Old Sheetmetal Tools

Both of my uncles on my Mom's side were old school sheetmetal workers and they owned their own business and farmed on the side. I got all my Uncle Roger's old tools when my Dad died. Here's a sample.

 

What kind of stuff did they make?

 

Heating duct work, forming and soldering copper and sheet metal gutters and downspouts, fabrication work. I remember him working out of the back of a 1960 Plymouth Valiant station wagon until 1965 when he bought a Wagoneer. By that time his brother went to farming full time and he worked out of the union hall. He lived next door to us with my Grandma. He had a shop in his basement and I'd go over and he'd whip up quick little toys for me.

 

old metal working tools are cool

 

Here's a copy of his Sheetmetal Workers Union Constitution circa 1935, some Union cards from the 40's and dues recipes from 1940 and 41.

 

Neato. The two pliers look like crimping tools. The seamers are handy. Yep, this is the kind of stuff that copper roofs or heating ducts were made with.

 

One is a notcher and the other is a dimpler. I also have a shrinker. You use the notcher to notch each end, put it in a brake and bend it 90 degrees to make tabs to solder or rivet together. The dimpler makes a dimple in the metal. You roll a seam on one piece of rectangle duct work then dimple the other next piece of duct. You can then slide the pieces together. The dimple catcher the rolled seam and holds the 2 pieces together. If you look at Lowes of Home Depot the duct is pre dimpled and seamed. If you needed a shorter piece you would still have to perform those tasks. The shrinker puts ripples in the end of a round duct quick decreases the diameter so you can slide 2 pieces together. The 2 flat pliers are seam.crimpers.