Here's some pictures. The Mueller is a bearing scraper. The use cases aren't super clear but definitely better on one than the other. Those ones I'll probably have to sell. But the others are yours if you want them. I have actually been putting together a little gift package for you anyways since way back when we did the MTF trade.
Let's show our wood (screwdrivers)
- Thread starter gungatim
- Start date
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
If you can't make out the markings, one of mine is super clear, linked upthread here.
Thanks. Put the Hibbard's True Value (also made by PEXTO, by the way) and the BMCo bearing scraper in a future trade pile with my name on it. I'm sure I have or will find something equivalent you want.
When I get a chance to pull everything out, I'll send you a private message. I've been setting aside some things I've come across that I noticed you mentioned that you were missing across different threads. I don't want to say too much here, but you'll be hearing from me soon
nz44tool
ALLIANCE MEMBER
nz44tool
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Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
I've had a few. Might still have some. The round bulbous handle was a precursor to the handles you may be more used to seeing on close-quarter screw drivers that just look like stubbier versions of a regular length screwdriver, with grooves. Here is a Photobucket era shot of one of mine marked Tuck. I'll search for others.
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Private Lugnutz
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Private Lugnutz
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I actually prefer them as users to modern stubbies. I find the fat round handle far more comfortable and effective in the palm of my hand.
nz44tool
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Thanks - yes, I've seen a few of those grooved ones. I suppose the smooth ones could have been short-lived because they were too "slippery".
What say you - early '20s?
BTW, do you happen to have any thoughts on the perfect handle one I put up on 11/14? I can't find that logo anywhere.
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
It's ringing vague barely audible bells. I can't place it.
four.cycle
Well-known member
)Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
@nz44tool
Research Harrold. I'm not sure they even made or are known for making screwdrivers, at all, to begin with, let alone "perfect handle" types. Someone who is more of a Harrold collector than me might know. We have a Harrold thread. But the logo that was nagging at me staring at yours reminds me of one of several Harrold logos.
Look under the "USA" in this marking below.
See that <--H--> marking?
Harrold Tool & Forge Co of Columbus, Ohio, was a successor to the H. J. Harrold Tool Co. of the same location.
I think the <--H--> marking they used was an abbreviated version of the <--H.J.H.--> trademark the earlier incarnation owned and used.
It's shorter than the more elongated <--|---|--> marking on yours, but very similar and certainly seems to form an H with a double-headed arrow through it.
Research Harrold. I'm not sure they even made or are known for making screwdrivers, at all, to begin with, let alone "perfect handle" types. Someone who is more of a Harrold collector than me might know. We have a Harrold thread. But the logo that was nagging at me staring at yours reminds me of one of several Harrold logos.
Look under the "USA" in this marking below.
See that <--H--> marking?
Harrold Tool & Forge Co of Columbus, Ohio, was a successor to the H. J. Harrold Tool Co. of the same location.
I think the <--H--> marking they used was an abbreviated version of the <--H.J.H.--> trademark the earlier incarnation owned and used.
It's shorter than the more elongated <--|---|--> marking on yours, but very similar and certainly seems to form an H with a double-headed arrow through it.
d42jeep
Well-known member
I haven’t seen that marking on any of my Perfect Handle screwdrivers but I do have a much later Harrold Phillips screwdriver. Previously posted in the Harrold thread. 
-Don
-Don
four.cycle
Well-known member
1920 Motor Boating Harrold Tool & Forge Co ad pp 166
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
After closer inspection, I gladly retract this...
They're nearly identical...
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nz44tool
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Wow - good eye! That could be it. I've had a number of Harrold products, particularly needle-nose pliers (I wasn't impressed with them; the pivots were always loose; gave them away). But I never noticed that little mark, and it is pretty close to what's on the screwdriver. Thanks! Gotta do some research!@nz44tool
Research Harrold. I'm not sure they even made or are known for making screwdrivers, at all, to begin with, let alone "perfect handle" types. Someone who is more of a Harrold collector than me might know. We have a Harrold thread. But the logo that was nagging at me staring at yours reminds me of one of several Harrold logos.
