Show your Indestro and Duro-Chrome tools

[Jim C.]

Here’s the Indestro #350 socket set.

Jim C.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Here's a classic

 

[MisterEd]

Indestro Select 6470, 1/2” Drive; 6432, 1” Socket; 6430, 15/16” Socket and 6414, 7/16 Socket

 

[four.cycle]

@RTM -
I'm going to concur with Don on that blue-box 3/8" drive set you've found.
Bear in mind that catalog illustrations are notorious for not showing us what the boxes actually looked like. Latches don't match, colors are off, dividers are backwards, handles are different, etc.
The blue looks original. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be seeing in that tiny close-up shot.

Unfortunately the Indestro catalogs you've found at ITCL were all I was able to find. It would be really nice to have some documentation for the periods between 1937 and 1948, and between 1962 and 1972. It's difficult to make a call as to "vintage" when there are so many holes unfilled.

I found another plane here you might like. Made of wood, which is kind of interesting. I'll pack it with those other things and try to get that stuff out soon. Have to gather stuff and pack for another trip - taking off in a couple days - so it will be a couple weeks until I can get to shipping stuff out to people.

@d42jeep -
I think I have that same Duro 1/4" drive set here somewhere. Very nice.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It would be really nice to have some documentation for the periods between 1937 and 1948

I understand that you're talking about Indestro, specifically, and I know that Duro Metal Products tools were not always identical. But I think you would agree that most of the production is either in the 'very similar to near identical category', if not always 'identical', and to that end, the 1939 Duro (No. 39M), the "1940" Duro, and the other 1940 Duro (No. 40M) catalogs do provide some help on the near end. Conversely, I use the heck out of the 1948 Indestro catalog (No. 16) to help close the postwar gap between Duro's 1940 and 1951 catalogs. Not telling you anything you don't know. And I don't know if the '39 and '40 Duros are any help with respect to that particular box. Just as a general comment for all the D-I guys, I have found those overlaps helpful.

 

[four.cycle]

^ YES. emphatically YES.
I'm still kind of in a daze here recovering from the trip.
When I think "Indestro", I tend to overlook the fact that the same stuff was being produced by Duro-Chrome.

The snags you run into are stuff like what RTM's asking about though: box colors, contents of sets, etc. Usually the differences are insignificant. Most of the differences are only in the part numbers. (Although Duro Chrome did offer a much more extensive product line which included some power tools.)

Again, kind of in a daze here. Have to do a bunch of laundry, run errands and grab all the supplies for the next trip, and then take off again early Wednesday morning. So many vacations, so little time.

Probably get an updated list posted week after next, as well as getting some stuff shipped out to some members here.

BK

 

[d42jeep]

This D-I 1/4” socket set arrived in the mail today. I was especially happy to see that all the socket sizes were included as well as the crossbar. I’ve been grabbing the ratchets whenever I see them so that shouldn’t be a problem.

I added a correct ratchet, extension and newer Indestro spinner to the set since I’ll never find an original Duro spinner. The exterior of the box will need paint.

-Don

 

[Ricky Joe]

That would be an awesome accent piece for a 'History and Evolution of Water Pump Pliers' display, especially for everyone who calls them "channellocks" and looks at you like you have three heads when you call them water pump pliers!

Not all water pumps used pliers. Model A and T Fords used a hook spanner. But your point is well made. I always called them water pump pliers, also. Mostly referring to the type with offset holes to grab rather than the slots.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Not all water pumps used pliers. Model A and T Fords used a hook spanner.

The whole point of their evolution is that they were preceded by hook spanners and SOE wrenches with thin handles and angled, wide mouths, some smooth, some with flare or box end like teeth. But as I know you are well aware, water pumps came in different sizes, necessitating general mechanics to have a wide range and silly number of water pump wrenches. Just to delicately tug down (and some would say more art than science) a nut just right (not too tight, and not too loose) on packing material. Hence the innovation in the single adjustable tool.

 

[LesserSon]

“…since I’ll never find an original Duro spinner.”
- Don
(my italics)
Is that hyperbole? What does a period-correct spinner look like? (My own spinner-finding stats are 80% Taiwan, 19% SK, 1% everything else, so you may be right.)

EDIT - I think I see in your past post of the offgassing unicorn.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

They all seem to self destruct. Planned obsolescence!

 

[d42jeep]

As far as I know, the only intact Duro spinner in existence is part of Tin Medic’s collection. I never was brave enough to try to get it away from him since he sent me the self destructing one that I have
-Don
Here is his
Here is mine. It lives in a ziplock bag so as not to damage the tools around it with off gassing.

 

[Targa68]

Here is a Duro-Chrome 1/2" ratchet. It has both male and female drive, and have some remains of olive drab paint.
As seen from the pictures it is quite rough, but it operates smooth.

 

[d42jeep]

This D-I 1/4” socket set arrived in the mail today. I was especially happy to see that all the socket sizes were included as well as the crossbar. I’ve been grabbing the ratchets whenever I see them so that shouldn’t be a problem.

