Vintage X-Acto, Exactly, Exclusively!

[Private Lugnutz]

Those are cool. I didn't even know they made sets that big. Later than I like to collect, but cool.

What do you know about the Lock-GriPliers I posted on the first page? I don't see them in any of these bigger sets.

 

[Burgerboy]

Those are cool. I didn't even know they made sets that big. Later than I like to collect, but cool.

What do you know about the Lock-GriPliers I posted on the first page? I don't see them in any of these bigger sets.

I don't think X-Acto ever included them in the bigger sets. Probably because they didn't hold the original patents on them.

There were knock-off copies coming in from Pakistan, China, and India.
(See photos)

Also Petersen Mfr. was growing their Vise Grip product line during WW II, and which were heavily patented (and protected.) They became the market leader for many years.

It is interesting that the parent company Newell- Rubbermaid now owns both Irwin ( vise grips) and Elmer's Products (X-acto.)

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I don't think X-Acto ever included them in the bigger sets.

Despite the functional similarities, I don't put the Lock-GriPlier in the same category as Petersen Vise-Grips, or any of the multitude of other locking plier-wrenches that preceded or followed Petersen here and offshore. (I actually did a deep dive on that subject in my home thread here - see posts 436 thru 444 on page 11 and 12, if you're interested.) They're not robust enough and the capacity also points to very small hobbycraft. Hence my curiosity about them not being included in these later big sets you're posting where X-Acto was clearly later diversifying and expanding their range beyond cutting. If they were selling them solo, with their brand on it, I'm not sure what would prevent them from selling them in sets.

 

[Burgerboy]

There was a Lock-GriPlier that sold on one of the auction sites for $31 last Saturday. These pliers don't come up very often, and seem to always elude me. It seems like a very practical design, although TSA would probably bring out SWAT if you walked into an airport with these!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Someone else said that up thread. They are very pistol-y.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I still think it's a head scratcher. I really expected to see them in the big sets you've been posting, and was surprised they weren't.

 

[Burgerboy]

Here is my first X-Acto set. I received it in the mid to late 60's. Amazingly, it still has all the original tools, blades, and the original carton. Some of the sets had a colorful retail carton with pictures, but mine is the plain-wrap, behind the sales counter version. I always cherished this set, and took good care of it. It had a special place in my roll-around Kennedy tool chest of drawers.

 

[Burgerboy]

This is the #84 set. Some had blue, or black plastic tool holders. I think mine is the earlier version with the yellow insert. I don't think X-Acto ever made an all wood chest model of this set. The #85 set, which was the next set up, included a coping saw. Also, in my set only the #5 knife has script on it.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I picked up another oddball piece at the flea market this morning. It's not in any of the big sets (No. 49, 88, or 99) that Burgerboy posted as far as I can see. I guess it's another stand-alone thing. I'm not a flyfisherman, but it reminds me of a flymakers set-up, although I suppose it's for modeling. I can see it coming in handy. Hopefully you can see the construction. Those ball joints swivel. The beam slides and the glass slides on the beam. The thumbnuts tighten everything down. When you're finished with it, it folds up fairly compact.

 

[Provincial]

Those are great for soldering jobs where you don't have enough hands!

 

[RTM]

I've got one nice enough to have a glass lens in it, but no markings at all. I think yours is the first I've seen with anything cast in. Nice Score!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks. I was probably going to grab it regardless, but seeing the big "X-ACTO" cast in was a nice surprise. It has an "RF" marking stamped in the other side. I'm thinking that's the OEM.

 

[Burgerboy]

Thanks. I was probably going to grab it regardless, but seeing the big "X-ACTO" cast in was a nice surprise. It has an "RF" marking stamped in the other side. I'm thinking that's the OEM.

I used these alot in electronics and fine precision mechanical silver soldering work. In the industry, we always referred to these as a "third hand." What's nice about them is that the steel claws will help wick away some of the heat, so your part doesn't overheat.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Right, but did you know there was one out there branded X-Acto? I'm still wondering what its intended purpose was. Had to be something in their milieu.

 

[four.cycle]

^ It's for when you are trying to glue the wing struts together while attaching both the upper and lower wings (made of paper) to a hollowed-out eggshell that becomes the fuselage of a tiny Sopwith Camel.
Gluing all three wings onto the Fokker DR-1 Triplane posed additional challenges, but I aced it.
The two tiny planes were suspended with nylon monofilament line at each end of a wire rod, which was suspended from the ceiling.
Certainly nothing as ingenious as Alexander Calder, but I got an A+ from Mr. Stenger for that term. The work was appropriated by the Tacoma Public School District - supposedly it's still down at Central School in their collection (along with most of the other works I did between 7th and 12th grade.)

So.... THAT is what you use that gizmo for... when you need three hands, each with twelve fingers on them.

Sorry I never owned one. Could have used it a bazillion times.