Look under the "USA" in this marking below.
See that <--H--> marking?
Harrold Tool & Forge Co of Columbus, Ohio, was a successor to the H. J. Harrold Tool Co. of the same location.
I think the <--H--> marking they used was an abbreviated version of the <--H.J.H.--> trademark the earlier incarnation owned and used.
It's shorter than the more elongated <--|---|--> marking on yours, but very similar and certainly seems to form an H with a double-headed arrow through it.
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
More like good recall - which I have to admit, shocked myself! Especially because I am not a Harrold collector. (I have one tool in my collection - a very early adjustable with a 'HARROLDS' marking and the only real attraction for me is that I am fond of the early 'no possessive apostrophe necessary' era of tool-and-die making.
)Oh, that's definitely not on you. Chances are astronomically greater that it's not on the other Harrold tools you have. I have seen that FORGED STEEL USA in a triangular depression or stamped (both used as Harrold "tells") on tools without the little abbreviated <-H-> TM much more often than with it. In fact, the only example I have ever seen is the one that I clipped for you to suggest that Harrold may have been the mfgr of your perfect handle style screwdriver, on pliers, belonging to @LesserSon. He posted them on the Harrold thread several years ago. He also has one posted on that thread that is similar, but no arrow, just an H in the same spot.
When you look on the Harrold thread and/or the general Pliers thread you will see that they were notorious for using several different logos and markings and sometimes (maybe more often than not) none at all. They also used just HARROLD, HARROLD in a triangle, HARROLD in a circle, a singular big H, etc. Frankly, it's a little nutty how many different branding tics they apparently had, especially for a mfgr of their caliber. (It's probably telling that there is no Harrold page on the Alloy Artifacts website. Not even in the Other Mfgrs list/section, which gets very obscure.)
The use of a triangle (which is irrelevant to you for this case) and the little abbreviated <-H-> TM are both echoes or remnants of early marketing. Despite how commonly their pliers are found, and maybe their bars, too, that particular marking doesn't appear to have been made in great quantities.
If your perfect handle screwdriver is HARROLD, and right now it sure seems harder to argue that it's not with that marking, it would be in pretty rare company, and you might want to see if LS has some idea of when he thinks his pliers with the same marking was made, because they seem to share production era.
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My brother-in-law recently gifted me a handful of old tools, including these 10” and 7” OAL screwdrivers.
After a cleanup, the 7” one is stamped JJRyan Tool Works Perfect Handle Southington Conn, but the 10” looks generic, maybe Irwin or Harrold (judging from recent posts).
The handle is marked, but more obviously from random beating than by a tool manufacturer.
After a cleanup, the 7” one is stamped JJRyan Tool Works Perfect Handle Southington Conn, but the 10” looks generic, maybe Irwin or Harrold (judging from recent posts).The handle is marked, but more obviously from random beating than by a tool manufacturer.
PeterPeter
Well-known member
Ho hum. Another Stanley/Hurwood. OA 5.25”. Handle 3”x1” 1.25x3/32 shaft. Tip is broken. No type no. Shaft goes through the handle. Maybe shortened at some point? Or a specialty item? Anyone else have one like this?
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PeterPeter
Well-known member
…and while I’m here, this was in the same chest as the Stanley/Hurwood. As you might imagine, I discovered this first. Overall, it’s an amazing 26” long. WF Center is printed on the maple? handle. Has anyone heard of the maker? Western Forge comes to mind, but this is much older than that company (Western Forge/Craftsman 16“ for scale).
peterpeter
peterpeter
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Mike'smeatshop
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Very cool find. There have been times that I needed 26 more inches. Very cool.…and while I’m here, this was in the same chest as the Stanley/Hurwood. As you might imagine, I discovered this first. Overall, it’s an amazing 26” long. WF Center is printed on the maple? handle. Has anyone heard of the maker? Western Forge comes to mind, but this is much older than that company (Western Forge/Craftsman 16“ for scale).
peterpeter
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
I am unaware of a Mfgr named W.F. Center.
