My Small But Growing 1/4" drive Socket Set Collection

Oldtuleguy · Nov 7, 2018

I suspect they are related...

Oldtuleguy · Nov 7, 2018

Here is a Japanese sk knock off set from ebay

Private Lugnutz · Nov 7, 2018

If I can switch gears from "Set Show n' Tell" to "ID Me Please" for just a post, does anyone recognize these 1/4-inch drive tools, both of which only have a COO marking, no branding?

The bright yellow-handled reversible ratcheting spinner (Pics 1 & 2) could be modern for all I know about modern tools. Has a sort of YANKEE looking ferrule with the L/R switch. As you can see, it will take other bits, so I am sure it was part of a fairly large set that may have included not only sockets but other bits (e.g., regular tip screwdrivers, Phillips tip screwdrivers, etc).

I am pretty sure the black composite-handled squared-shank hinge handle (Pics 3, 4, & 5) is vintage. As you can see, it is one of those types of less common hinge handle designs where the drive head is forked, not the shank. It has a detent ball, but the pin through the shank is not forged.

3baygarage · Nov 7, 2018

Pretty sure the yellow is Oxwall. Came in the pouch with the speeder handle and shanks. The black may be Oxwall or GM Co., something along those lines.

four.cycle · Nov 8, 2018

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say probably Oxwall. See my Oxwall set in post #7 of this thread for visual comparison of the reversible ratcheting driver.

Photo images of a similar looking reversible ratcheting driver from current Ebay listings for visual comparison:

Oxwall 6-pc Utililty Screw-Driver set (Ebay 132845137040 01).jpg

Oxwall 6-pc Utililty Screw-Driver set (Ebay 132845137040 02).jpg

Oxwall 6-pc Utililty Screw-Driver set (Ebay 132845137040 03).jpg

Oxwall 21-pc Tool Set (Ebay 183482283770 02).jpg

Oxwall 21-pc Tool Set (Ebay 183482283770 03).jpg

The construction of the breaker is very similar to the Oxwall breaker in my set (again, post #7). They're usually either clear yellow or opaque white, but there's no reason why they couldn't have made them black. (Occam's Razor comes in here.)

G.M. Mfg. Co.'s breakers were usually all metal construction (see post #16 of this thread.)

Private Lugnutz · Nov 8, 2018

Thanks, guys. I was envisioning something exactly like that pouch. And thanks for the post # ref, 4.c. I swear I scanned first and came up nil!

bmwrd0 · Nov 8, 2018

I picked this up a couple years ago in Oakland:

Someones homebrew 9/32" set, a mix of Snap-on, Williams, Plomb, and Deco, all labeled nicely and pretty complete. It was missing a few pieces when I got it, but I had them so it worked out well.

Private Lugnutz · Nov 8, 2018

That's so well done, from the homemade box to the router work, right down to the flourishes on the numbers and letters of the labeling, that it's just as cool as a factory set in its own way.

four.cycle · Nov 8, 2018

That box really is quite a piece of work. :thumbup:

bmwrd0 · Nov 8, 2018

It was one of those things that there was no way I was going to pass on. I just need to find one of those early Snap-on ratchets for the empty spot.

d42jeep · Nov 8, 2018

I hate when people are finding stuff in Oakland that Notlob and I have missed! Isn't there plenty of Plomb and P&C in Oregon? I thought that the little screwdriver bit in the upper right might be my missing SO one but it looks to be Plomb. Very cool set!
-Don

Private Lugnutz · Nov 8, 2018

d42jeep said:
I hate when people are finding stuff in Oakland that Notlob and I have missed! Isn't there plenty of Plomb and P&C in Oregon?

HAHA! Oooooo yeah, now we're talking some territorial smack! See, while yous guys out there in the Bay Area and the PNW were playing all "one for all and all for one" with each other I was posting metaphorical NO HUNTING signs here a long time to fend off Middle Atlantic Coast poachers!

bmwrd0 · Nov 8, 2018

Well, I picked it up when I still lived in the east bay. I used to haunt the O'Co swap pretty often and the Concord one every Sat.

