Diamond Calk Horseshoe Adjustable Wrench

[d42jeep]

I’ve found a few pairs of pliers in the last month. Cleaned this up.




Green plastic handle example
Fresh looking 8” pair I found around the end of last month.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

Diamond Calk & Horseshoe CW15 chain wrench (patent 3304817)

 

[Lesserstore]

I got this 10" adjustable a while back, and I'm wondering if there is a way to take it apart. It's like the hole for the pin/screw is plugged, or the pin is one way.

 

[RTM]

Somewhere on the vintage forum is the hint to whack the wrench, pin down, on the edge of a piece of wood, avoid hitting the wood with the pin. Tried it on a Crescent spud wrench, and it worked for me. Maybe works on Diamond too. Maybe search this thread for wood, or different synonyms for whack.

 

[3baygarage]

I got this 10" adjustable a while back, and I'm wondering if there is a way to take it apart. It's like the hole for the pin/screw is plugged, or the pin is one way.

are you saying the screw is staked in place? Hard to tell from here what's in there.

 

[RTM]

are you saying the screw is staked in place? Hard to tell from here what's in there.

Oh yeah, if bit is staked, small dremel bit to grind the ears back a bit, then whack it with a cold chisel when complete nd reassembled.

 

[RTM]

Dang, this thread has gone quiet, but my Diamond life suddenly got really busy, so a real reason for a bump. Over the past two Sundays, I have acquired three different sized Diamalloy adjustable wrenches from two sources. Since my first post was showing my five, this seems like a good way to go again.




The top 18” is new, as is the rightmost 6”, both from last Sunday’s shop clear out. The bottom 4” is from today.

The 18” is kinda interesting, as it’s about 5-3/4 #, and the dynamic jaw is 1-1/4 # of that, marked Tool Steel. And ungodly thick, the catalogs say 1-3/16” at the thickest points. It appears all the Diamalloy wrenches I can see in catalogs are “lightweight” wrenches. I think it is substantially thicker and heavier than my other 18” wrench, a newer metric Crescent at 4.5+” and 1-1/16“ thick.

But the real heartbreak is that the dynamic jaw is broken. Didn’t notice it when I grabbed it, as the movements were all stuck. Turns out something with the consistency of dried mud was in the fixed jaw part of the body, the teeth of dynamic jaw, and a bit in the knurl. A little work at home quickly made the broken jaw obvious.

Spent part of the weekend driving the broken part out, softening the crud in Simple Green, which looked like dried grease at first, cleaning the mud out of the teeth, removing the peening and rust which resulted from someone using it as a BFH. Little work with ignition and 6” ******* files, the Dremel, and a Sharpie, got it to where the broken bit would slide all the way in. There was dried mud, and bent metal keeping things tighter than it should be, had to tap it in, then hammer it out with a punch. Now it slides in and out with just finger pressure.

So, the real question, does someone have an interest, or know someone who has the interest, and the skill, to weld this back together? Maybe in exchange for green pieces of paper, or maybe some fun tool I may currently own?

Or, even better, Diamond used to sell replacement parts, does someone have an 18” jaw laying around they want to sell or trade? None currently on eBay.




The rusty 4” hit the Evaporust before dinner, will grab it tomorrow, degunk, and reassemble.

Edit: and only the left 4" and 10" are Diamond Tool. The rest are Diamond Calk. And none of them have an unknown 68 mark down near the end of the handle. Bottom center 6" had the 1/2" hole broach.

Wording on the 18"
18" Diamond Tool Steel / Drop Forged Logo
Flip side
18" Made By Diamond Calk Horse Shoe Co. / Duluth, Minn USA Logo

And a question for those that own a 15 or 18”, how long is the spring in the knurl? Mine is ~1” long, compared to < two coils on the 4”, a huge % change.

Thanks.

 

[four.cycle]

ungodly thick

yeah... intended for working on your locomotive.
I have a 15 incher that's just a beast... I can only imagine!

 

[crguy]

Dang, this thread has gone quiet, but my Diamond life suddenly got really busy, so a real reason for a bump. Over the past two Sundays, I have acquired three different sized Diamalloy adjustable wrenches from two sources. Since my first post was showing my five, this seems like a good way to go again.




The top 18” is new, as is the rightmost 6”, both from last Sunday’s shop clear out. The bottom 4” is from today.

The 18” is kinda interesting, as it’s about 5-3/4 #, and the dynamic jaw is 1-1/4 # of that, marked Tool Steel. And ungodly thick, the catalogs say 1-3/16” at the thickest points. It appears all the Diamalloy wrenches I can see in catalogs are “lightweight” wrenches. I think it is substantially thicker and heavier than my other 18” wrench, a newer metric Crescent at 4.5+” and 1-1/16“ thick.

