Some Vintage Pipe Wrenches, anyone collect them?

[four.cycle]

^ Yes. One of the advantages of Evaporust is that it does not remove the paint from steel surfaces.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

^ Unless the paint has iron oxide pigments!

 

[four.cycle]

OH?
I have only had issues on the black-painted wood handle on a hand bench grinder - the Evaporust removed almost all of the paint from the wood handle, but it did not remove the green paint from the cast-iron grinder body.
What paints would have iron oxide pigments?

(As an aside, I think that Walworth may have had black paint on a few of the depressed panels on the dynamic jaw, but I'm not sure.)

 

[Private Lugnutz]

What paints would have iron oxide pigments

Aren't you the arteest?

Seriously, I have no idea. I'm just saying that by definition, Evaporust's chelating agents will attack any oxides. That includes rust, of course, but it also includes those put in substances deliberately, such as paint. I was reminded of this simple fact the hard way! Not ALL paint has oxides, but I'm not taking any chances.

 

[four.cycle]

Greenfield Tap & Die Corp. 14-inch pipe wrench

Greenfield Tap & Die Corp., Greenfield, Massachusetts

 

[four.cycle]

Walworth Stillson 14-inch pipe wrench (patent 95744 among others)

 

[four.cycle]

Western Auto Supply 2440 14-inch pipe wrench

marked MFD. and U.S.A. with no other discernable production codes. I have to assume that PROTO was the OEM on this one.

 

[four.cycle]

WORTH R1 10-inch pipe wrench

manufactured by Peck, Stow, and Wilcox, Southington, Connecticut

 

[d42jeep]

I cleaned up the Walworth 10” Stillson pipe wrench found at an estate sale yesterday. The body of the wrench is dated 1948 and the jaw 1942.
Before
After
-Don

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Here a pipe wrench I plucked out of a Habitat store yesterday. It was in a pile with several other pipe wrenches all priced the same. I couldn't find a Becklin, made in Seattle, in this thread and this may be the first one I've ever seen. I'm not sure this method of securing the jaw has many advantages over the usual nut but it is interesting. The size marking on the beam do help to line things up for thread engagement. A few pics of a 14" Becklin with a 1920 patent date. Ed.

 

[four.cycle]

The body of the wrench is dated 1948 and the jaw 1942.

I wasn't aware they had date codes. I'll have to look at those two I've acquired recently.

 

[d42jeep]

Don’t be surprised if you don’t find any date codes. Many of the Walworth Stillson pipe wrenches don’t have them.
-Don

 

[3baygarage]

Here a pipe wrench I plucked out of a Habi tat store yesterday. It was in a pile with several other pipe wrenches all priced the same. I couldn't find a Becklin, made in Seattle, in this thread and this may be the first one I've ever seen. I'm not sure this method of securing the jaw has many advantages over the usual nut but it is interesting. The size marking on the beam do help to line things up for thread engagement. A few pics of a 14" Becklin with a 1920 patent date. Ed.

Nice one! I had fun playing around with a couple of those last year at the Flywheelers swap. May have been the first I've run into as well. Really cool design how the teeth mesh together. Unfortunately the wrench prices did not align with reality.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Nice one! I had fun playing around with a couple of those last year at the Flywheelers swap. May have been the first I've run into as well. Really cool design how the teeth mesh together. Unfortunately the wrench prices did not align with reality.

I saw your post on the wrench's you saw at Flywheelers while searching this site for Becklin. It was a short list of posts and I think yours was the only one with an actual pipe wrench picture. I'm a sucker for unique adjusting methods on most any wrench...as long as they aren't ridiculously overpriced that is.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I'm a sucker for unique adjusting methods on most any wrench...

Us too!

 

[four.cycle]

Don’t be surprised if you don’t find any date codes. Many of the Walworth Stillson pipe wrenches don’t have them.

I did not find any.
Thanks.
At least I know I wasn't doing it wrong!

 

[d42jeep]

This Walworth Parmelee #1 for 1/2” pipe arrived in the mail today.
-Don

 

[Old tool guy]

Just randomly showed up in the mail? Works for me!

