[AT] Reminded of an old ATIS friend this week

[Indiana Robinson]

I'm a tool lover and still watch for bargains at yard sales etc. Last
weekend I bought 4 adjustable wrenches in the 11" to 12" range. Three of
them were high quality like Crescent and Diamond and the 4th was a decent
wrench that said "Japan" on the handle and some name I didn't recognize.
Still a fully functional wrench, especially if you are a long way from the
shop and something really needs to be "wrenched".  :-)
I'm working on having a small basic tool set on everything like tractors,
mowers and special machinery (like the basket lift and several others). I'm
also putting basic tools in a few more widely separated buildings including
one in the next county. I have done this for some time in vehicles. I just
don't like to be anywhere without tools. I'm sorting out a set now for the
old motorhome. I could get a hernia moving the box from the truck to the
motorhome.  :-)
Those 4 wrenches and a fifth item were all $1 each...
The fifth item was a fair sized ball peen hammer. I can't pass up a good
hammer... It had a high quality head (those that live with their tools
understand how you can usually tell good tools by sight). It had a very
nice brand new handle. The only problem is that the attachment of the
handle could only be described as "scary"... The new handle had in no way
been shaped to fit the head and did not extend all of the way through the
eye in the head, lacking about a half inch. A new steel wedge had been
driven down into the end about half way and any attempt to hit anything
more than a pillow would surely send the head flying. I paid my $1 for it
considering it to be a "kit".  :-)
Has anybody guessed which old friend I was reminded of? It was one of the
really good guys... Cecil Monson. We were discussing replacing hammer
handles and sharing our own favorite tips on the list. Cecil was lamenting
his inability  to ever successfully replace a hammer handle no matter how
hard he tried. Cecil didn't lack for skills generally; it was just that he
had never been taught that particular skill. I wrote a post detailing the
procedure I used as did others and never thought any more about it. That
year at Portland Cecil parked his RV right next to mine and he had no more
than shut his truck off that he came hurrying excitedly over to where I was
at, carrying a hammer. I had forgotten all about the thread on hammers but
Cecil had brought that hammer from home on the front seat of his truck just
to show it to me. He had done a very serviceable job and was really as
proud as any person could be of a hammer handle repair.
The memory of Cecil's joy has made me smile several times this week...
:-)  I will be thinking of him again when I repair the hammer properly...
Cecil and his wife were super nice folks. I miss them still.

-- 
-- 

Francis Robinson
aka "farmer"
Central Indiana USA
robinson46176 at gmail.com
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