Rescued and restored

Book rescue

A few years ago I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. It doesn't happen very often. I was in an office where the company was moving to smaller premises and thay were having an almighty clear out. Sitting on the table were piles of old books - hundreds of them! When I asked what was hapening to them I was told they were going to a charity shop, if anybody had time, but it was looking like they would just go in the skip! I asked if I could have some and I was told only if you take the lot! As luck would have it I was in my empty van, so to the staff's surprise I said yes and before I knew it they were helping me load them into the back of the van. There were boxes and boxes of 'em!

Old book have a lot to offer

I got home and gingerly broke the news to Sue. Now I know that Sue is very tolerant of my shenanigans, but I thought she might not be that amused at my latest trick. In fact I could not be more wrong. There she was doing more reading than moving! The books cover all sorts of subjects from gardening and DIY through to narrow gauge railways, model engineering and steam engines to cookery! Recently I have just come across a couple of the books and taken a closer look.  The screw threads book has a terrific amount of useful information on both imperial and metric threads and drill sizes while the metal working book is full of useful information on 'how to' stuff like working with sheet material, casting, working with Lathes and milling machines and a whole lot more. Next time you are in a charity shop or at a boot fair, keep an eye out for the old books, you never know what will turn up.

More restored tools

back in service

I can't help it I just hate to see anything thrown away or neglected. While we were at my Mums place last weekend I mentioned we found an old neglected garden hand fork - see below. We also unearthed a box full of old rusty tools. there was some rubbish in the box, but there was also a few gems, all covered in dirt and surface rust. This week I have been sorting them out and among the usual collection of hammers and screwdrivers, there were a few interesting bits and pieces. There was a very nice, hardly used set of small pliers, some flat bladed (they are about 8mm wide at the tip) long nose pliers and a very small pair of wire cutters. A good wash in soapy water, followed by a work-over with wire wool and WD40 cleaned them up a treat. A final polish with 3-in-1 finished the job and look what we have here, three useful tools brought back to life.

Ralph.