Private Lugnutz · Nov 8, 2018

BK,

I promise I am not going to clutter up your thread with loose 1/4-inch drive pieces, but I had a partial 1/4-inch drive day today at my Thursday flea. (This is the onesy-twosy way I roll unfortunately.)

I found this unmarked spinner/sliding tee pair in the same box (no sockets, no case) and the workmanship seems to be a cut above yer everyday average Oxwall/G.M.Co. fare. See Pic 1.

And I also found this matching Walden spinner (3118) and hinge handle (3117), again, no sockets or case in sight. In this case, I do have a wartime 41-W-2615 box with the flag and Walden logo commonly accompanying these FSN-marked boxes, and I know I've got a mess of sockets to reunite them with, too. See Pics 2, 3, 4, & 5.

CRTDI · Nov 9, 2018

Snappy black band metric set.

four.cycle · Nov 9, 2018

Private Lugnutz said:
I promise I am not going to clutter up your thread with loose 1/4-inch drive pieces, but I had a partial 1/4-inch drive day today at my Thursday flea. (This is the onesy-twosy way I roll unfortunately.)

I found this unmarked spinner/sliding tee pair in the same box (no sockets, no case) and the workmanship seems to be a cut above yer everyday average Oxwall/G.M.Co. fare. See Pic 1.

I'm not concerned in the least about "cluttering up" the thread here. I think we're all going to learn some stuff here with the onesie-twosies (like your Oxwall examples above.)
Those pieces in that first photo do not look like any Oxwall or G.M. I've seen in person or on Ebay. Of course, I can't claim to have seen everything, but they do not look at all familiar.

Very few of the Walden sets I see listed on Ebay are "complete" - they're almost always missing something, even if that's only the cross bar.
When I acquired my first Walden set, I thought they were really a rare item, but it seems there's at least two or three listed now every week - in various states of "completeness" and condition, like the 41-W-2615 set containing only sockets a few days ago.
I'm thinking they must have cranked out thousands and thousands of those over the course or a few decades.

I ran into another one here the other night - all old black finish "Walden Worcester" knurled stuff - with a complete set of ignition wrenches in it. Can't remember where I put it. :headscrat

CRTDI · Nov 9, 2018

Williams 9/32" drive set with an add-on Plomb ratchet.

Oldtuleguy · Nov 9, 2018

That black band stuff is awesome.
Hard to find a set.

RubiconJK · Nov 9, 2018

bmwrd0 said:
I picked this up a couple years ago in Oakland:
Someones homebrew 9/32" set, a mix of Snap-on, Williams, Plomb, and Deco, all labeled nicely and pretty complete. It was missing a few pieces when I got it, but I had them so it worked out well.

Super cool! Someone took a lot of pride making that box.

Private Lugnutz · Nov 9, 2018

four.cycle said:
Those pieces in that first photo...they do not look at all familiar.

Strange, right? Look at the spinner again. The shank is way thicker than the male drive stud. It actually steps down to the drive stud quite a bit. Most designs conserve steel and step up to a forged drive stud or just pinch the shank into a drive stud. I don't recall seeing anything like that before, but Don thinks he may have a few like that in Duro sets. He's going to post photos and I will post more later.

3baygarage · Nov 9, 2018

Lugz, I can’t pin those in my brain but I’ve definitely seen and handled those unmarked tools before. I hope Don comes through with the answer.

d42jeep · Nov 9, 2018

I don't have answers, only questions. The spinners with no ID are the ones in the lower right and bottom sets. They seem identical and have no markings. Although they kind of look like S-K spinners they are different.
-Don

four.cycle · Nov 9, 2018

^ the step-down on the shanks in d42jeep's sets is nowhere near as radical as those in Private Lugnutz's examples above.

