Plomb tool picture thread - show your stuff!

[Smokeshow69]

Good to see you, Beemer, and Rileysan at the PIR swap Smoke. Nice pile of Plomb you pulled from the buckets and really nice name knurl 247's. They are not easy to find. I managed a few things that day including a Toolmobile and a few large combo and dbe wrenches. The Toolmobile cleaned up pretty well. It had quite a bit of paint spash and tape residue on it but pretty straight and complete. S/N is 3202 on this one still in original paint with the silverish paint stripes. Ed.

Riley and I scoped the tool mobile out on the back of that golf cart. By far the cleanest original paint example I have seen! Nice find

 

[Smokeshow69]

On an update note, I got all my plomb from the swap buzzed down today and some are in the evaporust and some are now in the simple green degreaser. I’ll pull em out tomorrow and keep the process rolling.

 

[nailheadmatt]

havnt posted in quite a while. heres a lot of my finds so far this year but definetely not all of them.. i got a nice pressteel mid box recently that i fixed up nice. lots of pre war stuff and 3/4 drive stuff lately. even found a bunch of chrome WF. as well as a 1941 date coded wf which i havnt owned yet. lots of LA period 3/8 sockets as well. . also picked up another pressteel toolmobile that im gonna restore soon when the weather gets nicer. got a wf 38-T ive been wanting as well.

 

[Smokeshow69]

havnt posted in quite a while. heres a lot of my finds so far this year but definetely not all of them.. i got a nice pressteel mid box recently that i fixed up nice. lots of pre war stuff and 3/4 drive stuff lately. even found a bunch of chrome WF. as well as a 1941 date coded wf which i havnt owned yet. lots of LA period 3/8 sockets as well. . also picked up another pressteel toolmobile that im gonna restore soon when the weather gets nicer. got a wf 38-T ive been wanting as well.

Looking good there! That chrome wf dbe is an interesting one. Not too much chrome wf but they do exist. You have certainly been busy as of late and it shows.

 

[Graeme]

Don't really come across plomb stuff in the UK, and I don't tend to buy it if I do. But these were in a box of bits I bought today. A wf7 and wf5b.
They seem to be a zinc finish? They are both 9/32. Any idea on age of these?

 

[d42jeep]

Those are very likely cadmium plated WW2 vintage tools used to repair aircraft.
-Don

 

[Old Radar]

How tall are you, @nailheadmatt???

 

[Oldtuleguy]

That's a tower!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Don't really come across plomb stuff in the UK, and I don't tend to buy it if I do. But these were in a box of bits I bought today. A wf7 and wf5b.
They seem to be a zinc finish? They are both 9/32. Any idea on age of these?

Seemed to be a popular ww2 finish

 

[Smokeshow69]

How tall are you, @nailheadmatt???

I dont think he's a giraffe I'm 6'3" and that would be to tall for me...but super cool regardless!

 

[nailheadmatt]

How tall are you, @nailheadmatt???

haha im only

How tall are you, @nailheadmatt???

haha im only 5'6". i cant even see into the bottom drawer of the top box. but its not like i use that one for work. i just put household tools in it, in my living room

 

[nailheadmatt]

heres a bunch of my plomb ads ive gotten this year

 

[nailheadmatt]

more plomb ads

 

[Smokeshow69]

more plomb ads

Heresy! I see snap on in that picture. We are grabbing our pitch forks and torches as we speak

 

[mritchie77]

heres a bunch of my plomb ads ive gotten this year

Matt, I wouldn't mind getting scans of those three wartime ads on the left. I haven't seen them before. I have a thing about wartime ads...and Plomb.

 

[nailheadmatt]

Heresy! I see snap on in that picture. We are grabbing our pitch forks and torches as we speak

Haha yeah I collect strictly plomb tools but I collect any tool box that I think is cool. I've got close to a dozen plomb tool boxes, but let's face it, they arnt very practical to actually work out of.

