Customer Reviews

Antique Tools, Our American Heritage

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I think the breadth of the information in this book is what causes the problems. It attempts to cover a wide range of antique tools according to the profession of the user. On this basis, it is a rather remarkable collection of widely varying information on lots of old tools and their uses. The problem is that most of the information appears to have come from helpful dealers and passers-by, not necessarily experts. This is alluded to in the forward, so there is no deliberate attempt to claim otherwise. These helpful people were not necessarily knowledgable as shown by incorrect naming and descriptions on some items. The included price guides also varied all over the map from too cheap to too expensive. In no cases were maker names mentioned along with the pricing which makes them pretty much useless. I was particularly interested in this book for the woodworking section which is only barely touched upon given the wide subject material and limited space. I did learn the names of lots of esoteric stuff that I did not know about before.

This is an excellent reference book and guide on antique hand tools. Lots of great color pictures with information on each tool along with a value of each tool pictured. Also, good for anyone interested in learning something about our early 20th century American Heritage. One of my favorites.

Lot of helpful infomation about antique tools and there value.I had the 1988 edition before getting this updated one.Thanks kenneth