Diamond Tool and horseshoe company

[Charles (in GA)]

I have a black oxide finish 18 inch adjustable made by Diamond Horseshoe sometime in the mid '90's. I bought it new, it resides in my tool box at work. I was looking for an 18 inch adjustable to fill out the set at home, and found a Williams chrome finish in excellent condition with no dents or dings to the jaws or handle, at a flea market. Paid $20 for it. Now I have (in various brands) adjustables from 4 inch to 18 inch (4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 18) The 15 is awaiting a new black oxide finish.

Charles

 

[kas_rustndust]

Of course it was a better situation when the Diamond factory was up and operating. The factory actually provided jobs with a living wage. The "very sad" comment was not sarcasim, it really is very sad what happened there.

To me, The chinese s**t is the last nail in the coffin at the Death of a Legend. Put me in a really dark mood. Better work my way out celebrating the old Diamonds I collect.

 

[jfcasey]

I don't know if anyone threw this in there or not but they still do manufacture a line of ferrier tools, we sell them at the TSC I work at. I have no idea on the COO but they do fetch a few pennies compared to the cheaper looking ones we have next to them.

 

[jsackin]

Here's a pic of our private Diamond wrench collection.
Sorry, these aren't for sale. They were given to us by a customer of ours.

Diamond was bought by Crescent because they were the first ones to develop the wide opening adjustable wrench and Crescent wanted their patent.

Jori
http://store.harryepstein.com

 

[Alchymist]

Top one is a Diamond:

 

[vssjim]

I remember looking in a Diamond Tool catalog in the late seventies and they sold Chrome plated horse shoe pitching sets in with the hand tools at that time.

 

[airbuff101]

Good stuff.
For years they made the HL120P 20" plier when Channellock stopped at 16".
That big green handled plier was a staple for disc brake work for decades. Still have one hanging on the wall.

airbuff

 

[egdede]

I do believe they made some pliers for Proto, and have thought the same about certain Snap-on pliers.

 

[5lima30]

I've got a Diamond Horseshoe adjustable monkey wrench thats about 25 years old. Its very good quality IMHO. TSC sells farrier tools that are made by Diamond. BTW I've been buying Diamond horse shoes at TSC for $2.99 lb. Now they sell them 4 to a pack for $7.99- $8.99! I guess steel prices are going out of sight!

 

[kas_rustndust]

I do believe they made some pliers for Proto, and have thought the same about certain Snap-on pliers.

Take a look at the Blue Point Groove Joint Pliers and check the numbering. The Artifacts pages have a little narrative on the S-O . Diamond relationship going back to the old Moto-Spec line.

 

[tradesmanschoice]

We have some genuine Diamond made in the USA electronic cutters available.

http://www.tradesmanschoice.com/catalog/Diamond/MS54-3.html

They are brand new, just most are missing their original springs. I've tested them and the cutting edges are far more durable than the latest Lindstrom's.

Mark.

 

[wayne55]

Back before the internet, I inherited a Diamond Calk and Horseshoe Co. 8" adjustable wrench that was missing the adjusting knurl. I wrote the company based on the name and city on the wrench handle to see if it was possible to buy a replacement. They just sent me free of charge the knurl, spring, and small bolt for the wrench. Great company.

 

[kas_rustndust]

About 1/3 Adjustable wrench, these Handymans and Handyboys kinda sorta fit the adjustable wrench posts. (Oddly, the Handymans are 6 inches and the Handyboys are 8) I understand the initial editions were a military tool for Ski Troopers and are marked U.S. Diamond clearly saw the commercial potential and spun them off for the consumer tool market. Then there are the Diamonds by another name. First are the Give-Ways, tools made for commercial company gifts to good customers or premiums to valued employees. Middle left is an Arco Coffee (Duluth) marked piece. The "other names" category include tools for Hardware Brands such as Wards Master or Gambles Artisan. Don't have any of these in this style.

 

[William Payne]

This is pretty cool, When I recently started my new job my dad gave me a couple of old Adjustables with Diamond Tool and horseshoe company on them, I gave them a clean up and put them in my toolbox at work they even have the green plastic coating on the handle.

 

[OldToolMan]

i JUST AQUIRED a NEW pair of Dimaloy airplane snips streight cut No stamped parts.except the locking hook.everything is cast & chromed.I am posting bthem on my web tomorrow along with the rest of the super nice Vintage tools I picked up at a Estate Sale..

 

[pfctblu]

I'll go ahead and call myself guilty of reviving an ancient thread here but I stumbled across this old thread on while googling the Diamond too co.

I deep-cleaned out the garage and found a small box worth of tools, mostly stuff that settled to the bottom of my various trades boxes (plumbing, electrical, paint etc.. One of the ones that I pretty excited to see is a slip joint plier from Diamond stamped Duluth MN USA. After reading through this thread this suddenly seems like a little gem now that I know the background of this company...thanks to Garage Journal. The jaws line up perfectly and this little ****** doesn't look even slightly used.

Other finds were lots of Stanley USA screwdrivers, a spankin' new condition 8in crestaloy crescent USA adj wrench, a 10 inch Dewitt vice grip that has seen harsh use but works perfectly anyhow, several good quality craftsman USA scrapers (with NOS blades- yay me!)

It was an epic garage cleaning so its rewarding to find all these old goodies...kind of an early Christmas for me full of good ole stuff.

 

[camarotoolman]

The double headed and the 4" ajustables are worth some $$ Also the big ones 18 and 24" sell for some good cash. 6,8 10 12s not much.

