Any Stahlwille or Belzer Germany Fans ?

[Orangina]

This gem was for sale today as it is, full of tools (only €500 a little less than $550) ...

A late HAZET 110 "small tool cabinet" from around 1979 (checking the tool positions).
It would have been worth the price even without the tools - even plus shipping. The buyer will be happy about that.
Not all tools are suitable for this, but a lot and it's a good start.

HAZET 100 "big tool cabinet" greetings,

 

[Tactile]

Bit of a long shot here but was wondering if anybody has any info on VBW history in Australia? Old catalogues or any other memorabilia?

 

[four.cycle]

this website WAS an information source but I don't know what's happened to it:

Directory of Australian Makers - Full List - Hand Tool Preservation Association of Australia Inc.

www.htpaa.org.au

 

[oldpliers1]

Bit of a long shot here but was wondering if anybody has any info on VBW history in Australia? Old catalogues or any other memorabilia?

Talk to George at OZ wrenches based in VIC he is exceptionally knowledgeable, he probably has VBW in stock ( I thought they came out of the Dowidat Coffey factory)

 

[Tactile]

Thanks for the replies. I collect a bit of VBW stuff when I come across them as my father was given a set when he was 16 (in Tasmania)...hes now in his 80s and still running the family farm (we are in Vic now!) and the VBW stuff is still going strong too...most of it anyway! There seems to be a lot of the stuff come into Australia in the 50s & 60s and I often wonder why it came here? who imported it? There is variations in their forging with their wrenches which makes me think they farmed out their production...I'd like to find the timelines for these changes - just out of interest.

 

[Tactile]

Latest acquisition.

 

[Tactile]

Start of VBW 39 series collection.

 

[Lasu]

VBW 1/2" ratchet

 

[Tactile]

Don't suppose you know the vintage of that ratchet Lasu?

 

[whatnow]

Hi, I am after some information on how to date Stahlwille tools. I have noticed a few variations and would love to know when they came about.

A few pics for everyones entertainment. Hopefully blurry pics are better than no pictures.

 

[keresztes.krisztofer]

Hi everyone. It's interesting to see that many people outside of Europe also know about or collect these old German tools. 1-2 years ago, I also started collecting Belzer/Sandvik Belzer tools. Fortunately, in my country, they are not sold at high prices because not many people know about these tools, so I have been able to gather a lot of tools, although I did order some from Germany on eBay. I have a question: when Sandvik took over the company, did they immediately rename the tools to Sandvik Belzer? I'm interested in this for age determination purposes. P.S.:This set is about 25 years old and has barely been used; it is my favorite in my collection.

 

[oldpliers1]

Bahco bought Belzer Dowidat in 1988 , Sandvik bought Bahco in 1991 ( so circa 92 the Sandvik - Belzer name usage ?)

 

[whatnow]

My latest pretty thing.

A Stahlwille 437 3/8" 60 tooth ratchet.

As far as dating from the 2 catalogues I have seen it is post 1957 and pre 1995, if anyone knows more I would love to know as I could find nothing about this on the internet.

It was skipping and jumping one direction when it turned up, but thankfully a good scrub to remove the built up old grease and it is fully functional again. Looking forward to trying it out.

Sorry no after pics, just imagine it a smidge cleaner and with the wrong style of circlip (I had a moment).

 

[stahl]

Hello.

Here's a "new" Stahlwille socket set. Some parts have been replaced like the flat head socket and the 12-point sockets for the place of presumably lost original sockets.

Any idea about it's date of manufacture? I have no idea.

 

[john.k]

I have a bit of VBW all of it OE in larger sizes AF and Whit ,and all of it from the Oz army ..........never seen VBW anywhere else but in army tool lots.............Some of the german stuff that came here in the 50s and 60s was cheap rubbish,soft steel sockets,spanners looked like they were cast iron...........maybe from the East before the wall,I dont know.

 

[Matt XYZ]

I'm a fan of German tools. I have a few Stahlwille tools and love my old 1/2" ratchet. I picked these 1/4 inch sockets up today at the local flea market for about $5. I want to find a few wrenches to try out, but I already have a few sets from other brands-Proto, Craftsman, Tekton and some Snap-On.

 

[Dave455]

A second hand 1/2” drive Stahlwille set I acquired recently.

Although sold as used, I could only see about 3 sockets that had been, and with a wipe over the whole set is effectively mint.

