Big Changes At General Tools

Back in TMD Post 17 I wrote about the GENERAL Tools #890 File and Tool Handle. It has a unique parallel jaw vise-like gripping mechanism inside the handle and has been made by GENERAL for over 70 years. Well, I’m sad to report that GENERAL Tools has discontinued the #890. And that’s not all. Here's the story...

I recently ordered a newer version of the GENERAL #890 from Amazon to see if it’s still made like it was “back in the day.” Before the handle arrived I went to the GENERAL Tools web site to look the handle up, and it was nowhere to be found. In fact, almost all of the old standby GENERAL tools were not there.

So, I fired off an email using the “Contact Us” button. My question: Hello, I'm not seeing the #890 File and Tool handle on your web site. Are you still making this?

I received a reply the next day (that’s impressive!) from a man at Worthington Enterprises. His reply: Thank you for reaching out.  We no longer sell this product, I see some of them available on eBay, I am not sure who else makes this product. I am sorry about that.

This online pdf copy of the 1968 General Tools product catalog is chock full of tools that, judging from the GENERAL web site, have now been discontinued.

Most (but not all) the tools that GENERAL no longer sells are still available from other tool companies. Perhaps the #890 will be picked up by another company. It was no longer being made in the United States. The Chinese manufacturer may see an opportunity there. But it’s a sorry loss for another old American tool company.

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The history of GENERAL Tools goes back to 1922. The New York City based maker’s first product was an egg slicer. The company expanded significantly from that inauspicious beginning 

In 2018 GENERAL Tools, a third generation family business, was acquired by the private equity firm, High Road Capital Partners. Three years later Worthington Enterprises (an Ohio-based company) purchased GENERAL for 115 million.

A 2021 news release about Worthington’s acquisition notes that GENERAL was "a provider of over 1,200 feature-rich, specialized tools with well-established brands and a nearly 100-year history."

And now, five years later, GENERAL is a shell of what it once was. It has precious little to offer.

IRWIN Cobalt Alloy Unibit

I bought the IRWIN #4 Unibit pictured in this article a long time ago and have used it many times over the years. It is the perfect drill bit for easily making clean holes (12 different sizes) in all metals (up to 3/16” thick) and plastics.

The picture below shows a recent use… I needed to drill 3 holes in the back of an electrical panel box for Romex connectors. Back before I had the Unibit I would use a knockout hole punch. The knockout makes a clean hole but it’s a time-consuming hassle to use. The Unibit easily drilled those 7/8” holes in no time flat.

My Unibit is IRWIN #10234CB. The CB designates that it is made with Cobalt Alloy Steel, which is suited for drilling stainless steel. I have not drilled stainless steel with my Unibit but the comments on Amazon indicate that it drills stainless with no problem. That’s impressive!

The IRWIN #102434CB currently sells for $42.97. So, it’s not a cheap bit (lesser quality step drills are, of course, available for less) but if it isn’t abused it should drill beautiful round holes for a good long time. Perhaps a lifetime.  

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In the history of tools, the step drill is a relative newcomer. Patented in 1973, it was called the Unibit by the inventor and manufactured by Unibit Corporation. Patent protection expired in 1990. The Unibit name is now owned by IRWIN Tool Company which, since 2017, is owned by Stanley Black & Decker.

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The electrical code does not allow Romex box connectors to be put into a box like shown in the photo above but, rest assurred, I have installed them correctly, as this photo shows.

Klein Knit-Dipped Chore Gloves

When I was in my teen years I worked on a local dairy farm and  I wore Handy Andys. They were relatively inexpensive general purpose gloves. But glove options have changed a lot in the past 50 years! Knit-dipped gloves are now a thing, and for good reason.

My son recently gave me a pair of Klein’s A1 knit-dipped gloves. Specifically, they are the #60582 XL gloves with an A1 cut rating.

I gave them a good test stacking this year’s 15 face cords of firewood…

The Klein gloves are a spandex material, which is very comfortable. And the micro-foam nitrile dip coating equates to commendably nice gripping action. The A1 cut rating means that the gloves provide a level of protection from splinters, cuts and abrasions. Not a high level of protection, but decent general purpose protection. 

I fell in love with the grip and dexterity of these gloves after stacking the firewood. Then I put them to use in my gardening work. It so happens that the gloves are an excellent garden and yardwork glove!

I have average size man's hands. But the #60582 XL size is perfect for me.

I’ve purchased cheaper dip-coated knit gloves in the past. They were okay, but I never bought more when they wore out. That, however, is not the case with these Kleins. I bought a second pair last weekend. Yes, they’re that good, and the current price of $8.58 for 2 pair is not excessive. They're a good value.

