Duro-Chrome OB. wrench, Original or Replacement?

[hofferwood]

Hey gang,
I've had these wrenches for 30 some years. and it's always bothered me,does that 3/4 belong?
Done a tiny bit of research, Alloy Artifacts http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/duro-indestro.html, this is just a portion.

A casual observer might at first think that Duro and Indestro were unrelated businesses, but on closer examination Duro and Indestro look and behave more like a single company, with a dual organization set up to promote the branding of their products.

For example, both companies listed their headquarters at the same address, 2649 N. Kildare Ave. in Chicago, and both companies' catalogs show the same two illustrations of their factory buildings. Numerous items in the Duro catalogs were actually products branded Indestro, and Indestro products often listed patents granted to Duro Metal Products. The Indestro catalogs show most of the same products as the Duro catalogs, but with different model numbers assigned to the Indestro pieces.
Obstruction Wrenches

By the early to mid 1930s Duro and Indestro were offering obstruction wrenches with an interesting design, using equal openings with one 90 degree offset and one 65 degree offset. This wrench design is believed to have originated with Herbrand, as by 1931 Herbrand was supplying obstruction wrenches of this style to Western Auto Supply. Duro's obstruction wrenches are almost identical to the Herbrand counterparts -- even down to the model number -- suggesting that Duro was trying to win the Western Auto business. (Duro and Indestro were fiercely competitive in the high-volume low-cost market.)

Our earliest catalog reference for these wrenches is the 1935 Duro Metal Products catalog. It lists obstruction wrenches in seven models, 1821 (3/8), 1823 (7/16), 1825 (1/2), 1827 (9/16), 1829 (5/8), 1830 (11/16), and 1831 (3/4). A set of the seven wrenches in a leatherette roll was available as the No. 18007 set with a $7.30 list price.

Mine is newer, missing a 0 in the set#, But it seems it may be orig. to it,
What do yall think, hell they coulda run out of 3/4" and went across the plant to fill the order.
Chuck

 

[Bolster]

I can't answer your question, but I am a fellow admirer of Duro and Indestro. I always thought of the relation between the two somewhat like Snap-on and Blue-point. Upscale and mass market. THey were a creative tool company with unique tools and designs. I've never understood why they aren't further on the "radar" of tool fanciers.

Your set with tool roll is to die for.

At first blush you'd say your 3/4 Indestro was a handy replacement for a DC set that was missing a piece. On the other hand, wouldn't surprise me if it was original, after what I've seen of Plomb...all kinds of odd tweaks and modifications that defy explanation. You get the feeling that the old tool companies would cobble together whatever they needed to, to call it a set, and weren't too particular about the logic of it.

 

[hofferwood]

If there was a way to "date" them it could be easier. ie wartime, steel all to the military?
But according to that "new tool thread" they're junk, so who cares
NOT!!!!!!
Chuck

 

[cheap bastard]

I bought a set of Duro-Chrome tools to use at Lincoln Tech in west DesMoines in 1980. They have been excellent tools for all the years I've had them. The wrenches have never failed, but the head design has kept the open ends out of many jobs due to clearance. The sockets have been reliable, only broke one in all the years. Proto and Snap-on have been added to the collection over the years. I will say they fit a bit better, but the difference is usually not needed. I wouldn't hesitate giving a set of them to my kids or grandkids.
Do they still make them here in the states?

 

[hofferwood]

Sorry to keep quoting from alloy artifacts but they seem to have good info

"Duro and Indestro continued to prosper during the 1940s and '50s, but by the 1960s appeared to be losing ground to other competitors. Sometime during the '60s the Indestro operations were formally merged into Duro Metal Products, and the tools began appearing with dual brands "Duro-Indestro". The tool lines were "harmonized", which unfortunately meant that some of the special higher-end features of the Duro-Chrome tools were dropped. The company continued operating through the 1970s and 1980s, and was finally closed in 1990."
Chuck

 

[cheap bastard]

Too bad they are gone. I guess they will have a permanent place on my garage sale want list.

 

[rhastings80]

Check out Wizard tools as well. I think they were made by Indestro.

 

[matthew]

My money would be on it being original. From the looks of it the part numbers are all in sequence, which probably means that the 3/4 was accidentally stamped with the Indestro Super name on it by mistake. Just a guess, but likely the Duro Chrome and Indestro Super were identical wrenches with different marketing, but more than likely had different part numbers.

 

[lbgradwell]

Hey gang,
The Indestro catalogs show most of the same products as the Duro catalogs, but with different model numbers assigned to the Indestro pieces.

Just a guess, but likely the Duro Chrome and Indestro Super were identical wrenches with different marketing, but more than likely had different part numbers.

Bump.

I can now say with certainty that the Indestro Super version of these obstruction wrenches had the exact same model numbers as the Duros (and Herbrands, for that matter).

I scored this set off eBay a couple of weeks ago for a modest $10 :

It's a shame about the 2 engraved wrenches, but I think they will buff out.

From the 1935 Duro catalogue:

As you can see, the 7-piece set was available (in a leatherette roll) for $7.30. The inflation-adjusted 2010 equivalent of $7.30 in 1935 was $114.73.

AA further states that the "Indestro Super" brand was introduced in 1945 and that sometime in the 1960s the Duro & Indestro lines were merged and marked "Duro-Indestro". So, at present, I cannot refine a date range for my set beyond 1945-1960s...

 

[Gort the giant robot]

In 1981 I started working at a new job as the engine mechanic and is where I still work. My job sold Duro Chrome tools there. About 1985 my company quit selling the tools and gave what was left to us mechanics in the shop. I was told to throw the tool disply boards in the trash dumpster which I did. If I only had a clue to the future I would not have done that. I still have a few of the Duro Chrome tools left. About a year ago I gave away my last small pocket D/C tool catalog away.

Gort the giant robot