My Small But Growing Collection of BICYCLE WRENCHES (7 inches or less only!)

[four.cycle]

@Leviton -

Cyclo / Cyclo Gear Co. Ltd., Potters Hill, Birmingham, England / bicycle wrench / https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Cyclo_Gear_Co /

thanks for that.

 

[Leviton]

I brought this home from the swap meet because it was an odd looking little wrench that had no markings.
Turns out it is a bicycle hub wrench for specific New Departure bicycle hubs.
For a production era, I found a WorthPoint advert on one of these that said: "For the rear hub on "New Departure" bicycles dating from about 1910 to 1929. “ - I know that's not a definitive answer, but it seemed to roughly agree with other info I found, and since I'm not a bike wrench connoisseur that's a good enough timeline for me.



Wrench is 5.6 inches long. Open end is 5/8" and the inside-to-inside distance between the pins is 1.5” which surround a 7/8" diameter hole.

(The guy at the swap meet had bigger fish to fry. I asked him if he knew what this was for and he said he had no idea. When I asked him how much he wanted for the little guy, that was an orphan among all his other big farm wrenches and parts, he said: "You can just walk off with it and I won't care." I flipped him a dollar and thanked him.

 

[four.cycle]

New Departure / New Departure Mfg. Co., Bristol, CT / bicycle bell / est. 1888 (as New Departure Bell Co.) / patent 483084 Sep 20 1892 Edward D. Rockwell & 850077 Apr 9 1907 Harry Pond Townsend / https://throwinwrenches.blogspot.com/2013/09/keeping-america-rolling-brief-history.html /

Interesting find for sure.

 

[Bustrrosodd]

fashion:


1886 The Cycle Holmes & Co. advertisement

1896 Hulbert Bros. advertisement

1895 Gormully & Jeffery Rambler Bicycle advertisement

1886 The Cycle front cover

1926 Ludwig Hohlwein Munchen Victoria Fahrrader Bicycle ad

Simply outstanding!

 

[Stubby1743]

I found this little one at my local car boot sale this morning. Normally I would leave wrenches like this behind, but the plating and the made in USA made me take a better look.

Marked "Seabrook's 1 MADE IN U.S.A." 5" as shown and 4 1/8" closed. It is similar to the sleeve type Lakeside Forge shown in post #61.

After searching, it seems that only one other Seabrook's wrench has been posted on the forum here:-

3 unknowns to think about

#1 3" bicycle wrench. One side marked Made in USA. Can't make out the logo on the other side. Something ____brook? Could be a bike brand name? #2 another bicycle wrench. Can't find info on C. Mfg. Co. Adjusting nut modified for quick slip back and forth? #3 Unknown maker. M in an octagon box?

www.garagejournal.com

Were Seabrook's a tool manufacturer or just a re-brander?

 

[RTM]

Were Seabrook's a tool manufacturer or just a re-brander

Seabrook might be your original mfgr and maybe patent holder. Too early in the morning to go digging.

GB Patent: 190,313,381 - Improvements in Combined Wrenches and Tyre Levers for use by Cyclists and other like Persons

GB patent 190,313,381 Improvements in Combined Wrenches and Tyre Levers for use by Cyclists and other like Persons was issued to Percy Benson Harrison Seabrook of London, England and Henry Herbert Parkes Seabrook of London, England. It was granted on 12/03/1903. Compound curve and taper "tyre...

datamp.org

GB Patent: 190,421,321 - A Pipe Wrench Attachment for Adjustable Spanners or Wrenches

GB patent 190,421,321 A Pipe Wrench Attachment for Adjustable Spanners or Wrenches was issued to Henry Herbert Parkes Seabrook of London, England and Percy Benson Harrison Seabrook of London, England. It was granted on 07/27/1905. Clip-on pipe jaw attachment for nut wrench. A couple of...

datamp.org

Guessing a licensing agreement to be made here.

Further digging now that I’m more awake. Found an Etsy and eBay sales listing. Both wrenches were in the UK. Maybe made here, sold there?

 

[four.cycle]

There is no "Seabrook" at Wheelman:

http://www.thewheelmen.org/sections/bicyclebrands/bicycle-brands-companies.php

(remember that Wheelman only looks at American makes)

 

[Stubby1743]

It seems that "Seabrook's" made in the USA and "Seabrook" made in the UK are different companies.

 

[four.cycle]

^ That would be a very reasonable assumption, in which case I'd say it's possible your "Seabrook" wrench was actually made by Springfield Forging, who cranked out all kinds of them for other companies.
"Seabrook" may have been a hardware distributor, peddler of machinery - who knows? Some of those wrenches were clearly made for promotional purposes.

 

[Stubby1743]

I've just found this advert. The design of the #1 is almost exactly the same as mine. An extravagant claim that they are "the best spanners made". Maybe Seabrook Bros got a maker in the USA to produce their designs.

In the 1020's the Seabrook Bros made cars in the UK.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The design of the #1 is almost exactly the same as mine.

And the logo on yours is exactly the same as the logo on the No. 5. There is ZERO doubt it was sold by Seabrook Brothers, London.

Maybe Seabrook Bros got a maker in the USA to produce their designs.

This may support that theory.



This is interesting...




The US Army Signal Corps buying a wrench sold by a company located in England (but perhaps made in the U.S.) for a strombos alarm horn kit in 1920 may seem a little odd, until you realize that these compressed air horns were invented by the British in 1915. It looks they may have at least modeled if not sourced the entire set off a British version. Imperial War Museum: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30028503

In the 1920's the Seabrook Bros made cars in the UK.

Looks like they were making components before that. Did you see the note about a "non rattling cathedral chime bell" at the bottom of the spanners ad?