Unusual wrench or socket sizes thread

[Rileysan]

I'm creating this thread because I have no place to post some of my finds outside of the mega garage sale thread, in which these unusual finds will get lost.

I hope you all enjoy this post and will contribute your unusual finds for the enjoyment and education for all!

First up are the Craftsman sockets I acquired yesterday.

- Craftsman =V= 1/2" drive, 19/32 socket (I know, it's not uncommon)
- Craftsman -V- 1/2" drive, 21/32" socket (x2). I have never seen this size in any Craftsman tool until now
- Craftsman =V= 1/2" drive, 25/32" socket. I've never seen a Craftsman socket this size until now
- Craftsman =V=, 1/2" drive, 13/16" impact socket. This is also a first for me. Only unusual because of the age/era
- Plomb 1/2" drive, 31/32" socket.

Brian

 

[Cope]

13/16" is a standard lug nut size. I got a Craftsman electric impact for Christmas in 1966, and also got a set of Craftsman shallow impact sockets with it. There was a 13/16" in that set. I was told years ago that the other sizes are commonly used on equipment.

 

[VocaTexas]

Lots of older farm equipment uses 19/32, 21/32, and 25/32. I've had a Craftsmen socket set that includes those sizes since 1982. I believe some of those sizes were common on reciprocating aircraft engines (such as Pratt and Whitney radials) into the fifties.

 

[davethorik]

I have a Bonney 3/4 drive 31/32 socket. It has never been used, doubt it will be, but came with some other 3/4 drive sockets.
It does not have a part #, just a single detent marked by a dimple on the outside of the socket.
Edit: pics.

 

[Toothaker]

Here's a 1/2" square drive 17/32" 12 point socket that I've had in my toolbox for years. No, I've never used it.

 

[davethorik]

I have a Bonney 3/4 drive 31/32 socket. It has never been used, doubt it will be, but came with some other 3/4 drive sockets.
It does not have a part #, just a single detent marked by a dimple on the outside of the socket.
Edit: pics.

Here is a better pic of the stamping, it just says 31/32 Bonney USA
And a shot of all my Bonney 3/4 drive sockets. 7/8-1-1/8" are all same as my 31/32 which is in the lineup. No part numbers but engraved with cm initials. The 1-1/2" is a different style with a knurling band and the 2" is a Bon-E-Con.

 

[four.cycle]

I have a mess of "32nds" sockets in old Indestro 1/2" drive sets. No idea what I'd ever use them for.
Weirdest one I've seen, though, was the 57/64" Herbrand 1/2" drive deep-well listed on Ebay as part of a set. Supposedly fit a spark plug?

 

[Rileysan]

I have a mess of "32nds" sockets in old Indestro 1/2" drive sets. No idea what I'd ever use them for.
Weirdest one I've seen, though, was the 57/64" Herbrand 1/2" drive deep-well listed on Ebay as part of a set. Supposedly fit a spark plug?

I have one! Got it at ReStore for a buck. I'll post a pic later on ...

Brian

 

[Rileysan]

Here is a better pic of the stamping, it just says 31/32 Bonney USA
And a shot of all my Bonney 3/4 drive sockets. 7/8-1-1/8" are all same as my 31/32 which is in the lineup. No part numbers but engraved with cm initials. The 1-1/2" is a different style with a knurling band and the 2" is a Bon-E-Con.

That socket looks mint! No telling whether or not mine has actually been used or was just tossed around in a toolbox.

Brian

 

[Al Bundy]

This might be a good place to find an answer. My dad was an auto mechanic in the '60's and '70's. His tool box had several 19/32" wrenches that are obviously well used. Anyone know what they would have been for?

 

[Mintgrun]

I found this with a search--

"philw
05-10-2010, 02:52 PM
I've got a bunch of old sockets like that. I think I finally found the answer in some of my old catalogs.

