Peck Stowe and Wilcox

[ttpete]

wow. thanks notlob. I started cleaning them up. The blade is straight, but the slotted piece has a few dings.

Those are stove pipe shears. They will cut stove pipe without distorting it. The jaws on the side are for crimping the pipe end so they will fit together.

 

[paulm12]

thanks Pete. I was wondering about the side crimp tools. I may have to try my hand at crimping, never tried before.

 

[d42jeep]

I found this 4” adjustable wrench at an estate sale this morning. What was interesting to me is the shape of the hang hole normally associated with Barcalo.
-Don

 

[WQ59B]

• PEXTO bumping (auto body) hammer. LOVE this hammer- great balance/weight for carpentry work. Picked up at flea market for $8, on the lookout for a back-up.
• Pexto lineman's pliers, a little smaller/narrower than my Klein's, son picked up at garage sale.
• Pexto bead roller. Bought at estate sale about 3 years ago, was in a bidding war with a housewife, but she backed out at $22. Everything turns fine on it- future resto project.

 

[davethorik]

I found this 4” adjustable wrench at an estate sale this morning. What was interesting to me is the shape of the hang hole normally associated with Barcalo.
-Don

Don-
I have the 8" version of that wrench.
I have a Wright branded 10" with an almond shaped hang hole. I thought it might be a Pexto, but otherwise the 2 look nothing alike. There were a couple other obscure mfrs who had almond shaped hang holes, but I am not sure who made that Wright I have.

 

[454ragtop]

While I have a sheet metal tool or 2 I believe, I just recently acquired this auger expansion bit with both cutters in the original box. Gotta love the quantity description - 1/12 dozen. Hope I'm not missing any.

Not real attached to this if someone would like it for their collection. Other smaller expansion bit in the box with it is a Craftsman.

 

[RubiconJK]

I found this 4” adjustable wrench at an estate sale this morning. What was interesting to me is the shape of the hang hole normally associated with Barcalo.
-Don

Don-
I have the 8" version of that wrench.
I have a Wright branded 10" with an almond shaped hang hole. I thought it might be a Pexto, but otherwise the 2 look nothing alike. There were a couple other obscure mfrs who had almond shaped hang holes, but I am not sure who made that Wright I have.

Here is the 6" version I recently found. Same oblong hanger hole.

 

[d42jeep]

I found a 15” Pexto Metal handled monkey wrench at the Tahoe flea in remarkably good condition. Here it is after some cleanup.

-Don

 

[LesserSon]

During my visit to the Liberty Tool Co in Liberty ME yesterday, I came across this pair of PESCO slipjoints. I see these have come under discussion before, with inconclusive results.

 

[d42jeep]

With Notlob and four.cycle’s catalog finds early in the thread, it seems clear that the Pesco brand slip joints are simply a price line sold alongside the Pexto marked pliers. Crescent did the same thing with their prolific Cee Tee branded pliers. Even Diamond made a price line pair with different markings.
-Don

 

[itsDROCK]

PS&W also made high quality animal traps. Here’s a snap from my book “The Trap Collectors Guide”




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Downwindtracker 2]

I bought a patternmakers tool box, mainly for the wood chisels Berg and Marples, but he had a cadmium plated war time brace as well, a Pexto.. They were considered industrial quality tools when I looked it up.

 

[d42jeep]

I’ve been on a bit of a Pexto run lately. I found these lineman’s pliers at a Tahoe garage sale this morning. They needed a bit of cleanup.
-Don

 

[WQ59B]

What the consensus on this being an incomplete stamp?
I could find zero on a "S & W Co".

Did Pexto ever use this type of marking, and is this a 'PS&W Co' mis-stamp?
If so, what's the approximate vintage on this?

 

[Fred Knox]

I have an old Peck, Stow & Wilcox Auger Bit. It has a Pat. date of: May 31. 1887, which was issued as Patent #364153 to Cornelius Whitehouse (Bridgetown, Cannock England) for Auger Bit "forging or stamping the blank into a bulb containing sufficient metal to form the head and nose of the cutter and then forming the blank in a die. The cutter is distinct with a loop holes being formed in the process." The bit is also marked "P.S. & W. CO.".

 

[LesserSon]

I’ve been meaning to contribute some pics for a while. Made time today. Nothing is a new acquisition - I think one of the clamps might have been my grandfather’s (or his father’s!); the others are purchases from about a year or more ago.
The patent date (14Aug1888 388007) wasn’t visible till I derusted. Still lost where the pitting is bad. Just one clamp has PS&WCo logo, but since the pattern is identical...
The design patent (5Jun1888 D18376) is also by the prolific Pardon A Whitney of Southington CT.

