Some Vintage Pipe Wrenches, anyone collect them?

[Private Lugnutz]

Finally got "The Beast", my missing link. 24" Craft.

Congrats!

 

[HeelSpur]

Congrats!

Thanks, only one , personally, I've ever seen for sale. Tough find.

 

[shanny19]

Just to add to the Schick knowledge base....

I suspect that mine might be very early. It doesn’t have any provision for tensioning the moveable jaw, which is quite loose in the body of the wrench.
-Don

I've managed to find an 18, a 24, and a 36, all with steel jaws, and none of them have a tensioning spring as shown in Mintgruns
sample. All three have the floppy setup.

These things are shockingly lightweight. I do a doubletake every time

All three of mine are prettymuch pristine. I honestly think that there was a tendency to be afraid to use these things because of how light they are. They do not inspire the "manly burly tool in my hands" feeling whatsoever...........

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Just to add to the Schick knowledge base....

See Schick thread for more info, company history, etc.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Here's a 24 inch merit stillson. Merit was a brand sears used in 30s.

 

[d42jeep]

I found two Stillson wrenches at this morning’s estate sale. The first one was made by FE Wells & Sons.
The second one is an 8” Walworth made in 1953. It looks to be cad plated.
-Don

 

[Debcrow]

San Diego Specialty Works. Just a very few references I can find on the company with no history.

A W. L Bessolo design. From what I can find he was taken to court several times for apparently trying to scam people wanting to use his designs.

Has a 'PAT.6-17-12' on the one side. From what little I can find the Patent dates on some of his designs do not seem to jive with actual Patent dates. Found one picture online of what looks like this pipe wrench with 1910-11 patent information.

Other than that, I know nothing about it.

 

[four.cycle]

^ really quite the find there. definitely something which belongs in the "oddfellows" thread.

San Diego / San Diego Specialty Works / wrench / patent 1004792 Oct 3 1911 & 1008939 Nov 14 1911 & 1312471 Aug 5 1919 William Louis Bessolo / https://datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=1004792&typeCode=0 /

It is the first of those three patent numbers that applies to the one you found.

Link at lower right corner at the datamp.org site will provide more information about that particular design. (see image below)

From just a cursory search it would appear Mr. Bessolo was a busy man. "Clearwater California" was a wide spot in the road in the Los Angeles area.

 

[d42jeep]

The 1953 8” Walworth Stillson cad plated pipe wrench came out of the evaporust yesterday. It required very careful cleaning but looks much better. Before and after pictures below.
-Don

 

[BSA1]

Erie Tool Works 14-inch "Pipemaster"

Today we found a 18” offset pipemaster Erie Tool Works Co. at a local store

 

[genog]

Found a small Walworth pipe wrench
1942

 

[Lorydr]

Old wrenches of mine

https://photos.app.goo.gl/G1jVyv3VnFCDnLvy7



https://photos.app.goo.gl/ykjdQKTfrzdMAfnQ6

 

[four.cycle]

^ I want to know what sort of markings are on that black unit at the bottom of the first photo.

 

[WisJim]

I got an Irland pipe wrench today. Doesn't appear to be a lot of info available, but I need to keep looking.

 

[d42jeep]

I found a 14” Improved Stillson Pipe Wrench made by the Ridge Co. There are a couple of markings on the dynamic jaw that could indicate date but I don’t know what they mean. Maybe 1942? I cleaned it up a bit.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

@WisJim:

Irland / Irland Pipe Wrench Co., 15 Court St., Boston, MA / pipe wrench / patent 732858 Jul 7 1903 David H. Irland & 739316 Sep 22 1903 David H. Irland & 800850 Oct 3 1905 David H. Irland and Frances A. Irland & 868126 Oct 15 1907 Joseph E. Richards and Charles W. Walker & 868127 Oct 15 1907 Joseph E. Richards / http://alloy-artifacts.org/other-makers-p2.html#irland / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...nyone-collect-them.313417/page-3#post-9787988 /

 

[d42jeep]

A couple of Friday’s vintage pipe wrench finds. The 8” Walworth Stillson required a bit of cleaning and straightening.
As found
Cleaned and straightened
With some larger relatives
Here is a 18” Ridgid heavy duty pipe wrench dated 1945.
As found.
Cleaned it up.
With another from 1943.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

recent acquisitions after a proper cleaning:

PROTO 812HD 12 inch pipe wrench

 

[four.cycle]

Ridgid 814 14 inch aluminum pipe wrench

 

[SkyPuncher]

HOE Corporation model 18. It is 18 inches to the front of the bottom jaw. Pat. Feb 21 1922. And car was sitting there so it got a picture too.

