J H Williams vintage hand tools

[Private Lugnutz]

I don't remember if there were any Williams wrenches from back in your Workdawg days...

So many former identities and personas, so little time!

I can imagine that Williams or the government would have wanted some sort of "preservative".

? Of course they did. Maybe I am misunderstanding you, because I am pretty sure you're familiar with the 1942 Fed Specs for wrenches (GGG-W-636), including the allowable finishes. Enamel was one of them.



Just like mfgrs who were using cadmium as an economy line alternative to chrome, I've always assumed that mfgrs such as Williams using enamel as an economy line alternative to chrome probably rolled that right into the wartime production without a hitch. I've had all kinds of Williams Superior wrenches - including the Workpuppies surplus load, including a whole set of Jeep wrenches that I re-enamelled - that I considered wartime. But they all had natural steel faces. Just like wrenches with other alternative finishes.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Bill - I can't find these in my old Photophucket folder, but here is a link to a wartime Superior pamphlet I posted on G503 that you might find interesting. I have referred to it in the past.

 

[misterbill]

I've mentioned before how I try to find ways to get my rusty treasures out where I can enjoy them. Tonight turned into arts and crafts with MrBill when I tripped over this scrap of birch plywood. Found the Williams logo online and printed it out on a piece of 8.5" x 11" paper to fit the scrap. Picked the tools I thought worked (was thinking of the Williams catalogs with all the tools on the cover) and secured them with L-hooks as you can see. Glued on the logo and shot some lacquer over the whole shebang (minus the tools). Pretty happy with the result.



Bill

 

[Private Lugnutz]

A very simple but effective and honorable display, Bill.

 

[d42jeep]

It looks great. I would be happy to add my new Superior 25 to the next care package if you are interested. I just promised not to sell it.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

Question for the Williams experts:
I am trying to determine the actual date of some catalog pages I found which have been erroneously assigned the wrong date.
One of the pages shows what appears to be a Williams model 42 tappet wrench set.
The earliest document I have which shows this Williams set in this style of roll-up pouch is dated 1934.
Nothing like this appears in the 1931 Williams catalog available at ITCL.
Does anyone know the approximate date range that this set was available in this style pouch?
I know from another one of the pages out of this batch that it cannot be earlier than 1928 or 1929 - I'm trying to ascertain what would be the earliest possible date.

back next week
list update uploaded 03/14/26 10:40 PDT

 

[HOF]

I picked up this Williams S-55 ratchet adapter. The seller said the switch works. I pushed it harder than I thought I should and it worked. I soaked it overnight in WD-40 ... still really stiff. Any soaking recommendations? Or is it easy to disassemble? Thanks.

 

[3baygarage]

No, but those particular levers and adapters are problematic in my experiences with them. I had one that all it would do is bind up even though it looked fine. I believe it was the snap ring. It's been a long time since I messed with them.

 

[HOF]

No, but those particular levers and adapters are problematic in my experiences with them. I had one that all it would do is bind up even though it looked fine. I believe it was the snap ring. It's been a long time since I messed with them.

Thanks for your response. I have added some PB Blaster to the switch and feels like it has loosened slightly.

 

[Mintgrun]

This leaf spring separator was cRusty brown when I fownd it and has the pitting to prove it.



<W> and a B forged into the moving and stationary jaws with a patent date inside the threaded end piece.



Patented June 8, 1915; which is patent number 1,142,280, as seen on DATAMP.

US Patent: 1,142,280 - Leaf Separator for Springs

US patent 1,142,280 Leaf Separator for Springs was issued to John H. Stevenson of Ann Arbor, MI and Frederick Knowlson of Ann Arbor, MI. It was granted on 06/08/1915.

www.datamp.org

(image taken from DATAMP)




Tom

 

[nz44tool]

I grew up in Buffalo, NY - the very first tool I owned as a kid in the '50s was a Williams 6" "Superjustable" wrench (followed by a Sargent parallel jaw with cutter - I still have both of them)
I've seen lots of Williams tools over the years, but not many pliers.
This past weekend, my favorite flea market coughed up a bunch of pliers, including 3 very nice Williams products. (The Pextos and the Duro ain't bad either.)

 

[Patrickm82]

Nice haul!! @nz44tool

 

[3baygarage]

Here’s an interesting socket that a fellow member kindly sent me when a while back when I made a purchase from him.

