Billmont #500 mechanics kit

[Zrxrunner]

I might have just stumbled on a pretty challenging quest. Online only auction got me about 10 craftsman wrenches in a indistinguishable old black metal box. Once I got to pick it up, I found that the real gem was this billmont mechanics kit box. #500 kit. Motor age ad from the 1920's says it had billmont brand tools, but I've never even heard, much less see any billmont brand tools. Any input on if I'd be chasing my tail to try and complete this kit in the original box?

 

[coolford]

I have several Billmont socket sets, but I have never seen any other tools made by Billmont. It is possible that they put one of their socket sets in the box you have and tools by someone else. The Billmount socket sets I have are in wood boxes and a cardboard box. If you find any other Billmount tools, please post them.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Billmont was a brand name. The Mfgr's name was Edgar Guthard. That box looks legit to me. Terrific find, Zrxrunner. I've been hoping to run into a Billmont set in the wild for my Early Roaring 20's collection. No such luck so far. They had an oddball tubular spinner that had a 45* angle bend on the end of it (for obstructions), and before they put their sets in wood boxes, the sockets and tommy bar for the back of the spinner would be stored in the hollow body of the spinner. Looks to me like they graduated to a full-blown set at some point. It would be interesting to see what went in that box, because the sets they made as I described above were fairly simple, and would not fill it up. AA has a decent write-up on Guthard and Billmont.

What gauge is the steel? It looks think.

 

[Zrxrunner]

Lugz, Google billmont mechanics kit. Shud get 2 finds, one is a really good description from motor age that is pretty in depth about the box and what tools come in it. Just not specifically saying if they are labeled billmont or not. Think it said box is a 24 gauge, which feels about right. I was lucky to find this box in as good of shape as it is. Light rust on the bottom

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Found it, Zrxrunner. 1921 Motor Age. I will leave it here for future reference. As I said, I have never seen anything but the sockets and that tubular angled spinner. The spinner is branded on the cap on the back. It's an interesting connection system. I like the bulbous knobs (they look like black composite material) on the speed handles.

I'll let you know if ever see any.

 

[3baygarage]

Very nice box. AA has a good writeup as Lugz said, on the other drive tool in that picture, the Master Wrench.

Listed here under Guthard http://alloy-artifacts.org/other-makers-p2.html#guthard

Here is the ratchet in that ad, the No. 8. Found it at a recent tool sale. I don’t know where the rest of the set was, but I hope to find some attachments for it.

It’s a nice survivor and ratchets crisp like it was made yesterday. 38 tooth count. 3/4” hex drive with spring clip retention in the hex. 1 foot long.

There is an interesting forge mark, like crossed 8’s or letter S’s. Is there a term for that symbol?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Very cool, 3bay! According to the ad, a spring clip like that or similar is inside the female opening of the angled spinner and in the "nose piece" (their term) on the end of the speeders and all those other T-handles they are showing. I am partial to male drive tang systems for some reason, if only because of the oddity. The H&G sets that Eastern Machine Screw made (I have one) are still my favorite. Also hex drive. But Billmont is growing on me!

Attached below is another ad from the 1921 Motor Age showing the socket design in good detail.

There is an interesting forge mark, like crossed 8’s or letter S’s. Is there a term for that symbol?

If you mean multiple letters intertwined or on top of each other - yes, it is known as a monograph. If you mean for two S's in that particular configuration, I don't know.

 

[3baygarage]

Nice. That looks like it came in a Dominoes type box there. I’ve seen the full set in a larger box before, and the extensions for sale a while back.

The interesting thing is there’s been a number 8 ratchet on ebay with strictly rivets in the head, and looks like there isn’t a screw in the side of the head either. I wonder if it was an earlier model. Also has that forge mark.

 

[Debcrow]

Strange how these things pop up. Never have found a Billmont tool before. Picked up this set this morning at a garage sale because it was different. Box unfortunately does not have lid but the rest looks pretty good.

 

[3baygarage]

Cool find. Funny how that happens.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

GJ magic. Congrats.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I was doing some online research on connecting rod sockets last week, some of the returns were eBay listings, as usual, one of those was a Billmont Master Wrench set by Edgar C. Guthard of 361 East Ohio Street in Chicago, and, like a fool, I clicked on it. The price was a little higher than I wanted to spend, so I made the seller an offer, and I was glad he took it.

I hope Zrxrunner doesn't mind me piggybacking his thread to show it off and describe it. Believe or not, I couldn't find many other Billmont tools on GJ. There’s a flex head speeder owned by Mintgrun on 3bay’s flex head speeder thread, linked here. There’s a mystery sockets thread by jusridin that 3bay eventually ID’ed as Billmont, linked here, but the pics have disappeared. And then there’s this thread, which is a little more appropriate.

Without further ado, here is the box and wrench.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

And here is the tommy bar and sockets (with a beautiful patina from the flame tempering) that were inside. The tommy bar turns that piece at the end of the handle which transfers the movement from a rotating shaft and a universal knuckle joint inside the 40* angle to the hex shaped female drive opening in the nose. The service openings of the sockets range from 7/16” to 5/8”. They slip over the tommy bar and that gets stored inside the hollow handle, secured with the screw cap with the logo on the end of it. That socket with a 1/2-inch square male drive tang is an adaptor that Guthard advertised as a way to use the Billmont Master wrench to spin off any “standard socket.”

