Click the pic for more pics and info on this masterpiece created and used by H.O. Studley who was a turn of the 20th century piano maker and stonemason. And then read about it in this article from 1993.
Not quite like the tool kits sold at WalMart.
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Sweet!
Now here is someone who knows how to use his space to the best of his ability. Something like this can’t be found anymore, for several reasons, one it is too well made, two most people would get irritated trying to keep everything in it’s rightful place, three all of the tools included would not likely be used by any one person any more.
Still I would love to have a set like that. I still have access to my dads tools that were handmade and passed down to him from his grandfather, in many respects they are better then tools you could buy today.
As a Mason (the “secret society”, not occupation), I really like the Square and Compasses at the bottom. Too bad this kind of quality isn’t around anymore… or that anyone would spend the money for it.
From the days when craftsmen took pride in their work.
I don’t want to sound like an Apple Fan Boy here (because I am not). But the closest thing we have to this dedication today are some Apple products. They strive for functional elegance and quality of craftsmanship that so many companies have lost sight of.
Try taking that tool kit through airport security, or just walk around near a government building with it.
If you own a pocket knife then you must be a terrorist.
it’s an industrial artist’s wet dream come true.
Meanwhile back at the ranch:
Moe:Get the tools
Larry:What tools?
Moe:The same tools we’ve been using for the last ten years *slap
(gotta love that)
I wonder how much time he spent on his tool chest and how much time he spent actually fixing anything?
If you are limited to hand tools, you need every tool in that kit. The wood plains alone would all be used on most projects. I would love something like that in my shop.
Sadly, it would probably remain hanging on the wall because I would want to use a router, a surface plain, and a table saw to build most of the things that kit is useful for.
I got Ball-Peenus envy.
Replace the wood with plastic and you’ve got the Craftsman Tool Kit sold everyday at Sears. What’s the deal?
Once a year, I clean up my hobby workshop. Looks just like a postcard. Things only fall apart when I actually start a project.
This tool box reminded me of a Victorian painting of immense detail titled “Fairy Feller’s Master Stroke” in the Tate Gallery. Painted by an inmate in an asylum.
It also could be the tool box of the TV character “Monk”.
Re: Ah_Yea said, “I wonder how much time he spent on his tool chest and how much time he spent actually fixing anything?” that was my second thought.
It’s more a work of Art then a tool box.
Hhhmmm… Not bad. But I can’t see any space for my WD-40.
While artistic, this is a Luddite’s dream with no room for innovation or expansion.
Can you imagine how much that sucker must weigh?
who needs tools when you have the handyman’s secret weapon, Duct Tape!
Beautiful. I like well made humble everyday stuff of high quality.
Too bad nobody gets to use them and appreciate them directly today.
My local PBS station plays a show, during fundraising month(s), about a guy that retired to back country Alaska with a bag of tools (no handles) and crafted a cabin he lived in for about 20 years. After making tool handles he made a livable little world for himself using tools like these.
A hundred years ago a man could make himself a very decent living by operating tools like this.
I could fuck that thing up in about 10 minutes.
Re: #4 – The problem with comparing the Studley chest to Apple’s (or anyone else’) gizmos is the notion that a technology product available today will be recognizable, let alone viable a century from now. Sorry, but the iPod, iPhone, etc. ain’t in it.
I would trade my wife for that tool chest.
That tool chest has been the envy of thousands of woodworkers for years. I’m glad it has surfaced again.
Its amazing the intricacy, and how the tools in the chest are just stored so neatly
Wonder if the guy did any work or so retentive arranging his tools and ever did any work out in the field or on the job site
Wow.. that’s is F’n Beautiful!!
-stunning, even.
given that it’s a mason’s tool set, the quality and fit must be obscene
I would love to build a cabinet or table with those.
Out-Fkn-Standing!
me thinks we paid a too heavy a price for mass production.
-s
The quality of most modern muscle powered hand tools stinks.
Switching topics a tad. I don’t care how good your electronic keyboard is or your sound system is; it doesn’t sound like a piano. Of course if you’ve been wearing ear buds with the volume all the way up you’ll never notice the difference.
Staying off topic; if I buy a CD/soundtrack and I’m buying something that is supposed to have a singer and the mixer decided to drown them out and give me an instrumental I may never buy anything by that singer again.
I think I saw that tool chest in the movie Seven.
That tool set was made by a craftsman for a craftsman. Today real men only need two items in their tool box.
If it moves and it shouldn’t you need duct tape. If it doesn’t move and it should you need WD-40.
For a minute there, I thought it might be a Luddite’s notion of a wooden CPU. It kind of has a similar layout to most microprocessor designs I’ve seen in the past. This tool kit is more of a work of art, than a practical thing. I’m sure many a craftsmen just got by with something simpler and less organized. And as soon as they start buying newer tools of a different size and shape. They’d no longer fit in this case. In fact it wouldn’t surprise me if most of these tools were custom made.