Frederick H. Seymour Pat. No. 273,170 Acme Twist Handle Wrench

[woody 73]

Batman had his Robin, Sherlock had his Holmes and I have ckadams00 at my side; with special thanks for finding information about Mr. Seymour.

Frederick Henri Seymour " Author, Editor, and Inventor. He was born in Waterbury, Conn. on August 1st, 1850. He was the son of Frederick Julius & Florentine Marie (Megeon) Seymour."

" Mr. Seymour was first married in 1878 to Sarah daughter of Col. Balantyne C. Hanna of Detroit and his second wife in 1904 to Grace daughter of Whitson G. Baldwin who survived him, they had one son Frederick Migeon Seymour."

"He died in Detroit, Michigan on July 28th, 1913. From The National Cyclopaedia; (see link).

Interesting thing about his "Acme" twisted wire handle wrench it also came in another version called the "Hercules" and it was made in several sizes from 4 1/2 through 21 inches in size. Not to be outdone it was made by four different Companies they are:

Whitman & Barnes. - Chicago, IL
George W. Marble. - Chicago, IL.
Capitol Mfg. Co. - Chicago, IL.
Owsley Brothers & Marble - Chicago, IL.

What I found on the web (see links); is that production stopped by 1915, and that would make my wrench not only vintage but now into the antique range of over 100 years old.

I hope you enjoy my story and again many thanks to GJ member ckadams00 for all his help in finding information about Mr. Seymour. Of special note my wrench example does not have any markings or stampings , other then the owners initials.

http://datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=273170&typeCode=0

https://sites.google.com/site/mvwcarchive/Home/womc

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-acme-monkey-wrench-twist-handle-old

http://ancientpoint.com/inf/11523-acme_twisted_metal_handle_monkey_wrench.html

http://mathesontools.weebly.com/blog/category/acme-wrench

https://books.google.com/books?id=3...nepage&q=frederick h seymour inventor&f=false

 

[ckadams00]

Happy to help! That is a very cool wrench! Sure seems to be in good shape for it's age.

 

[ganymede]

Bump because I never see these, at least not in decent condition..

 

[Coach James]

Very cool wrench. More like a work of art than just a tool.

Coach

 

[Strouty]

That is a work of art, thanks for posting!

 

[Sam'sAutoParts]

That is a beautiful example of that wrench woody! I have yet to see one in person just in pictures. I usually don't collect the early wrenches, but if I saw one at a flea market it would be coming home with me. That is, as long as the price was reasonable.

 

[Cope]

Sorry I missed this one. That is very unusual. Thanks for your very informative historical posts.

 

[four.cycle]

patent 273170 Feb 27 1883 F.H. Seymour Acme Hercules

(* see also posts 9, 10,11 *)

 

[four.cycle]

ACME wrenches stamped with additional marks come up every now & then. They likely were wrenches supplied with some type of machinery. For example, ACME style wrenches appear in parts list illustrations for some farm implements, and at least one bicycle maker supplied a small ACME wrench in their tool kits.. The style of the ACME marking with patent date reflects manufacture before Whitman & Barnes bought up Capitol Manufacturing's wrench business. Whitman & Barnes kept the ACME in a rhombus and added "W" "&" "B" "Co" at the four corners of the rhombus.

patent 273170 Feb 27 1883 F.H. Seymour Acme Hercules

(* see also posts 8, 10,11 *)

 

[four.cycle]

Whitman & barnes kept the acme in a rhombus and added "w" "&" "b" "co" at the four corners of the rhombus.

patent 273170 Feb 27 1883 F.H. Seymour Acme Hercules

(* see also posts 8, 9, and 11 *)

 

[four.cycle]

patent 273170 Feb 27 1883 F.H. Seymour Acme Hercules

(* see also posts 8,9,10 *)

 

[HeelSpur]

Here's one that is a little different.

Unmarked - - 9" twist handle adjustable nut wrench. Looks like drawing in Seymour's Feb. 27, 1883 patent for the Acme twist handle nut wrenches.

DSCF3845 (2) by wvwheaties, on Flickr
DSCF3847 (2) by wvwheaties, on Flickr
DSCF3848 by wvwheaties, on Flickr

 

[four.cycle]

Earlier "ACME" 6-inch adjustable wrench - patent 273170


1892 Thorsen & Cassady Co. catalog pp 39 Acme Wrench

patent 273170 Feb 27 1883 F.H Seymour

 

[MisterEd]

I hope you enjoy my story

It's unfortunate that one cannot find truly old tools in FLA, well, maybe not . . .

Full credit to SigO for seeing a picture on Estate Sales.net and recognizing The Wrench we have both wanted; the Acme Twist Handle Wrench.

It was worth the hour drive just to see it. But, we scored! And, not surprisingly found other worthwhile rusty tools. The Stamping is faint, but obviously the right one. It's truly a collectible.

Thanks Woody for your research about this fine Wrench.

 

[crguy]

It's unfortunate that one cannot find truly old tools in FLA, well, maybe not . . .

Full credit to SigO for seeing a picture on Estate Sales.net and recognizing The Wrench we have both wanted; the Acme Twist Handle Wrench.

It was worth the hour drive just to see it. But, we scored! And, not surprisingly found other worthwhile rusty tools. The Stamping is faint, but obviously the right one. It's truly a collectible.

Thanks Woody for your research about this fine Wrench.

I have a few of those, including one that size. Would like to see a video of them being made.

 

[SkyPuncher]

Old thread, but have a couple to contribute.

 

[crguy]

Old thread, but have a couple to contribute.

Message sent.

 

[d42jeep]

Earlier "ACME" 6-inch adjustable wrench - patent 273170


1892 Thorsen & Cassady Co. catalog pp 39 Acme Wrench

patent 273170 Feb 27 1883 F.H Seymour

It's unfortunate that one cannot find truly old tools in FLA, well, maybe not . . .

Full credit to SigO for seeing a picture on Estate Sales.net and recognizing The Wrench we have both wanted; the Acme Twist Handle Wrench.

It was worth the hour drive just to see it. But, we scored! And, not surprisingly found other worthwhile rusty tools. The Stamping is faint, but obviously the right one. It's truly a collectible.

Thanks Woody for your research about this fine Wrench.

It’s always a pleasure when a new tool (to me) is found, that Woody has already posted the pertinent information about it. Here is a monkey wrench I picked up at a Gardnerville NV garage sale today and when I started trying to get information on it Google AI led me to this thread.
-Don

 

[crguy]

Anybody else have some of these for sale?

 

[four.cycle]

How far away from Aberdeen are you?
Earthwise Salvage might be worth checking out.