The strong arm of tools

[four.cycle]

1973 Armstrong Bros. catalog 820C

(I'll shoot all these off to Mark at ITCL (along with a mess of Clemson stuff - whether or not he uploads them to the site it up to him. )

 

[RTM]

Here is a recent find from the Alameda Antique Flea Market. Picked this up for a whopping $3. I think this is a full polished ignition wrench set, with a slight and severe offset from straight (12 & 85°).

Each is marked with
size (same at both ends, which I think is unusual), 27-9xx, the ** being size in 32 (except 13/64 which is 904), size
flip side is
Armstrong USA ARMALOY

Supposedly this set is 25+ years old (rules of the flea), but its right near that I'd guess. I don't see any catalogs containing that.

Parts in the kit are below

Size 1 / Angled	Size 2 / Square	Description	Drive	Tag
3/16	3/16	Ignition		27-906
13/64	13/64	Ignition		27-903
7/32	7/32	Ignition		27-907
1/4	1/4	Ignition		27-908
9/32	9/32	Ignition		27-909
5/16	5/16	Ignition		27-910
11/32	11/32	Ignition		27-911
3/8	3/8	Ignition		27-912
7/16	7/16	Ignition		27-914
1/2	1/2	Ignition		27-916
9/16	9/16	Ignition		27-918
5/8	5/8	Ignition		27-920
		Pliers		67-717
		Roll 14 slot		29-369

 

[genog]

I thought "The Strong Arm of Tools" was thee official Marketing slogan for Armstrong Tools
Sure sounds better to me than, "The Tool People"

Found these at the Flea Market today....
For the past several months or so, I've been faithful to my self imposed restriction that is:

Only Stuff that I NEED
No duplicates, triplicates, extras, etc
Good Gawd, especially no more screw drivers, pliers....

That was until today....
Brand New Unused, still in the box Armstrong diagonal cutters and long round nose pliers
For the price, I couldn't lay off

 

[leg17]

Rules are made to be broken

 

[Private Lugnutz]

...a slight and severe offset from straight (12 & 85°)...[ ]...Each is marked with size (same at both ends, which I think is unusual),

I'd be shocked if the angles weren't 15* x 75*. That configuration, as well as the same sizes on both ends, was an industry standard for midget or miniature end wrenches marketed as electrical wrenches. Those marketed explicitly as ignition wrenches were typically 15* x 60*, came in pairs, with each size opening afforded both angles.

Paging through just a smattering of the other mfgrs (Blue-Point, Williams, New Britain, Duro-Indestro, etc) will confirm, but I do have a large collection. There was some variance and some mfgrs got a little cute. Plomb, just to name one example, liked to refer to their miniature end wrenches with 15* x 60* angles as "Obstruction" wrenches (even though most other mfgrs reserved that term for a wrench with one end having a 90* angle) and they gave the wrenches they referred to as "Electrical" wrenches 15" x 80* angles.

But if you look through older Armstrong catalogs (try 50's and 60's), I am positive you'll see an older version of your electrical set, with an 1140 number and an 11xx model numbering scheme, a little smaller in quantity/range, topping off with the 1/2" wrench.

 

[Leviton]

I found one like that today. It is in very good condition for a bare steel wrench. This is as-found condition.





When I got home, I searched the big auction site and saw two more. There's one currently for sale and another that sold recently; so I don't think the odd sizing was an accident.

Like Lugs, I thought of Williams when I saw SPECIAL stamped into the shank.

...

I too am confused as to why one would want a wrench with the same size openings at both ends that are set at the same angle, with the only difference being one oversized head. I wonder why anyone would want such a fat 5/16" wrench?

Another odd-ball for my DOE box.

Tom

Last week I also found one of these DOEs with a 5/16" opening on each end. Strange that they are so common.
These are marked as "21", meaning they were originally 5/16" at one end and 13/32" at the other end. To make these "SPECIAL", Armstrong used the wrench blank for the 21 but punched out the 13/32" end to instead be 5/16".
These are pretty tiny. Mine was 4.08" long and 0.15" thick at the jaws.

 

[genog]

I've been going through my tools looking for MAC, Matco and Cornwell stuff and found this Armstrong 1/2" drive ratchet

 

[cody1325]

I rarely have need for 3/4 drive these days. If it's "on too good" I have impacts--pneumatic and soon cordless; for most tightening stuff, a long 1/2 ratchet usually is enough; and 1/2 does get into the 1-in and larger sizes I typically used to get the 3/4 out for. I don't know why my Granddad wasn't big on 1/2 drive.

About a year ago, I couldn't find a 1 1/8" socket to get the hitch ball off the UTV so I could replace it with a ****** hook. I did have one--in 3/4 drive. However, the no-name "TAIWAN" ratchet literally fell apart in my hands just taking it out of the case. It obviously broke when it was last used--on a family friend's Bush Hog. But, that ratchet had been on its last leg for ages.

Antiques store by my house had a nice Armstrong 13-906 for around $30; and I figured that would be a more than adequate replacement.

There was also an Easco (related) extension on it--I didn't get a photo of it before I stashed the stuff in my 3/4 kit.

Next step, the carry box. Both latches are broken. HJE has a Pioneer Steel case for 1" drive that looks perfect. I'm also going to replace most of the no-name sockets with Armstrong as well.

Need to find a repair kit. There's nothing wrong with the ratchet (does need a full clean and lube--but that detent ball in the reversing lever scares me) but I keep spares for my Protos.

 

[MR.X]

Quick shop by the flea today. Ford shop made specialty wrench , flat shank Craftsman Vanadium DOE, 1” Plomb 8 point socket and what I assume is an Armstrong single end machinery wrench. American Tool Works? Anyway, dude was practically giving the stuff away so….

 

[MR.X]

Couple more…So I guess the 721 is a “special” because both ends are 5/16 instead of 5/16 x 3/8? …the tool #245 on the other one is something I’m unfamiliar with.

 

[3baygarage]

5/16 x 5/16 lobster

 

[Gmonkee]

I grew up in an area rich in Armstrong from Chicago.
Old stuff, mostly 1930's and earlier.

I rolled into Mexico and found a lot of old Armstrong (Chicago) tools in the street markets in my town.
I bought all I could find this time. They were among the highest quality of vintage US brands I found here in common use.
Before anyone established manufacturing in Mexico on a big scale they imported your obsolete stuff to get stuff fixed.

Barcalo and other brands heavy in the Midwest area are also well represented.

 

[Stubby1743]

I found this DOE at my small local car boot sale this morning.

I've had a quick look through this thread and the AA Armstrong section, but I haven't seen any pictures of metric Armstrong DOEs.

Edit: The 1966 catalogue that is available online says that this style of wrench/spanner is available in Whitworth and metric sizes on special order.

 

[Snaparxon]

Added a set of 1/4" drive SAE shallow sockets to compliment my set of metric shallows along with a few other pieces. Can't find a catalog online from the 80's that shows what is supposed to be in this box along with another box I have. 80's catalogs seem to be scarce.

 

[MR.X]

Local flea. Dude laying out his grandpa’s tools. I swear, 1/3 of them were welding repaired or modified like putting wood handles on Ford Model T valve lifter tools, but then there were ones in his 50 cent box that had almost no wear at all like this DOE.

 

[Snaparxon]

Is this a Armstrong logo on an Imperial knife?

 

[Lesserstore]

Imperial also used a disembodied arm with a hammer as their logo.