My Small But Growing 1/4" drive Socket Set Collection

[CRTDI]

Got ambitious and painted the p&c set I have been collecting. Had virtually no paint left so figured what the heck.

Nice... P & C tools have been some of the hardest for me to collect. If you happen to come across a spare 1/4" breaker bar like the one in this set, please keep me in mind.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I have an extra ratchet and a spinner if someone has a set they are working on. That's the only breaker bar I have been able to find. Currently working on a 40ish 3/8 set if anyone has extras.

 

[Rileysan]

I picked this up today. Armstrong 1/4" socket set. The spinner has been outgassing for awhile so a few sockets are messy, but the M-51 ratchet is in excellent condition.

What can you tell me about it?


Brian

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Looks like a nice 1950ish set. Very hard to find early armstrong 1/4 stuff.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Picked this up at the flea market this morning. Could just be an artifact of my collecting niche (nothing past early 1950's, really...), but I have never seen a 1/4-inch drive spinner this long before. No OEM markings.

 

[raiderhillbilly]

Picked this up at the flea market this morning. Could just be an artifact of my collecting niche (nothing past early 1950's, really...), but I have never seen a 1/4-inch drive spinner this long before. No OEM markings.

Looks like a Proto 4769 but longer.

 

[Repair Renew Restore]

Nice I love this kind of stuff

 

[Oldtuleguy]

That unmarked stuff drives me nuts. That's a handy one. Never see them in that length.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That unmarked stuff drives me nuts.

That's a handy one. Never see them in that length.

The shank is 7", and the OAL is 10". Only problem is it doesn't really fit in a typical midget case!

 

[Username already in use]

b...ut I have never seen a 1/4-inch drive spinner this long before. No OEM markings.

Probably because I never posted the one that I found.

The shank is 7", and the OAL is 10". Only problem is it doesn't really fit in a typical midget case!

On mine, the shank is 8-1/2" and the overall is close to 12"! Marked only 'Made in USA' on the handle. Husky midget driver for scale.
I actually use this thing fairly often. It's very handy to have around.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

If we are having a measuring contest....

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Probably because I never posted the one that I found.

If we are having a measuring contest....

HAHA! A psychologist would have a field day with this. Who has the longest 1/4-inch driver?

Seriously now, is that square shank jobbie marked or homemade, Otg?

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Bought from Matco like 25 years ago. Use it for hose clamps mostly

 

[d42jeep]

I feel so inadequate. My unmarked spinner is only 12” long.
-Don

 

[319]

After looking thru 975 posts, I have to say...pretty impressive collection fellas!

 

[d42jeep]

On the slightly larger than 1/4-inch midget drive topic, I pulled all these 9/32-inch midget drive tools out of the same Simonsen military mechanics toolbox this morning at my flea market just outside of Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station.

So what's the deal with Deco? First one I have ever found. Wasn't it more like a supplier, not a mfgr?

A couple of us have had them. I sold mine on eBay quite some time ago. I really didn’t know much about it.
-Don

I found another one yesterday.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

They are cool looking

 

[bmwrd0]

I have one or two of those.

 

[Catfishdan]

I made some progress on my big Williams set recently. Added the 5 square drive sockets and replaced a few other items with better examples. I’m still weak on the ignition wrenches. Anyone know if this ratchet is correct for this box or if a m51 “superratchet” style would be better?

 

[d42jeep]

Dan,
It looks like they were still using that ratchet in ‘52. It’s the same ratchet I have in my late ‘40s postwar set.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Dan,

I have a stash of miniature Superrenches. Most of them are "electrical" (15* x 75* angle ends), but I may have some engineers' (15* x 15* angle ends) configuration, too. Which ones do you think you need? And what else do you need? What list are you following? The excerpt Don posted is Set No. NM-8. But it looks to me like your box is for Set No. NM-6. Your dilemma is that some of your pieces (e.g., the Phillips socket, the deep sockets) DO belong to Set No. NM-8. But that box is much bigger than yours.