But the real heartbreak is that the dynamic jaw is broken. Didn’t notice it when I grabbed it, as the movements were all stuck. Turns out something with the consistency of dried mud was in the fixed jaw part of the body, the teeth of dynamic jaw, and a bit in the knurl. A little work at home quickly made the broken jaw obvious.

Spent part of the weekend driving the broken part out, softening the crud in Simple Green, which looked like dried grease at first, cleaning the mud out of the teeth, removing the peening and rust which resulted from someone using it as a BFH. Little work with ignition and 6” ******* files, the Dremel, and a Sharpie, got it to where the broken bit would slide all the way in. There was dried mud, and bent metal keeping things tighter than it should be, had to tap it in, then hammer it out with a punch. Now it slides in and out with just finger pressure.

So, the real question, does someone have an interest, or know someone who has the interest, and the skill, to weld this back together? Maybe in exchange for green pieces of paper, or maybe some fun tool I may currently own?

Or, even better, Diamond used to sell replacement parts, does someone have an 18” jaw laying around they want to sell or trade? None currently on eBay.




The rusty 4” hit the Evaporust before dinner, will grab it tomorrow, degunk, and reassemble.

Edit: and only the left 4" and 10" are Diamond Tool. The rest are Diamond Calk. And none of them have an unknown 68 mark down near the end of the handle. Bottom center 6" had the 1/2" hole broach.

Wording on the 18"
18" Diamond Tool Steel / Drop Forged Logo
Flip side
18" Made By Diamond Calk Horse Shoe Co. / Duluth, Minn USA Logo

And a question for those that own a 15 or 18”, how long is the spring in the knurl? Mine is ~1” long, compared to < two coils on the 4”, a huge % change.

Thanks.

Those early heavy models don't bring a lot of money. I'd just buy a better one rather than spending time and money fixing a broken one.

 

[RTM]

Those early heavy models don't bring a lot of money. I'd just buy a better one rather than spending time and money fixing a broken one.

Saw couple on ebay, $50- 75 plus $25 shipping, another at Around 90 plus 10 shipping (sold and still active). Waiting to see if someone "offers" me a cheap one.

 

[four.cycle]

Diamond HL110P 10 inch groove joint pliers (patent 3739664 Jun 19 1973 John E. Swanstrom Jr.) The patent applies to the manner in which the steel is being forged to form the tool.

 

[four.cycle]

Diamalloy 7-inch diagonal cutters


* Not really sure if what I scraped off of the handles with a razor blade was the original yellow grips, or multiple layers of yellow vinyl tape. Either way, it came off in tiny slivers to reveal these polished handles. No part number on these. They appear to have been marked "AL" by a previous owner.

 

[Provincial]

I looked through a small bin of adjustable wrenches at an estate sale Friday. I noticed green plastic on one at the bottom of the pile, but the plastic only filled the sides of the wrench, not encasing it completely, like a Diamond wrench. I pulled it out, and discovered the name "Artisan" forged in under the plastic. A quick look at the Alloy Artifacts site confirmed that Diamond was a supplier to Gambles/Artisan.

10" Artisan

 

[d42jeep]

These formerly kind of ugly 8” Diamond pliers I found at a yard sale yesterday look a little better now after an overnight in the evaporust.
-Don
Before
After

 

[The Bean]

I guess the adjustable wrench was to turn the calk into the shoe.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I guess the adjustable wrench was to turn the calk into the shoe

Diamond, like other major horseshoe makers, made and provided a special tool for extracting calks. One is shown at the top of the page you posted. They also made a double-ender. (see below) They do resemble wrenches in the sense of having a shank and an opening to fit around the calk, but they wouldn't fit standard boltage and they weren't adjustable. One of my favorite 1920's vintage lineman's pliers were made by a company here in NJ called Neverslip, and they, too, made horseshoes with calks for wintry weather and a special wrench to extract them, giving them their name.

I could be wrong, but I believe Diamond's entry into the adjustable "crescent" type wrench marketplace, following Crescent (in 1909) and others, was driven by the automobile.

 

[GarageHobbyist]

Here are my few examples so far. The thin nose set needs a new nut, Luckily HJE has some still. I ordered a few spares to have on hand.

 

[d42jeep]

Found these end nippers at a garage sale yesterday.
-Don

 

[B Halverson]

For a number of decades I have had one of these adjustable wrenches in my toolbox while working electrical construction, as the union's tool list required us to carry this type of wrench. Always did the job, can you spot it in the box?

 

[d42jeep]

This it?
Here is one of mine.
-Don

 

[B Halverson]

Here is one of mine.-Don

Yea, that looks like it. I remember 25 years ago I was working on the Great Lakes Crossing Mall north of Detroit when they were building it and a guy I was working with borrowed it and commented how I must be a real hick to have a tool that said "horseshoe" on it.

