My small but growing DBE wrench collection

[Sam'sAutoParts]

That's gotta be a rare one, looks to be in great condition too.

 

[BlueBomber]

Oh, look at that--one thousand posts! I glad to see this thread continues to draw new posters on addition to our more frequent contributors. As just the last 20 posts have shown, we're still seeing new DBE examples that folks are finding in the wild.

Keep posting your DBE singles, sets and oddballs. We like 'em all!

Uncommon Craftsman round shank DBE. The first I have seen




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See what I mean!?! Cool wrench, Riley.

 

[Sam'sAutoParts]

Saw this last night, a little to rich for my blood, but still cool IMHO

http://www.ebay.com/itm/252656125159?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

[twertsy]

Saw this last night, a little to rich for my blood, but still cool IMHO

http://www.ebay.com/itm/252656125159?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Interesting...........no codes on those?

 

[Rileysan]

Saw this last night, a little to rich for my blood, but still cool IMHO

http://www.ebay.com/itm/252656125159?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Oh my - these are so tempting! How often do NOS wrenches in the original packaging come available? These are amazing!

 

[Rileysan]

See what I mean!?! Cool wrench, Riley.

Thank you! I was so excited, I had to photograph and post before I even got home

 

[Outlawmws]

Riley, any code on that round shank?

 

[3baygarage]

That's gotta be a rare one, looks to be in great condition too.

Riley, any code on that round shank?

Riley -Yes , very cool wrench as BlueBomber said. That's got to be a Hinsdale wrench.

Sam- cool to see that set.

 

[Rileysan]

The only thing I can see on it besides the obvious is the number '10'. I honestly don't think it's ever been used!

 

[Rileysan]

Here are a few more DBE wrenches I acquired yesterday ...

- Craftsman -VV- 15/16" x 1"
- Craftsman =V= 19/32" x 25/32"
- Craftsman "long C" short DBE 11/16" x 5/8"
- Craftsman round shank 3/8" x 7/16"

- "Super Quality" #711 3/8" x 7/16"
- Various Proto
- Thorsen shorty
- Barcalo

 

[Username already in use]

Nice DBEs Rileysan. That's gotta be the oldest SUPER QUALITY wrench I've seen. What are the sizes on that?

 

[chopper1]

Although I don't compare to many here I thought I'd post a few of the not so popular wrenches I have.
Bonney, Challenger, Pennens, Plomb and Vulcan

 

[chopper1]

A few more.
Mac Short
Steel Select short
Tru-Fit short
Snap On brake

 

[Sam'sAutoParts]

Saw this last night, a little to rich for my blood, but still cool IMHO



http://www.ebay.com/itm/252656125159?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Ok.....so who here bought these?

 

[bonneyman]

Nice Bonney's, chopper!

 

[chopper1]

Thanks, George.

 

[Rileysan]

Nice DBEs Rileysan. That's gotta be the oldest SUPER QUALITY wrench I've seen. What are the sizes on that?

3/8" x 7/16"

This is my first Super Quality wrench. I suppose I'd better hit up AA ...

 

[four.cycle]

top left in that image. out of the 1948 catalog. I believe twertsy put these all up on his site for download. I posted some pages here in another thread: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=344222&highlight=indestro+tool+catalog

the same item on page 336 of the 1938 Jensen-Byrd catalog shows it being marked "Super Quality".

if you look closely at the same item in the 1959 catalog it's marked "Indestro Super".

Where are you finding this old Indestro stuff down there?

 

[Rileysan]

top left in that image. out of the 1948 catalog. I believe twertsy put these all up on his site for download. I posted some pages here in another thread: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=344222&highlight=indestro+tool+catalog

the same item on page 336 of the 1938 Jensen-Byrd catalog shows it being marked "Super Quality".

if you look closely at the same item in the 1959 catalog it's marked "Indestro Super".

Where are you finding this old Indestro stuff down there?

This one came from a pawn shop whose primary business is tools. Much of his stuff is buried in tool bins, totes, or buckets. It can take quite a bit of time to sort out!

Here are a couple more pix.

Brian





Sent from my LGL41C using Tapatalk

 

[four.cycle]

very nice. side profile shows it to be quite a piece of work.

