Name some old hand-tool companies; Wizard, Williams, etc

I think this might be the oldest tool, at least that I can make a date on. It extends and just push it in and it turns, also can be used as a ratcheting screw driver.

Next pic, AO safetys, and then this s****er is not marked. I'm not sure what it's exact purpose was for.

These shears, the big pair has my great grandpa's name on it, Samson PEXTD, and the little one is Bluebird.

 

Just got my dad's tool set. Owatona (now OTC I believe) wrenches.

Family story is when he was 18 he rode a Santa Fe caboose from Texas Panhandle to Kansas to sell a load of cattle. He bought some saddles with the proceeds and traded one for these wrenches.

That would have been late '30s, early '40's. He used them farming for 60 years and they're still in great shape.

Also got the Proto 1-1/2" wrench we had to have to adjust the rear tire width on a John Deere 435. He tried for two hours to make or adapt something that would work, finally gave up and drove to town (15 miles each way) and bought the wrench.

When we finished adjusting the wheels -- which took 15 minutes -- he looked at the wrench and commented that we'd probably never use that wrench again after we sold the tractor.

He was wrong -- we about wore that wrench out adjusting plows.

 

OOOH wrenches! Stillson by Henry & Allen, Trimo And the really old one is Barnes.

Brink & Cotton clamp.

Now the large grouping. Left side, Riverside, Proto, Penncraft, and S-K Wayne. Right side, Indestro, Easco, Plumb (war finish by the way), Thorsen, and the last says the "super wrench" and has a W in a diamond on it.

 

Thought I was done didn't ya. A Pheonix file.

A Diamond Calk Horse Shoe Co. wrench.

Grease gun is Alemite by Stewart-Warner Corp. (from an uncle)

And to finish off, a tackle box and an ammo box (thanks Yorgitron) I use for a few of my tools.

I got some at yard sales, and a lot from grandpa.

 

Have a set of 1/4",3/8ths.and 1/2" drive sockets by Crescent Tool Company of Jamestown NY.The same company that made the adjustable wrench famous.Got them from my 94 year old aunt when she was moving from her home in Jamestown.Owned by my uncle who died in 1960.

Have several multiblade and special purpose screwdrivers from Wurth(Zebra brand);the special ones are torque drivers for the Zebra hose clamps.Similar to Murray clamps,but are designed so the teeth don't cut into the hose.

Also ChanNelLock pliers.

My prize tool though is my grandfather's Keen Kutter brand(E.C.Simmons Hardware)ball pien hammer.Been used so much the handle has a groove worn into it.Also his Starrett micrometer set from before WWII.1" to 6".

 

My Dad had a bunch of DuPont tools, I've never seen any for sale anywhere, and don't know where they came from as he p***ed away in '95 at 82 years old.

 

2 Winchester screwdrivers, a file, & a wrench here ... Ruger made tools when first starting out late '40s

 

Bonney Forge were made in my old hometown of Allentown PA, were good tools in their day.

 

My Dad was a mechanic and after WW-2 bought a set of Bonney wrenches he used them for 30 years, my brother has them now.

 

Yup, Herbrand is still around. We sell their stuff at work.

I have a set of Herbrand hog-ring pliers, I think they are from China, just re-stamped Herbrand.

Lisle has been around for a while I think, maybe someone can tell when.

Shawn

 

I've bought some real nice John Deere wrenches at flea markets. They are longer than most wrenches and shaped real nice. They're definitely old as I've had them 20 years.

 

Wow, my Dad bought me a 3/8 Wizard set just like that when I was about 11 or 12, about 1963. Still have almost every tool from it, don't use it any more. It a family hairloom.

 

CARTER...all these tools are stamped CARTER MADE in USA. Snagged them today in the second hand store. View attachment 3114032 View attachment 3114033 View attachment 3114032 View attachment 3114033

 

It's interesting to look up these old-line tool brands and see where they came from (and sometimes where they disappeared to). Most have/had their own market niche (automotive, industrial, specialty) where they were best known but nearly all at one time or another sold into all markets, or at least offered tools somewhat outside their specialty. A few more lesser-known names...
New Britain, sold by NAPA, now discontinued. A quality tool if you find them.
Klein, primarily an electrical industry supplier but they have offered sockets/wrenches. Still around, good stuff.
Penncraft, JC Penney's compe***or to Sears' Craftsman, discontinued in the 70s. Mostly good stuff. A lot of their hand tools were re-branded Proto.
Easco, long-time supplier for Craftsman tools but did offer their own brand. Still around, but went offshore (thanks to Bain Capital, i.e. Milt Romney). This is probably why Craftsman is no longer US-made.
Xcelite, primarily known for their nutdrivers but made other stuff too. Mostly electronics oriented.

At one time there were literally dozens of US tool manufacturers, but most got gobbled up by larger concerns.

 

Ditto on Stanley . I bet many people think it's a newer brand but it's not. And those old Stanley tools are well built. Same goes for Black and Decker, which made (and still does) power tools.

 

I have a few Hazet wrenches and have (or had, haven't seen it in awhile) a 1/2" wrench with K-Mart embossed into it, of all things! I have a few SPI dial indicators and an ***ortment of precision measuring tools by Starrett, Mitutoyo, Brown & Sharpe, and even an old 6" Craftsman dial Vernier that I bought new years ago.