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Guthard did not own the patent (Fullenwider, 1,310,473, granted July 1919), but Fullenwider was from Billings, Montana, as was Guthard. He once owned the Northwestern Auto Supply Company there, and it’s not too much of a stretch to assume there was some connection between the two that prompted Guthard to dispose of the auto supply business and move to Chicago with Fullenwider’s “Angular-Socket Driver” and a new “Billmont” trademark (for “Rotary tools comprising wrenches”) - a portmanteau of Billings and Montana - in hand.

Here is the patent drawing.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

One of the features I couldn’t resist was the Edgar C. Guthard paperwork in the bottom of the box. I have zero doubt it’s original to the box and set. It’s the same exact size as the box and it includes the contents of the Billmont Master wrench set, including a chart of the five sockets and their sizes, and instructions for how to spin off the "Ford 4th connecting rod nut", echoing the marketing in trade journals that trumpeted the Master wrench as the only tool that will reach a Ford 4th connecting rod nut without having to lift the engine off the frame.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Here are some cool ads from 1919 trade mags.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Ads from later in the 1920’s show larger Billmonth Master wrench sets with a full range of sockets each stored in its own slot in a larger wooden box, and AA includes an example of that set on their site.

My set, as shown in ads from 1919, is clearly earlier, and it may be the earliest, or perhaps just after they “Pocket” version.

The August 1919 Automobile Journal notice (See Pic 1) seems to be describing my set to a tee.

The excerpt from a May 1921 Hardware Dealers magazine ad (See Pic 2) is showing a different set, after they introduced the conventional ratchet (see an example that 3bay posted upthread in post #6), but look at the wooden box with a sliding lid. It appears to be identical to mine (See Pics 3, 4, & 5)

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Hopefully MR. X is reading. He has a 1921 Ducommun catalog and in another thread rlated to A.L.A.M. markings he said it included some Billmont stuff.

 

[MR.X]

so here's the billmont stuff from the Ducommun F 1921 reprint 24. **** pics I know.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, Brother!

This...

...is exactly what I was hoping for!

I am now 100% positive that what I have here is a Billmont No. 1 Set!

 

[MR.X]

Cool. glad it was helpful.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Everything else was just pieces of information and deduction. Your Ducommun catalog is the only document source that actually provides the exact contents, exactly matching the contents of what I have, places it in a wooden box, and gives it a set number. And a set number strongly suggesting, as I suspected, that it was the earliest. So yeah, it was extremely helpful!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Hello fellow Billmont fans!

I am very excited to announce that my collection of loose Billmont tools has been reunited with the empty Billmont box that Zrxrunner found in the summer of 2019 (see post #1), and thanks to his generosity of spirit, collecting kinship, and willingness to sell it...



...the whole shebang is now just a few tools shy of a complete Billmont No. 500 Mechanics Kit, happily enshrined in the Lugzsonian, linked here.

As if by a stroke of divine provenance, one of the coolest period ads I have found for this set was featured on the cover of the October 1920 issue of a trade mag called, of all things, “The Accessory and Garage Journal”.

Here's a zoom shot on just the set...

For its big debut here on GJ, I tried to mimic that layout in a photo shoot.

As for contents details, I found this ad…

…from the 1921 Volume 25 issue of the “Automobile Trade Journal”, and this ad…

…from August 1921 issue of “Automobile Topics“” to be the most helpful.

I have nineteen (19) of the twenty-four (24) sockets, the “Master Wrench” (that’s the T-handled tube with a long shaft connected to a captive universal joint inside that bent nose), the “Junior Wrench” (the T-Handle with the ridged, rotating center grip made of pressed steel), the “Ratchet” (female nonreversible), the “Speeder”, the “Rim Brace”, 11” extension, the 9” extension (probably broken at some point and reassembled with the end at about 5” OAL), and the screwdriver bit.

I am missing a total of eight (8) pieces: five (5) hex sockets (3/4”, 21/32”, 5/8”, 9/16”, and 3/8”), the long and short T-handles, and that loop-handled offset wrench.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Here are some close-ups of the sockets, the “Ratchet” (No. 8) and the “Master” wrench (no model number). Note that it is identical to the “Master” in the smaller wood box spinner set I have, but I am only storing the cross-bar inside it.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Here are some close-ups of that rotating T-handle “Junior” wrench (no model number), the extensions (No 9 and No. 10), speeder (No. 7) and brace (No. 6).

I'm guessing that the missing Offset and the long and short T-handles are No. 3, 4, and 5. And that they probably consider the "Master" wrench No. 1, and the "Junior" wrench No. 2.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I don’t know who made the toolbox, but it has some interesting seams on the corners. The tray is constructed the same way. The latches and center hasp were made by SLAYMAKER in Lancaster, PA.