Sizes up to 34mm and 1 1/4”.

 

[four.cycle]

^ looks pretty cherry to me.

I list almost ALL my stuff as "used" strictly as a CYA thing even if they're brand new. Just sold a set of NOS Proto sockets but had to list them as "used" because I put them in a used box. BK

 

[B Halverson]

I am a fan of German stuff because my ancestor came over from Germany in 1836. A lot of old German things are built pretty well, I have a lot of old German cameras, and once had a few 60s Mercedes sedans with the MFI engines etc..

I had a few Stahlwille tools passed to me from an old friend who died, and a few other old German tools from the motorcycle shop my father had back in the late 50s/early 60s. So when I saw this 3/8" socket set at a local garage sale for a few dollars I picked it up. I have to admit I am underwhelmed by it's quality compared to most brand-name USA sets like Craftsman, S-K etc., but I am sure they are good enough to get the job done. There is no mechanism on the ratchet to eject or release the sockets, and the ratchet switch appears to be made of pot-metal. the plastic handle and tool tray organizer also give it a cheap look and feel. At least the sockets are metric so they are useful on a lot of modern automobiles and motorcycles etc.. Other Stahlwhile tools I have seem to be of a different higher quality, maybe they had more than one range of tools they sold to professionals and another to home mechanics ???

 

[Dave455]

^ looks pretty cherry to me.

I list almost ALL my stuff as "used" strictly as a CYA thing even if they're brand new. Just sold a set of NOS Proto sockets but had to list them as "used" because I put them in a used box. BK

Yes, paid the equivalent of $200.

I almost didn’t go for it as I don’t like 12 point sockets so much, and I already own a similar set. But in the end I couldn’t let it pass!

 

[stahl]

Near mint Stahlwille socket set

 

[JSCraftsman]

A couple Belzer's I just acquired. The 3/8" was great, just needed some cleaning and relube. But the 1/2" needed alittle more, beings it has obviously been used more than the 3/8". So it got a good cleaning & relube plus some minor maintenance. The pawl spring needed a little stretching, to give the action alittle more rigidity. The remaining parts were all still good shape, no broken teeth except on the pawl where both inner teeth had small slivers broken off on each side. And the selector which originally was a twist knob style needed to be replaced, because it became loose from rust deterioration with age. So I replaced it with a S-O made selector, and it pretty much fit in with little modification. Thanks and enjoy.

Edit: though I may still put back on the original twist knob style selector, to keep it in it's fully original condition. It can still be used, once it has been re-peened down so it stays on the ratchet.

 

[Leviton]

Somehow, over the course of more than a half century, this pair of pliers wandered from Europe to a small thrift store in the U.S. .
The cutting jaws did not survive, but the handles were so cool the pliers had to come home with me.

Factory markings: Belzer-Auto Vanadium-Extra No 2672

I found these in a 1957 Belzer Hochwertige Werkzeuge catalog. Description translation: "Adjustable car pliers", "Nickel-plated and chrome-plated, highly polished", "With wire cutter for hardened steel wire and adjustable to be used as a pipe wrench.".

 

[Provincial]

This #14 combo ("open box") jumped in my shopping bag at an estate sale today. Can't have too many 10mm's!

 

[Leviton]

Since VBW was acquired by Stahlwille, it seems these could go here. However, I don't know if they are old enough to be "Vintage". These were at the thrift store and I bought the double open end wrench.

The DOE is 6.1 inches long and is thin enough to be a tappet wrench. 10mm and 11mm openings. Good 'ol Chrom-Vanadium sans "e".

Not exactly sure what kind of ratchet this is? Markings say "VBW 65 K.L."

VBW still sells tools online, but I didn't see any box or open end wrenches and the only ratchet I saw was for: "fitting and removing radiator venting plugs" (see thumbnail from catalog).

 

[d42jeep]

Earlier this month I found one of the frequently missing 10mm wrenches at an estate sale.
-Don

 

[Orangina]

Hello everyone,

found an early 9/16" hex drive ratchet set from around 1925(*), also sold as Hazet 230-57 until around 1930.
(* it was shown in the HAZET history book 1868-2018 page 190 with picture and date around 1925 and in well-known Hazet catalogs from 1930, older catalogs and documents were probably destroyed in wars or I have never seen.)