 

[petrakid]

My dad has a garage full of Diamond brand tools and probably a few horseshoes. My dad worked at Diamond Tool in Duluth for twenty-something years before the placed closed down so he ended up with a LOT of tools. My grandpa had a garage full of 'em too, which my dad got. One of these days I'm going to head back north and force my dad to let me clean the garage and see about getting some of these tools. He doesn't use them anymore and I'm sure they're all still in great shape (except for the ones I left out in the lawn or in the dirt and destroyed when I was a kid ).

 

[Rileysan]

I picked up a couple of Diamond adjustable wrenches this past weekend - including one cast with "Diamond calk horseshoe company". Paid less than $1/ea

Brian

 

[woody 73]

Brian let me be the first to say you **** ! Well done...

 

[Rileysan]

Brian let me be the first to say you **** ! Well done...

Thank you

 

[Rileysan]

I didn't realize it, but I had one more Diamond calk horseshoe co 12" wrench in my collection.

Brian

 

[1950mercury]

Just picked these up.

 

[Thumper68]

One of my best friends father and grandfather worked there. Somewhere in storage I have a box full of Diamond tools at some point I will dig them out and display them on the wall in the shop.

Oh and technically the strip mall is in what used to be the receiving and shipping yard on the site of the actual plant is a medical clinic.

That area of town has a history of past manufacturing including the Clyde Iron works which built and shipped some of the largest winches in the world.

The Clyde property is now a restaurant and the Heritage sports center, where out local High school hockey teams play (A great place to watch a game)

There is still a bridge crane in the lobby

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

That crane is a cool reminder of days gone by... Curious why the old company's logo or name isn't on it to remind the kids from which they came...

 

[davethorik]

Bought these a while back but neglected to snap a pic, Diamond GT32C carbide jaw tile nippers. Bought em cheap and they're still at work.

 

[Derek420]

Thought I'd bring this thread back as I just found an 8" adjustable wrench and learned a lot from here.

 

[Empty Pockets]

I picked up a couple of Daimond (Duluth) Wrenches and pliers at swap meets in the last couple of weeks. I'll snap a pic after I clean them up. The quality is obvious

 

[Autoguy]

I have several pliers and adjustable wrenches made by diamond
some I kept in boxes

 

[cbracer]

I have a diamond slip joint plier and the thing has yet to rust! all my other pliers have.

 

[jeeper46]

When I became a Diemaker Apprentice in January 1979, I was given a list of tools that I was expected to have, and I was told that the company would order them for me, and the cost would be taken out of my paycheck-I think it was like $10 a week. Anyway, all the hand tools were Diamond brand-a couple of adjustable wrenches, a tinsnips, sidecutters, adjustable pliers, and regular pliers, needlenose pliers,too. They all had the green coated handles. They were excellent tools, they served me well all my life in the plant, and they are still out in my Diemaker box in the garage right now. I especially liked Diamond adjustable wrenches, and over the years I've accumulated a large assortment in various sizes. I certainly don't need as many as I have, but when I see one at a yard sale for $1, I just have to rescue it. Diamond had adjustables that were marked "Thin-Wide"-they were thinner than most other adjustables, and they would open wider. Great tools-too bad they are long gone like so many others.

 

[bargainhuntingking]

Discovered that I picked up a Diamalloy 10" adjustable wrench in a mix of stuff at at an estate sale. The tolerances are very tight. Makes my Proto and Crescent adjustable wrenches look sloppy. Definitely will keep my eye out for more!

 

[lincwelder225]

Nice find!!

 

[454ragtop]

Found this at a yard sale last month. Looks to have never been used.

 

[Targa68]

Hi

A 1950's Diamalloy HL112.

12 inch water pump pliers, marked "Groove-Joint" and "Duluth, U.S.A." with the Diamalloy logo.

 

[r_olson_06]

How about a thread bump with a pair of diamond horse shoes.

Looking for a Plomb 3061 Pebble Open End.

 

[zendriver]

I had one of their 10" cresent in great shape, but was bummed to lose it, thinking I might have accidentally sent it to Goodwill.

A year later it showed up in a box in the basement. Now I guard it closely

 

[senlow]

How about a thread bump with a pair of diamond horse shoes.

Good call. the Diamond thread needed a bump.

The pics are most of my son's green handle Diamond tools. There are a few non-Diamond in the plier drawer.

 

[finn]

I have several Diamond Calk adjustable wrenches that I suspect my grandfather bought sometime between the 1920s and 1940s, as well as one newer, shiny wrench with a green dipped handl, probably from the Cooper era.

There is some interesting history on the company if you do a search.

I am somewhat interested in their history, since my wife spent her childhood living in Duluth. What I recall from my many visits there over the last sixty years is that the area that Diamond had their factory in was a dirty, smelly industrial zone, filled with ramshackle brick buildings probably constructed around the time of the civil war.

It was not a pleasant place, with poor air quality, narrow, congested streets, and not much future.

I sought out the factory site a couple of years ago, and probably have pictures somewhere on my phone.

The area has undergone a metamorphosis, with modern medical and commercial businesses, while retaining some of its industrial grittiness.

You wouldn’t want to work in thoseold third world foundries and forge shops, or breath the foul, bad tasting air.

Duluth has changed, and for the better.

 

[Legion Prime]

Just got these from Epstein last month, went looking around and saw that the factory closed back in '94. I'm actually kinda shocked they're still in such immaculate condition. I saw something from Diamond Tool last time I was in Menards, then below that I saw 'APEX Tool Group' then I kept on walking.