The Vintage New Britain and Associated Thread!

[CRTDI]

Here is a 30s midget set.

Super nice set...

 

[Smokeshow69]

1950ish or so. That set is in good shape. Here is a 30s midget set.

Holy smokes that is a nice set! I am assuming you didn’t give that paint the lugz treatment and that the wrinkle is original? That is an amazing piece


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[Provincial]

Interesting! The holder has unfinished edges, as if it was cut (sheared) out of wrinkle-finished sheet stock, then formed. As opposed to painted after the shearing and forming operations. Perhaps a closer look is in order?

If it was formed from wrinkle-finished material, that would be some tough paint!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Jock,
To me it looks like the edges were finished in the black crinkle just like the larger surface areas, but wore off from handling. I can see remnants in some of the photos. But Otg would best be able to confirm, of course.

 

[outofbounds]

Greetings all,

Picked up these fellows the other day. An older set of Husky sockets along with a Husky CS 41 ratchet. The largest socket is 1-1/8", then down to 1" and evenly after that to 7/16. All are in great shape, although the 1/2 has seen some use.

It was all reasonably clean, there was some rust in a couple of sockets. In the past someone went at the top of the ratchet with a Scotch-Brite or wire wheel. The chrome is gone, but I smoothed it out a little with my buffer and some green compound. Disassembled and cleaned.

Any idea of the Born On Date for the ratchet? The back reads "Made In U.S.A. 37" if that helps. Any rough dates for the sockets? They are all numbered as CT12XX, there are no "=" or "-" before or after the socket number. Quite happily paid $30.

Thanks for looking,

Matthew

I will check my randoms box for Husky. I just might have that 1-1/16" socket to match (although I'm sure it would require your loving touch on the buffer)

Tom

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Thanks all. Was excited to find a new britain version. I think paint is just worn on edges. Looks pretty much like craftsman version but I will compare them when I get home.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Interestingly, the craftsman holder is a bit taller, as are the sockets. The new britain sockets are also tapered.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Interesting. How long did they make them? Maybe from two different production years.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Not sure. Does anyone have short tapered craftsman BE sockets? I do have some early 1/2 drive new britain sockets that are tapered as well.

 

[d42jeep]

These are the sockets that came in mine when my wife found it. All BE but not really tapered. The early NBs are all tapered
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Maybe from before the craftsman contract

 

[Smokeshow69]

Thanks all. Was excited to find a new britain version. I think paint is just worn on edges. Looks pretty much like craftsman version but I will compare them when I get home.

I agree the paint is original... the wrinkle paint on the edges is pretty sensitive to touch and flakes a lot easier than if it was a flat finish with no wrinkle. Nice work on finding the New Britain version as well


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[Isaiah6113]

I will check my randoms box for Husky. I just might have that 1-1/16" socket to match (although I'm sure it would require your loving touch on the buffer)

Tom

Hello Tom,

Thank you for your offer! It so happens I found a perfect and matching 1-1/16 socket and it is on the way here.

However, if in you bag of Husky tricks you happened upon a matching 1/2 CT1216 that was in good shape, then perhaps we could talk via PM?

Thank you so much,

Matthew

 

[Isaiah6113]

1950ish or so. That set is in good shape.

That's great to know!

Thank you for your reply,

Matthew

 

[Isaiah6113]

Hello All,

Picked-up this set the other day.

Top label reads:
Husky
America’s Standard
Alloy Wrenches
Husky Tool Division
New Britain, Conn. U.S.A.

Inside Label reads:
Mastercraft
Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. (I’m in Ontario, so surprised, but also not surprised to see this.)

Sockets go from 1-1/8 CT 1236 to 7/16 CT 1214. All the markings are the same (Husky, Made in U.S.A., etc., except the two large sockets have a “-“ (dash) before and after the details. I’m curious to know if this means that the two large sockets are original to the set and the balance are not, or if the others are original to the set, and the two larges are not? Or if the dashes perhaps are not significant? Any thoughts?