 

[Username already in use]

3/8" x 7/16"

This is my first Super Quality wrench. I suppose I'd better hit up AA ...

If I'm not mistaken, the SUPER-QUALITY Brand went away when the Indestro Super line came out in 45/46. The design element on your example doesn't look as sharp (more rounded off) as these examples from the early'40s. I'd guess that wrench is 30's timeframe or older? Heres a comparison of your wrench next to the two design elements they used during the war.

Neat wrench. Definitely worth diging for.

 

[four.cycle]

If I'm not mistaken, the SUPER-QUALITY Brand went away when the Indestro Super line came out in 45/46.

^ I think this is one of those deals where Alloy-Artifacts might not be 100% accurate. Take another look at that 1948 catalog page I posted above. Both the 45° and 10° long offsets, as well as the 15° and 45° short offsets are listed with illustrations which have "Super Quality" on the wrenches. Moreover, the header at the top of the page is touting them as "Super Quality".
I just flipped through all the 1948 catalog pages which show wrenches, and the choices are either "Super Quality" or "Select Steel".

I would defer to the catalog on this one and assume production of "Super Quality" continued until at least 1948 (if not past that point.)

That said, based on the hundreds of samples I've looked at here and on Ebay, if I had to make a wild guess, I'd say that specimen of Riley's above is way early; that side profile is just too arty to be later production. (Just my lousy opinion, of course.)

 

[Rileysan]

That said, based on the hundreds of samples I've looked at here and on Ebay, if I had to make a wild guess, I'd say that specimen of Riley's above is way early; that side profile is just too arty to be later production. (Just my lousy opinion, of course.)

Your "lousy" opinion is well respected - especially on Indestro tools. Thank you for the input.

Brian

 

[BlueBomber]

Gents,

Here are a few shots of my only two Super Quality wrenches to add to the discussion.

The full size deep offset has the"parallelogram" raised panel and the circle-X logo. The deep offset stubby had the "bullet-nosed" raised panel and the 741 model number. The stubby has a smoother finish than the long wrench.






Cheers!

 

[four.cycle]

Your "lousy" opinion is well respected - especially on Indestro tools. Thank you for the input.

Thanks. Bear in mind that my hands-on knowledge of Indestro is limited to buying, selling, and using it since my old man brought the line in to the warehouse in 1971, what I've been able to pick up here and from perusing listings on Ebay over the last year, and what I can glean from the old catalogs I've managed to get my hands on.
That said, I'm a pretty fast learner.

I've got a little shorty offset like that one just above somewhere... maybe a set of them, and I believe mine are brightly plated like that with a polished finish as well. I'd have to do some serious digging.
The shanks were kinda-sorta "hex" shaped early on, and gradually went to more "roundy" edges, ultimately becoming a more "flat" shank. Late production "Duro Indestro" (in my view) looks absolutely cheezy by comparison. A late 713 listed recently is almost indistinguishable from the contemporary equivalent from Thorsen:





(Still waiting on the rest of those Thorsens to complete that set. I wouldn't have bothered with them had I not been able to get most of them dirt cheap.)

 

[BlueBomber]

Four wrenches arrived today, three of them interesting.



The bottom one is a run-of-the-mill Indestro Forged Select Steel deep offset, 13/16" x 7/8". I've probably got four of that size.

The top one is a Vlchek deep offset, 25/32" x 3/4", that looks like was heated and bent just a little. Has a "5" on the shank.



The last two are a new (to me) style of grooved Blackhawk 156xx DBEs, this with a raised panel and three horizontal grooves on the panel.




Hmmm, I like 'em, I love 'em, I want some more of 'em!

 

[Sam'sAutoParts]

Those Blackhawks are interesting, first time I have seen that style.

 

[stage20]

Those Blackhawks are interesting, first time I have seen that style.

ive dug through a lot of wrenches. never even seen a picture of that style before. maybe i can find one in the wild.

 

[fowldarr]

Hoping you guys can help me out. I stumbled across an estate sell at lunch and picked up this DBE (5/8-11/16) for $1. There are not many markings on it, and I'm relatively new to this game (the one where I care what kind of old tools I have)



The J.H. Williams and Co Crescent Wrench was another $1, it's a little stiff, but I'll get it loosened up and in good working order.