I got tired of looking at the rusty exterior of the box so I sanded it down and painted it.
-Don
Top and bottom as received
Painted

Put the tools back in the box. Match to the interior color isn’t too bad

 

[d42jeep]

Here are a couple of Drag Link bits I compared that might be of interest to WW2 collectors. The one on the left is marked D-I with the Duro part number. The D-I marked bit is rare. The Duro-Chrome bit on the right is hand stamped with USN markings that I’ve seen on other tools. I put it in the Navy box.
-Don

 

[RTM]

Here is something that's been kicking around for a while, and I never looked at it real hard. Thanks to @four.cycle for posting these way back in thread post #653. I recently got a new set of Indestro something, and while sorting through my others I realize I have a good chunk of a Whitworth set, but MADE IN U.S.A. All unmarked as to brand, but the double cross hatch bands look really close to 4.c's pix.


Thanks to some clarity from oletoolguy below, I moved these to the Dunlap Thread

 

[RTM]

Here is what got me digging for the set above.

Going off 4.c's statement that the patented holders were used on Indestro sets, and the patent was assigned to Duro, I am going to take a leap oand post them here.

This is the set, as found, in a bigger box of junk, full of detritus that fell out when I inverted the set. The set runs from 7/16 - 15/16, skipping 13/16. It was obvious that a ratchet should have gone in the holder, but going thru all the boxes did not turn one up. There are lots of plier's marks on the tools, so guessing it was gone for a while.



REversed,and opened



And the marking on the 14/16" socket


Again, there is no emotional attachment to these, so if someone needs them, holler. IF not, they're going to an antique flea in the future.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I think those were Dunlap.

 

[RTM]

I think those were Dunlap.

But made by Indestro? argh, maybe not, misread 4.c post. Guess I will move it to the Dunlap thread. Thanks for pointing out my miss.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

From another thread

Post in thread 'Socket maker ID?' https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/socket-maker-id.488011/post-9273809

 

[four.cycle]

@RTM
the photo just below "And the marking on the 14/16" socket" is, if I am not mistaken, an Indestro socket. (Don? Second opinion please?)

I've got multiple copies of those 1351/1451 sets, but not within arm's reach at the moment.

Somewhere here is a "hex drive" socket thread, in which a very concerted attempt was made to differentiate the four brands which cause so much confusion on those hex-drive sockets: Duro/Indestro, Sears/Dunlap, G.M. Mfg. Co., and Walden's "Tomahawk" brand.

Then you toss in all the OTHER hex drive sockets that were made by New Britain, Sedgley, and God-only-knows-who-else, and you are really deep into the worm can

I'm cross-posting with somebody here.

 

[four.cycle]

Post in thread 'Socket maker ID?' https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/socket-maker-id.488011/post-9273809

Yes.

Again, these have been the source of a great deal of confusion here for years. You will find multiple threads like that. The only one where we really tried to do side-by-side comparisons, though, had "HEX" in the thread title, and you can't find it with the search function here.

There was another thread running concurrently which also had a LOT of photos in it. We were getting a lot of participation, because everybody has some of those hex-drive sockets laying in a drawer somewhere. Maybe two or three years back. Might have been longer.

At some point in the future some genius will make up a "QUICK ID" wall chart - one side will show hex drive sockets, the other PLOMB letter-letter codes.

 

[d42jeep]

Here are my very similar metric sockets and a listing from the ‘60 Sears catalog showing a Whitworth option.

 

[MisterEd]

When you find one and can't find the rest.
Indestro Nut and Tap Wrench 5/8 x 3/4

 

[d42jeep]

I used to have this one. It may have ended up in Indestro heaven, which is in the Pacific Northwest.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

^ I have a few of those!

 

[The Bean]

I see a weak point...?

 

[DWise]

I recently inherited these Industro Select ratcheting wrenches.

 

[genog]

When you find one and can't find the rest.

That sums it up for me

 

[MisterEd]

That sums it up for me

Uh huh. Like the difference between fishing and catching. Still, much of the pleasure comes from the search and the discovery and in my seventh decade I know that time is precious in much different ways than it used to be.

 

[The Bean]

in my seventh decade I know that time is precious

I was about to congratulate you, then realized I'm also in my seventh...here's to a few more. Cheers!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

A little indestro set I spotted advertised for 8$ on Craigslist. Turned out to be an 80 something year old widow selling her husband's tools, so I gave here 20$ for it.

 

[four.cycle]

1939 Motor Age Indestro ad pp 83

1939 Motor Age Indestro ad pp 133

what is that odd-looking unit laying between the double-ended (refrigeration?) ratchet and the sliding t-bar?


1951 Indestro ad

 

[Oldtuleguy]

One of these guys

 

[four.cycle]

^ so that's 1/4" or 5/16" hex drive?

 

[Oldtuleguy]

3/8 hex drive! Just another duro indestro oddity

 

[four.cycle]

3/8" hex?!?!?

 

[oak_park]

My regular seller guy has been trying to get me to buy this for 15.00, neither of us know what it is, I said it looks like a Whistle set, but it would be real sharp if you put it in your mouth...lol...some kind of wood chisel thingy? I'm not sure what it is.

 

[Mintgrun]

That looks like a hole punch set. Or, gasket punch set. I'd gladly pay $15 for that and I am quite frugal! I'm not sure what the ball end tool is though.

Tom

 

[four.cycle]

Well worth $15 bucks.
I'm guessing Don would grab it in a heartbeat.