 

[four.cycle]

This 10 inch Spanish-made pipe wrench came in a box of items which had been stored improperly. After a week in the Evaporust bath, I resorted to the dreaded wire wheel in an attempt to put it back into serviceable condition. Unfortunately, it's frozen up and the "Hollow Frame" (as Mr. Stillson referred to it) seems to be rusted solid.
I suppose I could try soaking that riveted joint for a few days. If that doesn't free it up, and I file off the rivet to get it apart, do I need some super-duper specially hardened rivet, or is a rivet a rivet a rivet for this purpose?
It's probably not even worth fooling with - the "Made in Spain" tells me most likely Globemaster, but what the heck, right?


made in Spain 10 inch pipe wrench

made in Spain 10 inch pipe wrench

 

[AreBeeBee]

This 10 inch Spanish-made pipe wrench came in a box of items which had been stored improperly. After a week in the Evaporust bath, I resorted to the dreaded wire wheel in an attempt to put it back into serviceable condition. Unfortunately, it's frozen up and the "Hollow Frame" (as Mr. Stillson referred to it) seems to be rusted solid.
I suppose I could try soaking that riveted joint for a few days. If that doesn't free it up, and I file off the rivet to get it apart, do I need some super-duper specially hardened rivet, or is a rivet a rivet a rivet for this purpose?
It's probably not even worth fooling with - the "Made in Spain" tells me most likely Globemaster, but what the heck, right?


made in Spain 10 inch pipe wrench

made in Spain 10 inch pipe wrench

I know that it leaves a mark at the waterline, but perhaps soak the hollow frame end of the wrench in Evapo?

Or inject a rust loosener (PB Blaster, WD-40, something, something, something else, lighter fluid, etc.) into the stuck place. Looks like there are enough crevices to hold the juice where it can work. Rinse and repeat until patience gives out....

(Edit: I find Ronsonol very useful in loosening rust-stuck joints initially. Its penetration ability is enough to get the stuck pieces moving at least a little, and then "thicker" lubricants can get into the joint enough do the rest of the job.)

Periodically, try tapping on the hollow frame to get it to move after applications of the above. Start with a rubber mallet then advance to a ballpeen....

Maybe you've tried all these and the !@#!! thing is still jammed. At which point, I'd get out the 3# Estwing crack hammer from geology days and have at it. Then there's sledge hammers....

 

[four.cycle]

^ Next step is leaving it soak for a few days while I'm out of town. I was just wondering about the rivet should it come to that. There are several other pieces from that batch that may require some various methods of persuasion to get them back into working order - this one appears to be the worst of them - it was in the very bottom of the box under everything else.

 

[AreBeeBee]

^ This may become one of those projects that starts out as a tool restoration but ends up being a strength-of-materials inquiry. Best of luck and let us know how it comes out.

 

[four.cycle]

^ Again, I'm pretty sure it's a Globemaster, in which case the original selling price was $1.99 off one of those "Any Tool $1.99" tables.
Hardly worth a huge investment of time.
I'm going to soak it until I get back and then (as suggested above) take a hammer to it to loosen that "hollow frame" up. If that doesn't work, it may end up outside in the rain in the metal pile.

 

[B Halverson]

I am guessing this is uncommon. A search of the online obituary listings of the Erie, PA library shows Mr. Newman passed away in the late 1940s. Does not look like a particularly good design, and probably was not a big success story. Only one I ever ran across as far as I can remember;

 

[four.cycle]

^ that appears to be one for which nobody has figured out the patent number

 

[B Halverson]

^ that appears to be one for which nobody has figured out the patent number

I guess I will have to do the legwork and go to the public library in Erie, PA when I get a chance and look through their newspaper archives and see if there is an obituary to read for him.

 

[RTM]

^ that appears to be one for which nobody has figured out the patent number

Here is another shot at using the USPTO search engine. CCOR = Current US Original Classification. The 81/143 seems to be quick adjusting wrenches, not QA pipe wrenches. Anyone got a clue on a category or brand of QA pipe wrench so I can look it up on DATAMP?



If you toggle the yellow button, it gives you a drawing view of the patent (trying to figure out how to set that as the default).



Once you select a blue field as seen below, then you can scroll down the list with the down arrow key, and watch the pix change

 

[RTM]

Using the above links (images), I found the following which looked like a possible match. These all have the little flip lever to quick adjust, and its on the "down" side of the jaw (****, just relooked at pic, need it on the "up" side. However, none are really pipe wrenches, but that could easily go there.