Get a pair for yourself and I’m pretty sure you’ll like them as much as I like mine. Maybe even get a pair for your dad (or your son). They make a great gift.

 

Self-Mudding Drywall Tape Dispenser

My son hired a man to hang and finish drywall in the house he is building. The guy has been hanging and finishing for decades, and works alone. He has a good reputation.

When he got to the point of taping and coating all the seams I stopped in at the end of the day to check out his progress. That’s when I saw this…

Although I had never seen such a setup, I grasped the concept immediately. Paper perf tape feeds into a tight slot on one side and out a slightly larger opening on the opposite side. Drywall joint compound is put into the pail. The tape is pulled. It comes out with an even coat of “mud,” ready to apply to drywall seams.

It’s a great idea, and as my aging mind contemplated the sight, it occurred to me that I actually had seen the idea before… in the Tips & Techniques column of an old issue of Fine Homebuilding magazine.

So I hauled out my lifetime collection of saved Tips & Techniques pages (hundreds of them) and started looking. I ended up finding the idea TWO times…

And then, wondering of maybe the idea was on YouTube I started searching there. Lo and behold, I found videos showing a $250 “semi-automatic” mud bucket accessory tool known as a Super Taper. 

If that Super Taper was available when I was working as a remodeling contractor (nearly 30 years ago!) I would have bought one in a heartbeat. Here’s a 53-second video showing the Super Taper in use…

I tried to find out when that $250 Super Taper device was first introduced, but was unsuccessful. I suspect it was sometime after those Fine Homebuilding tips were published. I further suspect that those tips were the  inspiration for creating the tool.

Yes, there are automatic taping “bazookas” (37-second video) that many pros use for finishing drywall. But from what I’ve read, they’re a pain to clean, prone to various operating problems, and they’re heavy to use for long periods. They’re also expensive.

With a simple bucket taper, once you have your joint compound mixed to optimal consistency, you simply pull a continuous long length of mud-coated tape into an empty bucket and start putting it in place, as the video above shows. It’s a whole lot less fuss.

The mud bucket concept is even available in a smaller, cheaper tool called the Tape Buddy ($39.98) which might be just the right tool for someone who isn’t at the pro level but wants to use a professional approach. 

KLENK Laminate Snips

I’ve fabricated a lot of plastic laminate countertops over the years, and I’ve cut the material with everything from a table saw to a carbide tipped score-and-snap tool (like this). But when it comes to cutting pieces out of a large sheet, no tool beats the KLENK laminate snips. Here you can see me using my old KLENKS to rough out laminate pieces for a counter top I recently made...

The following close-up of the jaws shows the cutting configuration. When the handles are squeezed, the top blade comes down and shears a 1/8” strip of waste laminate, which falls down under the snips.

According to company literature. KLENK Tool Company was founded in 1934 by Karl J. Klenk. It was Mr. Klenk who invented aviation snips, and aviation snips in their various iterations were KLENK’s primary product. 

In 1959, the compound cutting action of KLENK's aviation snips was integrated into their laminate shears. Such a tool was needed and appreciated as plastic laminate kitchen countertops surged in popularity during the 1960’s and 70s.

The KLENK Company manufactured their various hand snips in Wilmington, Delaware for 68 years. In 2002 the company was acquired by Everhard Products of Canton, Ohio.

Decades ago, when I bought my KLENKS, the model number was K12. They are now Everhard #MA72500 (Amazon Link). Less expensive pre-owned KLENKS can usually be found on Ebay.

KLENK straight-cut laminate snips are an American-made and well-made tool. As such, they deserve to be featured and celebrated here on Trad-Man's Daily. There is, of course an inferior Chinese knockoff version, but I wouldn’t recommend that!

GENERAL 80982 Screw Starter

I bought a vintage Porter Cable model 315 circular saw at an estate sale. For some unknown reason, the guard was missing. So it was cheap. I bought it to part out and sell on Ebay.

One of the saw parts I put on The Bay was the trigger switch. In the photo above you can see me holding the switch and putting a small brass screw back into place. I was having trouble getting that screw started using my fingers. Then I remembered that I have a GENERAL Tools 8082 screw starter. It was right in front of me on my tool wall (if it wasn’t on my tool wall I might never have found it!).

I got that 8082 at an estate sale awhile back and wondered what it was. An internet search quickly answered my question. I spent a few minutes experimenting with it on some screws (straight slot only) and realized it’s a clever tool that might someday be very useful. Thus, it's placement on my wall.

Getting that small brass screw started was the first time I’ve actually needed the starter. I’m glad I had it. It was definitely very useful. Here’s a close-up view of the end…

I should make it clear that the GENERAL 8082 is a screw starter only. Once the screw is in place, you then switch to a regular screwdriver to turn it down.

