Plomb tool picture thread - show your stuff!

[r_olson_06]

Ok who was it that bought the dog eared plomb sign off eBay? I thought it was cool for sure!

Never seen it. Can you post a screenshot?

 

[Smokeshow69]

Screenshot. I’m not downing on it, I was just curious to see who bought it?

 

[r_olson_06]

Screenshot. I’m not downing on it, I was just curious to see who bought it?

Completely missed that one. I did see a full one a few years back go thousands. Nice pick up for whoever got it!

 

[r_olson_06]

1st additions to the wall after the large Plomb pick. A 1939 Utica Contract 12" and a Diamond Contract 10". I only need 1 wrench from each set to finish out the sets.

 

[z28lsc]

New find. 3/4 drive set with box, and most of the sockets are Los Angeles. The ratchet doesn't belong on this set, so I will need to find a correct one and the rest of the sockets to complete the set.

 

[r_olson_06]

New find. 3/4 drive set with box, and most of the sockets are Los Angeles. The ratchet doesn't belong on this set, so I will need to find a correct one and the rest of the sockets to complete the set.

Nice pick up. The cases are hard to come by in that size.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Nice pick up. The cases are hard to come by in that size.

You can say that again. Usually they are pretty beat and look like they have been run over by a truck and left on the road.

 

[r_olson_06]

You can say that again. Usually they are pretty beat and look like they have been run over by a truck and left on the road.

I am guessing they may have been

 

[Smokeshow69]

I am guessing they may have been

or dropped very hard, into the back of a truck.....or dropped very hard under a truck

 

[Smokeshow69]

Picked up 2 items today at the Branch 15 swap meet in brooks OR....also ran into ORC while I was there. Paid $2 for both of these items. Pretty stoked because I don't have the upholstery hammer in proto either so now I have one. The extension has a nice detent ball function so I could leave it behind even though I have plenty of these.

 

[r_olson_06]

Picked up 2 items today at the Branch 15 swap meet in brooks OR....also ran into ORC while I was there. Paid $2 for both of these items. Pretty stoked because I don't have the upholstery hammer in proto either so now I have one. The extension has a nice detent ball function so I could leave it behind even though I have plenty of these.

Nice hammer. I just picked up one as well. Also great running into another Plomb collector at the swap. We don't have too many in the Midwest.

 

[r_olson_06]

How about this strange one. A USS AM open-end wrench.

 

[r_olson_06]

Does anyone know what AM stands for?

 

[RTM]

Does anyone know what AM stands for?

Looking at this, it might be American Standard Heavy. This seems to be the only catslog a Search found it in

From https://archive.org/details/proto-tools-catalog-4922-m/page/n8/mode/1up?q=uss+am

 

[Outlawmws]

Does anyone know what AM stands for?

American Metric?

 

[RTM]

American Metric?

That's where people use /64 and /32 wrenches and pretends it works ok for metric fasteners, rather than getting the easily accessible metric wrench?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Does anyone know what AM stands for?

American Standard Regular. I have posted a few Plomb wrenches marked that way, a slugging wrench, as I recall, and a few of those Extra Heavy Duty DBEs they made. Very uncommon for Plomb to use it or U.S.S. or any other standard (as opposed to Williams, Armstrong, Billings, etc, for whom standards and milled openings were a standard marking convention) but especially uncommon for them to use it so late, in an era when those aforementioned mfgrs who regularly used it in earlier eras had already dropped it in favor of only the milled opening size. I seem to remember a discussion between me and @MR.X on this thread where we remarked on it seemingly being confined to industrial type tools and settings. Search on "USS" because "AM" would probably turn up every instance of the first person singular present tense of the verb "to be".

Looking at this, it might be American Standard Heavy.

No. American Standard HEAVY is equivalent to U.S.S., American Standard LIGHT is equivalent to S.A.E., and American Standard (sometimes qualified as REGULAR) is its own standard. In terms of hardware, Am. Std Heavy (or U.S.S.) was the largest, followed by Am. Std. REG, followed by Am. Std LIGHT (S.A.E.)

Here is an excerpt from a Williams cat for the handiest reference...