 

[nailheadmatt]

I

Matt, I wouldn't mind getting scans of those three wartime ads on the left. I haven't seen them before. I have a thing about wartime ads...and Plomb.

Can do that for u when I get a chance. I should be getting a scanner soon. I have a picker friend that finds all those ads for me. A really nice guy

 

[Smokeshow69]

Haha yeah I collect strictly plomb tools but I collect any tool box that I think is cool. I've got close to a dozen plomb tool boxes, but let's face it, they arnt very practical to actually work out of.

For all their strong suits, tool boxes were not at the top of the list so I understand your point.

 

[nailheadmatt]

yeah plomb never really cared about making quality tool boxes. i still have never seen an advertisement for a "sold seperate" toolbox, although i have some ads for "master sets" that have a tool box sold with the set, in the ad.. but plomb basically just wanted a box to sell their tools in. they wanted boxes to offer if someone asked for one, but they never pushed them as a stand alone product, snap on was selling tool boxes in the 30s that made plomb and press steel boxes look like they came out a hundred years earlier. even blackhawk boxes in the 30s were super stout and impressive. so much, they didnt even change their designs and sold 30s boxes thru the 60s!. dont get me wrong, anyone that knows me, knows i love my plomb boxes. i love the styling. they were so unorthodox and weird with their "fold down" front covers and big cavities on top for putting your jacket and your hat in and the signature pressteel louvers. they just werent practical and the sliders were never that great, but that just adds to the charm i guess.

For all their strong suits, tool boxes were not at the top of the list so I understand your point

 

[Smokeshow69]

yeah plomb never really cared about making quality tool boxes. i still have never seen an advertisement for a "sold seperate" toolbox, although i have some ads for "master sets" that have a tool box sold with the set, in the ad.. but plomb basically just wanted a box to sell their tools in. they wanted boxes to offer if someone asked for one, but they never pushed them as a stand alone product, snap on was selling tool boxes in the 30s that made plomb and press steel boxes look like they came out a hundred years earlier. even blackhawk boxes in the 30s were super stout and impressive. so much, they didnt even change their designs and sold 30s boxes thru the 60s!. dont get me wrong, anyone that knows me, knows i love my plomb boxes. i love the styling. they were so unorthodox and weird with their "fold down" front covers and big cavities on top for putting your jacket and your hat in and the signature pressteel louvers. they just werent practical and the sliders were never that great, but that just adds to the charm i guess.

Yeah I could seriously do without the large cavities that took away from drawer space. It’s irritating but it is what it is. And to continue with your point about a stand alone box, it wasn’t until they acquired Duplex that they began making their own standalone boxes and later with Waterloo.

 

[bmwrd0]

I don't know, the boxes, pre-war at least, were pretty par for the course, and the big invention in other top boxes post war was the six-drawer layout, which, in my opinion, isn't that impressive. They seemed to keep pace with Blackhawk after the war for "things that didn't work out" and they were one of the few, if not only for a while, that roller slides on the boxes. And it isn't like Snap-on was making its own boxes, either; they were made by MBC, among others.

I think we are all looking at the field with modern 20/20 vision, skipping past a lot of little remembered facts and only looking at the final answers, not all of the questions.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

...among others.

Such as Duplex! Which, in an odd twist of fate, Pendleton Tool Industries, Inc. bought after a factory fire. I have never considered Plomb boxes noticeably inferior.