 

[LesserSon]

And pliers. Again, one or more of the nippers was my g-father’s. The rest are my purchases, but not recent. Variations of the logos.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I have lots of PECTO tools. I never thought they were collectable, but, I learned something today.
My 48" box and pan brake is a PEXTO. It weighs 468 pounds.

 

[d42jeep]

I have an old Peck, Stow & Wilcox Auger Bit. It has a Pat. date of: May 31. 1887, which was issued as Patent #364153 to Cornelius Whitehouse (Bridgetown, Cannock England) for Auger Bit "forging or stamping the blank into a bulb containing sufficient metal to form the head and nose of the cutter and then forming the blank in a die. The cutter is distinct with a loop holes being formed in the process." The bit is also marked "P.S. & W. CO.".

Here is a handle for turning an Auger bit that came from an eBay seller yesterday. I was vaguely watching it for a project I’ve been working on when the seller made me an offer that I just couldn’t pass up. It looks like it would be a contemporary of the auger bit posted above.
-Don

 

[3baygarage]

Peck Stowe Wilcox bump.

I wasn’t sure on the maker of this little unbranded screw wrench, but was thinking maybe an import.

It’s 3.75” long, and has a brass knurl nut.

It’s listed in a couple Wrenchingnews auctions (also unbranded) as The Star wrench, as found in a Peck Stowe Wilcox catalog.

Here is an image from the no. 10 catalog, circa 1910, from archive.org. There’s a thumbnail below, of one of these in an auction.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I missed that post, 3bay. Very nice.

The only reason I picked up these seemingly innocuous slip-joint pliers at the flea market this morning is the logo. I had never seen this before on a PEXTO tool. Not just the 'GUARANTEED' part, but that fist! Armstrong used an entire arm of course, a strong one, holding a hammer. In a funny way this looks more, I have to say, with no intent of making a contemporary political statement, like a classic power/unity/solidarity salute, used by many groups (French revolution, Bolsheviks, Wobblies, etc) over time.

 

[d42jeep]

Cool logo. That’s a new one on me.
-Don

 

[LesserSon]

I’m on a dark-ops road trip w/MrsLS, but I think I have something with that on it.
Reminds me of the Stallone pro-union film F.I.S.T. (which I have not seen recently enough to recall in detail).

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Definitely harkens of Union organizing, LS, hence my I.W.W. (Wobblies) reference. I look eagerly forward to your example.

 

[LesserSon]

I’m b-a-c-k!
Here they are: No30 linesmens with depressed diamonds grip on recurve handles, and sporting those puffy cheeked cutters pioneered by Landon P Smith.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Nice! That makes two fists!

 

[3baygarage]

That’s a cool logo. I don’t think I’ve noticed it before.

 

[leg17]

I have accumulated a few of these early PS&W C-clamps.
Notice the two patent dates on the body and a third one on the bat-wing.
I don’t know about any missing sizes up to No.10. I seem to recall seeing something about a No.12, but, I seem to recall something about a lot of things anymore.

Anyone know of other sizes?

 

[LesserSon]

Wow! Those look great.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That’s a cool logo. I don’t think I’ve noticed it before.

I'm still trying to figure out what the fist is holding. It's much more clear on LS's example than mine. It appears to be just a round handle with nothing on either end. What's it supposed to be? What does it make sense to be? A brass drift? A dowel? Seems odd.

 

[steaks&anvils]

I'm still trying to figure out what the fist is holding. It's much more clear on LS's example than mine. It appears to be just a round handle with nothing on either end. What's it supposed to be? What does it make sense to be? A brass drift? A dowel? Seems odd.

Random picture grab from the web.

edit:

I think the logo (trade mark) is a clenched fist holding the rolled up paper that is the written tool guarantee. AKA "THE MARK OF THE MAKER".

Read the text about the guarantee, if it has that logo, you can be assured it is made well and is guaranteed.

The clenched fist is a show of strength and power, the sheer weight of that roll of paper stating their manufacturing quality, years of tool making experience and the trust you should have in their tools.

 

[LesserSon]

That makes sense to me, Ss&As. It’s not graduation season, but you see the same empowered grip around diplomas in a lot of commencement photos.
Alternately, it could be the (cylindrical) stamp used to apply the (circular) “mark of the maker” on the tool.

I found another example lurking in my “tools I actually use.” Thes 14” nippers grab embedded nails very close to the surface of the wood, or used at a slight angle, right under the surface. The logo isn’t as clear, but now I recognize it.

