Appreciation for ostensibly humdrum utilitarian shizzle

[mik]

I was looking at my old stepladders recently. Inherited from my dad, and whilst aI can’t ask him now - I suspect he may have inherited them too. Not an item I can imagine anyone getting excited about. They are stepladders FFS. Probably the first time I have ever actually looked at them though. And only now realised how well they are made.

Hardwood. Solid. Sculpted treads squeezed into perfectly machined slots in the uprights. I’ve never so much as tightened one of the many screws, yet they’ve never made so much as a squeak or a groan. Anonymous objects that someone has clearly put some time/thought/pride/skill putting them together.

Is this what getting older is about?

[jamcg]

No idea but I’ve got a 4ft set and a 6ft set. Both inherited, both still strong and stable

[Swervin_Mervin]

My dad gave me his wooden ladders when he moved down south and had to clear out.

A few months later I needed to tidy some flashing on the porch roof so dug out the smaller section. Leaned it against the porch. Wondered why it was leaning by about 10degrees. One of the legs was rotten and had lost a couple of inches.

Turns out he used to have a special piece of wood to use under that side

Oh and one rung had gone leaving just the thin metal strengthening bar underneath, which flexed if you tried standing on it.

I took them to the tip.

[Rich B]

I like my step ladder too, I never knew my real ladder.

[jamcg]

I like my step ladder too, I never knew my real ladder.

Don’t get your hand stuck under the sofa around it, I’ve seen an internet documentary about what happens

[Mito Man]

[KiwiDave]

I have a deep-seated thing for appreciating proper craftsmanship, something which is a diminishing skill these days. Producing something now is more about well designed and precisely machined and then assembled than someone thinking about it and using their hands to make it perfect. Neither are wrong but I do love the old way of doing it - hence my love of Japanese chef's knives and that fella making panels for Harry's Alfa by hand on Harry's Garage...

I have a hammer and chisel given to me by my old man that my grandfather made by hand, apparently around the time of the end of his apprenticeship. I'm guessing that would put them somewhere around 1920? They look frail like rusty Roman nails that have been dug up and are about to crumble. The hammer he apparently cast himself as one piece and then worked it up and it is so well balanced I feel like I could hammer out dents on Ferrari 250s when I'm using it, and the chisel stays sharper for so much longer than anything bought in the last 30yrs. Brilliant things and very boring to look at!

So yeah, maybe this IS what getting old is all about.

[Jobbo]

I have a wooden stepladder which was inherited too. I’d guess it’s 60s; it is not as nicely detailed as yours, Mik, but is still solid and I use it a lot. It is a decorator’s ladder with a food down extra tray above the top step for your paint tin etc - very useful for putting tools, screws etc on. I use it outdoors for hedge trimming, indoors for getting into the loft - everything really. Though I did get an extending aluminium ladder (bit unwieldy to move around so not used as much) to reach higher stuff like gutters.

The wooden one fits in the boot which is perfect. I’ve posted this photo before:

[jamcg]

I still regularly use some of my dads old tools, which he got issued at the start of his apprenticeship (early 1960’s) with the north eastern electricity board. You can still see NEEB stamped into the handles

[Gavster]

I love things that get handed down through families, like emotional detachment or binge drinking.

[Swervin_Mervin]

I have my grandad's old drill bits, Stanley hand drill and various metal working hammers. The drill bits get regularly used - they're really high quality - and the hand drill occasionally. The hammers less so given that they're for metal working! He was a sheet metal worker in his day - and sadly that's the limit of what I knew about what he did really. Would have loved to have chatted with him about his work but never got the chance.

[240PP]

Not tools as such, but when I bought my first house a mate of my Dad gave me an old ice cream tub full of various screws, nails, fixings etc. It’s saved me loads of trips to B&Q to get just one screw over the years. Probably the most useful thing anyone has ever given me.

[mik]

Not tools as such, but when I bought my first house a mate of my Dad gave me an old ice cream tub full of various screws, nails, fixings etc. It’s saved me loads of trips to B&Q to get just one screw over the years. Probably the most useful thing anyone has ever given me.

Everyone needs a tub of random mixed screws! A selection of nuts n bolts is always hoot to have lying around too….

[Swervin_Mervin]

Not tools as such, but when I bought my first house a mate of my Dad gave me an old ice cream tub full of various screws, nails, fixings etc. It’s saved me loads of trips to B&Q to get just one screw over the years. Probably the most useful thing anyone has ever given me.

Everyone needs a tub of random mixed screws! A selection of nuts n bolts is always hoot to have lying around too….

Absolutely this. When we stripped back the spare bedroom and en-suite to brick, I saved every usable screw that came out. Ended up with a massive box full from all the studwork etc. Have delved into it many a time to save me a trip to B&Q or the like.

[Beany]

Got one of those from our dad when he passed.

Alas, as he did moderately industrial stuff, a lot of the bolts were broader than your thumb and about a foot long, so less useful when it comes to fixing a window latch or something

[V8Granite]

I have my Grandads old 12v under bonnet light, plus a few old chisels etc but sadly nothing else, he was a mechanic.

Dave!

[KiwiDave]

Everyone needs a tub of random mixed screws! A selection of nuts n bolts is always hoot to have lying around too….

My Dad went OTT on this and half his shed is pots of fully organised salvaged screws. There must be literally tens of thousands of them. He's 80 but still makes stuff for himself for his own amusement.