Show Your Vintage Utica Tools!

[LesserSon]

50-8” electrician’s side cutting


86-6” duck bill


90-6”


90-8”


90-10”


90-12”


100 BX cable cutter


260-7” end cutting nippers


511-6” heavy duty slip joint


511-8” heavy duty slip joint

 

[LesserSon]

511-10” heavy duty slip joint


513-7” side cutting slip joint


517-5” slip joint ignition


517-10” slip joint water pump


622-5” short chain nose side cutting


650-6” long flat nose side cutting


654-6” long chain nose side cutting


777-6” long needle nose


888-6” curved needle nose


1000-8” Button’s pattern

 

[LesserSon]

1033-6” long chain nose


1300-8” gas and burner


1300-10” gas and burner


1950S-6” heavy duty side cutting


1950-7” heavy duty side cutting (no photo)

1950S-8” heavy duty side cutting
(US military)


The display looks like this:

 

[Stillgottimefor1]

Fantastic

 

[four.cycle]

wow. fabulous, LesserSon.

do the gas pliers have the teeth in the ends of the jaws as well?

 

[LesserSon]

I have/had a 3/8" drive torque wrench of theirs. Very small head diameter for a 3/8" - just about the size of their 1/4" regular ratchet.

Today I found the 1/4dr version of Bonneyman’s Utica torque wrench. It seems in excellent condition, but I’ll need to dig up some instructions on how it works.

 

[LesserSon]

wow. fabulous, LesserSon.

do the gas pliers have the teeth in the ends of the jaws as well?

Yes.

 

[four.cycle]

thanks!

 

[LesserSon]

Bought this 511-6 yesterday. I have others (below), but this is the oldest, based on the company name.

 

[RedVise]

I found a set of Utica 24-5 1/2 pliers. Searching did not yield any data. There is a round upper and lower jaws (?).
They might be saw sets?? Upper jaw is adjustable from the top for thickness.
Any body familiar with these ?? Thanks

 

[LesserSon]

No24 is Lead Seal Press Pliers
p14 in the 1967 catalog

 

[RedVise]

No24 is Lead Seal Press Pliers
p14 in the 1967 catalog

Thanks !!

 

[GalaxyRat]

I'm glad to see a dedicated thread, here's my adjustable wrenches. I'll have to wrangle up my pliers one of these days.

 

[thisistheshow]

Found these Utica 7-6 slip joint pliers at the pawnshop a few days ago. 6 1/2".

 

[d42jeep]

I found this pretty nice 12” adjustable at an estate sale yesterday and cleaned and lubed it.
-Don

 

[rdenney]

My pliers drawer in my main (SAE) box has a lot of Utica pliers in it, at least a dozen. I can make closeups if any are particularly interesting. Nevermind the HF specials at upper left.



My “clean” bench tool drawer has a range of small Utica pliers, and these please me every time I hold one in my hands.



I have some newer Wilde pliers that aren’t bad, too.

Rick “my go to brand for pliers going back 45 years” Denney

 

[four.cycle]

I picked this Utica 90-6 6-inch adjustable out of a box earlier today.
a Utica-made PLOMB 6-inch adjustable was mentioned in the garage sale thread earlier today on which the adjuster wheel appeared to have been worn off on one side.
After wiping most of the grease off of this one, I noticed there is a "flat spot" on this adjuster wheel as well.
I don't know anything about either Utica or Plomb - the production code on this unit looks like "TL-111"

Utica 90-6 6-inch adjustable wrench
Utica Drop Forge & Tool Corp., 2410 Whitesboro St., Utica, NY

 

[Provincial]

four.cycle, your photos show that the special wheel is a feature, not a modification. I'll bet there is advertising out there that promotes this feature for rapid adjustments. Rotate the wheel to the relieved area and slide the jaw to the desired location. Then turn the wheel to engage the jaw to hold it in position.

Now to pin down the date range of this feature. It had to have been before Plomb bought out Danielson, and probably before Plomb started buying adjustables from Danielson.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

the production code on this unit looks like "TL-111"

That is not a Utica number. It is a US Army Signal Corps number. They used phonetic-mnemonic prefixes. BG = Bag. CH = Chest. TL = Tool.

It had to have been before Plomb bought out Danielson, and probably before Plomb started buying adjustables from Danielson.

Plomb never bought adjustables (or pliers, end wrenches, etc) from J.P. Danielson. AA is just dead wrong about this. I've explained this before on the Plomb thread, but you must have missed it.

The source of AA's error is AA misattributing the date of Plomb's acquisition of J.P. Danielson to the date of the publication in which they found the acquisition announcement (January 1947). But Plomb acquired J.P. Danielson in October 1946. With their erroneous January 1947 acquisition date in mind, and a couple very early examples of Plomb tools made in the J.P. Danielson factory with December 1946 date codes in hand, they mistakenly concluded that Plomb must have been buying tools from J.P. Danielson before they bought them. Despite the oddity of buying the same tools from a second supplier after having sourced them from Utica for many years, and no J.P. Danielson tools ever appearing in catalogs (only Utica), AA never thought to confirm their pronouncement by re-confirming the acquisition date. No Plomb tools made in the J.P. Danielson factory have date codes that precede their October 1946 acquisition.

 

[Ricky Joe]

I believe these are Utica. No brand or other markings, but I am aware that Utica made box joint pliers. I have a friend who is an avid collector of box joint pliers, and is also a blacksmith. I have given him many examples over the years. He asserts that they can only be made by hand due to the method of making the joint. I know surgical tools also have box joints. The clamping force has no side pressure. These are far too perfectly made to have been made by hand. The teeth in the jaws align perfectly.