S-239, a tool for servicing the fan pulley on late 30’s V-8 60 HP motor, as desribed in the ‘39 catalog below. Driven using a Ford starting crank!

I’d love to find the other socket for the older cars as well.

 

[WNYflyer]

Just picked this catalog up at an ES for $5. Not a ton of Vulcan stuff out there, this has the price sheet and dated 1968. They also had a 3-pc Vulcan toolbox set (+Yorktown mid box), but they wanted $450 for it. Good bones, but dirty/grimy, and no room at that price.


Unfortunately, it does not have the bent-handle flex head that I got from Pvt Lugz, so still looking for details on that.

Also, if anyone needs details or pics of certain pages/prices, let me know.

Here you go, one of my Vulcan catalogs with the latest copyright date of 1977 stamped at the bottom of the inside cover. Only date I could find. Hope it helps

 

[Cruzan80]

Thanks! Anyone know of a scanned copy of the '77 catalog (for other oddities that I don't yet know of)?

 

[four.cycle]

@WNYflyer -

Please give consideration to allowing your catalogs to be uploaded at International Tool Catalog Library
The site administrator, @Mark Stansbury, can handle all of the scanning, collating, compressing, and uploading, and return the hard copies to you.
He has done dozens of catalogs for me.
email Mark

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I'm not a fan or follower of the Porsche Carrera Cup North American series, but I was behind this truck in stop and go traffic on the I-10 near Tucson recently and couldn't help but notice and greatly admire the incorporation of a so-called "dogbone wrench" clenched in the skull's jaws by the Ruckus Racing team. These oft-maligned tools, designed by Williams in the 1930s, have always been a favorite of pit crews, despite their gimmicky rep in other circles.

 

[nz44tool]

Hmm - they might more likely be connecting rod ends

 

[nz44tool]

While we're talking about dogbone wrenches...I have NEVER found, or seen in person, any of the good-quality ones. Are they that rare, or is my vision fading?

 

[four.cycle]

^ Williams made a pretty beefy one. I believe there are British versions that are fairly stout.
The heads on them are ungodly bulky.

 

[nz44tool]

^ Williams made a pretty beefy one. I believe there are British versions that are fairly stout.
The heads on them are ungodly bulky.

Right - the big clumsy heads would make them useless in a lot of cases.
I'm just puzzled that I haven't seen any.

 

[RTM]

just puzzled that I haven't seen any.

I've only found one with the rotating heads, and passed it on to a friend. Others with the fixed head show up about once a month, and left behind.

 

[nz44tool]

Picked up a 1999 Multisocket tool as part of a tool chest score. Decent shape, first in this thread by number, but 3bay showed a new in the box over here. Mine's not that nice, but its the Chrome Alloy Sockets version. Interesting that there are no size markings (that I've found yet). A little closer look later, just hauled the box out of the trunk yesterday. Seems so much closer to usable than the fixed dogbones, but still not going to be the first wrench I grab.

edit, just passed on to a friend, he was quite happy to get it.

Oh yeah - a Williams like that would be a keeper for me!

I found a 10” adjustable at an estate sale yesterday and took it out of the evaporust this morning. It looks and works a little better.
-Don

Do you ever take your adjustables apart when cleaning them? I can never get them clean enough if I don't take the moveable jaw out.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Hmm - they might more likely be connecting rod ends

Hmmm. Maybe the crossbones that normally go with a skull-and-bones image has misled my instincts, but I'm going with dogbone wrench until the dudes at Ruckus Racing answer my query.

Williams like that would be a keeper for me!

I found the one pictured in my post above at a flea several years ago (more photos linked to GJ post here) and the only one I have seen in the wild since then that wasn't one of those smaller trashy pot metal jobbies was a German knockoff called HERKULES. Eight (8) metric sizes. It was every bit as serious as the vintage Williams. I left it behind, but posted photos linked to a GJ post here.

 

[Snaparxon]

While we're talking about dogbone wrenches...I have NEVER found, or seen in person, any of the good-quality ones. Are they that rare, or is my vision fading?

^ Williams made a pretty beefy one. I believe there are British versions that are fairly stout.
The heads on them are ungodly bulky.

Picked this one up the other day. Witherby 2770-0 made in Germany. It has a pretty deep off-set on the heads. I can't recall if the Williams version does also. I was thinking the Williams had very little off-set if any but it has been years since I had a Williams dog-bone wrench.