Seems to be that there was a handful of "standards". The old 19, 25, and 31 correspond with the old U.S. standard. The 23 and 29 correspond with the old Mfr. standard. The 15, 21, and 27 correspond with the old Mfr. standard for square bolt heads and nuts.
Maybe this will help......
19/32 = a 5/16 hex bolt by US standard
25/32= a 7/16 hex bolt ""
31/32= a 9/16 hex bolt ""

17/32= a 5/16 hex bolt by Mfr. standard
23/32= a 7/16 ""
29/32= a 9/16""

15/32= a 5/16 SQUARE bolt by Mfr. standard
21/32= a 7/16 ""
27/32= a 9/16 ""

These are out of a mid 50's New Britain catalog but other old catalogs have same info.

An early 70's Snap on catalog no longer has the sizes in the chart. They have a column for Old U.S. and old SAE but no 32nd sizes.
They have a date for the American Standard Association sizes and that shows 1965.

To sum up.....they consolidated bolt sizes in the 60's and that is when the odd sizes disappeared. Unless you are working on something old you probably won't need one....at least not for it's intended application.

rjohnson......Are the planes older than mid 60's? I suppose aircraft could have lingered on but I would think the standard would be across the board since the Snap on catalog didn't list them......but they continued to sell them for a long time."

(taken from an old GJ thread here-- http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-63871.html )

 

[Provincial]

The old "rule of thumb" was to make the standard nut flats 1-1/2 times the diameter of the fastener threads. Thus a 7/16" thread would take a nut (3/2 x 7/16 = 21/32) with 21/32 across the flats. Ford connecting rod hex nuts were 21/32, as were lots of other hex nuts in that era.

Standardization really came in during WWII, when the government decided that interchangabiltiy was important.

However, I have several P&C 25/32 deep sockets which appear to have been made in the late 1940's or early 1950's!

 

[crerus75]

This might be a good place to find an answer. My dad was an auto mechanic in the '60's and '70's. His tool box had several 19/32" wrenches that are obviously well used. Anyone know what they would have been for?

If he was a mechanic at that time and was working on Japanese and European imports, he may have had that 19/32" wrench as a metric equivalent. It works out to be 15.1mm.

I have some wrenches from the estate of a person who worked on a lot of European food processing equipment. Industrial stuff, like for processing hundreds or thousands of pounds of meat at a time. Most of those machines were metric, and along with the usual assortment of metric combo wrenches were about a half-dozen 17/32" (13.5mm ) and 19/32" wrenches and sockets. My SWAG is he got started at a time when metric fasteners were not as popular in the US and the closest standard wrench was used, but this is really a shot in the dark on my part.

 

[Bdgjr215]

Machinery in the 40s 50s 60s and 70s used 32nds all the time.My dad was a tool and die maker starting in the 60s and He just gave me his =v= set of craftsmans and those three sizes all look well used.

 

[Rileysan]

13/16" is a standard lug nut size. I got a Craftsman electric impact for Christmas in 1966, and also got a set of Craftsman shallow impact sockets with it. There was a 13/16" in that set. I was told years ago that the other sizes are commonly used on equipment.

Following up on this, it's not the size that makes this one unusual. It's the fact that it's an early Craftsman socket that's actually labeled "Impact".

I am sure most of us are used to the modern, mat-finished impact sockets. You can identify them without the need for a label. I have never seen any old Craftsman socket with the word "Impact" on it. That's why I posted it.

Brian

 

[Cope]

Following up on this, it's not the size that makes this one unusual. It's the fact that it's an early Craftsman socket that's actually labeled "Impact".

I am sure most of us are used to the modern, mat-finished impact sockets. You can identify them without the need for a label. I have never seen any old Craftsman socket with the word "Impact" on it. That's why I posted it.

Brian

Brian,

After getting a larger set of impact sockets, I sold my Craftsman, but they were marked impact and were from 1966. I still have the 1/2" impact universal, and it is marked impact also. They are a nicer finish than modern impact sockets.

