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/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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672853 No.672853[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

Hoping some of you handy-types can help me out here. My grandpa gave me this wrench with the sole purpose of selling it. He was moving, had to cut back on stuff, I helped him move and gave it to me as payment. He said it's worth "quite a bit to someone who knows what it is."

It's really fucking heavy and says "Berylco Size 36"

Any of you guys know what this is worth or where I should list it?

>> No.672854

That is a beryllium pipe wrench.

36" on eBay by the same company is listed for $350

You might get $200 if its in good shape

>> No.672860

>>672854
Greatful for folks like you with better google-fu than my own. Anything special about it? I think he said it wouldn't spark or something?

>> No.672865

>>672860
Not him but sounds like it's made from Beryllium instead of steel so that in flammable situations, it won't spark when you're turning big ass pipes

>> No.672868

Not OP but where would non sparking tools be useful? Sounds like something pre-OHS where you might be working in an environment flooded with flammable gas. Oil rigs maybe?

>> No.672872

>>672868
Yes, like shutting off a leaking gas pipe.

>> No.672875

>>672872
There are jobs where they send people into exploding environments? And not just shut off the gas remotely? And people agree to this?

>> No.672880

>>672875
Some environments just have flammable gases period. Like some types of mines and oil rigs. Oh noes, we have a leak in the gas vent line down in the mine. Someone better go turn off the earth for a few minutes while we fix that. What? We can't do that? Welp, better abandon the mine then.

>> No.672886

>>672875
Yes, it's called hazard pay for a reason.

>> No.672887 [DELETED] 
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672887

>>672875
>See Islam

>> No.672892

>>672875
>And people agree to this?
refineries and oil/gas rigs & pipelines pay good money for that very reason anon

>> No.672905

>>672860
It's made of Beryllium Copper alloy which is one of the few nonferrous alloys tough enough to use for making tools.

And yes, tools made from it are incredibly expensive.

>> No.673006

Useless bit of info - they're called 'Stilsons' in the UK.

>> No.673010
File: 412 KB, 1024x768, Of15.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
673010

>>673006
do Stilsons work as well as pipe wrenches? I have a head crab infestation and wanted to know.

>> No.673018
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673018

>>673010
Good thing those aren't headcrabs.

>> No.673023

>>672853
i say keep it and don't sell it

>> No.673025

>>673023
Why?

>> No.673046

>>673025
Different guy but these things only tend to increase in value as the years go by. Antique/vintage items are not a bad investment if they're not too cumbersome to store and they're in good condition.

>> No.673052

>>672853
It was meant as a life lesson. You know give a man a fish he has food for a day give him a fishing rod and he has food for the rest of his life.

>> No.673068

>>673052
Give a man to fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he'll spend all day getting drunk in a boat.

>> No.673094
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673094

>> No.673101

>>673046
I buy old tools and sometimes restore and resell them. Mainly because they are cheaper to buy used than new. While you *might* be able to sell that tool for more than what was paid for it many years ago, things like this are generally a terrible 'investment'. They never keep up with the rate of inflation. The MSRP of that tool is $689 for a new one. Generally to sell it used you'd need to knock off 40-70% of that. For a very specific tools like that you'll either have to hang on to it for a very long time waiting for the right buyer to come along (unless you get lucky) or dump it cheap.

>> No.673110 [DELETED] 

卍卍 Sieg Heil! 卍卍

>> No.673121

>>672875
>There are jobs where they send people into exploding environments? And not just shut off the gas remotely? And people agree to this?
well yea, they don't work in it all the time but there are some situations where it can't be avoided.

-----------

OP: ebay it if you don't want it. Don't expect to get $700 for it tho.

It would be expensive to buy new, but the problem with using that as a selling price estimate is two things:
1 --- anyone who needed such a tool would already have one, and
2 --- companies pay for that stuff anyway, not employees. And companies aren't going to go shopping on eBay for used tools. So you are back down to the price that an ordinary collector will pay for it.

I had to buy a bung wrench once for some barrels of chemical I bought, and (where I went to get the wrench) the only wrench that was the right fitting size was a bronze non-sparking type.
All the steel and aluminum wrenches only cost $15, but the one I needed cost $50. :>/

The titanium tools used for MRI work are $$$ too. Like, an ordinary 3/8" socket wrench set will cost $1000+, but good luck selling used ones for that much.

>> No.673252 [DELETED] 

>>673025
never know when you'll need a BFW

a side note: I use an oldstock aluminum bronze hammer, that I got for price on an average hammer new. as a trim hammer. These things don't really sell in the after market unless priced roughly around what a regular steel one costs as there is really no point to owning one unless you plan to use it in hazardous environment.

>> No.673255

>>673025
never know when you'll need a BFW

a side note: I use an old stock aluminum bronze hammer, that I got for price of an average hammer new, as a trim hammer. These things don't really sell unless priced roughly around what a regular steel one costs as there is really no point to owning one unless you plan to use it in hazardous environment.