Whatever it is, it signifies empowerment. That’s the “powergrip,” whether it’s wrapped around a roll of parchement or quarters, tube of toothpaste, chisel, hammer, sword, spear, serpent, detonator, or thunderbolt. The symbolic hand gripping a short cylindrically generic object is thousands of years old and transcends cultures. “Don’t mess with that guy - he’s holding a can of whoop-***!”

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Random picture grab from the web.

edit:

I think the logo (trade mark) is a clenched fist holding the rolled up paper that is the written tool guarantee. AKA "THE MARK OF THE MAKER".

Read the text about the guarantee, if it has that logo, you can be assured it is made well and is guaranteed.

The clenched fist is a show of strength and power, the sheer weight of that roll of paper stating their manufacturing quality, years of tool making experience and the trust you should have in their tools.

Maybe. An interesting theory, at any rate. I think it looks more solid than a rolled-up piece of paper, with a sheen to it as if it's metallic, like a steel rod, and that if they wanted to make it look like a rolled-up guarantee, they could've shown it coiled on the end, and slightly squeezed in the middle. But hey, this is all conjecture until we get to the bottom of it.

 

[steaks&anvils]

Whatever it is, it signifies empowerment. That’s the “powergrip,” whether it’s wrapped around a roll of parchement or quarters, tube of toothpaste, chisel, hammer, sword, spear, serpent, detonator, or thunderbolt. The symbolic hand gripping a short cylindrically generic object is thousands of years old and transcends cultures. “Don’t mess with that guy - he’s holding a can of whoop-***!”

Yeah, no one is going to admit to that being the lonely, no date, Saturday night "powergrip".

 

[steaks&anvils]

Maybe. An interesting theory, at any rate. I think it looks more solid than a rolled-up piece of paper, with a sheen to it as if it's metallic, like a steel rod, and that if they wanted to make it look like a rolled-up guarantee, they could've shown it coiled on the end, and slightly squeezed in the middle. But hey, this is all conjecture until we get to the bottom of it.

I agree, the rod does look substantial. As Lesserson suggested, maybe it is the stamp/seal for the logo.

As with all the GJ mysteries, it'll be answered one day.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Alternately, it could be the (cylindrical) stamp used to apply the (circular) “mark of the maker” on the tool.

I agree, the rod does look substantial. As Lesserson suggested, maybe it is the stamp/seal for the logo.

Guilty of skimming his posts with all the alluring clenched fist imagery, I had missed that. I totally agree. I think LS nailed it. My money is on the die stamp! Great work both of you connecting it to the maker's mark text.

The perplexing thing is I can't find a record of that TM anywhere. It has to be older than 1914, which is date of first use for the PEXTO oval TM, filed in 1936. Peck, Stow, and Wilcox owned a bunch of TM's for various brands, including Worth (reg. 1935, first use 1914), and Boro, Iroquois, Tool Island, and - believe it or not, a giant asterisk symbol (which may solve a long-standing GJ mystery!), all registered in 1938, first use 1938. But nothing earlier than the 1935 registration (328,234) for Worth.

Here it is in a 1911 trade mag.

 

[RTM]

I have a reprint of the catalog shown by S&A above, from 1910. Says its registered, but I've not had good luck searching that far back.

Pg 7 has text about the mark of the maker (here and following), which makes me agree with LesserSon also.

https://kirkhmb.smugmug.com/Mechanic-Tools/Misc-Goodies/Peck-Stow-Wilcox-Pexto/

This 1910 is different from mine, and has the logo on the cover

https://archive.org/details/PeckStowWilcoxCoCatalogNo10/mode/2up

An April 1910 image is here

http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2013/03/vanished-tool-makers-peck-stow-wilcox.html

 

[LesserSon]

Yeah, no one is going to admit to that being the lonely, no date, Saturday night "powergrip".

Not a point entirely lost upon the ancients...there are plenty of “fertility” images that lend a hand to your suggestion.

 

[RTM]

It has to be older than 1914, which is date of first use for the PEXTO oval TM, filed in 1936. Peck, Stow, and Wilcox owned a bunch of TM's for various brands, including Worth (reg. 1935, first use 1914), and Boro, Iroquois, Tool Island, and - believe it or not, a giant asterisk symbol (which may solve a long-standing GJ mystery!), all registered in 1938, first use 1938.

Dang, I had found a Worth with the Asterisk, but couldn't find a second source to prove it. And now I can't find the picture. Which computer is it hiding on?

Add King Cotton to your list of trademarks

https://books.google.com/books?id=J...rce=newbks_fb#v=onepage&q= peck stow &f=false

 

[LesserSon]

Thanks for the link, RTM. I found both the No30 pliers and the No14 shoeing pincers in there. The 1910 publication date trims the registration date back quite a bit.