 

[d42jeep]

In 12/52 either of the two sets Lugz refers to takes the ratchet that Dan has in his box. Here is the whole catalog page.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

Here is my postwar set with the same ratchet.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Just in case there was a misunderstanding, I wasn't implying the ratchet wouldn't be correct for the smaller set. I'm just trying to figure out what set Dan has and is building, because after the common ratchet and a couple of the basic handles and sockets, they do differ. My main reason was the midget wrenches, because the big set has a lot more and two different kinds of them. But there is something afoot here with Dan's set. I have an undated catalog (that I have suspected to be late 1940's) and it is basically the same as the 1952 you are using. (There is an NM-4 and -5 set, but they are inconsequential to this discussion.) His box appears to be the same size as the box the NM-6 set came in, but the contents he has sure do look more like an NM-8, including the square-shank composite spinner. But, Dan's box has a different logo than the wartime through 1947-ish logo, OR the late 40's to early 50's logo. Is it after that? Maybe they did cram the bigger set in a smaller box?

Dan, I'm curious to know which pieces were original to the box when you found it and which have you added?

 

[Catfishdan]

Ok. Here’s the story... I got that box a while back with some mismatched 1/4” stuff in it and started stuffing it with all the Williams pieces I found. Soon enough, I started getting close to the contents of the big nm8 set, but alas, with the smaller box. Just recently, I scored an identical box with a complete set of sockets in it, as well as some drive tools. The discussion above made me check the box again, and it is indeed an m6 box. So it looks like I have the m6 set plus most of the pieces for the nm8 set, minus the wrenches and the box.

My confusion is over the box and what era it’s from. The logo is different than the boxes in the catalogs I see on line. The fact that it’s called an m6 makes me think it’s later than the NM6 sets I see on the web since the nm marked pieces are older than the m marked.

I guess the logical solution is to find the bigger box and work on two sets instead of one. At least that’s what I’ll tell myself

Here’s some pictures of the identical box with the tag I missed on the inside cover.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks for clarifying, and well done, Dan.

I hope it didn't seem as if I was critiquing your box, the set, or your collecting. I know that I would have taken the exact same approach, stuffing the hell out of that thing with every midget Williams piece I ever found until I found a bigger box, and if that never happened, I would be fine with it stuffed 'as is', which is authentic! (It does beg the question of when you will reach physical capacity, though! )

I share your confusion. I am guessing later 50's. But that's just conjecture.

I will get out my mess of my miniature Superrenches when I get home. Now that I think about it, though, I don't know how many of them will be plated.

 

[Catfishdan]

No worries Lugz, I love a good mystery.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

William's was a bit tricky. Initially the 9/32 drive sets carried the M designation, then it changed to NM with 1/4 drive, then later back to just M. The initial 5/16 hexdrive had husky part numbers, then William's numbers but no M.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

No worries Lugz, I love a good mystery.

Roger. So as not to sidetrack 4.c's thread, I will post more about the midget end wrenches on the Williams thread.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

PEC socket set. Don't know much about these but thought it looked cool.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

A 1930ish thorsen hex drive set

 

[Oldtuleguy]

A well worn brazil set. Sockets obviously sk but unmarked.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Some craftsman c series

 

[Private Lugnutz]

A 1930ish thorsen hex drive set

The cherry wood handle on that spinner is really nice.

PEC socket set. Don't know much about these but thought it looked cool.

The only PEC tool I have ever seen is a feeler gauge I found at a flea market a few years ago and it took me awhile to figure out what it was, and that's still the only PEC tool I have ever seen in the wild or anywhere else. It has that same winged logo on it. It would look good inside that case. I will add it to the pile of the future trade you haven't yet quite agreed to!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Pec(products engineering corporation) apparently was founded in 1971, is still in business making squares, straight edges, scales, edge finders and other precision tools.

 

[bmwrd0]

I have one of those PEC set also, but I did stick a Snap-on ratchet in there. It live in a machinist's chest.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Looks good with the snappy

 

[d42jeep]

A well worn brazil set. Sockets obviously sk but unmarked.

I considered trying for that one but it had the earlier unmarked sockets they used before the Chrome Alloy marked ones. What I’m really looking for is a 1/4” Brazil box. I’m glad you got that one and the Thorsen Hex set.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Not a huge thorsen collector, but loved the style of this one

 

[COL911]

1/4” SK set and an old SK 1/4” box with “fillers”. Both for sale in classifieds; need Xmas money, so open to offers.