Ratchet 10” CS41, with Husky 93 on the handle. A bit stiff and loud, I haven’t been inside yet, so I’m not sure if anything is up or not.

Universal CS 60.

T-bar 9” CS70. Bit of a bend at the end, but I’m sure I could press it out. Well, if I had a press that is . . . lol, there is a small machine shop near me so I’ll see if he can press it out.

Extensions 5” CS24 & 10” CS25

Then two oddballs:
- Extension 10” H2711, vice-grip marks here and there, some rust
- Socket 1” H3642
The extensions appear identical other than the codes. The socket does not have the “-” before and after. What’s the deal on these codes?

In addition to my musings above, I’m curious to know when this set might have been produced; early 50s? That CTC logo does appear on the cover of a 1950 CTC catalogue.

Also, what might have been the original configuration of this set? I understand there may have been several combinations, and perhaps something special given it was OEM for CTC, but any ideas?

Thanks so much for looking and playing along,

Matthew

 

[Isaiah6113]

Hello All,

Picked-up this set the other day.

Matthew

Just adding a close-up of the top label, as well as a picture of the 1950 Canadian Tire Catalogue that has the same logo as the inside of the lid.

M.

 

[outofbounds]

Hello Tom,

Thank you for your offer! It so happens I found a perfect and matching 1-1/16 socket and it is on the way here.

However, if in you bag of Husky tricks you happened upon a matching 1/2 CT1216 that was in good shape, then perhaps we could talk via PM?

Thank you so much,

Matthew

Alas, Matthew no CT1216. Ironically I did have a gorgeous New Britain 1/2" socket. I'm always "that guy" walking down the driveway from a garage sale wit the Chase & Sanborn can of random sockets, so I may turn one up sometime.

 

[Jc2043]

On the hunt this morning, dodging the SoCal rain, this caught my eye. All the pieces are marked made in USA. Turns out it’s a mostly complete New Britain set including the infamous knurled socket.


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[bmwrd0]

Picked up most of this pre-war set yesterday, everything except the ratchet, 10'' extension, and breaker bar. Most of which I had. I had the two handles, but the extension is a Craftsman of the same vintage. So, I just need the 9/16'' and 3/4'' sockets also.



It took me a minute, but I also found the tommy bar, way across the room. But it was unused and still had the golden finish.

 

[d42jeep]

Picked up most of this pre-war set yesterday, everything except the ratchet, 10'' extension, and breaker bar. Most of which I had. I had the two handles, but the extension is a Craftsman of the same vintage. So, I just need the 9/16'' and 3/4'' sockets also.



It took me a minute, but I also found the tommy bar, way across the room. But it was unused and still had the golden finish.

Here are my extras for you to pick from.
-Don

 

[Isaiah6113]

Hello All,

Picked-up this set the other day.

Top label reads:
Husky
America’s Standard
Alloy Wrenches
Husky Tool Division
New Britain, Conn. U.S.A.

Inside Label reads:
Mastercraft
Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. (I’m in Ontario, so surprised, but also not surprised to see this.)

. . .

Also, what might have been the original configuration of this set? I understand there may have been several combinations, and perhaps something special given it was OEM for CTC, but any ideas?

Thanks so much for looking and playing along,

Matthew

Hello all,

Spend a little time cleaning-up this set. Used an Evaporust-soaked cloth on the cover, cleaned the box and the contents. Disassembled the ratchet and was delighted to see little wear.

Any thoughts on what might have been in the original configuration? Likely not the 10” H2711 extention, or the 1” H3642 socket. But maybe a breaker bar, which would still leave lots of room for more stuff!

Thanks,

Matthew

 

[d42jeep]

I recently picked up the partial 1/4” drive set in the first picture so I went through some New Britain tools and moved them around a bit. I’m now on the hunt for my missing dual band of knurling sockets in the last picture. I’m looking for the 8 pointers and 7/32”, 1/4” and 9/32” in double knurl if anyone has extras in their orphan drawers.
-Don

 

[lardy1]

I still stumble on things I forgot I had. I like this one.

 

[outofbounds]

I still stumble on things I forgot I had. I like this one.