(You might have been more impressed with the "Easy Rider" chopper model - the eggshell was the fuel tank - I cut sewing pins in half for the spokes in the wheels. )

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, 4.c. I mentioned modeling earlier, but that explanation certainly has more specific pizazz! I could see it being useful for painting, too. Like the PliGrip, I'm just wondering why it's not in any of the large kits. And I wonder how old it is. I have to admit, for about 60 years of my life, to include the moment I started this thread with the very early 1940s set I found, I thought of X-Acto in terms of precision cutting. Now all of a sudden I find out they were more diverse than I knew.

 

[four.cycle]

Oh... they made all kinds of doo-dads... when my mother took me shopping, she always let me wander off to drool over stuff in the toy department or the "hobby" department... next to the model trains and airplanes they had all kinds of cool gizmos.
I had to make do with what I had - I'd usually makeshift jigs out of coat-hanger wire, clothespins, masking tape, and whatever else was needed to hold something in place while I was trimming/fitting/gluing/painting.

You jogged my memory... the last time I did "egg" sculpture was for Easter in 1990... made a little "chickie" and a little "bunny" out of eggs, fabricated a paper basket for them, and gave them to a girlfriend who dumped me two weeks later.
One of the best things that ever happened to me - I met my wife a week later.

 

[Burgerboy]

Right, but did you know there was one out there branded X-Acto? I'm still wondering what its intended purpose was. Had to be something in their milieu.

X-Acto called their version "X-Tra Hands", I've seen them before at the hobby shops. There were several versions, one with 2 hands only, another with only one clips, even another with the magnifier on it. There also was one that looked like a long locking tweezer on the swivel base. Most of the ones I used were all made in China, and typically around $10.

 

[four.cycle]

IOW - he managed to score the deluxe model!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, Burgerboy. So, not vintage. But you saved me some time, and now I know what to call it. (Mrs. Lugz thinks it looks like a little robot. I would have to agree.)

 

[Burgerboy]

It's R2D2's little helping handz!

 

[Burgerboy]

X-Acto called their version "X-Tra Hands", I've seen them before at the hobby shops. There were several versions, one with 2 hands only, another with only one clips, even another with the magnifier on it. There also was one that looked like a long locking tweezer on the swivel base. Most of the ones I used were all made in China, and typically around $10.

I was going through my electronics tools and ran across this X-Acto "X-Tra hands."
I had forgotten that I had this. It is interesting that the alligator clips are made by Mueller. They are a big supplier of clips to the electrical/electronics industry. One of the photos shows how I use the clips to hold brass when I silver solder.

 

[gpw_42]

Finally found my X-Acto set, which I've been searching for off and on since Lugz started the thread. It's identical to the one which four.cycle posted in Post 3 on the first page. Mine is straight out of the mid-80s, when it was a Christmas present to me, like four.cycle's 1966 variant. No pics since mine is too new for Lugz' "vintage," and there's already a similar one posted. My knives are corroded from 30 years of non-use, but I think a few minutes with some OOOO steel wool should solve that.

Really like those X-Acto X-Tra hands, and the big kits, posted above!

 

[Burgerboy]

Hi all,

I found out some interesting information about the hand "egg-beater" drills that X-Acto includes in their larger tool sets.
These drills were made by Henry L. Hanson Co. Inc. of Worcester, MA. The earliest ones had a metal toothed gear, the later ones
used plastic for this part, most likely Nylon. Most of them also had a distinctive red painted wood handle, but some had a nice clear finished wood handle.

For those interested, one of the auction sites has the large X-Acto #88n set, and a #89 set.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

These drills were made by Henry L. Hanson Co. Inc. of Worcester, MA.

A very respectable OEM, especially in the tap and die world. "Ace", not to be conflated with the hardware chain, was their TM.

 

[RTM]

Here is my minor contribution, an aluminum saw handle found on Friday at a garage sale. No markings, much older than my existing red handle. Collet pulled out for ease of pix.



Got an Archimedes drill hiding somewhere, will add it in a minute or ten, depends on search efficiency. Or maybe not, as apparently my hiding efficiency is much better than my search efficiency.

 

[d42jeep]

I just spotted this ‘50s ad on eBay.
-Don

 

[Burgerboy]

Vises-over the span of 40 years or so, X-Acto used many different mini ( 1" to 1.75" jaw width) hobby-type bench vises in their larger sets- the 88, 88n, 89, and 99 sets. They were from a variety of manufacturers, mainly in the US, Japan, UK, and later, Taiwan. The earliest vises actually came from the venerable US company of Brink and Cotton Mfg. of Bridgeport, Conn. Their vises were simply marked BC (see 1st photo). The Japanese vises were usually painted metallic blue, green, turquoise, or gloss red, some with red-painted jaws. They used two different designs; one had fixed front jaws and moveable rear jaws (similar to the German Boley vises), and the other design was more conventional, with fixed rear jaws to the body, and moveable front jaws. The better vises had double guide shafts, and a center screw shaft. Most of the US made vises were painted black, red. The rarest vise is marked X-Acto USA (2nd to last photo) was their #389. The large sets featured a small shelf for the vise to be clamped to. This shelf is often broken off; in the later 89 sets, it was braced with a vertical piece of wood (last photo.)

