How many companies did sk make tools for

[r_olson_06]

Re: How many companies did SK TOOLS make tools for

Not sure it was mentioned but Kane and Western Giant would be 2 more oddities. I don't have a western giant example but I have a single Kane socket floating around somewhere.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrench 3061

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I think don may have a western giant. I have some but mine are bog made.

 

[Rileysan]

I posted Western Giant beaver tail ratchets (3/8" & 1/2" drive) in post #19. I also have a nearly complete set of 1/2" drive Western Giant sockets that I have yet to photograph.

Brian

 

[d42jeep]

I think don may have a western giant. I have some but mine are bog made.

Here are the Western Giant sockets. They are marked Chrome Alloy on the opposite side. They are now living in my new Western Giant toolbox.
-Don

 

[Username already in use]

Did anyone mention MAC? SK made a version of the beavertail ratchet that was MAC branded.

 

[d42jeep]

Yeah, they came up in post #5 but I’ve never seen one in person.
-Don

 

[Cheepbeer]

Back in the 90’s, when I was driving truck, I’d go to sk in Defiance, Ohio. They had scrap barrels with wrenches in them. I can remember craftsman and snap on for sure. There were two sk plants in Defiance, if I remember correctly.

I was in a Kennedy toolbox plant once and they made toolboxes for everybody.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

They definitely made ratchets for MAC.

Did anyone mention MAC? SK made a version of the beavertail ratchet that was MAC branded.

Yeah, they came up in post #5 but I’ve never seen one in person.

Me neither. They appear in crisp, unmistakably rendered figures on page 18 (3/8-inch drive, X3R) and page 21 (1/2-inch drive, V5R) of the 1951 MAC Tools catalog. For our viewing pleasure, Plombob owns a nice example of the V5R, which he posted plenty of photos of, inside and out, in a 'MAC V5R Autopsy' GJ thread, linked here.

 

[drivesitfar]

ALL: I've documented in the original starting post #1 of this thread that will be the INDEX all the companies so far up to post #27 and i'll catch up more later as the posts and information keep getting posted.

if you have catalog pages to post or more companies that are not listed or even more information about those companies or who those companies sold to I know I'd be interested in hearing about it so post it up.

anybody think there are more companies that made tools for SK? I heard Facom and not sure who they are, but I put them in the index.

thanks everybody and hope this becomes a great resource for not only us, but for the younger generation that sees a rusty bucket of tools headed for the trash or a nice set their gramps or dad gave them.

cheers

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Hi Drives,

Nice start.

If you're going to use this thread to also create a list of SK in-house brands (your first category), in addition to a list of companies or entities SK made tools for as a contract supplier (your second category and the title of the thread), you should include Brazil (an SK Division) and Carb-O-Mang, an economy line.

I respectfully recommend you revise/re-organize the second category to keep brand names and company names together.

For example, by "Artestry" I am guessing you meant "Artisan", which was a brand name for the tools made by SK for Gamble's. To avoid confusion, and create a more succinct and accurate list, I would combine them as one single entry: Gambles' (Artisan). Unless I am mistaken, "Tiger" was also a Gambles brand name for re-badged SK tools. So that entry might look something like...

1) Gambles
- Artisan
- Tiger

Another same case is "Fulton". That is brand name that Sears, Roebuck used before Craftsman. So the company/customer was Sears, Roebuck. The Sears, Roebuck entry would include Fulton and Craftsman (K).

So, perhaps...

2) Sears, Roebuck
- Fulton
- Craftsman (K)

"Chrome Alloy" was not a company/customer, but a marking they used for several products, including in-house brands, including Brazil. It may have also been put on tools that their retail customers simply re-badged. Which customers, I don't know. Someone else will have to detail that.

 

[drivesitfar]

LUG: thanks for the information and suggestions and easy enough to fix and i'll try to get to that tomorrow morning as I finish up with the posts already made and the ones that might also be listed today.

