Blackhawk Tool Chests and Tool Rollers (Caterpillar by Blackhawk are welcomed as well!)

[RTM]

Secondly, see that "192" followed by a few ellipses? The labels were like a form. Someone from the factory, either the inspector or the packer, whose names were also written on the form in their respective places, was supposed to write in the exact year in the ellipsis. I believe a clean view of that line would look something like this:

Date ..................... 192 .....

And that looks like an "O" on the "Date" line to me.

October 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, or 1924 is the implication

I was assuming the same thing. Glad Lugz had the time to type it up, I was running ragged yesterday. Thanks

 

[don long]

I found one of the sockets (the 1/2") to have a different knurl on it. Different from all of my Endian head sockets.

What is this?


The U.S.A. is under the arrow head

 

[z28lsc]

I Forgot to post this one here. I scored this one a little while ago. it is in good condition and needs a good cleaning but that will have to wait until I have some free time lol. For now I just filled it with some random stuff.

 

[bmwrd0]

This followed me home the other day:



It has issues:

And a ton of **** still in it:

Absolutely filthy. Paint overspray, grease, grime, junk in all the drawers, no casters or keys, you name it. But it was cheap, and came with all the tools that were in it as found, two buckets worth. It is a Blackhawk 100DS, and shows up in the 1941 catalog. The plan is to clean it up, which will take about a gallon of Simple Green, fix any obvious issues such as the door latch, and put her to work. Pretty darn happy.

 

[Smokeshow69]

This followed me home the other day:



It has issues:

And a ton of **** still in it:

Absolutely filthy. Paint overspray, grease, grime, junk in all the drawers, no casters or keys, you name it. But it was cheap, and came with all the tools that were in it as found, two buckets worth. It is a Blackhawk 100DS, and shows up in the 1941 catalog. The plan is to clean it up, which will take about a gallon of Simple Green, fix any obvious issues such as the door latch, and put her to work. Pretty darn happy.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again! You **** majorly for that find. Yeah it’s rough but it can be fixed. I know it would look a ton better with cleaning and some tlc. That roller is so uncommon around here

 

[FJ 432]

You found my twin brother. Great cabinets. This is the most I was able to clean it.

 

[Shelbylex]

Guys, you are leaving the dream!!! Looks amazing!!!
Congratulations!!!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Mine is still working at the shop. Lots of battle scars but still functional!

 

[thehorse13]

No wonder I can't find a 100DS. Everyone here has them all. lol

 

[Shelbylex]

Thehorse13, I think our only option is to ask them to add us to their wills and start making sure we survive another 50-60 years. : )

 

[bmwrd0]

Here it is, the end of the month and I am finally finding time to do some clean up on the 100DS. This is how dirty it is:
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There is a little bit of paint peel, and the corner has taken a hit, but everything should be good in its retirement.

 

[Shelbylex]

It's an interesting way Blackhawk named their boxes and sets: from my understanding the number represented the amount of tools in the set (not sure if it included the box/roller itself - too lazy to count now) and subsequent letters represented the box number
For example: there is 100DS and 74DS. 100 represented the tool count and DS represented the model
If we think along this line, we can look through the catalogs and see how different models changed over time: DD, DS, etc

 

[Shelbylex]

I would like to thank JoshOtto94 for making extra pictures of his DD cabinet and allowing me to post them on the board. I was interested in how the light was attached.
The bottom drawer has a metal emblem and not a decal like some other DD boxes of the same time period.
I also asked for a picture of the top drawer with a ruler to see approximate spacing of the dividers.


period posted here

 

[ALLFAST]

Here is my 1951 caterpillar set, complete with manual

How/Where on earth did you find that vision of beauty OTG?. That is fantastic!!!

 

[thehorse13]

The decal emblem was clearly a cost cutting move. I wonder when this actually took place and the specifics that made the bean counters raise a red flag.

 

[Smokeshow69]

The decal emblem was clearly a cost cutting move. I wonder when this actually took place and the specifics that made the bean counters raise a red flag.

Do the bean counters really need a reason to raise a red flag . Those dudes like to interject and weigh in on everything . My only thought is maybe they were not selling a ton of the caterpillar boxes so the badges were costly to make for a small run?

 

[Shelbylex]

...Thank you to DonLong for sending me a picture of the emblem so I could post it for future references

 

[Oldtuleguy]

How/Where on earth did you find that vision of beauty OTG?. That is fantastic!!!