 

[ladydfunkyg]

N/a

 

[nailheadmatt]

Such as Duplex! Which, in an odd twist of fate, Pendleton Tool Industries, Inc. bought after a factory fire. I have never considered Plomb boxes noticeably inferior.

ive restored quite a few plomb boxes. half a dozen. including a 30s 9999 plomb top box and a 1938/39 tool mobile which dont have sliders or rollers at all. the plomb tool mobile is decent minus not having sliders at all, as far as guage of steel and stoutness. but i would consider it to be more of a cabinet than a tool box.. but the 9999s and 9998s of the 30s dont even maintain their shape if you pic one up, even just partially loaded.. also with really basic non flush fitting lids. the fit and finish of a mid 30s blackhawk or snap on box is night and day better. even this k260 which came out in 38 is the same quality you would expect from a snap on box made in the 50s or 60s (even though im aware the k260 i have is likely a war time version. its also irrelevant to my point that the box wasnt physically made by snap on. my POINT is the plomb boxes were far behind other boxes being made simultaniously. my blackhawk treasure chest is likely a 50s model (even though the box came out in the mid 30s) as theres no piano hinge and badges are chrome with stainless trim instead of the copper of my early mid 30s piano hinge copper badge and trim nugget box.

 

[Smokeshow69]

2 large sets of wrenches in original canvas bags - Box End 24 pieces - 5/16” to 1 11/16
- Open End 26 pieces - 1/4” to 1 5/8”

Well that’s a fantastic entrance for a new member! Welcome

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I understood your point the first time. I have no intention of arguing with you about your assessment of toolboxes or any other matter of opinion. I have all kinds of boxes from the 20s through the 40s, including Langenau (that's who made your Blackhawk Treasure Chest), and I have never considered Plomb to be noticeably inferior. We don't have to agree.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Plomb did at least experiment early on with a multi drawer box with a "normal socket tray depth" top compartment. One of these days I need to fab up the missing three drawers in this seven drawer- "prototype"? Being nothing but a sheet metal box with plain slides it would have benefitted greatly from additional bracing to stiffen things up. It would not have been that difficult to add. Ed.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

That's a cool one. Definately make some drawers would be pretty easy

 

[Smokeshow69]

Plomb did at least experiment early on with a multi drawer box with a "normal socket tray depth" top compartment. One of these days I need to fab up the missing three drawers in this seven drawer- "prototype"? Being nothing but a sheet metal box with plain slides it would have benefitted greatly from additional bracing to stiffen things up. It would not have been that difficult to add. Ed.

That box is awesome and not often seen around these parts.

I too am of the opinion that while I love Pressteel to death, the boxes they built for Plomb were not as sturdy/useful as their counterparts. While this may have been a plomb issue due to their specs, I don't understand some of the ways they did things? ORC's box shows there clearly was room for more reinforcement. Did plomb not want to add that to the spec sheet due to cost ? Who knows?

I will also use the example of my red/gray 3 drawer corporate model that is pictured on the first page of my press steel thread. That roller has much stronger casters that also attach much more sturdy than tool mobiles via a metal bolt on plate, not a bent sheet metal receiver. Also that box has metal reinforcements running from the casters all the way up to the top of the box. This significantly strengthens the entire box and prevents cross "racking" of the metal pieces side to side should the box be rolled around. This is the first and only roller I have found that doesnt have a bunch of busted spot welds. And this is the only roller I have found/seen with this vertical reinforcement inside the front corners. My thought is most likely plomb didn't want to spec more expensive options because this shows what pressteel was producing? I'm just spit balling here at this point. I love my plomb boxes and will keep buying them for sure but some things make me scratch my head a bit

The caster topic was just discussed over on the pressteel thread so feel free to head there for more pictures.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Just pulled the roughest pieces from last weekend out of the evaporust. Now to get everything cleaned up and see what’s keepers

 

[mritchie77]

Just pulled the roughest pieces from last weekend out of the evaporust. Now to get everything cleaned up and put away as they are all keepers!

There, fixed it for you.

 

[Smokeshow69]

There, fixed it for you.

Ha ha yes, they are all keepers in their own right. But maybe for another collector if not myself. I don’t keep duplicates in my collection unless there’s something special/ unique about them. However I’m putting together some socket sets so I will be keeping those close for sure.