 

I have a 0-6" mike set made by the Scherr-Tumico company in St James Minnesota.My Dad told me he bought them before WW2."Tumico " stood for "tubular micrometer company". They all still zero perfectly.He died in1991 and I have been using them regularly ever since .

 

I have a set of None Better brand 1/2 drive socket set that is in the original metal box. It belonged to my dad. I also have 3 B.F Goodrich box end wrenches That are 3/4 by 7/8, 3/4 by 5/8 , and 11/16 by 19/32nds. I still use them along with some Wizard and Westline (Western Auto ) open end wrenches and sockets. By the way all of these are American made.

 

I have a bunch of Plumb tools that when Proto took them over they ground off the Plumb name and sold them for a good price at there L.A. plant on Alameda.

 

My wife's grandfather, who was 92 when he died in 1981, was a sheet metal man in Gadsden AL, working primarily in the old Dwight Cotton Mill in Alabama City (now a part of Gadsden). The best C clamps and files I've ever used were his, as well as my bench vise. Don't know who made the files, but the vise and the clamps are marked Cincinnati Tool Co. These tools are probably close to 100 years old and still as good as new. Grandpa Coley built the body for the first fire truck that Dwight Cotton Mill/ Alabama City had. He started with a 1913 Buick touring car and removed the body from the firewall back, then built a hose and ladder truck body on the ch***is. Very likely that the vise, clamps, and files I have were used on that job.

 

I bought at an auction a 1/4" drive socket set (don't remember the brand of the tools). The metal box had a label from "The Waterloo Valve Spring Compressor Co." later known as Waterloo Industries, the maker of Waterloo brand tool boxes.
Bought an older Black Hawk socket set at another sale. I thought it was 1/2" drive but turned out to be 7/16" drive.
The 3/8 drive tools I use regularly is an older Williams fine tooth ratchet with Fleet sockets from my 1st socket set from a farm fleet store. My deep sockets are K-Mart brand.
My best air die grinder is a very old Black & Decker. I think I've had it 30 years and it was old when I got it.

Gary

 

Anyone know anything about P&C

Mike

 

I have some New Britain tools from my father. I always liked them because he grew up in New Britain (CT) and my grandfather worked at new Britain machine.


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

I love old tools too and some cool ones have been brought up. But just cause Snap-on is huge now doesn't mean it's not old.... This is their 96th year in the business,

You can find a lot of of their old tools on eBay and other sites like garage journal do***ent them and their collectors

 

I can't believe that nobody has mentioned the Garage Journal website hosted by(drum roll.............)our very own Ryan Cochran! If you are a tool junkie and haven't visited that site,you are probably dead!
I became addicted to vintage tools after buying a box of them so I could get the box to re-paint and use as a sign kit. Cleaned up the tools in the box(none of which were made after 1940) and use them in my shop. After that every time I would see vintage tools at a garage sale I would buy them.
Found out about a site called Alloy Artifacts which chronicles virtually every manufacturer of tools that ever existed. Bought more tools and tool boxes. I don't know which is more addictive;the tools or the boxes.
My oldest set is a socket set made by the Rex Wrench Co of Boston M***achusetts that was in business from 1906 to 1915. I also have some wrenches and sockets(Snap-On and others) that are 9/32nds square drive instead of the standard 1/4". Have wrenches by Indestro; Blackhawk; Duro; Herbrand; Hinsdale; J.O. Mfg.; Armstrong; Plomb;Williams; and about twenty other manufacturers.

 

A name that's not very common...
BARCALO . I got a 9/16" combination wrench a while back and was curious as to the origin.

It's a very nice wrench that's not chromed but has a satiny finish. The box end is at an angle; maybe 10 or 15º.

Real surprise to find out that the company whose diversified product line was to include the famous
"Barcalounger" was also the maker of tools & other metal products.
Some younger members may not know what a Barcalounger is....they always struck me as being an "old fogies" reclining chair for watching Lawrence Welk......I think I could adapt to one now, but will p*** on the Welk show

check out this link to a bit of history;

http://alloy-artifacts.org/barcalo-buffalo.html

I've still got the Craftsman 1/2", 3/8", & 1/4" drive sets that I bought in 1966 when working on tractors and other equipment. And the S-K combination wrench set from 3/8" to 1 1/4"
The 3/8" to 1" wrenches were $15. Later, when I got some money saved, I bought the 1 1/16", 1 1/8" and 1 1/4"....those 3 cost $15

@ flatheadokie
I think I might have one of those out in the shop. I'll take a look tomorrow.

 

Nope, that wasn't it. The one I had was a BMC like the bottom version in this pic that has the plastic pieces in-between the side plates.



However,
FACOM makes an adjustable locking pliers similar in function to the one in your post...

 

Here are some more from my ac***ulation:
An 18 piece Martin wrench set.
A special tool for tightening brake lines on the ***embly line.
Apex and Giller sockets for Air-Loc fasteners on aircraft.
A Blackhawk tool set from the 1930's.
A Duro tool box and tools I bought for $14.
A Herbrand wrench
A Hinsdale G-20 tool set from the early 1920's.
An Indestro tool set.
A Model T Ford band wrench by Mossberg(the shotgun people).
A huge wrench used on the railroads marked N&W which I believe is Norfolk and Western.