J H Williams vintage hand tools

[HOF]

I picked up two Williams B-50 3/8" drive ratchets recently. One had a plug (B-150) and someone took a grinder to the screw on the side.

The second one was nice looking and needed the plug. So, I made one good ratchet for my collection and harvested spare parts.

If you look for disassembly instructions on the web, you won't find any. Luckily, you just back out the screw and the spring, pin, and gear come out.

 

[DCRUTT]

I’ve been on GJ for years and it never crossed my mind to look for JH Williams collectors.
Here are a few pics of the items I’ve collected over the years. Please feel free to ask if you’d like any other detailed pics. Thanks for looking.

 

[DCRUTT]

Here’s a few more…

 

[3baygarage]

Great collection.

 

[HOF]

Here is my Williams BT-50 set. I put a B-140A as a placeholder for the missing BT-40. Love these.

 

[wrench136]

I picked up two Williams B-50 3/8" drive ratchets recently. One had a plug (B-150) and someone took a grinder to the screw on the side.

The second one was nice looking and needed the plug. So, I made one good ratchet for my collection and harvested spare parts.

If you look for disassembly instructions on the web, you won't find any. Luckily, you just back out the screw and the spring, pin, and gear come out.

Would love to see some detailed pics of your J H Williams guy.
Your avatar.

 

[HOF]

 

[HOF]

 

[wrench136]

Thanks again for the great photos of “Williams Man”. Do you know any history on this item? Dates made? Award for what? I have a wrench in the collection that I think is correct for this item. 13/64 x 7/32 1/4 oz. Does this match yours? If you see one for sale let me know. LOA is 3”

 

[HOF]

The original wrench is unmarked on the back and says J.H Williams & CO on the front like your picture. I had one without the correct wrench at one point and added this wrench # 1106.

 

[HOF]

 

[Lump]

Just found one of these at a flea market. I thought I might surprise you all with something different. Guess not! lol

 

[Private Lugnutz]

No worries, @Lump, you performed an invaluable service, because now the GJ Rule of Three is invoked, and it's only a matter of time before a third shows up, increasing everyone's chances of it being them!

Nice find!

 

[Beerhippie]

No worries, @Lump, you performed an invaluable service, because now the GJ Rule of Three is invoked, and it's only a matter of time before a third shows up, increasing everyone's chances of it being them!

Plus: SCALE!

 

[leg17]

You called?

 

[wrenchguy]

Here’s a few more…

more info on the lower left wrench in this pic please. is other side marked with a "1"? post or message me if you want. thx.

 

[DCRUTT]

What’s so “Special” about Williams wrenches that are marked SPECIAL?

 

[Beerhippie]

What’s so “Special” about Williams wrenches that are marked SPECIAL?

They get their own school bus?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

What’s so “Special” about Williams wrenches that are marked SPECIAL?

They get their own school bus?

Grinder will fix that **** right up.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

What’s so “Special” about Williams wrenches that are marked SPECIAL?

First answer was an inside joke. Serious answer is that it usually indicates the milled or broached openings are not what they should be based on the model number.

 

[wrenchguy]

after a few years offered, there still is a $100 reward offered for a oval logo no. 1 engineers wrench that meets my display expectations. its the last 1 needed for my 1914/1924 "silent salesman" senior retail display board. thx. DCRUTT ended up having a 702.

 

[misterbill]

I picked this set of 15 Williams 1/2" drive sockets off of FBM today just because they're all 6 point (with the two grooves and the script Williams logo that was in production from the 50s to the 70s). I hardly ever see Williams hex sockets. I'm trying to get a rough idea of the date of manufacture of the set as a whole. (The ratchet is a Blackhawk 49945B so it doesn't come into consideration as it likely was made later than the sockets.) The sockets range from 3/8" to 1-1/4". There are two 9/16" (ST-618 and SF-618) and perhaps missing 5/8", 13/16", 15/16", 31/32" (12 point), and 1-3/16" (12 point) if we go by what they supplied in some of the catalog sets. The universal (S-140) and extension (S-110P) are marked consistently with the sockets. I feel like the (brighter) orange is from the early 60s - similar to the MC-1 set I posted up-thread.

