MetalworkingFun Forum

I came across an article the other day about the demolition of the Lufkin Tool factory and how a collector had salvaged a few bricks from the site. On a whim, I tracked down his address and sent him a letter (snail mail) to see if by chance he had any left that I could purchase. Much to my surprise, I received an email from him a couple of days later stating that he did a few left and they would be free of charge if I sent him the postage. As it turns out, he's now 82 years old and is in the process of listing some of his collection on eBay, and more than willing to help out a fellow collector.

Sure enough, I got a package in the mail today containing several brown bricks, a certificate of authenticity, a postcard showing the Lufkin factory and a Lukin decimal equivalent chat. He also included an informational CD that that he says contains a timeline for the Lufkin tools and catalogs. I can't wait to dig into that. I think I'll make up a pair of book ends out of the bricks and use them to display my reference material.

Tom

Now that's cool Tom!

Ed

Neat keepers Tom. WE also had a "Lufin" plant here for years in i think Barrie Ontario.
Sad to see these places GONE!!

I'm sure glad that the Starrett factory is not yet reduced to "momento" bricks. I should have grabbed a couple when they put in the new hydro-power plant and had to open up part of the old factory over the Miller River. After they moved the turbines in they sealed it up with poured concrete.

It's definitely a shame to see these old places fade away. I'm not sure of the exact reason Lufkin went under, but I've heard that there was so much hand work on the tools by the old world German craftsman, that they couldn't stay competitive in the precision tool market. I know when I started college in 1972, there was still a lot of Lufkin stuff available and it was competitively priced at that time, although the hardware that I bought my tools from was happy to clear out the Lufkin tools so I got some really good deals.

Tom

Tom, in all my yard saleing and flea market searches for old tool catalogs i only ever found one Lufkin Catalog.
It is marked as "Catalog #9", but can't find a year in it. Almost mint shape 256 pages.

(12-15-2012, 06:24 PM)sasquatch Wrote: [ -> ]Tom, in all my yard saleing and flea market searches for old tool catalogs i only ever found one Lufkin Catalog.
It is marked as "Catalog #9", but can't find a year in it. Almost mint shape 256 pages.

I think I can help you with that.

According the the documentation the guy sent with the bricks; if the lufkin logo on the first page has no background and the page has a line across the bottom, it was printed from 1963-1965. If the Lufkin logo on the front page has a rectangular background and there is no line across the bottom, it was printed in 1966.

Tom

Just checked mine has the line across the bottom and no background. Thanks for that info.

Interesting acquisition Tom and a nice bit of history to have. What was your lovely wife's reaction when you got bricks in the post?

GOOD QUESTION!!!! LOL!!