The best way to get a handle on this is to think of it from the hardware perspective. Pick a bolt or nut. Let's say 3/8", for example.

/ An Am. Std. LIGHT (S.A.E.) 3/8" bolt/nut needs a wrench with a 9/16" opening (because the AF size of the nut and the head on the bolt was 9/16") to turn it
/ An Am. Std. REG 3/8" bolt needs a wrench with a 5/8" opening (because the AF size of the bolt/nut was 5/8") to turn it
/ An Am. Std. HEAVY (U.S.S.) 3/8" bolt needs a wrench with an 11/16" opening (because the AF size of the bolt/nut was 11/16") to turn it

This seems to be the only catslog a Search found it in

If you mean Plomb, no, it appears in all the catalogs throughout the late 30's into the 40's.

 

[Catfishdan]

Well it’s not multiple shipping crates full, but I did have a good plomb day at the flea market. Several unusual tools.
-5469 hinged speeder
- an odd 3/4” breaker bar marked with the round o Los Angeles and dxth along with a patent number
- two old stamped a. Plomb doe’s. Both 7/16”x3/8”, bit one Appears to be whitworth?
- 3 6528 jet wrenches All marked different. One is round o los Angeles, one is round o only, and one is more modern triangle
- a rope braid 5425, a 6523, and a 5534 socket
- a few more common pieces and a wilpen 8180

i Paid up for the breaker bar, but the rest of the stuff was all from one vender and came cheap.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

a patent number

Probably 1380643, the infamous Eagle patent.

 

[Catfishdan]

Probably 1380643, the infamous Eagle patent.

You are correct. I know nothing of this infamous eagle patent. Do tell

 

[r_olson_06]

Well it’s not multiple shipping crates full, but I did have a good plomb day at the flea market. Several unusual tools.
-5469 hinged speeder
- an odd 3/4” breaker bar marked with the round o Los Angeles and dxth along with a patent number
- two old stamped a. Plomb doe’s. Both 7/16”x3/8”, bit one Appears to be whitworth?
- 3 6528 jet wrenches All marked different. One is round o los Angeles, one is round o only, and one is more modern triangle
- a rope braid 5425, a 6523, and a 5534 socket
- a few more common pieces and a wilpen 8180

i Paid up for the breaker bar, but the rest of the stuff was all from one vender and came cheap.

Nice scores on the Round Os! The breaker bar is 1930 or prior. If it makes you feel better I paid $80 for my DXTH. The A Plomb could be either ALAM or SAE style which was common back then. The style of the wrenches suggest 1920s.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

@Catfishdan
Long story short, dude named Samuel Eagle received a patent in 1921 for a flex head or hinge handle (colloquially, "breaker bar") that had the fork on the handle around the hinge head, with the hinge head pinned inside the fork. Like the overwhelming majority of hinge handles we see today. Back then, companies were forced to either license his design (e.g., Plomb) or make them the opposite way, with the hinge head forked and pinned around the shank. Or they risked a lawsuit. In the early 1930's, Eagle lost an infringement case against P&C and the rest of the industry immediately started making them the inside head way without fear of penalty.

 

[Catfishdan]

Nice scores on the Round Os! The breaker bar is 1930 or prior. If it makes you feel better I paid $80 for my DXTH. The A Plomb could be either ALAM or SAE style which was common back then. The style of the wrenches suggest 1920s.

Thanks. When they come out of the evaporator I might find more markings.

 

[Catfishdan]

@Catfishdan
Long story short, dude named Samuel Eagle received a patent in 1921 for a flex head or hinge handle (colloquially, "breaker bar") that had the fork on the handle around the hinge head, with the hinge head pinned inside the fork. Like the overwhelming majority of hinge handles we see today. Back then, companies were forced to either license his design (e.g., Plomb) or make them the opposite way, with the hinge head forked and pinned around the shank. Or they risked a lawsuit. In the early 1930's, Eagle lost an infringement case against P&C and the rest of the industry immediately started making them the inside head way without fear of penalty.

Thanks! You are a wealth of knowledge. Tell me you didn’t know that patent number by heart!

 

[Outlawmws]

-5469 hinged speeder

Still on my bucket list - and actually any brand for a user...