 

[four.cycle]

^ Well, they were originally "Diamond Calk & Horseshoe Company", long before anyone thought about stamping out adjustable wrenches.

Horseshoes were big business at the turn of the century. The CALK industry was HUGE in the cities that had cobblestone streets in the east. Hard to fathom how large an industry revolved around the horse.

 

[B Halverson]

This mattock has come in handy for gardening here and there, it is only about 24" overall give or take, and it may have been a WWII military item going by it's markings;

 

[d42jeep]

I found this 10” adjustable wrench at this morning’s garage sale. It is the newer post 1958 style with no mention of calks but it does still have the horseshoe. The pin in this one is staked in place so it just got cleaned and lubed. It now opens and closes all the way.

-Don

 

[blaki4]

Got this 4” and 6” from my grandpas toolbox

 

[Eilif]

Here's my Diamond adjustable. Pretty sure this one came from Grandpa. As with all my stuff, I'd love to know the age.

Grandpa was from Minnesota so it seems appropriate he'd have a few tools from Duluth.



Will have a few more to post later.

 

[d42jeep]

They are hard to date but according to AA the Calk was eliminated from their name in 1958 so yours must be older than that. They switched to the reinforced hanging hole after the WW2 period when many of the hanging holes were broached so your wrench is newer than 1945. So sometime between ‘45 and ‘58.
-Don

 

[Eilif]

They are hard to date but according to AA the Calk was eliminated from their name in 1958 so yours must be older than that. They switched to the reinforced hanging hole after the WW2 period when many of the hanging holes were broached so your wrench is newer than 1945. So sometime between ‘45 and ‘58.
-Don

Thanks! That makes perfect sense for a guy who would have been building his tool collection after service in WW2 and then college .

 

[Eilif]

Here's another.
Sheet metal snips? No idea where I got it.
I think I bought this just because it was big and cheap.

Never bothered to look for a brand because I figured the green rubber was a sign of a low end. Clearly I was wrong about that.
What's the years for these green wrapped tools?

 

[Eilif]

My last 2.
Posted more pics of this WW2 US Navy Naval Aviation Corp wrench elsewhere.


And here's a pair of wire cutters
What's the likely age for these?
I still use these fairly regularly. Nice blades.

 

[GaryM909]

I came across a couple in one of my drawers today. They don't seem to be too common around here. I
I also have a 4" one that is not pictured.

 

[GarageHobbyist]

I just noticed between the two later model 6” wrenches I have. The One with the grip has the thumb recess that the 1983 catalog shows for “right handed users”.

The other has the thumb recess on both sides of the wrench. This one also has a “44” in the casting in the corner of the inset on the “no extensions” side.

Perhaps an ambidextrous model that never made a catalog?

 

[Farmer J.]

I just noticed between the two later model 6” wrenches I have. The One with the grip has the thumb recess that the 1983 catalog shows for “right handed users”.

The other has the thumb recess on both sides of the wrench. This one also has a “44” in the casting in the corner of the inset on the “no extensions” side.

Perhaps an ambidextrous model that never made a catalog?

That's interesting, as well as amusing! I see that both of them have a right hand thread adjusting screw, so the makers didn't go to the trouble of reversing that for left hand users.. As you say, the choice is either 'Right Handed' or 'Ambidextrous' !

 

[four.cycle]

wait.... what??

right-hand adjustable wrench?

for real, brah?

 

[GarageHobbyist]

wait.... what??

right-hand adjustable wrench?

for real, brah?

1983 Catalog

 

[four.cycle]

I thought you were yankin' my chain there...

.... you can't make this stuff up!

 

[d42jeep]

I found this 12” Diamond adjustable wrench at an estate sale yesterday. It is newer than Diamond Calk and Duluth isn’t mentioned, just USA. What is odd to me is that the depressed panel runs clear up to the adjuster on one side but not the other.
A little cleaner.
No hammering and no extensions kind of takes the fun out of it!
-Don

1983 Catalog

I posted one for a right hander in Feb of last year.
-Don

 

[GarageHobbyist]

I posted one for a right hander in Feb of last year.
-Don

I try to find Minnesota marked tools, but for the right price won’t pass up others. That’s how I ended up with these two later versions several months a part. Couldn’t say no for a buck or two each.

I knew they did the thumb recess starting in the 80’s.
I was reorganizing and moving stuff around and noticed the one had the recess on both sides. I hadn’t seen that mentioned anywhere and couldn’t find any references to it.

 

[four.cycle]

so.... .did they do one for the lefties?

.... askin' for a friend....

 

[GarageHobbyist]

so.... .did they do one for the lefties?

.... askin' for a friend....

I don't think so