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Originally Posted by wswartzwel

Thanks for posting this. When I was young I worked with my dad in various ways... He was an Electrician by trade, but built racing engines for hydroplane boats, and cars on the side, when we lived in Chicago... Then we moved to a rural area Arkansas and he opened his own business doing general mechanic work, and electrical work for the general public because there was a need for that in the area. What started out as just handing him tools and running errands, eventually led to me doing actual work with him as I grew older. Keeping a fleet of trucks going for the local lumber company, commercial and residential electrical work, and countless construction projects and woodworking projects for our residence, and small farm. After he passed, my brother and I divided up lots of tools and equipment. While the hand tools are great to use, they also carry me back emotionally, to being with him. The big 15x60 Cincinnati machinist lathe takes me to place that is hard to describe.. I have it cleaned up, repainted, and set up in my home garage shop. I have my wood shop set up with a mixture of my stuff and what was his.
I have one son, who worked with me some as he was growing up in my own powersports repair business... however he did not enjoy the idea of making a living doing mechanical things, and chose the field of business finance, and law, working with mergers and acquisition of large corporations and banks. He knows how to use most of my "stuff", and it will be his some day. I have 1 grandson so far, and I hope I live long enough to teach him some of the skills I have and hopefully give him some of my tools, so he has memories of me to enjoy after I am gone.

For those that do "Art" with with tools, there is nothing like looking at something you have created inspecting it, pondering how it started out as an idea in your head, and then you willed it into existence, enjoying it and saying "It is good". Hopefully our descendants will enjoy, not only some of our treasured items, but the also act of expressing themselves, by creating items, as well as memories, and reliving some of ours with the tools and stuff we leave behind. Again thanks for posting that bit of prose.

That's a great story. Something for the next generation to remember.

I have dad's first jewelry work bench he bought in his 20s. The very same one I remembered sitting on his lap when he was doing work only that I was screwing up his Swiss made Rat Tail files running it on my cheap metal toys. He passed away two years exactly, 9 days ago. This bench has been cleaned up and sits in my family room for all of us to enjoy only without any of his tools on it. My kids know what it is, but really don't care much about it but they know that bench is the only thing I will carry out if my house ever catch fire.