There are several different screw starters like the GENERAL 8082 on Amazon (Here’s One), but the 8082 is not there. You can, however, easily find one on Ebay.

There are also similar starter tools for Phillips head screws. I have one that I got on Amazon but it doesn’t grab and hold a variety of Phillips head sizes nearly as well as the 8082 does with straight slot heads.

You may be thinking to yourself that there are different kinds of screw holding/starting screwdrivers, and you are correct. I’ll show some in a future blog post here.

GENERAL File Handle 890

 

Back in 1949, a man by the name of Robert L. Yoke, Jr. invented a file-and-tool handle that is, in my opinion, the hands-down best file handle ever made.

Mt. Yoke’s story is nowhere to be found online, but I assume he licensed his idea to the GENERAL Tool company shortly after receiving a patent, and lived happily ever after on the royalties.

GENERAL Tool currently sells the handles as Model 890, but they also made the handles for Sears Craftsman for many years. The picture above shows the Craftsman 9-6775. You’ll note the Craftsman crown logo, which indicates that the handle was sold in the mid 1950s through the 1960s.

What makes this handle so doggone good is the clever mechanism inside. When the metal end cap is turned, two clamping arms apply significant parallel pressure on the file tang. Parallel pressure is what you get when you tighten a common bench vise onto an object. 

Had William Peterson not taken the name Vise-Grips for the pliers he invented in 1924, GENERAL Tools could have put the name to good use on these handles!

The traditional corn cob handle does not apply solid parallel pressure. Neither does a repurposed golf ball. And no wood file handle can hold a file like the GENERAL design, though I will admit that the Lutz Skroo-Zon file handles are admirable grippers.

That said, I hasten to point out that the Skroo-Zon handles come in 8 different sizes to accommodate different file sizes. But that isn’t necessary with the GENERAL. It comes in one size and will hold all different sizes of files. Besides that, it will hold sawzall blades and even thin hacksaw blades. That ain’t happenin’ with a Skroo-Zon.

Back in the early days of this tool, the handles were wood (as shown in photos above). But, like so many other things, the handles are now made of what I would call plastic. The manufacturer however, doesn’t see it that way. They still identify the handle material as “wood.”

This “wood” handle designation was a conundrum to me but I think I figured it out. The handles may be a composite of wood fibers and plastic. So it’s a little bit of both. That being the case, you can call it whatever you want. All of which brings me to an idea…

Fake leather is often referred to a “pleather” (plastic leather). Perhaps we could adopt the term, “plood,” for fake wood. I think I’ll go with that. Genuine Plood Handles!

You can buy new GENERAL handles (AmazonLink) for round $12. I assume the internal mechanism is the same as always, but I can’t say for sure. So, I bought one. I don’t need one, but I bought it just so I can take it apart and report my findings in a future TMD post.

I’m anxious to check out the plood handle, and I need to see if maybe the steel internal parts are now “pletal.”

Stay tuned…

 

The Most Valuable Old Ratchet

 

My previous post here was about vintage Craftsman Long-C (a.k.a., Underline-C) tools and how they are sought after collectibles. Today, I’m going to let you in on a remarkable family story. It was from this story that I first learned about the Long-C tools. 

My son, Robert, bought a Long-C ratchet at a garage sale for $10.  He had a gut-feeling that it might be something good. In my family we have a saying when it comes to sales and gut feelings: “It’s better than a lottery ticket.” Which is to say, buy it, because you have a better chance of winning with that than if you bought a lottery ticket (by the way, I’ve never bought a lottery ticket in my life). 

I’ll let my son tell you the story of his find and what makes it so collectible in This 2022 YouTube video.

As the video explains, that little ratchet flip got Robert into the “1K Club.” No one else in our family of Ebay sellers has come close to that. But, amazingly, not long after the ratchet episode, Robert landed a second 1K Club find and sale…

In This YouTube video he shows and tells the story of finding a rare (and BIG) 1920s Fisher & Norris chain-drive blacksmith’s vise. He bought it for $30 and sold it for… well, check out the video to find out. 🙂

The rest of the story on that vise is that the Minnesota buyer did not come to New York to get it. He paid quite a bit to have Robert crate it up and ship it by freight.

If you’re a lover of old tools, to collect or sell, there are treasures to be found at garage and estate sales.

What’s the best tool you’ve ever found at a sale?

