start and have a safer place for my tools, or if I should just wait and invest

I'm a apprentice machinist working at Thomas tool and mold, I was wondering is their any tools that I would need when I'm just starting out, it's my first year

Your wooden toolbox is made by Union tool company.

wait we had ebay back in 1997?

Driano will sharpen a file.

Sir you are great teacher sir your city name please ..Arshad Hussain from karachi Pakistan

Found you looking for information on a lumidor tool cart that I just bought. Subscribe

why does the top of a toolbox always collect the junk I have several roll away tool boxes and all of them have a collection of misc junk in the top! Nice supply of acid brushes to feed the knurling tool just had to add that LOL as for eBay and tools you can't go wrong and have bought top quality tools for .25 cents on the dollar and cheaper. I am more mechanical and welder in tools than machinist but do have some starrett tools and rank them with snap on in quality

God I love RU-vid

This is the only country that Machinist,toolmakers,have to buy their own tools. buy your own tools and get screwed money wise. Why under paid trade.

Saludos buenos días se aprende mucho del uso de las herramientas y maquinas me ha servido muchísimo su enseñanza les felicito sigan con las ideas geniales