My mind quickly went through some alternatives, such as "WAR FINISH" (Federal used it) or relevant to its construction (e.g., "Wrought" something or other) with respect to a reference to center as in center of the tool handle, or an abbreviated name of some kind of central industrial area in or near a city. But the tool seems to predate those kinds of marking conventions. I even flirted with Wright Field ever so briefly. All very thin stretches.
It could be a very tastefully- and well-applied owner's mark.
We might ask ourselves this: What is more likely? A mfgr putting its name on more than one flat of that handle? Or a prior owner?
PeterPeter
Well-known member
Here’s my speculation: All the imprints are uniform, leading me to believe that they were made with a single stamp, as opposed to the home shop typeset style single letter billets typically used to mark tools with the owners initials (the box this was found in had just such a set). But, if the owner was a large shop they would have probably had a stamp made to mark the shop tools, and would have applied their mark liberally. A tool manufacturer would mark it once, and move along.
RTM
Well-known member
I wouldn't make a universal statement like that. I have lots of tools, mostly wood working, that have individual's stamps on them, not built up from letters. Some actually have fancy borders on them. I actually have some tools from a pair of brothers where both of them were stamped with an initial, or two, then last name. I actually found one of the brother's stamps in the box and gave it back to the seller. She was thrilled because it was her grandfather's (or her great-grandfather's) from the 1890s. Found him online. This brother died first.
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I was messing with the rivets on the 10” driver and split the wood handle. So I popped it off to look at the forged part. “AD” forge mark is Alliance Drop Forging Company, Alliance OH, based on a few anvil-shaped paperweights and a promotional mechanical pencil currently on eBay.My brother-in-law recently gifted me a handful of old tools, including these 10” and 7” OAL screwdrivers.
The handle is marked, but more obviously from random beating than by a tool manufacturer.
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RTM
Well-known member
d42jeep
Well-known member
A couple of screwdriver finds today at a going out of business sale. The postwar Perfect Handle Irwin screwdriver is going to need sharpening. The tip looks like it was used for gardening. 
The markings were very faint on this #1 Phillips screwdriver. It has a Stanley look about it.
-Don
The markings were very faint on this #1 Phillips screwdriver. It has a Stanley look about it.
-Don
JonahBrown
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Late 1800’s Stanley screwdriver.RTM
Well-known member
Never seen any stamped like that. I have a few combo plane sized, all unmarked.
four.cycle
Well-known member
four.cycle
Well-known member
Thanks. I see "turnscrew" and I automatically think "British".
I wasn't able to make out the year clearly.
I wasn't able to make out the year clearly.
JonahBrown
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US. It is currently boxed up but its an old late 1800’s logo.
The Stanley 45 and 55 plane set included a similar screwdriver. This looks a little larger than ones I've seen, but maybe earlier sets had a different driver.
RTM
Well-known member
Those are the ones I have, I assume they are for 45 or 55 based on the size. I can’t tell how big that screwdriver is without a reference, but guessed huge based on the bulbous handle almost filling the width of the wooden board under it.
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Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
I'm not sure why we're talking about Jonah's screwdriver in reference to what they may or may not have included with plane sets, but Stanley was making and selling "screw drivers" on their own. I think the first catalog they appear in is 1870. Jonah's seems to be an example of the model they introduced in the 1872 catalog offered in a wide range of sizes. (I wish my combination tack hammer/puller - which I found in the same 1872 catalog - had the same logo. Just the 1867 patent notice.)
Aw, bummer! But I suspected as much.I need to quit accumulating these but this one was very reasonably priced. These with the FSN stamped on the shank are Korean War era, not WW2. They are commonly mis-identified by sellers.
-Don
Got this Stanley Yankee #1 Phillips today, too.