 

[fowldarr]

I just realized you can't see much in the picture. It says "DROP FORGED U.S.A"

It also has an "E" stamped on one end.

 

[four.cycle]

^ can't see any detail in that photo image. anything on the other side?

 

[fowldarr]

Nothing on the other side.

 

[fowldarr]

Let me clear on the other side is a matching raised long oval like you see on the side I photographed. If there is anything there besides that it is completely invisible.

 

[BlueBomber]

Hoping you guys can help me out. I stumbled across an estate sell at lunch and picked up this DBE (5/8-11/16) for $1. There are not many markings on it, and I'm relatively new to this game (the one where I care what kind of old tools I have)



The J.H. Williams and Co Crescent Wrench was another $1, it's a little stiff, but I'll get it loosened up and in good working order.

Nothing on the other side.

Hi, fowldarr--welcome to the thread. I walked out to the wrench rack and walked the line until I found a matching sample. In fact, a little brother and a cousin!




I think the style is a pretty close match, and the cousin is...


...a Barcalo Buffalo! I believe they did a fair amount of contract work for other vendors, which explains the blank panel.

Nice find!

 

[Rileysan]

I have other DBE wrenches with no maker's name that has the same raised-panel design. They all seem to have the same letter "E" cast into them. I have not had the time to search for them, but some day ...

Following up on the AF markings.

I knew I had seen "AF" on multiple wrenches, but what I didn't know was that I have a mix of Craftsman with the letters "AF" both cast or stamped - and in one case, both - on them

Here's a few pix ...











In addition to the "AF" wrenches, I noticed one Craftsman wrench with "N4" cast into it. I have no idea what the significance might be.

Brian

Two things about my old post.

1) Thank you BlueBomber for identifying the raised panel 'E' as being Barcalo.

2) I was reading another thread on Craftsman tools, and someone linked the Craftsman hand tool manufacturers & date ranges thread on another site - which just happened to be updated at the end of September - and it shows the raised panel 'AF' markings as the following:

AF = Billings & Spencer, ca. 1934 - 1938 (primarily flat wrenches)

My wrenches are off-set DBEs of course, so I think I will notify the owner of that thread.

Brian

 

[BlueBomber]

Glad to help, Brian. Sorry I missed your original question.

I found the only two DBEs on the property of an estate sale today, out in the shed in a box of gardening tools.




Williams Superrench 8727 deep offset, 5/8" x 9/16"
Williams Superrench 8725 deep offset, 1/2" x 7/16"

I had neither one of these in my Williams collection, so was glad to fill some holes!

 

[BlueBomber]

Had an eBay delivery with some interesting new brands...





Barcalo Buffalo deep offset, 11/16" x 5/8"
Tuck Tools deep offset, 7/8" x 13/16"--looks like a Barcalo contact job
Hexo Blackhawk 15182 deep offset, 11/16" x 5/8"
Precision Bilt 4003 deep offset, 11/16" x 5/8"--the shank is hex shaped and (along with the model number) reminds me of Lectrolite wrenches
Tru-Fit forged steel, 11/16" x 5/8"

 

[four.cycle]

all I have on "Precision-Bilt":

Precision-Bilt / (Spiegel catalog private label) / manufactured by New Britain Machine / discussion: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31127 / http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-Precisi...117558?hash=item1a205d0836:g:CTgAAOSwal5YM34t

(and you're right: looks more like Barcalo than New Britain, but I'm out of my league on that one.)

I got nothin' on "Tuck Tools"

 

[fowldarr]

Thanks Blue. I appreciate the help. It looks like you got the right one.

 

[BlueBomber]

all I have on "Precision-Bilt":

Precision-Bilt / (Spiegel catalog private label) / manufactured by New Britain Machine / discussion: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31127 / http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-Precisi...117558?hash=item1a205d0836:g:CTgAAOSwal5YM34t

(and you're right: looks more like Barcalo than New Britain, but I'm out of my league on that one.)

I got nothin' on "Tuck Tools"

Good info, four cycle--thanks!