BuffaloFeeds » Toolmonger » February 1, 2010

Toolmonger (5 unread)

Antique Tools: Fordson Tractor Wrench

Posted: February 1st, 2010, 2:46pm MST by Audra Heaslip

Inspired by a cool find by Toolmonger reader whiteforge, I dug up a photo of this unusual curved wrench, courtesy of Ron Geeson of Made in Birmingham. The wrench was made for the English Fordson tractor, or “automobile plow,” that Henry Ford & Sons Company developed in 1917 — in the 1920s manufacture moved exclusively to Ireland and England. The Fordson was the first mass-produced tractor that small farmers and ordinary people could afford, and was in production until 1991 when the company sold its tractor division to Fiat.

This particular wrench has a unique snail logo in relief on the handle. It was tough to track down, but evidently it comes from Snail Brand tools, a division of Smith Francis in Birmingham, England, who’ve been in business since 1934. While these vintage spanners are primarily in circulation overseas, a recent eBay auction (now closed) shows you can still get them for around £18, or about $30.

Even though antique farming equipment may not be your forte, have any of you Toolmongers got any unusual, rare, or antique tools you’d like to share? Tell us about them in comments, and feel free to post photos in the Toolmonger Flickr pool!

Smith Francis Tools
The History of Ford Farm Tractors
The Fordson House — Online Orders for Antique Tractor Parts
Vintage Tractors [website]
Antique Farming [Hobby Site]
The Roman Army Knife

Posted: February 1st, 2010, 11:04am MST by Gordon DeWitte

A.k.a. the world’s oldest Swiss Army Knife, this beauty comes from the U.K.’s Daily Mail via Gizmodo. It was “probably made between AD 200 and AD 300,” and is currently being exhibited in the Greek and Roman Antiquities Gallery of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, England. The 3″ × 6″ knife, made from silver with an iron blade, also has a spoon, a fork*, a spike, a spatula, and a small toothpick. A Mediterranean excavation more than 20 years ago uncovered the knife, which the museum acquired in 1991.

*The Daily Mail link includes interesting — and very British — comments about the history of forks.

The Roman Army Knife [Daily Mail]
Hot Or Not? Ceramic Tile Floating Floors

Posted: February 1st, 2010, 9:11am MST by Benjamen Johnson

Floating floors have come a long way from the crappy picture of wood pasted to a pressboard substrate; now you can even install floating ceramic tile floors. Besides actually being real ceramic or porcelain tile, the floors promise to be much easier and less messy to install.

Two such floating floor systems are Cerama-lock and SnapStone. Rather than using glue or other adhesive to stick the tile in place, both use trays which snap together and hold the tiles. These systems can be installed over most hard surfaces with less prep than traditional methods of laying tile.

SnapStone uses a porcelain tile that’s bonded to a rubber-based tray. Available in 8 colors and in either 12×12″ or 6×6″ tiles, the SnapStone tiles require special SnapStone flexible grout that only comes in three colors.

Made from high-strength, non-skid materials, Cerama-Lock trays adjust to fit the size of the tiles. The tiles stick to an adhesive on the tray. You can either buy their special grout strips that snap into a groove in the tray or use your own flexible mix. The biggest claimed advantage of this system is that you can replace single tiles.

Snapstone runs $4 to $5 a square foot, and seems to be available in more locations, while the only place I have run into Cerama-lock is Menards, where it was something like $8 for 8 tiles — of course you still have the price of the actual tiles on top of that.

So, are floating ceramic tile systems the next great thing in flooring, or are they a waste of tile — are they hot or not?

SnapStone [Corporate Site]
SnapStone [Flooring Market]
Cerama-Lock [Unika USA]
How-To: DIY Airplane (Pietenpol Air Camper)

Posted: February 1st, 2010, 8:25am MST by Gordon DeWitte

The Make blog has a post on making a Pietenpol Air Camper (shown above is the G-BUCO, a nice example built by Alan Reading of Reading, Berkshire, England) for $2000. Bernard Pietenpol from Minnesota made his first homebuilt airplane, the Model T engine powered Sky Scout, in 1923. In 1929 he built a Model A engine-powered two-seat Air Camper and showed it to the editors of Modern Mechanics magazine, who subsequently published plans. Bernard improved the design, and, in 1933, published new plans, which are still available from a web site run by his son and grandson. Air Camper plans cost $100.

I’m not sure where Make got the $2000 figure: the Pietenpol web site notes that “for about $9111 (2008 dollars) and a lot of scrounging plus 1000 hours of free love construction time a pilot can be in the air.”

Chuck Gantzner’s web site has tons of details and pictures about the building and flying of his Pietenpol, the NX770CG. Being a true Toolmonger, he built the wing in his house (wing top and bottom during fabric covering shown below).

The Pietenpol family website also has lots of great pictures, including several oldies from the late 20’s and early 30’s.

G-BUCO [Shortfinal's Blog]
Pietenpol AirCamper NX770CG [Chuck Gantzner]
Pietenpol Official Air Camper [Pietenpol Family Website]
TV Tonight: Motor Madness

Posted: February 1st, 2010, 7:06am MST by Nick Carter
(TV Tonight, Monday, February 1st, 2010) A new Top Gear finds the perfect car for a seventeen-year-old and a new Motor City Motors turns a trailer into a hovercraft. In other news, has the Science Channel run out of money? Three days of How It’s Made reruns plus one more tomorrow?

All times are central
- How It’s Made: Induction Cooktops, Truck Scales, Tetra Pak Containers, Harmonicas (Science, 5:00 pm)
- Trains & Locomotives (RFD-TV, 5:00 pm)
- How It’s Made: Baseball Gloves, Medical Electrodes, Stetson Hats (Science, 5:30 pm)
- MythBusters: Walking on Water (Discovery, 6:00 pm)
- How It’s Made: Impact Wrenches, Marble Sinks, Plantain Chips, NASCAR Cars (Science, 6:00 pm)
- Ask This Old House: Painting Kitchen Cabinets, Installing Cabinet Accessories (DIY, 6:30 pm)
- How It’s Made: Jaws of Life, Artificial Christmas Trees, Soda Crackers, Ratchets (Science, 6:30 pm)
- Top Gear: Season 13 Ep. 2 (BBC America, 7:00 pm) NEW
- MythBusters: Knock Your Socks Off (Discovery, 7:00 pm)
- How It’s Made: Thermometers, Produce Scales, Aircraft Painting, Luxury Chocolates (Science, 7:00 pm)
- How It’s Made: Carburetors, Air Conditioners, Sugar (Science, 7:30 pm)
- Top Gear: Season 13 Ep. 1 (BBC America, 8:00 pm)
- Howe & Howe Tech: Subterranean Rover Blues (Discovery, 8:00 pm)
- How It’s Made: Combination Wrenches, Deli Meats, Golf Cars, Airships (Science, 8:00 pm)
- How It’s Made: Carbon Fiber Car Parts, Hand Dryers, Recycled Polyester Yarn, Fleece (Science, 8:30 pm)
- Motor City Motors: Air Scream (Discovery, 9:00 pm) NEW
- How It’s Made: Police Badges, Rum, Car Washes, Pressure Gauges (Science, 9:00 pm)
- How It’s Made: Metal Detectors, Muffins, Tiffany Reproductions, Aircraft Engines (Science, 9:30 pm)
- How It’s Made: Riding Mowers, Popcorn, Adjustable Beds, Cultured Diamonds (Science, 10:00 pm)
- Disaster House: What Goes Up (DIY, 10:30 pm)
- How It’s Made: Airstream Trailers, Horseradish, Industrial Steam Boilers (Science, 10:30 pm)