ALL: should I start a similar thread of WHO DID NEW BRITIAN TOOLS MAKE TOOLS FOR or would that be a much smaller list? PLVMB?

once we have these in place maybe Twertsy will have his tool site up again and if he didn't already have all this (I'm pretty sure he already might though) we'll have a couple places to do some research.

have a great day everybody and maybe smile at somebody you might not normally even if it's in the mirror.

cheers

 

[drivesitfar]

ALL: I updated the INDEX to this point so anybody see anything they think I (we) should change?

anybody agree or disagree with CHEAPBEER that SK made tools for Snap On cause he found them in SK's scrap bin cause he's the only one mentioning them?

thank you all for posting and helping me get this thread going and for providing a ton of good information so far. yep we'd like more pictures for those of you that said you need to take some or have the tools and catalog pages and stuff to post please do when you have time.

LUG: I think I made the changes you thought would make it better. OK? or do you have other suggestions or did I misunderstand something please let me know.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Those wrenches were probably used/broken trade ins to be melted down

 

[drivesitfar]

OTG: so i'll eliminate Snap On from the Index. ok?

thanks again for sharing all your knowledge and pictures.

ALL: besides catalogs and pictures if any of you have facts on dates when SK made certain design or logo changes to their tools and what years they produced tools for these other companies please post them up.

thanks in advance

 

[Private Lugnutz]

anybody agree or disagree with CHEAPBEER that SK made tools for Snap On cause he found them in SK's scrap bin cause he's the only one mentioning them?

I thought his comment was half anecdote and half clever retort to RJ's subjective opinion about the relative quality of SK and other OEM's... i.e., broken, bent or burred Snap-on and New Britain-made Craftsman wrenches in the scrap bucket at an SK plant! But I agree with Otg. Headed for the re-smelters. Nothing to do with contracting.

LUG: I think I made the changes you thought would make it better. OK? or do you have other suggestions or did I misunderstand something please let me know.

Looks much better in my opinion!

We still have to deal with "Chrome Alloy." Currently you have it listed under Gamble's. It's not a brand name, for Gamble's or for SK, frankly. You should double-check this with Don, Otg, and others, but it is a marking on sockets that show up in all kinds of sets - in-house SK, in-house sub-brand (e.g., Brazil), and customers. As such, it might be a challenge to figure out where to address it. You'll either need to put it in multiple places, or once, with a note about the in-house and customers sets it shows up in.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Chrome alloy was a generically marked socket that sk would supply to other companies. If you wanted your name stamped on it they would do that too, but that cost extra!

 

[d42jeep]

Besides being contract sockets, they were sold by S-K with the Brazil price line brand marked on the box. This applies only to the later Brazil sets, the earlier Brazil sets had unmarked S-K sockets.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I have seen a couple unmarked sets with chrome alloy tools. I think they were just sold be anyone who wanted to distribute them.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Drives,

So Don is confirming what I said in post #50 and #55 about "Chrome Alloy" markings on in-house brands (at least Brazil - I own a set marked that way) and customers (Gambles, etc).

Don, Otg,

Aren't SK-branded sockets from the same time period also marked "Chrome Alloy"? It's a compositional marking, not a brand. The reason the hobby sometimes talks about it like a brand - confusingly, in my opinion - is because it is the only thing left on the die stamp when they are providing sockets in sets for other customers to brand (e.g., Gambles TIGER TOOL sticker on box).

As such, I just think it's problematic to talk about it like a customer's brand if it's also found on sockets that are branded SK.

EDIT: If that's not the case, different story. Maybe you guys can clear that up.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Sk branded sets, as far as I know, we're never marked just chrome alloy. Raider hillbilly posted a set marked vanadium steel, probably very early or transitional. After that they were marked sk chrome, then sk. The chrome alloy sockets occasionally, but not always, we're additionally stamped with a brand, such as Western giant or tiger. I have not seen one marked chrome alloy and sk. If someone has please post it!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, Otg. I was poking around myself and couldn't find any. It's really strange. Chrome-Alloy was a popular composition (Fairmount, Williams, and other used it) in the late 30's to 1941. I guess they were only using it for Other (Brazil, customers) stuff, or their in-house SK CHROME branded stuff was also made out of Chrome Alloy, they just wanted to distinguish it with a different name. ??

Drives,

I would add SK CHROME to your category 1 list.

