I’m not thinking mossberg. I’m going digging through my old books.I've taken them as far as I'm going to go as far as cleaning them. I still want them to look their age. The only marks or stamps I've found so far is the "1018" & the "M" logo. They actually cleaned up nice. They are both a 20 tooth mechanism. The mechanism is simple but genius at the same time. The gear is huge. Below are some after clean up pics. Like to hear any thoughts
I appreciate the help. I'd like to know who made these. These are the only ones I've seen. I just posted a video above of the mechanism in action.
It would be great if they were Mossburg.I've taken them as far as I'm going to go as far as cleaning them. I still want them to look their age. The only marks or stamps I've found so far is the "1018" & the "M" logo. They actually cleaned up nice. They are both a 20 tooth mechanism. The mechanism is simple but genius at the same time. The gear is huge. Below are some after clean up pics. Like to hear any thoughts
After closer inspection, the handle may be a clue. I noticed 4 vertical lines going down the handle from top to bottom. They all come together to close the end (bottom) of the handle. Even though the handle is hollow, it's still heavy & strong. Probably done this way to cut down on weight. What this does remind me of is how Mossberg constructed their pressed steel ratchets. I'm not convinced yet it's Mossberg, but we have a single "M" logo & a handle construction "similar" to their smaller pressed steel ratchets. But I've never heard of or knew of Mossberg making such a ratchet. I know in the 20's they were desperately trying to keep up with competition. Could they have made some prototypes of this? Probably not, but who knows? The gentleman I bought both of these ratchets from got them from a company that went out of business years ago. But I don't know what that business was. Pics of the handle below.
And I doubt seriously a pressed steel socket could hold up more that two turns.
CMD & Syracuse had iron sockets & rats too. This could be a case where the "M" is just the forging company & that may be difficult to figure out. This is beginning to look like a new rabbit hole to travel down. Hopefully with all you guys help we might get somewhere. I'm intrigued because I've never seen ratchets like these, so they're not common. When I first saw them I thought they were pipe threader ratchets. I was surprised to learn they're just a giant ratchet.
I have been tearing up the internet for the past two hours
I agree. As I eluded to above these ratchets were put directly on the work piece. The biggest clue to that is there is no such thing as a 15/16" drive or sockets. I think it probably was for a specific job like turning a big valve on & off or some kind of repetitive work requiring this specific tool.
Yes, what rust was there was only surface & came right of with some steel wool. I'm thinking the same. Some big industrial situation, RR, Engine Room, oil rig or some water company situation underground in a big city with lots of valves. I know these things got to be in an old ad or catalog, but there's no way to search with little to no information to go on or search by. I'm tempted to look through all the pictures in a Montgomery Ward catalog & see if it's in there.
Yes, I think RTM's suggestion makes the best sense. Problem is I have nothing to start with, so no matter where I go I'm forced to just go by pictures. Figuring out the M logo would help, but I think it's going to take a lot of digging to figure this one out. I'm anxious to figure it out though. I don't think these were to common.
There was a company in Baltimore md that made a ratchet like this in the late 1800s. I think it was C.m. Kemp mfg. co. I’ll check
Ben I pretty sure you have a kemp ratchet
Not the one in question but one you posted before
Nice. I need to get me one of those.
I agree with the notion of threading & drilling with big ratchets, but I don't think Toledo Pipe Thread solves the whole mystery, at least from a manufacturing standpoint. The Toledo stamping on the above example was probably private labeled I'm guessing from the actual manufacturer or forging company for Toledo. None of my examples have this flat area on the handle for any markings. The fact that not all of these are marked Toledo suggests whoever was manufacturing these marked them differently depending on who they were being sold to. At least this gives us something to go by when searching. Maybe searching for the Toledo version of this ratchet will lead to the discovery of other versions. Or more importantly, who manufactured/forged these things.