So explain that tool. The jaw wraps around the pipe, and only works for a 1” pipe, and the knurled nut secures the jaws. Then what?

 

[d42jeep]

Perhaps this page from the 1910 Parmelee catalog will explain better than I could. The wrench came from an eBay seller
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

So explain that tool. The jaw wraps around the pipe, and only works for a 1” pipe, and the knurled nut secures the jaws. Then what?

The "Parmalee" wraps around the full outer circumfrence of the pipe and grabs it all the way around - same as if you grabbed it with your hand - and was designed so that soft alloy tubing wasn't crushed or distorted when serviced or installed.
They still manufacturer that same wrench to this day - in all sizes.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

...and the knurled nut secures the jaws.

The original Parmelee patent (1888) and wrench (my example of one is linked upthread here) didn't have the threaded nut, it used a cam and constant manual pressure. Homer Parmelee (and eventually his son, Roy) kept tinkering with different mechanisms to secure the grip in three subsequent patents (1897, 1900, and 1907 - @3baygarage 's example of this type linked upthread here), well before Walworth assumed production in 1914. I don't recall if I ever tracked down the patent, if there was one, for the later production Walworth-Parmelee variants with the threaded nut. They have the 1907 patent date on them, but the 1907 patent is not a nut.
EDIT: Fixed a link.

 

[Fred Knox]

Little Giant 10” pipe wrench (patent date Feb. 4, 1913 in handle). Marked with “GTD" logo for Greenfield Tap & Die Co. Mine still has some specks of orange paint in the handle too.

 

[four.cycle]

AH! So the orange paint was original! Well... too late now... all the pipe wrenches got the wire wheel earlier today - tired of lookin' at 'em - time to dump 'em out.

 

[Old tool guy]

Little Giant 10” pipe wrench (patent date Feb. 4, 1913 in handle). Marked with “GTD" logo for Greenfield Tap & Die Co. Mine still has some specks of orange paint in the handle too.

Interesting that the dynamic head can be reversed. Not sure i understand why.

 

[four.cycle]

Interesting that the dynamic head can be reversed. Not sure i understand why.

Metric on one side, SAE on the other side.

 

[Old tool guy]

Metric on one side, SAE on the other side.

Of course. And i guess that’s the origin of the left handed monkey wrench.

 

[four.cycle]

oooo they're all shiny after spending about 20 minutes running the wire wheel. hopefully now I'll find some buyers for these turds:

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Little Giant 10” pipe wrench (patent date Feb. 4, 1913 in handle). Marked with “GTD" logo for Greenfield Tap & Die Co. Mine still has some specks of orange paint in the handle too.

Nice find, Fred. If you're unfamiliar with these, note that the longer variants are actually 4 Ways! More information in my reply to Otg2 below.

Not sure I understand why.

If you're scratching your head thinking that simply flipping the wrench over to the other side would result in the same exact configuration as going through the seemingly squirrely trouble of pulling the dynamic jaw out and installing it in the other direction, you are correct, of course, and you wouldn't be the first to question the mirror logic.

Note, however, that reversing the dynamic jaw engages a different set of fixed jaw teeth.

This objective becomes even more pronounced in the versions that are longer than 14" OAL, which, believe it or not, have two additional sets of teeth on the back side of the head of the wrench, behind the adjusting nut! See patent diagram below or @454ragtop 's example, linked upthread here.

In the patent (1,052,313), granted in 1913, the inventor, Addison B. Carll, yet another Philly dude, expressed the objective in terms of endurance (and therefore, efficiency), and versatility, like this: "having numerous wearing or gripping surfaces with which a single movable jaw may be brough it into operative relation, whereby not only is the life of the more expensive portion of the wrench greatly prolonged, but the movable jaw may be reversed and the wrench operated in the opposite direction."

You and other sharp-eyed collectors with a solid memory may recognize Carll's name from his second patent (1,060,891), granted the same year, for pipe wrenches he had made under his own name by a couple different outfits (but not Greenfield, oddly), with a rotating head.