I would drop "Chrome Alloy" from the Gambles list, and, instead of trying to list it everywhere it shows up (Brazil, Gambles, Western Giant, etc), I would just add a catch-all note. NOTE: The "Chrome Alloy" marking appears on socketry in some in-house branded sets (e.g., Brazil) and also in sets sold by Gambles, Western Giant, and others, with or without that branding. Or something to that effect. Otherwise, it's going to appear nearly everywhere on your list.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Drives,

One more thing: Here is a link to a Carb-O-Mang set I posted on the ain SK thread if you're looking to substantiate/exemplify the list at some point.

Except for that set, a Brazil set, a few black ox midget sets I have collected to scratch my wartime itch, and some early (1923-1946) SK logo evolution research I have done, that exhausts my ability to contribute and I will defer to the die-hard SK experts.

 

[d42jeep]

I concur. I’ve never seen an S-K marked socket also marked Chrome Alloy.
-Don

 

[MattT]

anybody think there are more companies that made tools for SK? I heard Facom and not sure who they are, but I put them in the index.

Facom were a pro quality french tool company who actually owned S-K at one point. They then sold off S-K and ended up being bought by Stanley and became one of SBDs industrial brands. And some Facom products ended up on the MAC trucks after the Stanley buyout too.

The S-K palm control ratchets are a Facom design, though they claimed the S-K versions were US made IIRC. I think S-K branded Facom screwdrivers were sold around the same time.

Just found a 1965 S-K catalog on the web and the T&G waterpump pliers look like Channellock. Wouldn't be surprised if all the pliers were made by someone else.

2018 catalog definitely contains Nupla hammers and the urethane deadblows ones look like Trusty Cook.

 

[mikebaker1129]

Here is a crummy pic of my Mac beaver tail ratchet.

 

[drivesitfar]

ALL: i've got a busy morning tomorrow so i'll wait a bit to edit our SK Index on Post #1. also i'll see if there are a few more comments on Chrome Alloy so i'll know where to put it or i'll list it in several locations.

looking for more catalog pages and pictures and of course more facts and stories about SK when you have time to post some.

i've edited index up to post #54 and i'll edit more in a few days.

thanks all for your help and knowledge!!

have a good evening.

 

[d42jeep]

Here are a couple of pictures from a eBay listing of an expensive Brazil 1/4” drive set showing the markings on the Chrome Alloy socket.
-Don

 

[drivesitfar]

ALL: I'm still waiting to hear if there are any more ideas on where to put CHROME ALLOY before I change the INDEX on post #1 so if anybody else wants to chime in please do.

also i've got this old SK set that I think is from around WWII era.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Earlier. 30's.

 

[d42jeep]

ALL: I'm still waiting to hear if there are any more ideas on where to put CHROME ALLOY before I change the INDEX on post #1 so if anybody else wants to chime in please do.

also i've got this old SK set that I think is from around WWII era.

Drives,
Alloy Artifacts dates a set with tools like the ones in your set to 1932 and I see no reason to argue with them. That is a very cool, very early set. Here are some fairly rare 3/8” drive Chrome Alloy sockets.
-Don

 

[drivesitfar]

LUG & Jeep: thanks for that dating and more pictures are always a good thing when you post up more information!!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Here are some pics of a 1935 gambles ad. Tools are all sk, although some of the other products are tiger branded

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Here's pics

 

[Oldtuleguy]

The familiar knurled sockets were marked chrome vanadium steel instead of sk chrome, probably only a 1 year transition.

 

[r_olson_06]

Re: How many companies did SK TOOLS make tools for

Also shows a really rare SK ratchet as well. Never seen one in person and a few on here have an example.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrench 3061

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I have one I think it is posted on sk thread as well. The one pictured in ad is slightly earlier version.

 

[lardy1]

(Wipes drool from chin)


Very nice. Thank you for posting.

 

[3baygarage]

That's a great early ad because it shows their earliest round head, their hex drive ratchet, and female square drive ratchet.

 

[r_olson_06]

I have one I think it is posted on sk thread as well. The one pictured in ad is slightly earlier version.

That one seems a little more common. I think I have 3 of that variant. What years did they make the LR design?

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrench 3061

 

[d42jeep]

Here are the Chrome Vanadium Steel marked sockets from my new early set. Two different styles of knurling.
-Don