Tool Collection Makes Creative Displays

Tool Collection Makes Creative Displays FARM SHOP Miscellaneous 31-4-22 "I started to collect old tools about four years ago so that I'd have something to do when I retired. I haven't completely retired yet, but I already have so many tools that I ran out of room to display them," says Eugene McMillan of Huron, S. Dak. McMillan says he gets most of his tools at farm and rummage sales and from other collectors and friends. He mounts the tools on 20-in. sq. peg boards that he can move around easily. "I have about 70 squares so far," he says. He estimates he has more than 1,000 tools in his collection. Some of them go all the way back to the 1920's. One panel contains crescent wrenches ranging from 6 to 18 in. long. "They make a 24-in. long crescent wrench but I haven't been able to find one yet," says McMillan. One of the most unusual tools he has was made in Sweden and is a left and right hand crescent wrench. The left crescent wrench threads go the opposite way as the threads on a right hand crescent wrench. "I know of only two others like it," says McMillan. He says interest in collecting old tools has grown over the years. "I'm getting a lot more competition than when I first started my collection. Four years ago you could buy a 5-gal. bucket of old tools for $5. Now everyone wants them so the price has gone up." He also built what he calls a "wrench tree" - a 12-ft. high, 4-legged TV antenna base with old, rusted and broken wrenches welded onto all sides of it. It's painted red, white and blue and has a base that measures 3 ft. square. An axle and wheels clamp onto one side of the base, allowing McMillan to tip the tool tree down and roll it onto a trailer. "It's pretty heavy. I imagine it weighs about 400 lbs.," he says. The wheels are off a riding mower and are connected by a metal shaft. "People get a kick out of it when they first see it," says McMillan. "One insurance company wanted to buy it so they could display it in front of their building, but I wouldn't sell it. I take it to county fairs and antique tractor shows. If I want I can stick an American flag into a pipe on top. "I built it one winter when I had nothing to do and had pails full of old wrenches laying around. I used old box end, open end, and crescent wrenches, and even Model T car wrenches to build it. They're all welded to each other," says McMillan. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Eugene McMillan, 37 Pennington Ave. S.W., Huron, S. Dak. 57350 (ph 605 352-3628).

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