1729795
1255423
1220913
1169750
746504
742055
678445
640610
581267
231763


The bold ones are not in DATAMP.

Taking the quick adjust wrench category from DATAMP 81/106, I tried again (Looking at "up" side levers this time) These have the lever, the similar jaw shape

1104190
904485 similar adjuster traveler
567715 not same jaw

 

[AntiqueBen]

Ken Copes book American Wrench Makers 1830-1930 lists G.W. Newman's pipe wrench, but doesn't have a pic or patent number (pic below). My guess is maybe the wrench was produced using an already existing patent under someone else's name. I've seen this happen a lot.

 

[AntiqueBen]

Using the picture of the wrench, Google lens found only one pic of the wrench. They don't seem very common. The pic it found was from an auction with another wrench of similar design. Unfortunately the description gave no help on patent info. Pics below.

 

[B Halverson]

Wow, that is a lot of wrenching trying to find info on that wrench. Have a lot on my plate now but will still go to the Erie, PA library and try to come up with an obit for the man. Back when things pipe and adjustable wrench were sorting themselves out I am sure there were a lot of people who had ideas and had a run of their tool design made to try and make it big and strike it rich. I have seen more than a couple tools made in the area I live in that probably never or almost never made it more than tens of miles from the resident of their inventor/manufacturer and were not good enough to compete with better ideas. Personally I don't like the wrench, it sure could use a real handle, and I am thinking if someone put a "cheater" pipe on it as was often done, it would not fare well under the strain.

 

[four.cycle]

^ There were innumerable attempts to "build a better mousetrap" when it came to "adjustable wrench" and "pipe wrench" at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, when "indoor plumbing" was just coming into being in this country.
Some attempts were better than others. Not all of them have been identified in respect to maker or patent numbers (if such was applicable.)

 

[SkyPuncher]

Rusty and crusty is putting it mildly.... Not sure if any cleanup will reveal makers name, but looks like maybe Parmelee? Saved from the scrap yard just because.

 

[four.cycle]

^ very much worth the effort to salvage.

Parmelee / Parmelee Wrench Co., 125 Jersey St., Harrison, NJ 07029 (formerly Chicago, IL) / https://parmeleewrench.com / patent 648706 May 1 1900 Homer Parmelee & 871436 Nov 19 1907 Roy Parmelee /

 

[d42jeep]

Mine was manufactured by Walworth. Sometimes they sell for quite a bit on eBay.

-Don

 

[AreBeeBee]

^ Don, it looks like that Walworth Parmalee might have been used to build Liberty Ships, which the Kaiser Company specialized in during WW 2.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_Shipyards

And Henry Kaiser was one busy guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_J._Kaiser

Clearly the wrench came out of a company tool shed, and it would be interesting to know where and when it was used. But I have no way to decode the number on the ownership plate. Perhaps Lugz can blow away some of the mystery using his whopping database(s) of WW 2 era contracts for the armed forces.

 

[d42jeep]

Per Wikipedia, here is an image of the Richmond Kaiser shipyards.





Here is a current Google map image of the same area.
The building marked Ford Assembly Plant is where my Ford GPW Jeep was built in November 1942.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

...looks like maybe Parmelee? Saved from the scrap yard just because.

Nice find. I'm eager to see what generation it is after you clean it up. I have an example of the 2nd generation production (1907-?), when they were marked Walworth, and built a little differently, posted upthread here. My Original Gangster (1899-1907) is posted upthread here. Either of those posts will have all kinds of information on the inventor, his patents (4 total, the original and 3 improvements), and the wrenches, and the OG post has pics of both wrenches together and notes on the differences.

Don, it looks like that Walworth Parmalee might have been used to build Liberty Ships, which the Kaiser Company specialized in during WW 2.

I noted that upthread the first time Don posted his here...

Perhaps Lugz can blow away some of the mystery using his whopping database(s) of WW 2 era contracts for the armed forces.

...but, I was never able to find any reference for the number.

The tag smacks of Defense Plant Corp to me, not Navy, and the contract, if that's what the number is, could be between Walworth and DPC, not Kaiser and the Navy. But DPC usually identified themselves as DPC on their data tags and the 'Property of the United States Government' gives me pause, too. Normally, that would be War Department or Navy. It's awful vague. But I would certainly be saying it built Liberty ships at Swan Island until proven otherwise if it was mine!