It has the hat logo with warranty (German: Garantie) inscription - so made by Belzer. Still needs to be restored...
The square in the head is 9.38mm wide, the square in the middle 9.05mm - the end is used as a screwdriver.
The socket sizes are mm (inch on back): 22 (7/8"), 20 (25/32"), 18 (11/16"), 16 (5/8"), 14 (9/16"), 12 (15/32") und 10 (without an inch imprint).






early Belzer logo with hat as from trademark registration of Belzer & Kopp in March 1884:
found at www.holzwerken.de/museum/hersteller/belzer_robert :


regards,

 

[DetailSeeker]

I have a couple of old German tools - tin-snips and a Stillson-style wrench - and I cannot for love blood or money associate the logo with a name, a shield with "RTW" in a diamond in the top half and "REX" in the bottom. It's stamped onto the tools, and the tin-snips also have something that looks like "LEDERRING" and then D.R.G.M. below that:


The wrench does not have D.R.G.M. stamped on it that I can find, although the space above the shield is more worn and a shallow stamp might not have taken.

I have tried the ITCL, HathiTrust, Google Books in both English and German, logo and trademark searches, and a reverse image search of the shield. I have not gotten anything. ("Lederring" translates to "leather ring", and "lederig" would translate to "leathery", so I'm guessing it was someone's name rather than a brand.)

Has anyone seen something like this?

 

[cannuck]

This thread is making me feel old. I bought my first set of Stahlwille combination wrenches over the parts counter when I first started working at a VW dealer shop 54 years ago. They have survived not only my abuse but for a decade a bunch of employees scavenging my toolbox all summer long. Never had one break or even show any signs of wear. IMHO best flat wrenches on the planet.

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

1/2” female drive ratchet, breaker bar & t-handle kit with sockets. All “CHROM-VANADIUM MADE IN W.-GERMANY” stamped - no manufacturer‘s markings. (Source: Family owned, Dad was the original purchaser.)

Overview.



Breaker bar has detent ball to “lock” drive when used as extension.





24 tooth, female drive, ratchet.



Ratchet drive was machined to engage with detent ball.



Sockets and breaker bar/extension not machined to engage with detent ball. My guess is so the drive pin stays connected to the ratchet but not to the socket/ accessory.







All sockets are 12pt design.



Kind regards,
Olli

 

[four.cycle]

^ Looks almost exactly like the German set I picked up a few months ago in Sequim. GJ member @jabberwoki was kind enough to donate the matching ratchet to "complete" the set (such as it is.)
Still trying to figure out what the other slots in the box were cut for - the box is obviously a factory-made job, not a home-made affair.

photos are mixed up a bit: (1) box (2) set after "cleaning up" (3) set "as found" (4) ratchet donated by @jabberwoki

 

[misterbill]

I picked these two from the same bin yesterday while I was out tool scavenging. As speculated in the garage sale thread, the one item appears to be a tire spoon (Gedore still makes a similar looking one). Because I found them together I was thinking they might be from a tool kit. Anybody have additional insight?




Bill

 

[four.cycle]

^ That's a heck of a lot of tire spoon for a bicycle!

 

[misterbill]

^ That's a heck of a lot of tire spoon for a bicycle!

Perhaps a motorcycle?

 

[four.cycle]

ah! yeah.. sorry... I wasn't even thinking "motorcycle".
yeah.. that could well be it.. and 12-13 most certainly is "motorcycle" size.
BK

 

[misterbill]

Should have dug deeper before I posted... see this post in the My DOWIDAT Tools! thread.

 

[3baygarage]

These Belzer cutters look similar in style to Leviton’s pliers above. I couldn’t believe the condition. I don’t know the vintage but they don’t appear to have been used.

 

[bmwrd0]

Perhaps a motorcycle?

There was a very similar one in my BMW's tool roll, but the wrenches didn't have a 13 if I remember right.

https://w6rec.com/duane/bmw/toolkit/tool4.jpg

edit: just checked, and they moved to 13mm in the sixties, so mine did have one.

 

[esben57]

Good to use. Chrome sometimes flakes too easily.
Have a Belzer 19mm somewhere, didn't need it, not used it, couldn't resist it. The quality and finish are excellent.
Will dig out and put photo up.
Really annoys the #eck out of me that Germany, States, Canada, Italy and even the frenchies still make spanners and we don't want to anymore

 

[esben57]

Sandvik Belzer. No made in... anywhere on it.