Vintage Craftsman Long-C Tools

 

Craftsman tools sporting the distinctive Long-C Trademark logo are among the most collectible of old tools. Here’s the story…

Collectors also refer to the “Long-C” as “Underline-C” for obvious reasons. If it isn’t obvious to you, observe that the bottom of the C extends under the whole name. This trademark was used on Craftsman tools made between 1934 and 1944.

The five little tube packages with the Underline-C logo in the picture above contain torch tips. Here’s an excerpt from the 1936 Craftsman tool catalog showing the “complete industrial welding outfit” that could be purchased for only $39.90.

Individual welding tips in that picture are described as “one piece solid drawn pure copper.” They could be purchased individually for $1.45 each. Here’s a picture of one of the tips, showing the Underline-C trademark…

I found those tubes with tips at an estate sale in the barn workshop. I’m a bottom feeder at such sales. I look deep. When there are drawers, I open and look in every drawer. Here are two bottom feeder tips…

1. Have a small hands-free flashlight (click here to see the flashlight I use).
2. Open the drawer all the way so you can see what is in the back. Very few people do that.

The torch tips were found in a metal drawer cabinet. There were 35 drawers about 12” deep. They were crammed with old nuts and bolts and other hardware. In a bottom drawer, all the way in the back, the torch tips were safely boxed. No doubt, they had been there for decades.

Adding them to my big L.L. Bean canvas bag was a no-brainer. Not for the torch tips but for the old packaging in such good condition. Knowing that Craftsman Long-C is so collectible, I figured the little tubes would have a buyer. And they did.…

How To Pour Paint & Keep The Rim Clean

 

If you haven’t already seen this trick for pouring paint out of a can without getting any into the rim channel, you’re going to be amazed. If you have seen it, you’re going to be re-amazed. Yeah, it’s that good.

I saw this on a YouTube Short. A few days later I used it for the first time pouring contact cement out of a new one-gallon can. It was so satisfying to not get any of the glue into the rim! 

First, prepare to pour like this...

Just two pieces of duct tape. Note that the V-point meets at the inside of the rim. Make sure the tape is securely stuck down. Then pour slowly…

Brutal Victorian Steak Tenderizer

 

I found this brutal looking meat tenderizer in the barn at an estate sale. Into my big L.L. Bean canvas bag it went. I’m sure I wasn’t the first person to see the tool. Why didn’t anyone else grab it. I mean, buying that thing was a no-brainer.

The head is solid lead. The decorative shape and obvious old age looked Victorian to me. The Victorian era was 1837 to 1901. Check out the screwdriver tip tenderizers…

I listed it on Ebay. It languished there for over 4 years. Then it sold. I’d like to think it went into some sort of museum.

Round Wheel Countersinks Are A Thing

(click on images for larger views)

This antique set of six little tools, gleaned from an estate sale workshop years ago, were a mystery when I first got them. But some online investigation took me down a horological and metallurgical rabbit hole of discovery. Let me tell you about it…

If you don’t know (and I didn’t), the word, “horological,” has nothing to do with horoscopes or logic. It is an adjective that refers to the measurement of time, or the making of timekeeping devices. A “horologist” makes and repairs clocks and watches.

My youthful forays into horology began with taking apart a couple old watches and an alarm clock. I hasten to note that they were mechanical devices, not the modern digital variety. Taking them apart was as far as I ever advanced into the horological craft.

Google image search got me started with figuring out what this mystery tool set was for. It led me to find this page in a 128-year-old watchmaker’s tools catalog…

So it turns out that the 3-3/4” long, brass-handled tools, with different size rolling steel wheels on each end, are for watchmakers to countersink and burnish. Here’s a close-up photo showing the countersinking and burnishing ends…

Not being a horologist, I was clueless as to how a rolling steel wheel can countersink a hole. And “burnishers” were something I’ve never encountered. 

Well, it so happens that watchmakers can, indeed, remove the almost imperceptible edge burr on a drilled hole (in brass) with a round wheel. And, if needed, go a bit further to create a countersink (like a chamfer) on the hole. Check this out…

I further learned that a slight chamfer on the hole is referred to as an “oil sink.” The oil sink serves to retain a small amount of lubricating oil. If there were no chamfer, any oil applied to a “pivot hole” would flow away from the area.

As for the rounded steel burnishing wheels on the opposite end, they serve to smooth, polish, and work-harden the brass around the hole. 

It so happens that even a smooth-appearing countersink may have microscopic ridges. So the burnishing end, used similarly to the countersinking end, smooths out those ridges. 

Furthermore, the pressure of the burnishing wheel serves to compress the surface structure of the metal around the edge of the hole, making it denser and more resistant to wear.

And there you have it… Watchmaker’s countersinks and burnishers! 

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Note: I sold the tool set pictured in this essay on Ebay for $145.