I know I've seen at least one spinner like that before, but I cannot remember when where or what.

CRTDI · Nov 9, 2018

Speedmaster set with a very odd gearless ratchet. I'm thinking the tools might be Wright or Stevens Walden sourced, just not sure..... :headscrat

CRTDI · Nov 9, 2018

Indestro set with a Firestone ignition tool.

d42jeep · Nov 9, 2018

four.cycle said:
^ the step-down on the shanks in d42jeep's sets is nowhere near as radical as those in Private Lugnutz's examples above.

I know I've seen at least one spinner like that before, but I cannot remember when where or what.

Here is a Walden spinner with a pretty big step down.
-Don

3baygarage · Nov 9, 2018

Thanks Don. Not quite the same one.

Crtdi- great stuff as always. :thumbup:

The Firestone piece is really something, never seen one. That particular Speedmaster stuff is Wright.

four.cycle · Nov 9, 2018

CRTDI -

That Speedmaster set is definitely an oddity.

The Indestro set is fabulous. I'm going to assume from its appearance that the box is original, and it is indeed a model 2801 set. What's puzzling about it is when it was made. The 1948 catalog shows that model number set, but it contains the earlier style 2889 pressed-flange ratchet. The 1959 catalog does not show that set. The set that I have which contains that ratchet is a model 7602 (see post #659) and the only catalog listing I was able to find for it was from a 1958 Shapleigh Hardware catalog I stumbled across the other day.
What I cannot figure out is exactly the date range that particular model of 2889 ratchet was manufactured.

Private Lugnutz · Nov 9, 2018

I'm assuming the Firestone gapper/points adjuster is not original to the set? I agree with 3Bay on all counts on that: never saw one before, and very cool.

CRTDI: Also wondering about the Williams set. Does that say M-310 on the decal? I can't find that set in the 1937 or 1939 catalogs. I didn't look older than that.

Private Lugnutz · Nov 9, 2018

four.cycle said:
^ the step-down on the shanks in d42jeep's sets is nowhere near as radical as those in Private Lugnutz's examples above.

d42jeep said:
Here is a Walden spinner with a pretty big step down.

3baygarage said:
Thanks Don. Not quite the same one.

I've had a coupe of those. The shank flares out near the forged-on drive end, right, Don? It is a pretty big step-down, but I agree with 3Bay, not the same.

Here are a few more photos. The shank is 7/16" in diameter. So just shy of twice the size of the 1/4-inch drive stud they machined out of the end of it!

CRTDI · Nov 9, 2018

Private Lugnutz said:
I'm assuming the Firestone gapper/points adjuster is not original to the set? I agree with 3Bay on all counts on that: never saw one before, and very cool.

CRTDI: Also wondering about the Williams set. Does that say M-310 on the decal? I can't find that set in the 1937 or 1939 catalogs. I didn't look older than that.

Lugz, The Firestone piece is not original to the set. I guess I'm not a purist when it comes to some of the sets in my collection. I do attempt to complete them to best of my ability and will sometimes add on what I consider to be a unique piece with the intention of staying within what I know or perceive the timeline of the set to be. Kind of like adding a period correct accessory to a classic car, if that makes sense.

As for the Williams set, decal says M-310. With the new photo hosting site I'm using, you can click on the pic for some nice detail enhancements. I don't have any Williams catalogs as a reference for his set.

four.cycle · Nov 9, 2018

CRTDI said:
"... if that makes sense..."

Makes perfect sense.
That Firestone unit is really quite fascinating, and puzzling - I'm trying to imagine a scenario in which both a feeler gauge and an alligator-jaw wrench would be the tool of choice.

Private Lugnutz · Nov 9, 2018

CRTDI said:
if that makes sense.

Totally understand. No judgement whatsoever in my question. I was just making sure there wasn't some weird Indestro-Firestone ignition tools connection I didn't know anything about, especially because you do also post complete factory sets.

I do wonder what Firestone set that tool came in.