 

[Hal]

I don’t collect, but here’s four from an auction lot. As I recall, they are all six or eight inch. Top and bottom I can’t identify from the photos, and I’m not crawling out to the garage to look at them now. The second is a Merit, and the third is a nickel plated J.P. Danielson. That one is nice enough that I put it in my toolbox for regular use. As I said, I don’t collect, and that is the first plated one I have ever seen.

The bottom one has obviously had a hard life, note the bent jaw, and the hex nut on the handle.

 

[MisterEd]

Ratchet Pipe-Wrench RP-070 Jaws 14 Inch

It’s called “Pipe-Wrench” and it’ll serve as such kinda . . . or mostly, maybe. One of those things that you find in a garage that’s too inexpensive and too odd to leave behind.

Learned that there is or was a variation of it made in China and has its own YouTube video. Found a picture of one in a Blister Pack that referenced “Lehigh International” of Allentown, PA.

If you look around you might find the one where “RP-070” was misidentified as “PROTO”. Love those Proto Ratchet Pipe-Wrenches!

 

[Outlawmws]

OK who will find #3?

Not looking to add to my pipe wrench count, but this ratcheting pipe wrench was too odd to leave behind;

The ratchet drives a gear to close the jaws and tighten them, bit also can be used, within limits, to ratchet on the turning of the pipe. the pipe itself, unless gripping a fitting below handle level, limits things before a full turn happens.

As noted by LS in the GS thread the finger grips seem bass akwards.

No makers marks., but A Google search ferreted up one NIP larked Lehigh international and same model no.:

 

[MisterEd]

too odd to leave behind

Where have I heard that before??

Seems like a solution seeking a problem.

 

[Outlawmws]

Where have I heard that before??

Seems like a solution seeking a problem.

I actuality wrote that in the GS thread before I saw tour post! - Great minds!

 

[MisterEd]

Great minds!

I’m more novice than knowledgeable ‘bout Pipe Wrenches in general.

Pretty sure you know you know a bunch, so . . . is it possible this Wrench would have a practical application?

 

[Outlawmws]

I’m more novice than knowledgeable ‘bout Pipe Wrenches in general.

Pretty sure you know you know a bunch, so . . . is it possible this Wrench would have a practical application?

IMO for pipe not so much (interference with the pipe) for a fitting onto a pi[e maybe. If it stays shut during ratcheting action.

On the other hand it also closes the jaw and with more pressure the harder it grips; and maybe that was the intent. I just think the setup and control issue made it a not desirable tool and in the end, it didn't make a big hit.

 

[d42jeep]

Very similar to Olli's, this "Blitz" wrench has an old D.R.G.M. number of 29923 stamped on it. This pattern of wrench/pliers was made by more than one company. Figuring out who that patent was issued to might offer a clue as to who was making these early on (other than Ellin/Footprint.)
I don't recognize that herald mark on Olli's specimen. Wondering if maybe Wolfgang's site might offer a clue on that.

My fun find at yesterday morning’s estate sale was this Footprint brand wrench/pliers tool.
Cleaned up a little.
Found this upthread.
-Don

 

[esben57]

Good find Don. Footprint on each of the three pieces, screw can often go missing. Driver for slotted plugs on solid leg.
Made one as Apprentice. Still have it somewhere.

 

[Paul T]

Here is that unique 14" Craftsman pipe wrench, 1945, in it's original color, grey-blue, matching the color of my 80 year old Craftsman drill press.

 

[Old tool guy]

I have this Walworth Stillson wrench that i want to clean up. I would like to remove the bracket that holds the moveable jar so i can get to all of the concealed surfaces, problem is the bracket is secured with a peened fastener. I could easily grind off one end, but i don’t know what to put back, and indon’t really want to do that. Suggesstions? Would evaporust be the right process? The area that has been cleaned was done with a nylon wheel on a grinder.
.

 

[Outlawmws]

Would evaporust be the right process?

Yes, or the home brew version. Wire brush/wheel just won't make it.