 

[Moldyjim]

Burgerboy!
Thanks for the info, that means one or two of the orphan vises I have might have been part of the X_acto family.
I think I have one of the cast iron ones and a #369 die cast one. I didn't realize what I had.

 

[Burgerboy]

Burgerboy!
Thanks for the info, that means one or two of the orphan vises I have might have been part of the X_acto family.
I think I have one of the cast iron ones and a #369 die cast one. I didn't realize what I had.

The #369 vise is extremely rare. I believe they started selling them in the late 1940's. They are in the early 1950's catalog.

Some of them are marked No.1. and U.S.A. It seems as the early X-Acto items didn't always have the name embossed on them. I feel Brink and Cotton may have made the original 369 ones for them, and cast the Xacto name on them.

On a another note, the Coping Saws that X-Acto put in the #85, and #87 sets, and the larger 88, 89, and 99 sets were made by Great Neck Saw Mfr. out of New York. The early ones used the same metal handle (without the collet) as the #6 knife, then a red painted wooden handle like the #5 knife, then a black plastic handle. It is the same basic saw as the Great Neck #9, which are still made in the USA.
I have both the red wood handle, aluminum handle, and the plastic handle ones. They use a 6.5" blade, and throat depth varies from 4.75" up to 6". The length was usually 11.3" to 11.75", as the #85 and #87 cases can only accommodate a 11.75" maximum width saw.

 

[Moldyjim]

The #369 vise is extremely rare. I believe they started selling them in the late 1940's. They are in the early 1950's catalog.

Some of them are marked No.1. and U.S.A. It seems as the early X-Acto items didn't always have the name embossed on them. I feel Brink and Cotton may have made the original 369 ones for them, and cast the Xacto name on them.

On a another note, the Coping Saws that X-Acto put in the #85, and #87 sets, and the larger 88, 89, and 99 sets were made by Great Neck Saw Mfr. out of New York. The early ones used the same metal handle (without the collet) as the #6 knife, then a red painted wooden handle like the #5 knife, then a black plastic handle. It is the same basic saw as the Great Neck #9, which are still made in the USA.
I have both the red wood handle, aluminum handle, and the plastic handle ones. They use a 6.5" blade, and throat depth varies from 4.75" up to 6". The length was usually 11.3" to 11.75", as the #85 and #87 cases can only accommodate a 11.75" maximum width saw.

I take it back, I mistook the size of the 389. Much beefier than the vise I was thinking of.
I tried to find it but its buried somewhere.
I did find my little 1-1/2 Stanley though so...

 

[Burgerboy]

Here's a 1952 X-Acto catalog that you can read under the Christmas tree (just like I used to do with the Sears
Dream catalog back in the day.)

Enjoy,
Happy Holidays!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Here's a 1952 X-Acto catalog...

I'm not seeing any images or links in your post, Bb.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I just made an interesting and very enjoyable discovery! Who has seen The Lego Movie? (I know, where have I been, right? It was released in 2014. But I'm usually at least that far behind every pop culture trend.)

Two of my sons are home for Christmas. After blitzing on new board games and watching Clarence get his wings and Ralphie almost shoot his eye out for the umpteenth time, they turned on The Lego Movie and I watched it with them, me for the first time, them knowing all the good lines by heart.

First of all, it's an excellent movie, fueled by profound whimsy and rapid fire sarcastic wit. But if you've seen it, you know why I'm posting on this thread. Because of Lord Business wielding, in his son's vivid imagination, what he calls 'the Sword of Exact Zero'!

If you haven't seen it, watch it!

 

[Burgerboy]

Repost of 1952 X-Acto catalog, about 6Mb .pdf file.

 

[Burgerboy]

Here is a 1949 Dealer's X-Acto catalog, the earliest one I have. About 12 Mb .pdf file.
Happy New Year!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, Bb!

Everyone knows what "the Sword of Exact Zero" is in the movie and finds this boring? Or nobody wants to watch the movie to find out?!

 

[Burgerboy]

What's interesting is the strong support that X-Acto had for the then-current "Fair Trade Laws."
That meant that all the authorized dealers had to sell the exact same product for the same price.
X-Acto distributors would not sell to unauthorized resellers. For example, all authorized dealers
would sell a #1 knife for 50 cents (in 1949).

I remember buying the #11 blades for about 60 cents a pack at the local Dooley's hardware store
in Long Beach, Calif. They had a terrific hobby section with X-Acto products. I liked the nice wooden
cabinets with clear doors that you could gaze at all the goodies like a kid in a candy store!
The knives were stacked vertically like lollipops.

 

[Burgerboy]

here is the X-Acto dealer's "Lollipop" knife display:

 

[four.cycle]

wow. thanks, Burgerboy!