The wooden socket holder did not come with the box and tray. It was missing. I had it made from a mock-up and dimensions and a pattern that I derived from the ad in post #23 above. I talked about that process on the Lugzsonian thread linked here.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

A few more shots of the kit with the tools inside the box rather than posed for the ad.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I sort of buried this at the bottom of post #23, so I am going to re-post it.

I am missing a total of eight (8) pieces:
- five (5) hex sockets (3/4”, 21/32”, 5/8”, 9/16”, and 3/8”)
- long T-handle
- short T-handle
- loop-handled offset wrench.

You can see what the sockets look like above. You can see what the other handles look like in the ad. I will pay handsomely.

 

[3baygarage]

Very nice. I like your photo staging the tools like the catalog Lugz, they look good.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Very nice. I like your photo staging the tools like the catalog Lugz, they look good.

Thanks!

You don't want to know how many times one of the handles performing a freaking balancing act tipped over creating a domino effect crash! I think they must have used .02mm monofilament fishing line! The other ad for this same set (see upthread) is even harder to recreate. The tools are literally floating in the air. Obviously rendered.

Believe it or not, a smaller wood box set with just the Master wrench but all the sockets - in the original wooden socket holder - just showed up on ePrey. The socket holder looks like it would fit in this box. Asking $100. I could use 5 of the sockets and the holder. But that's high, especially since I'm very happy with the replacement wooden holder I had made. We're discussing some options for marking the holder I made with the fractions on the Lugzsonian thread, linked here now.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

UPDATE TIME

When we last visited this topic, I was missing five (5) sockets, a long T-handle, a short T-handle, and the loop-shaped offset handle, and I was thinking of hand-labeling the wooden socket holder I had made for myself.

I didn't like the way that turned out. My hand was steady enough, but, due to the way I drilled the holes, the sizes wouldn't fit where the markings were originally located (below the holes), and in the process of searching for the missing pieces on various places (eBay, CL, etsy, LetGo, etc), I located another one of those wooden box sets with the wooden holder and all of the missing sockets I needed for a better price. As I suspected, it fit perfectly in the metallic box.

Thanks to a tip from a friend, I also made a long-distance CL purchase for the handles. And voi-friggin'-la, my Edgar C. Guthard Billmont #500 kit (box and set) is now complete!

Here are the new handles...





Here are all the sockets in their original holder...



And here is that cool ad again..



... and the now-complete re-creation!



Box, Tray, and Socket Holder
Handles
No. 1 = "Master" wrench (bent-nose piece with the knuckle joint in the elbow)
No. 2 = "Junior" wrench (T-handle with the knurled rotating grip)
No. 3 = Short T-Handle
No. 4 = Long T-Handle
No. 5 = Loop-handled offset
No. 6 = Brace
No. 7 = Speeder
No. 8 = Ratchet
No. 9 = Short Extension
No. 10 = Long Extension
Screwdriver Socket
Twenty-four (24) sockets, seventeen from 3/8" to 21/32" (hex) and seven from 7/16" to 3/4" (square)

 

[Provincial]

I posted this in the Proto thread, where the subject of tools for Wright aircraft engines came up. I'll repeat it here in the Bilmont thread.

In the Instruction Book for Wright J-5 Aircraft Engines, the parts listing includes a tool section. There is one area with the tools included with the engine when sold, and another ("Complete Service Tool List") with the tools used to completely overhaul the engine. Included in the Complete Service Tool List is the WA-106 Bilmont Socket Set. It is the third line up from the bottom of the page.

 

[Provincial]

Because of limits on images, here are the title page and the last two pages of the tool listings:

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, Jock.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

As you may recall, I have two of the self-contained Billmont "Master" wrench kits - one in its original wooden box with the Edgar C. Guthard paperwork on the inside, as shown in this 1919 ad....



And another found loose, and perhaps sold that way, as shown in this later 1919 ad...



Neither one included what is shown and described in the patent diagram....



...and in some ads...




....as a "Ford valve grinder" socket.

That changed this morning at the flea market when I spotted and dug this one out of an old toolbox!

(Please ignore the Bernard's nippers. Only bought those two things and took one customary photo for the Garage Sale thread.)

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Some photos of it with one of the conventional sockets.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I decided to put it in the wooden box kit. And if you're wondering, because I certainly was, they just barely fit, leaving just another space for the threaded cap. There is no way the screwdriver socket would fit.

Oddly enough, the valve lapper was not included in the No. 500 Mechanics' Kit, which is the largest set they sold.

 

[3baygarage]

Nice eye finding that piece In the wild.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks. For a split second, just before the a-friggin'-ha! moment, I thought it was some kind of plumbing fixture.

 

[gpw_42]

...I am now 100% positive that what I have here is a Billmont No. 1 Set!

Lugz, nice find on that valve lapper, and collecting a complete No. 500 kit like you have. I missed this thread until now, so didn't understand the significance of the valve lapper when you posted on the GS thread.

Billmont was proud of their tools. That No. 1 set (in the wood box, $10.50 in 1921) is worth $167 in 2021 dollars! https://futureboy.us/fsp/dollar.fsp?quantity=10.5&currency=dollars&fromYear=1921