It's one of my favorite sets

 

[Shelbylex]

... Do not remember which site it was originally posted on - I think Craigslist a long time ago. This one was from Chicago .... (I also posted it on The Vintage Blackhawk Thread)

 

[Smokeshow69]

... Do not remember which site it was originally posted on - I think Craigslist a long time ago. This one was from Chicago .... (I also posted it on The Vintage Blackhawk Thread)

That’s a good one for sure! Even still has the light on it!

 

[Lesserstore]

I just won this R chest and contents at a local auction about an hour ago. I got it for $144 with 15% premium. Pickup is Saturday.
How well did I do?

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Lots of old usa tools in there. I'd say pretty good!

 

[Provincial]

Me, too!

 

[Lesserstore]

I saw the listing, and barely made out the Blackhawk name, and the Plomb pebble wrenches. As soon as the auction opened up I put a max bid of $400 because stuff like this is exceedingly rare in my area.

 

[Lesserstore]

I picked it up Saturday. I'm impressed with how heavy the steel is, 16 gauge for the lid and sides, and 20 gauge for the drawers and top compartment. It's marked MBC on the back, so Snap On's OEM. Lots of old Snap On, Plomb, Proto, along with a variety of other US brands. The only Blackhawk tools in it were a pair of ignition pliers and a knurled nut driver.
Question: are the red painted strips on the lid that are usually chrome or polished, indicative of war-time production? Along with the cadmium plated drawer handles and round paper decal.






Did some cleaning of the top with a mixture or 75% water 25% ballistol rubbed with 0000 steel wool. The top compartment still had the original liners, but they were disintegrating, and filthy so I tossed them.

 

[Shelbylex]

Nice find, Lesserstore!
Where did you find the MBC mark? Can you make a picture?

 

[Lesserstore]

Nice find, Lesserstore!
Where did you find the MBC mark? Can you make a picture?

Thanks.
With the rear of the box facing you, it's on the bottom left corner. I'll try to get a picture of it tomorrow.

 

[Shelbylex]

Nice! Thank you, Lesserstore. I just learned something new about my box - missed it somehow (I have the same model, page 1...) I found it! Just MBC, no other things (year, etc...)

 

[bmwrd0]

Just thought I would throw this into the mix:

I was scrolling through some old Armstrong catalogs, and found this in the '48 catalog. Now, were have we seen this before! Anyway, no mention of color, and I have one with no markings on it. That might just get changed.

 

[thehorse13]

Just thought I would throw this into the mix:

I was scrolling through some old Armstrong catalogs, and found this in the '48 catalog. Now, were have we seen this before! Anyway, no mention of color, and I have one with no markings on it. That might just get changed.

This box was for sale in Phili for about 6 months. It was insanely overpriced and has since vanished from marketplace. He had it listed for 700 dollars.

 

[bmwrd0]

Do you remember what color it was, Horse13?

 

[thehorse13]

Do you remember what color it was, Horse13?

Yes. It was spray bombed flat gray (possibly primer). One drawer was red on the inside. You could make out the "Arm" in Armstrong on the decal.

 

[bmwrd0]

So, basically the same chest with different markings. I am going to look a little closer at mine, as it didn't have any Blackhawk markings when I got it, and I am also an Armstrong collector.

 

[thehorse13]

So, basically the same chest with different markings. I am going to look a little closer at mine, as it didn't have any Blackhawk markings when I got it, and I am also an Armstrong collector.

Same exact chest made by Langenau Manufacturing Company only with a different logo. It turned up in my drag net search for the proper pull knobs for my Chief top box.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Same exact chest made by Langenau Manufacturing Company only with a different logo. It turned up in my drag net search for the proper pull knobs for my Chief top box.

Interesting. It happens all the time but this is the first I have heard of the Armstrong connection

 

[snapmom]

Blackhawk, Snap on, Armstrong, who else?

 

[Farmer J.]

Blackhawk, Snap on, Armstrong, who else?

Britool.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Bonney?

 

[Dave455]

Blackhawk, Snap on, Armstrong, who else?

Caterpillar by Blackhawk service set, box by Langenau.


Similar box supplied by Britool as a “Tractor Service Set”. These are very common. Some were supplied as “Ferguson”.


Slightly bigger box, but also by Langenau, supplied with a Britool “Universal Service Set”.


And the smaller box again, supplied by King ****.


Gordon also offered similar boxes, but a close examination reveals many small differences, so I’m not convinced they were Langenau.

 

[alinc100]

Bonney,as OTG suggested: