The first garage I worked in after the service station I worked at in High School was a auto electric shop. The original owner still worked there. He sold the shop to the present owner and continued to work there. I started there in around 1976, he sold the place to the current owner around 1960. He was in his 80's then. He started the shop in 1923. Old Ralph as he was known only did back bench work. Rebuilding starters, generators and alternators. In the bad old days he even rebuilt battery's. Old starters and generators were his old friends. When he taught me how to rebuild starters/gens/alts. he made sure I understood how they worked, not just how to go through the motions. How to test each part and figure out what the problem was.
Anyway this thread is about tools. Old Ralph was a aviation mechanic in WW1. Yes I said WW1. He was US Air detached to the British RAF. I told you he was smart. He would tell you things about his time in England if you prodded him a bit. He explained to me how you timed the machine guns to shoot through the propeller. He admitted you didn't do it with a good prop. You used a 4X2, props were to valuable.
One day he brought in his "tool role" from his WW1. The spanners(wrenches) were hand made. He explained that during the war and also back in those days you didn't just go to Sears or anywhere and buy a wrench. You got a piece of steel and and made the spanner. Heat treating and all. He also showed me what he called his sketch book. It had hand made drawings on all the wires and how tight they should be on the planes. He was a craftsman.
Side note. I asked him one day why he joined the Air Core and not the Army. He said he didn't like to march. In the Army if they wanted you in a different town you marched. In the Air Core if they wanted you on the other side of the parade grounds they sent a truck.