1. When did Williams switch to the oval/elliptical script logo on their boxes? (The 1959 catalog shows the leaning logo and the 1963 shows the oval one.)
2. When did the oval/elliptical logo change from white on red to white on black?
3. When did they discontinue the indentation for the logo on the box?
4. When did the color of the boxes change from the "bright" orange to the "redder" orange?
5. Has anyone seen a set with the pieces I have? (Presume an S-52 ratchet, of course.) The S-4H set in the 1963 catalog shows 19 sockets and mentions the 31/32" and 1-3/16" being 12 points. Williams made 18 6 point sockets at that time. (Edit: Since there was no SF-618 equivalent in 12 point size and the S-4H was a 1:1 alternative to the S-4, 19 sockets makes sense - 18 -1 + 2! )

And, if anybody has any of the missing sockets...

Thanks,

Bill

 

[misterbill]

Answering some of my own questions... from the 1960 304 catalog.



So now we know the purpose of the SF-618 socket.

Bill

 

[misterbill]

That same 1960 catalog also shows the "slanted" logo.



So, from the available evidence, it looks like the oval logo came to be used somewhere between 1960 and 1963 - according to the catalogs illustrations.

Edit: The price sheet supplement (dated 1962) is still showing this logo.

Bill

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Answering some of my own questions...

That same 1960 catalog also shows the "slanted" logo.

So, from the available evidence, it looks like the oval logo came to be used somewhere between 1960 and 1963 - according to the catalogs illustrations.

Good work, Bill. I don't collect this era, but I appreciate the self-sufficiency. Nice find.

 

[HOF]

Answering some of my own questions... from the 1960 304 catalog.



So now we know the purpose of the SF-618 socket.

Bill

Learned something new!

 

[d42jeep]

Bill,
Do you have the correct ratchet for the set in your inventory?
-Don

 

[misterbill]

Bill,
Do you have the correct ratchet for the set in your inventory?
-Don

Yes, I do. Williams tools, in general, are not in abundance in my area but I do seem to run across a fair amount of S-52 ratchets. I always pick them up when I see them (just like S-K RH ratchets ).

 

[d42jeep]

Here is a 7/16” x 1/2” DOE Superrench I found at a Carson City estate sale last week.
-Don

 

[Old Radar]

Here is my S-4 set posted three years ago--tempus fugit...
I see I made some errors in my research as I claimed "late 1950s" and "S-4 sets from 1960+ had the S-52 rat" when in fact, the catalogs on archive.org clearly show the S-52 ratchet as part of the S-4 set in the 1955 catalog and beyond. I've gone back and edited the post.
No trace left of the backward slanted logo on my set.
I'm still missing the ST-1218 (9/16") and the ST-1230 (15/16"). If anyone has picked them up in the last three years, please let me know.

Found this J.H. Williams S-4 set from the late 1950s. The sockets are double line with the smaller ones matte finished on the lower portion. The ratchet is the S-51. S-4 sets from 1960+ had the S-52 rat. The set is missing two sockets--the ST-1230 and the ST-1218. If any one has extras, I'm interested!

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Here is a pair of large JH Williams "S" wrenches I picked up at swap meet over the weekend. I haven't cleaned them up yet. The darker wrench is a 370 and is also stamped Union Pacific. The silver one is a 378. I probably should have picked up a few more wrenches off that table as they were stacked thick. The larger wrenches were marked $15 but they were all 1/2 price. Ed.

 

[Ayrhead]

Two Williams Wrenches . A single open end superrench & a double open end wrench.

 

[HOF]

This is my Williams WSSP-1 1/2" Drive Set. What is in the box is the factory set. Outside the box I have added.

 

[Beerhippie]

This is my Williams WSSP-1 1/2" Drive Set. What is in the box is the factory set. Outside the box I have added.

1 1/2 inch?!?! You need some scale in the picture, like maybe an average car or something.

Not sure I could lift that box.

 

[HOF]

1 1/2 inch?!?! You need some scale in the picture, like maybe an average car or something.

Not sure I could lift that box.

The set is a WSSP-1. It is in 1/2" Drive.

 

[HOF]

From the catalog.

 

[Beerhippie]

The set is a WSSP-1. It is in 1/2" Drive.

Just trying to imagine 1 1/2" drive socket set.... It's gotta exist for some huge-*** job.

My back hurts just thinking about it.

 

[leg17]

Just trying to imagine 1 1/2" drive socket set.... It's gotta exist for some huge-*** job.

My back hurts just thinking about it.

Snap-On used to offer 1-1/2 drive socket sets.

 

[gleman]

Just trying to imagine 1 1/2" drive socket set.... It's gotta exist for some huge-*** job.

My back hurts just thinking about it.

We had something like this when I was in the Navy.

 

[MR.X]

Haven’t read thru this thread so no idea if these are common, unusual, or whatever,….but kinda cool. “W&B” cotters Whitman & Barnes?