 

[d42jeep]

Geez, I thought mine was rare! At least it’s a little different
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I can't recall if the Williams version does also. I was thinking the Williams had very little off-set if any but it has been years since I had a Williams dog-bone wrench.

If you mean angle, they do, probably 15*, not more than that. I'll put mine on an angle gauge when I get home on Friday. You can see them very clear in post #1,777 and if you follow the link in post #1,784. The angles on the HERKULES are much sharper.

 

[Snaparxon]

Here is a pic of what I meant by offset.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Here is a pic of what I meant by offset

Check. Thanks. We have the same terminology. (I've been in discussions (and some that devolved into debates) with others who insist on conflating offset and angle.) The shank on my Williams has no offsets. If you follow the link I posted above to more photos, one of them provides the lateral perspective. The heads are angled, though. They may have made a model with offsets. I don't recall looking into that in catalogs.

 

[Snaparxon]

By the pic above, D42jeep's Witherby wrench with a different part number, appears to not have the deep offset that mine does.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I see. I may have to explore Williams production in catalogs if I get a chance later.

Rather than linking here is the no offset Williams.

 

[four.cycle]

It looks like there were a number of manufacturers producing the same sort of "swivel-headed, 8-in-1" dog bone wrenches, but that Witherby unit appears to be the only one with the offset head.

 

[four.cycle]

No... that's not correct.
Craftsman 32510 - late production, 8 metric openings, offset head
EZ Tools (China) patent D661166 - 8 metric openings, offset head
HUSKY (China) ratcheting reversible 8 SAE openings, offset head
Witherby (Germany) 8 SAE openings, offset head

the odd duck is the ROYAL, manufactured in Japan, which has angled heads.

I'll start a separate thread on this... what a screwy rabbit hole this one is.

 

[DCRUTT]

So just an update… I haven’t found any further information on Big Daddy…. But I did find a Big Momma… She is now my biggest ratchet. It’s 38” long, it has a 1 1/2” hex drive. The J H Williams E1-36 Supererector….

I’ve had one of those for years. Never used it and can’t say I ever will. Has a 2-3/16” socket. Great conversation piece.

 

[HOF]

I picked this up yesterday. Kinda goes along with the previous post. The previous owner had spray painted it black. Looks good, but seems wrong. Should I strip the paint off? What would you use? Thanks.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Should I strip the paint off?

I vote uncharacteristically no.

I'm not a fan of painting tools, in general, although I have "affected" (faked) a baked black enamel finish on select tools (a set of wartime Williams Superior engineers wrenches, ironically, which came out fantastic, and an entire Blackhawk Q.D. set). And, most ratchets do look, as you say, "wrong," painted. But it somehow suits the old timers and the bridgebuilder class ratchets.

I'd be tempted to go full gussy and paint all the lettering, raised and stamped, a Williams deep orange. It would really pop.

It's a wall hanger.

 

[Ayrhead]

I picked this up yesterday. Kinda goes along with the previous post. The previous owner had spray painted it black. Looks good, but seems wrong. Should I strip the paint off? What would you use? Thanks.

She’s a Beauty!

 

[HOF]

I also picked up this set with a Federal Stock Number. I wiped the sockets down with oil and cut a mat to fit in the bottom. Turned out nice!

 

[d42jeep]

Oh yeah - a Williams like that would be a keeper for me!

Do you ever take your adjustables apart when cleaning them? I can never get them clean enough if I don't take the moveable jaw out.

If I am able to remove the screw, I disassemble the wrench to clean it. If I am unable to remove the screw, I just clean it up as well as I can. I found this 8” adjustable today and will start the cleanup soon.
-Don

 

[nz44tool]

If I am able to remove the screw, I disassemble the wrench to clean it. If I am unable to remove the screw, I just clean it up as well as I can. I found this 8” adjustable today and will start the cleanup soon.
-Don

I persuaded my dentist to give me some tiny diamond burrs that they considered worn-out. I use them (in a Dremel tool) to remove the little dimples that keep the screw from coming out. The burrs are small enough to not do any collateral damage. Almost always successful.
The frustrating thing is finding an adjustable with a screw that has no slot - it's just a pin driven in with a friction fit. Can't get those apart!