That's a great looking tape, Lardy!

 

[coljar]

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This New Britain 40 belonged to my grandfather. You can see his first name "Poe" stamped in.

 

[bmwrd0]

I picked this Huskey set up yesterday, the guy selling it thought it was Thorsen, which is a sign of having owned the set longer than he could remember the maker. But anyway, it is interesting in that it goes from 19/32"s to 1". But in that range, it fits the box rather well. The box also has the same black paint of the 30s-40s New Britain products, along with everything in the box being Huskey marked, with no extras (there was a PowerKrft ratchet sitting on top, but clearly was too long to fit in the box) That said, nothing in the catalogs I have looked at match the box or set.




I had a period-correct Huskey ratchet that I added to complete the set.


Now I need to get to derusting and possibly repainting the box. I might just scrape and sand the top and give it a quick coat to cover the yellowish paint but make the dings and dents seem natural.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice bmw. That is a good candidate for a repaint.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I have a similar Husky set, Beemer, but the divider is slanting the other way, it has ten (10) sockets, 7/16" to 7/8", and the box is OD, not black. It is unmistakably wartime, even if the ratchet didn't have the "11-44" forged in.

 

[bmwrd0]

Does your set have any **/32"s sockets Lugz? It could be that someone snagged the 1/2 and 7/16 and the /32s were added later. It would make sense to me.

Oh, and my ratchet has 9/46 forged into it. Which seems to work for a post-war set.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Does your set have any **/32"s sockets Lugz? It could be that someone snagged the 1/2 and 7/16 and the /32s were added later. It would make sense to me.

It does. And they have sequential numbers among themselves, but non-sequential model numbers with the other sockets...

7/16 - H2700
1/2 - H2701
19/32 - H2844
9/16 - H2702
5/8 - H2703
11/16 - H2705
25/32 - H2845
3/4 - H2706
13/16 - H2707
7/8 - H2708

Oh, and my ratchet has 9/46 forged into it. Which seems to work for a post-war set.

Definitely. I conducted a survey a few years ago, and among that empirical grouping, production of these date-coded ratchets ran from February 1943 to October 1946. Yours fits in that group perfectly. Table of survey results I published linked here.

 

[bmwrd0]

Interesting, you don't have the 1" socket. So, what I probably need to do is pull that one and add the two missing sockets.

 

[JjKk40]

Found this Husky buried away in my Dads tools that didn't get destroyed in hurricane Sandy's flood waters! Am i posting in the correct forum?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Found this Husky buried away in my Dads tools that didn't get destroyed in hurricane Sandy's flood waters! Am i posting in the correct forum?

Yes. New Britain made. Fors patent. They show up on everything from in-house brands (such as your Husky) to contract production (I have a Spiegel Precision-Bilt Master Wrench set with all three ratchets - 1/4, 3/8 and 1/2 - being Fors pattern) in a very narrow window in the late 40's to early 50's, in between the Costello pattern (30's through '47) and the Kilness round head.

 

[Mintgrun]

I found a 1/2" HUSKY ratchet last month. The bronze part is somewhat unique, (although I remember it having been discussed before).

 

[outofbounds]

Stopped by the flea market at 16 Degrees F this morning (sunny though) hoping to see the dealer that has produced some IH Chrome drive tools I've lucked into the last couple weeks. Unfortunately he wasn't there but I did pluck these 4 sequential Husky USA Combination wrenches in really good condition save for a little surface rust. Am I correct and assuming these as New Britain made? I'd guess 1960s if I were a betting man...

 

[MShaw]

Looks like the Husky wrenches made when I worked there in the early 1970s.

 

[ed4banger]

...S

 

[JoCoSawdust]

Mine is exactly like yours Ed.

 

[JjKk40]

Ed my ratchet which is almost identical to yours except mine has a Husky name on it but it does have a flat head screw plug for that small oil port, same location as your craftsman.

 

[ed4banger]

Ed my ratchet which is almost identical to yours except mine has a Husky name on it but it does have a flat head screw plug for that small oil port, same location as your craftsman.

...