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Tell me you didn’t know that patent number by heart!

Haha. No. I have one, there are a number of other examples on the thread, and it's been discussed on other threads as well.

 

[RTM]

Still on my bucket list - and actually any brand for a user...

We should talk at some point

 

[r_olson_06]

Haha. No. I have one, there are a number of other examples on the thread, and it's been discussed on other threads as well.

You have a patent?! What's the number?

 

[r_olson_06]

Thanks. When they come out of the evaporator I might find more markings.

For sure. It likely has a 2 digit date code that starts with the year 8,9,0,1 and A,B,C,D,E which is still widely debated yet on the 2nd digits purpose.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

You have a patent?! What's the number?

I was referring to an example of a Plomb hinge handle with an Eagle patent, but I must have been thinking of something else.

 

[r_olson_06]

I was referring to an example of a Plomb hinge handle with an Eagle patent, but I must have been thinking of something else.

I misunderstood. I now understand what you meant.

 

[yatg]

Couple garage sale finds from this weekend.
Big wrench #1041 7/8 x 1-1/16 and a #36 offset 3/8 screwdriver

 

[MShaw]

This is my only Plomb tool. A 3/8' drive 3/4" flex socket. Bought used around 1960. Saw a lot of use running down cylinder head bolts with a speed handle.

 

[d42jeep]

My difficult to find Plomb 1/2” drive ell handle arrived In the mail yesterday as part of a Plomb lot from an eBay seller. Here are all of the pieces in the lot.

The ell handle will be heading for my Plomb based GMTK. I believe there is a poorly struck 1940 date next to the Plomb marking. Less than ten examples of these have been found world wide. They have no part numbers and aren’t shown in any catalog.
I was happy to see a dual marked 13/16” socket included with the other tools.

The 1 “ chrome plated socket wasn’t in bad condition. It was stamped with a BB mystery code.



I cleaned up the chrome plated 3040 DOE wrench with previous owners markings. The codes on this one looked to be a poorly struck AB.


Two different styles of WF-38 ratchets were included. Any of the WF tools/pieces including the speeder are available for trade.
Thanks to z281sc for the tip on the ell.
-Don

 

[r_olson_06]

My difficult to find Plomb 1/2” drive ell handle arrived In the mail yesterday as part of a Plomb lot from an eBay seller. Here are all of the pieces in the lot.

The ell handle will be heading for my Plomb based GMTK. I believe there is a poorly struck 1940 date next to the Plomb marking. Less than ten examples of these have been found world wide. They have no part numbers and aren’t shown in any catalog.
I was happy to see a dual marked 13/16” socket included with the other tools.

The 1 “ chrome plated socket wasn’t in bad condition. It was stamped with a BB mystery code.



I cleaned up the chrome plated 3040 DOE wrench with previous owners markings. The codes on this one looked to be a poorly struck AB.


Two different styles of WF-38 ratchets were included. Any of the WF tools/pieces including the speeder are available for trade.
-Don

Nice find on the ell! That one has still eluded me.

 

[3baygarage]

Cool. What the deal with the spinner disc?

 

[d42jeep]

I’m not sure about the spinner. It was attached to the rusty 3/8” drive ratchet when it arrived and has remained kind of a mystery.



Speaking of that rusty ratchet, it came out of the evaporust this afternoon and I did what I could to make it more presentable.
As received.
I worked it over with the 3M rotary wheels.

Since it looked better, I took it apart and cleaned and lubed the interior. I was pleasantly surprised that the screws came loose. It came out working really well.
-Don

 

[r_olson_06]

A few more to add to the wall. Mostly 1/2" drive 6 Point Power Drive Sockets.

Before


After
I am still missing 2 shallows 3/8" and 13/16" and quite a few larger deeps.

 

[r_olson_06]

How about this copper clad 1212. I have not seen a copper clad wrench outside of the industrial lines.

 

[d42jeep]

This 1/2” drive cad plated 5416 socket came in a Walden 1/4” drive set that arrived from an eBay seller. Here is how it looked as received.
I ran it through the evaporust and carefully removed the grease in the grooves and gently wiped it off with brake cleaner.
It may end up in my Plomb based GMTK.
-Don