>> No.673268
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673268

>>673121
I work in the oilfield usually in the presence of H2S. Which is highly flammable and deadly if exposed to more than 50ppm. And that shit is ALWAYS there. We have to use tools with the same properties as that 36.

So yes, this anon is right. There are people who work in explosive environments often. Except for us OFT, it's on a daily basis.

>> No.673292

>>672853
good luck selling it. I worked on the rigs and I used to steal 36" and 48" but I could never sell them

>> No.673373

>>673292
What kind of loot did you.steal? I mean other than the wrenches...

>> No.673380

>>673006

Hello fellow Britfag < 3 I have a decent pair of Sheffield made Stilsons hanging up in the garage. Also, are we the only people who call Mole grips that? (And yus I know it's a company trademark, but in the same way that Hoovers aren't all hoovers, I still call all Mole grips by that name. Just me?)

>> No.673382

>>673101

As someone who also buys old tools, I'd also like to add that there's another reason for buying them old - they're better.

That isn't hipsterish logic, either. Most tools in the UK where I live, if they're old will be English made. Either in Sheffield or Birmingham. Sheffield was renowned for being amongst the very best in the world for steelmaking and tool manufacture. Buying a tool from the 1950s-1970s here will guarantee that it will last me a lifetime if I look after it. Buying new means I have to pay more, and it will usually be low-grade Asian shit that won't last five years. American and Japanese tools are OK, but still not in the same league as old Sheffield or Birmingham made tools.

So protip, you want decent tools that'll last you, it makes sense to buy old quality tools, not new. Just bought a 1/2" ratchet drive for less than $10 on ebay, 1960s Britool. Will last me all my working life with maintenance. Even if it strips, replacement gears are available to repair it.

>> No.673396

>>673382
What a load of shit.

You're suggesting everyone just forgot how to make tools, and moved on to burlesque?

What you're seeing is simply the anthropic principle: if a tool's survived forty years without breaking or being thrown out for being shit, it's necessarily going to be the best of the best of what was around at the time.

>> No.673418

>>672853
Good to have OP. Put it in your toolbox and treasure it.

>>673068
>>673052
Actually this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGTvWkmEAtM

>> No.673444

>>673380
Hate to break it too you, you're the only people that call vacuum cleaners Hoovers too.

>> No.673648

>>673373
Nothing specifically. whatever was in the back of the truck I'd grab if it was next to my bag. some drill bits and shit.
Was making $100k+ a year so I wasn't trying to cash out

>> No.673671

>>673396
Thank you. I'm not sure where people get this idea from. EVERYTHING FROM CHINA IS SHIT! The country of origin has nothing to do with the quality of the product. The quality control dictates what gets released. Obviously comparing the top of the line tool of the 50's to a cheaply made tool with no quality control is going to go to the old tool. Now compare a top of the line brand new tool to some cheap shit you can find at a swap meet. Guess which will win.

B-b-but planned obsolesce anon! It doesn't exist in hand tools. If I guy a hammer and it breaks after a single use, I will not buy another one of the same brand, I'll switch. Which means they lose profits. The same is true of power tools, they make money off of consumables (sandpaper, bits, blades, ect.).

>> No.673687
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673687

>>673671
Well, there is some truth to it. "Top of the line" hasn't kept up with inflation when it comes to tools, especially shop tools. The Delta Unisaw has been the gold standard for cabinet saws for 60 years in the USA. Models made from the Truman administration, if well cared for, are just as capable as one made today. When I found a manufactures price guide from 1967 it listed the Unisaw for sale at 319 dollars or about 2.2 grand accounting for inflation. Modern machines with similar features sell for over 3 grand, and thats for ones made with parts from Asia and only assembled in the USA.

If you want tools that stack up in the price area you lose out on quality and quickly. Its basically impossible to find a benchtop table saw or contractors saw that doesn't have a ton of plastic or stamped sheet metal in it. Finding one with cast iron is out of the question. Same goes for drill presses. I haven't seen a shop machine with metal cranks and adjustments in decades. I've seen plenty of later models with vice grips for handles though.

So, while you can still but good quality tools, they are priced out of many peoples budget. There was a day and age were you could walk into Sears, Wards or True Value and buy a tool for a reasonable price that you could pass on to your grand kids. You can't do that anymore. Pic related. 1949 Catalog price: $89.50, or $900 in 2014 dollars.

>> No.674590

Gramps was right. Shine it up and Ebay that motherfucker.

Mechanic of many decades here, and even I would not save it. I WOULD use the money to buy other tools.

>> No.674600

>>674590
I work at a job shop and sometimes we get these beryllium disc parts in.... whatever. The parts come with a fucking packet every time saying how dangerous beryllium dust can be, something about carcinogens or something, so be careful with that.

>> No.674703

>>674590
His gramps knows it was expensive new, but what he doesn't know is that they don't sell well. It's inferior in durability and those that need it for safety usually have it supplied to them. Expect it to sit on Ebay unless you sell it dirt cheap.

>> No.674705

>>674600
it's really not an issue with tools unless you sit there and grind on them.

>> No.674789

>>674705
I just mentioned it because he said something about shining it up which I figured might release particles into the air.