 

[ladydfunkyg]

Well that’s a fantastic entrance for a new member! Welcome

N/a

 

[Private Lugnutz]

2 large sets of wrenches in original canvas bags - Box End 24 pieces - 5/16” to 1 11/16
- Open End 26 pieces - 1/4” to 1 5/8”

Fantastic.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

original canvas bags

Those canvas roll-ups are fabulous, especially with what looks like a sewn-in handle at the top, but I am wondering if they're factory. I think they may be custom. In my opinion, that doesn't diminish your sets, and actually enhances them. Someone liked their full set of Plomb Pebble DOE and DBEs so much they made bags for them. Late 40's is not an era I have studied deeply, so someone else may be able to correct me on that. Here's a snapshot from a late 40's catalog.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Who knows?

Maybe that's why Ol' Morris bought Duplex in a fire sale and moved them from Sherman, NY to Arkansas in 1958! After nearly three decades (I don't know if that's a statement on loyalty to suppliers or poor judgement!) of shoddy Pressteel design and workmanship, he finally decided to dump them. Seriously, some of the 9999's at the very least were already being made by Duplex. Were they inferior, too? Or just the Pressteel? Or have you guys not noticed the difference? (I'm not going to ask what the steel gauge was! )

 

[Smokeshow69]

Maybe that's why Ol' Morris bought Duplex in a fire sale and moved them from Sherman, NY to Arkansas in 1958! After nearly three decades (I don't know if that's a statement on loyalty to suppliers or poor judgement!) of shoddy Pressteel design and workmanship, he finally decided to dump them. Seriously, some of the 9999's at the very least were already being made by Duplex. Were they inferior, too? Or just the Pressteel? Or have you guys not noticed the difference? (I'm not going to ask what the steel gauge was! )

Hey, I see what you did there in reference to “gauge”. In terms of duplex it could be a bit of both. Wanting to control the factory/ build specs or more but maybe he just saw a business opportunity and hopped on it? Either way, it just adds to the many mysteries of plomb and keeps the conversation flowing most certainly . But then this also begs the question, why did they switch to Waterloo production( Proto tool mobile) if they owned their own facilities? Did they realize it was more costly to control the factory than outsource or?

 

[nailheadmatt]

I understood your point the first time. I have no intention of arguing with you about your assessment of toolboxes or any other matter of opinion. I have all kinds of boxes from the 20s through the 40s, including Langenau (that's who made your Blackhawk Treasure Chest), and I have never considered Plomb to be noticeably inferior. We don't have to agree.

Plomb did at least experiment early on with a multi drawer box with a "normal socket tray depth" top compartment. One of these days I need to fab up the missing three drawers in this seven drawer- "prototype"? Being nothing but a sheet metal box with plain slides it would have benefitted greatly from additional bracing to stiffen things up. It would not have been that difficult to add. Ed.

Holy cow that's cool! Never seen one of those. You differently get my point tho it sounds like.

 

[nailheadmatt]

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Some of us are more mechanically inclined than others

Or are at least more interested in creating criteria for toolbox assessments based on construction features than others! It seems necessary to emphasize that me expressing that I have not considered Plomb boxes noticeably inferior in reply to Beemer is not the same as me arguing with you that they're made as well as boxes that Snap-on and Blackhawk were issuing. My statement has no impact on your empirical observations and conclusions, any more than your empirical observations and conclusions have any impact on my statement. Maybe the boxes are good enough. Maybe I don't overload them. Maybe I have them underloaded. Maybe the extra material and stiffeners is overkill. Or maybe they really aren't made as well as other contemporary boxes. If you can't see how that doesn't change my observation that I have never found them noticeably inferior - experientially, in use, you should probably ignore me rather than fall further prey to Rousseau's dictum about last resorts.

But then this also begs the question, why did they switch to Waterloo production( Proto tool mobile) if they owned their own facilities? Did they realize it was more costly to control the factory than outsource or?

Good questions! That have already outstripped the boundaries of my interest, however.