How Old Is Your Oldest Tool?

Poll - June 19, 2014

Getting involved in electronics can be tricky business. Every time a new technology is invented, processor speed increased or new storage medium is heralded as the next great thing, your computer, stereo or television is one step closer to needing to be upgraded.

Fortunately, this isn’t the case when it comes to woodworking tools. Power tools built in the 1950′s still slice through lumber and planes and chisels more than a century old still slice and dice joinery as well as the day they were made. And they can still do their work despite the fact that many of these babies sat languishing in some cellar or out-building for decades before being brought back to life.

This week, let us know how old the oldest tool is in your collection. Power or hand tool – it doesn’t matter. The one caveat is that the tool still has to do work for you in a your shop. No living room display case models are allowed.

Discussion

Rick June 19, 2014 9:11 am

1956 Craftsman table saw, I inherited from my grandpa

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Kevin June 19, 2014 6:24 pm

1912 8″ Crescent jointer. I use it nearly every day.

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Louder Valley Craftsman June 19, 2014 9:28 pm

Sargent 1878 10″ sliding bevel. Found it at an antique store for $8…. Restored it… Used daily now

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Sean Rubino June 20, 2014 9:46 am

My Grandpa’s Bedrock 606 Foreplane.

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Mark p. June 20, 2014 9:54 am

Great grandpa’s Bailey #7 jointer plane.

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Nathan Spaulding June 20, 2014 9:54 am

A ~1920 general bandsaw for power tools, and as for hoard tools, an a stanley #18 prelateral block plane.

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G.Smith June 20, 2014 10:02 am

1940s Black and Decker 1/2 sheet sander and 7″ grinder which my late father bought used in the mid 50s.

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Thom Strizek June 20, 2014 10:04 am

Oldest hand tool is my Stanley #27-1/2 transitional smoother plane. Since the frog screws directly into the body instead of into threaded inserts in the body, it’s into the 125+ year range. I have a #31 transitional jointer plane with the threaded inserts, so it’s between 1915 and WWII.

Most of the rest of my tools that I didn’t buy new are WWII-era. My oldest operational power tool is a 1951 Craftsman 6-1/4″ jointer. Picked it up as a non-operational rust bucket for $10 at a garage sale. A weekend, some elbow grease, and a fresh coat of enamel later, I have an absolutely fantastic jointer.

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Jeff June 20, 2014 10:15 am

Just inherited of a 24″ wood and brass folding ruller (in french we call them “pied-de-roy”, literally “king’s foot”) that my grand-father was using as a blacksmith 100 years ago. Nice peice of memory…

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Alzey June 20, 2014 12:11 pm

1935-1937ish Delta DP-220 Standing Drill Press that belonged to my Grandfather

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Eric R June 20, 2014 12:12 pm

I have a couple of hand tools from my father & grandfather which are around 100 years old.
I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

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Mark S June 20, 2014 1:49 pm

1950 Unisaw jr. tablesaw.

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Joe B June 20, 2014 4:17 pm

Type 6 (1888-1892) #6 and #7 Bailey planes. Both have the original irons and cut like a hot knife through butter.

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Brent June 20, 2014 8:03 pm

I have a pre-Civil War Disston no. 4 10″ back saw I use for dovetails. (Over 160 years old with original handle, blade, back and nuts…) I sent both it and a later model 14″ Disston back saw to Matt Cianci who tuned them up for me. They both work fantastically well and it is cool to think I may be the 5th or 6th generation woodworker using it.

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Jim Harvey June 21, 2014 6:41 am

I have a nice Disston dovetail saw no. 4 I think, a Greenfield Tools plow plane, and a type 1 Stanley 113 compass plane all from 1870-1880s. Tools like this are not rare but are unusual. It’s a really great feeling to restore to new or better than new (easy with an iron plane) then use them.

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Richard Arveaux June 21, 2014 3:51 pm

1900 Jointer plane from Fulton, and a 71 year old user!

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Chuck R June 21, 2014 8:42 pm

Stanley #7 1895 -1899

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Ronald Sauve June 22, 2014 5:33 am

My oldest tool is a Stanley #65 low angle block plane, patented in the late 1800’s but likely made in the early 20th century. It might then be a bit older than 100 years.

I bought it about 45 years ago in an antique shop in Camden, Maine. I have used it ever since. I love it, as it is much lighter than most high quality planes made today, and it and its use “falls so readily to hand”. And those much heavier planes, cost $200 or more.

A few years ago, I was on a jobsite when my plane fell off my table saw onto a concrete slab, and the sliding throat plate broke. : ( I searched online through all the sources I could find in Maine, (where I now live), New England, the entire country, and then the entire world! I finally found on from a dealer in Australia! $30 via PayPal and two weeks later, my beloved plane was again in fine working order! : )

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Rob Nybo June 22, 2014 8:27 pm

Most of my tools are 60 to 70 years old my newest table saw/jointer combo is a Delta/Rockwell from 1963, and the oldest is a toss up between a Craftsman table saw and a Dunlap jointer both from 1937. I’ve got some old hand tools, but I can’t date them. It’s not a knock on newer tools but the old ones have a high level of quality and you can pick them up fairly cheaply, which works well on my shoestring budget.

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Andrew P June 25, 2014 6:49 pm

1930’s Stanley #4 smoother. After renovation it works beautifully

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Mike June 29, 2014 6:36 am

The only info I found on my drill press was an antique site…
Some of my planes are early 19th century

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Ben Marvin July 30, 2014 6:24 pm

Stanley #4, older than the Titanic. My first hand plane and my favorite.

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Brian Steven August 30, 2014 10:05 am

While my oldest are an assortment of some very fine hand-me-downs from my dad and my uncle, I am very proud of the first power tool that I actually bought and still have / still works. It is a 3/8 inch power drill made by the T. Eaton Company and is 44 years old.

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Jack in TN September 12, 2014 9:40 am

I have various wrenches that were from my Grandfather. He used them when he was a mechanic back in the ’40’s&’50’s. Some of my Dad’s too (but his machinist tool chest was stolen about 10 years ago, he died in the ’80s). I still have some of Dad’s hand saws and hammers.

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Garth September 12, 2014 9:56 am

I have a Sargent 414c that is likely from the 40s. I also have some other seemingly old hand tools like a brace and a couple hand saws, but I don’t have any way of accurately dating them.

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Will Highfield May 20, 2015 5:50 am

An old brace, probably from the ’20s, a Stanley 113 compass plane from the turn of the century, and a Morris saw-set from around 1890. I use all of them from time to time.

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Brent Hamm June 16, 2017 5:12 pm

my oldest continuously used tool is a hammer set jointer plane made of solid maple 3 feet long and 2 1/2″ wide with mahogany grip and wedge.

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How Old Is Your Oldest Tool?

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