I Found An Unusual Walden Worcester 1/4” drive set. Feel free to post your Walden tools here.

[d42jeep]

I picked this set up off of eBay because I had never seen that style of all metal spinner in Walden before. I did a quick check of the available Walden catalogs and couldn’t find any info on the spinner. The handle pulls up and freewheels or snaps down and works like a normal spinner. It has a female drive end so it can be used as an extension. The set also came with three sockets for use with square nuts, which I’ve also never seen in Walden before.
-Don

 

[3baygarage]

Nice find Don. I love seeing things I haven’t seen before, and that style spinner by Walden falls into that category.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Very cool, Don. So it works like just the Williams NM-110?

 

[d42jeep]

I’ve never seen one of the Williams ones in person so I can’t compare.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Here is one

 

[d42jeep]

That looks like the same design. I assume when the ball is showing it’s in the free wheel position. On the Walden spinner you line the ball up with either of the holes and push the handle forward to change to the locked position.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

On the Williams NM-110 you twist and it clicks in or out of place. I also have one.

I'm trying to think if there are more of these out there. I used to think it was just the Williams. Now I find out there's a Walden. Did anyone else make one? I am drawing a blank.

 

[Snaparxon]

On the Williams NM-110 you twist and it clicks in or out of place. I also have one.

I'm trying to think if there are more of these out there. I used to think it was just the Williams. Now I find out there's a Walden. Did anyone else make one? I am drawing a blank.

I was thinking Snap on made one similar in 9/32" dr.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I thought plomb may have had one but it's a bit rare

 

[3baygarage]

Armstrong and Plomb. Idk if Plomb was only 9/32.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Here is snap on version

 

[d42jeep]

I think the Plomb is a WF6 and is 9/32” drive. Here are a couple more pictures of the Walden, one engaged and one disengaged.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I have two of the williams and both are 1/4", they appear to be functionally the same as the walden. The snapon is 9/32. Any patent number on it?

 

[d42jeep]

There isn’t any patent number and the part number doesn’t appear in any catalog that I could find. Kind of an oddball.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Hope you don't mind me tacking on to the end of your thread, Don. The title kind of fits...

Found this midget socket set box at my flea market this morning. I really like the layout of the compartments. It was filled with JAPAN and Oxwall type pieces, all promptly scrapped. The label is intact, fairly clean, and very legible so I won't bother citing all the contents and part numbers (See Pic 2), but the set is 39120-29 and all the pieces have a 391XX-** model number.

That's the puzzling part. Granted, I am usually looking for 40's stuff and ignoring everything else, but I don't remember ever seeing Walden midget pieces with these numbers. And I am not even sure when this set/box was made. I am guessing 1930’s. The logo (See Pic 3) is 1930’s and 1940’s, but Stevens-Walden midget pieces had a 31XX model numbering scheme in 1941 and it was still 31XX in 1954 when the logo changed.

EDIT: Thoughts/Info, anyone? I would love to know what the tools looked like that went in this box.

 

[DadsTools]

I've seen a spinner like that, but can't quite remember where. I want to say....Blackhawk?

 

[d42jeep]

I’ve got nuthin. Tool Archives has a catalog from July ‘41 but it’s not in there. The 1/4” drive box looks much more like yours than it did a year later. I don’t know if Tool Archives had an earlier catalog when it was up.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The 1/4” drive box looks much more like yours than it did a year later.

Agreed. That adds to my 30s conclusion.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I'm going to tag on to the end of your thread again, Don, even though there's really nothing unusual about it. Picked up this Walden 3116 1/4-inch drive Sliding Tee at my flea market today. It's either really bright (almost white) cad or zinc phosphate. WWII finish for sure.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Going to piggyback again, Don, because we really don't have a single good general Walden-Worcester thread going (which is bizarre!).

This cadmium flex extension (7264) and universal joint (7276) are both 9/32-inch drive, and they both have a martial "U.S." mark. They were two of several 9/32-inch drive tools I spotted in a Simonsen Type II military cantilevered box this morning.

 

[d42jeep]

I found this rare Wartime finish Walden 1/4” drive ratchet on eBay recently. It needed some cleaning and lubing. Almost all of these are chrome plated and therefore postwar. According to the catalog, sets up to ‘44 used the refrigeration style ratchet, so these may have been made for only one year.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Is it that odd black finish?

 

[d42jeep]

Yeah. They are pretty easy to pick out when you see one.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Thanks don, I have one set with that black finish. Did not know how many years it was used but assumed it was a war thing.

 

[d42jeep]

Here are three cad plated sets and my two black oxide sets. Hopefully with the new ratchet I can make up a third dark finish set.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Have one set with the dark finish. The set in the red box with a ratchet is the one you sent me.

 

[BarryWells]

Yeah. They are pretty easy to pick out when you see one.
-Don

I hope you still use those once in a while. that was the F80 of the 1920-30 something.I'll still grab one to pull some little thing off something for wifey.
I don't know the company's full story but had they kept going they'da had boxing matches with Plvmb-Proto and Snappy, for sure. They made very high quality stuff for the era.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

In reading through wartime STEEL magazines several years ago, when I was trying to get a more detailed understanding of plating and steel composition restrictions and how it could be used to date vintage tools from this period, I discovered that black oxide was actually created during WWII, in very late 1941, in direct response by industry R&D to restrictions on plating with precious metals. Link to January 1942 article in prior posting here.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I don't know the company's full story...

Walden-Worcester was one of only two 600-pound gorillas in the automotive tool market through 1925 (the other being Mossberg) and they competed strongly with industry leaders throughout WWII and into the 1950's and later. I don't collect beyond that and know little about their standing in the modern era before succumbing to limited market share.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I am certainly a fan of the walden stuff. Very nice tools.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That's a nice family layout, Otg!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Thanks lugz, you probably recognize the 1/2" set I got from you in a trade.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Yup. Yours now though and it looks way better in that group than on my shelf! Really cool how the boxes all match.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Yes my tool ocd is very happy with that group.

 

[d42jeep]

I may have a slight Walden disorder too. Here are a few.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

I found my third (or is it fourth) one of these sets at an estate sale yesterday. It’s missing the two smallest 1/4” drive sockets and the always missing Allen wrench. I’m sure that I’ll have the tools to complete the set.
-Don

 

[r_olson_06]

I found my third (or is it fourth) one of these sets at an estate sale yesterday. It’s missing the two smallest 1/4” drive sockets and the always missing Allen wrench. I’m sure that I’ll have the tools to complete the set.
-Don

Hey Don
What does the spinner handle color signify of anything? I have now seen yellow, red, and green.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrench 3061

 

[d42jeep]

I’m not sure of the significance of the color of the handles. By far the most difficult to find in good condition are the wartime yellow and black ones shown below, although the green one you recently sent me has to be rare as well. The amber and yellow are by far the most common and the red ones appear in the combination 1/4” and 3/8” drive sets. The one in the square set is kind of an orange color. It seems that these odd colors are more modern than the amber and yellow/black spinners that show up in the earliest 1/4” drive sets.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

I found my third (or is it fourth) one of these sets at an estate sale yesterday. It’s missing the two smallest 1/4” drive sockets and the always missing Allen wrench. I’m sure that I’ll have the tools to complete the set.
-Don

I went through the Walden 3/8”/1/4” sets and completed them from my spares. Here is a family portrait.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice group don. Did those on the right come with the foam cushion in the lid?