 

[Derek420]

I got a bunch of odd sizes ill have to dig them out

 

[snapmom]

A rare Blue Point 29/32.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Mintgrun is correct. Check any catalog, Machinery's Handbook, or automobile or truck bolting chart prior to 1966. /32nd increments corresponded to American Standard HEAVY bolts (U.S.S.), which had different size heads than American Standard LIGHT bolts (S.A.E.) of the same bolt diameter. All wartime tool-sets had wrenches in /32nd increments (1/4-inch drive sockets: 7, 9, and 11; 1/2-inch drive sockets: 19, 25; DOE: 9, 25; SOE: 13, 19, 25, 31; Ignition: 7, 9, 11; and hex: 3, 5). /32nd increments were even more prolific in Spark Plug Wrenches: 21, 25, 27, 29, 31, 1-1, 1-3, 1-5, 1-9, 1-11.

I agree with those who have suggested in the past when this subject has come up that anti-tampering is another explanation, and I believe some auto makers were compensating for imperfect manufacturing standards. I know that Willys-Overland shop tools were always a hair over fastener spec, and those got translated into tool specs. For example, the Army issued brake bleeder wrenches with a 17/64" opening to turn hydraulic brake bleeder screws that were 1/4" in diameter because that was Willys' spec.

 

[3baygarage]

A rare Blue Point 29/32.

Neat one Snapmom. Don't see that every day.

 

[jblnut]

A lot of the older 1/2" and 3/4" drive Craftsman stuff we have is marked Impact. I'll snag some photos next time I use them. My dad has a full set in 32nds from 1/4" up to 1 5/16" wrenches and some odd stuff in 64ths mixed in too in odd brands. We use them all the time as Dad doesn't really seem keen on acknowledging that the metric sized tools are something he needs to have ;-)

 

[Rileysan]

Mintgrun is correct. Check any catalog, Machinery's Handbook, or automobile or truck bolting chart prior to 1966. /32nd increments corresponded to American Standard HEAVY bolts (U.S.S.), which had different size heads than American Standard LIGHT bolts (S.A.E.) of the same bolt diameter. All wartime tool-sets had wrenches in /32nd increments (1/4-inch drive sockets: 7, 9, and 11; 1/2-inch drive sockets: 19, 25; DOE: 9, 25; SOE: 13, 19, 25, 31; Ignition: 7, 9, 11; and hex: 3, 5). /32nd increments were even more prolific in Spark Plug Wrenches: 21, 25, 27, 29, 31, 1-1, 1-3, 1-5, 1-9, 1-11.

I agree with those who have suggested in the past when this subject has come up that anti-tampering is another explanation, and I believe some auto makers were compensating for imperfect manufacturing standards. I know that Willys-Overland shop tools were always a hair over fastener spec, and those got translated into tool specs. For example, the Army issued brake bleeder wrenches with a 17/64" opening to turn hydraulic brake bleeder screws that were 1/4" in diameter because that was Willys' spec.

Excellent information Mintgrun and Lug! Thank you!

Brian

 

[hoinox11]

To those that mentioned the older standards right on. Here is a reference out of the machinery handbook for those that don't have a copy. Gotta love when you're working on restoring something and run into that bolt head that goes like this: it's not quite 3/4 so it must be a 13/16 damn... oh, that's too big, so its gotta be 21mm.... what the hell?? 20mm?? ...you know, HOW BOUT THIS SIZE (feels better immediately) RIP 1/32" increments, you will be fondly remembered but not missed

These references are from:

Whitworth Standard:

U.S. Standard:

S.A.E. Standard:

Stanard Nuts:

 

[Jim C.]

Lots of older farm equipment uses 19/32, 21/32, and 25/32. I've had a Craftsmen socket set that includes those sizes since 1982. I believe some of those sizes were common on reciprocating aircraft engines (such as Pratt and Whitney radials) into the fifties.

I find these sizes on old Delta woodworking machinery from the 1940s and 50s all the time. Sears/Craftsman offered those three sockets for several years and still does (I think). At on time, Sears/Cman also offered a 25/32" deep 12 point socket. I'm pretty sure that one isn't available any more.

Jim C.