I could be wrong.

 

[four.cycle]

"...the special wheel is a feature, not a modification..."

Oh, it's clearly a factory job - those cuts are too clean to have been done by hand.

"...not a Utica number. It is a US Army Signal Corps number..."

Indicating that this unit was manufactured by Utica for a military contract, I would assume, correct? Any idea as to date range?

I made another attempt at getting a clear shot of it - the low angle of the sun last night didn't lend itself well to showing detail.
Under the "TL-111" there appears to be something of a forging mark - possibly an "S" or a "5" :


Utica 90-6 6-inch adjustable wrench (TL-111)

 

[Provincial]

It is interesting that the 90 series wrenches seem to have conventional adjusting wheels. Apparently, this was a modification (by Utica) that was not just an experiment. Since Old Radar's Plomb has a similar wheel, Utica had standardized it to some extent. I tried a search for "Utica quick adjust" that came up with nothing.

I see that Utica used the base number followed by a dash and the length of the wrench through 90-, 91-, and 92- series (and maybe more), so they did not appear to identify wrenches with this feature with a distinctive part number.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Indicating that this unit was manufactured by Utica for a military contract, I would assume, correct? Any idea as to date range?

Correct. That is definitely a postwar wrench. Wartime had a raised panel. The AA page is correct if you want to see the visual progression.

 

[Fred Knox]

Recently picked up this Utica three triangle logo 90-15 15” adjustable wrench. I haven’t cleaned it up yet, but it still works perfectly.

 

[Username already in use]

I brought home this pair of UTICA 777 pliers. The thinnest needle nose I have.

 

[LesserSon]

Picked up a pair of pliers I didn’t have before.
No1-7…
Well, that’s how they’re marked. I do not see them in the half-dozen catalog pdfs I have at hand. They appear to be a straight variant of battery pliers. Three-diamond logo (not chain links), depressed diamond grips with straight-across termination. Early, but not particularly early 1920s-30s, maybe. Not sure why I don’t see them in catalogs.
Alloy Artifacts shows a pair with no more information than the obvious.

 

[wrenchr]

I'm a sucker for quality American made tools and Bonney and Utica are no exception. Here are a few items.

 

[Chris Christiansen]

Picked up this pair of nippers today. But there is no model number on it, only three diamond, UTC "pat apd for". Any idea what the primary purpose might have been and date? piano wire? The jaws are very nice.

 

[Chris Christiansen]

Well, that's embarrassing. I shoulda checked with Alloy Artifacts first before posting here.

Utica Drop Forge & Tool Company

An article on the Utica Drop Forge and Tool Company with examples of its tools.

alloy-artifacts.org

 

[LesserSon]

Looks like No3 Compound End Cutting Nipper, available 4-1/2, 5-1/2,7-1/2,9”. p13 of the 1939 catalog.

 

[Chris Christiansen]

Thanks LesserSon for looking that up for me. The one in my photo's are 9-1/2" overall length.

 

[LesserSon]

Because they are Utica, I think the applied for patent is likely the 4th improvement on Hall’s original. But you might have to open them up to see. DATAMP has a discussion on the four patents, lawsuit / 1889 Supreme Court decision, and a suggestive mention of UTICA production. I do wonder how an 1890 patent could still be forged-in “appled for” if Utica took over manufacturing them in 1895.

 

[btrnuthatch]

Don't know if this 483 is vintage or not. I haven't been able to find any info in my brief search. I also haven't found anything about the markings -- "CUSTOM BUILT" and "MADE TO ORDER" -- on the reverse side of the model number

Below ORDER is a faintly stamped number 4 on the right handle.

Apologies if I missed a discussion that explains it.

 

[LesserSon]

Yes, vintage: mid-1940s to late 1950s.
Since they are custom, don’t expect to find them in catalogs.

 

[PowderKeg]

Recently completed a triple play of Utica ratchets - torque wrenches are pretty common, but standard ratchets appear not so. Have had the 1/2" for years - took a little to determine it's a Utica with the grinder marks obliterating most of the brand - and the hunt will continue for a rep in better shape. The 3/8" & 1/4" were both fished out of the bay, one shortly after the other, about the only ones I've seen for a very long while.

 

[Username already in use]

@PowderKeg well done.

 

[LesserSon]

Those are interesting. I see them in the 1967 Bonney catalog. Short run with the triwing selector, then a decades-spanning run with the straight bar selector. Maybe Kelsey-Hayes was unsure what brand to put on them at first. Advertised in Motor Age 1966; August as Herbrand, November as Bonney. The handles look like they may descend from Herbrand pearheads. “Loc-Rite” is being used as a line of tools, because the Loc-Rite patent pertains to the lobed engagement of sockets and wrench broaches on hex heads.

 

[PowderKeg]

They're def the 1968 Rozmus patent (3372612 filed for in 1966) assigned to Kelsey-Hayes. Have several different brands - Bonney, Bon-e-con, Dayton, Herbrand, John Deere, Chrysler (awards ratchets). Have triple plays of Bonney's with both selectors, Daytons and Herbrands I have so far are tri-wing as well, with the others using the bar.

 

[LesserSon]

Well, that is a sweet collection!

 

[AntiqueBen]

I have this pair of 8" Utica Lineman pliers stamped US. I'm curious if the government used this tool? I think these are older due to the V-Shape at the top of the handle pattern? Looks like something else is stamped next to the logo but I can't make it out. I think it says "appl'd for." Anyone know anything about these or what era?