Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Found this morning at the Early Bird flea market and cleaned up with a little WD-40, brasso, steel wool and elbow grease after work.
It’s a Walden-Worcester No. 16 Combination Wrench Set, complete, in chestnut box with finger joints, a brass decal on the top of the lid identifying the set, and a brass tag tacked under the lid listing the contents. Each socket fits on a wooden peg, and the ratchet head sits in a shallow groove. One of the finger joints is missing, and the hinges and clasp have some rust and box rot that will require more work or possible replacement.
The brass contents tag might be my favorite part of this set. It lists the 2xx series heavy, straight wall, cold-broached, 6-point sockets – sixteen (16) total, from 7/16” to 1-1/4” – in a table, correlating the WW model number, 214 to 240, and opening sizes, with a column for corresponding S.A.E. nut cap screw sizes, and a column each for U.S.S. nut, cap screw, and unfinished bolt head sizes. The sockets are mainly rust-free, but the 5/8” is chipped, the 3/4“ has a hairline crack, and the 7/16” has its wooden peg lodged inside the drive opening.
The model No. 516 ratchet is a transitional design: the handle is forged steel, but the body is pressed steel. It has a forged in patent pending notice and a small “-K-” code on the handle. It uses a removable drive plug, model No. 1109. Also included is a model No. 102 female-to-female universal joint, and a model No. 1139 extension.
Everything that is forged appears to be soft nickel-plated.
Alloy Artifacts - which has a less complete version in their collection - dates this set to 1919-1924.
I don’t normally collect antique era tools, but this one – like the GTD tap and die I found a few weeks ago – was too good to pass up.
It’s a Walden-Worcester No. 16 Combination Wrench Set, complete, in chestnut box with finger joints, a brass decal on the top of the lid identifying the set, and a brass tag tacked under the lid listing the contents. Each socket fits on a wooden peg, and the ratchet head sits in a shallow groove. One of the finger joints is missing, and the hinges and clasp have some rust and box rot that will require more work or possible replacement.
The brass contents tag might be my favorite part of this set. It lists the 2xx series heavy, straight wall, cold-broached, 6-point sockets – sixteen (16) total, from 7/16” to 1-1/4” – in a table, correlating the WW model number, 214 to 240, and opening sizes, with a column for corresponding S.A.E. nut cap screw sizes, and a column each for U.S.S. nut, cap screw, and unfinished bolt head sizes. The sockets are mainly rust-free, but the 5/8” is chipped, the 3/4“ has a hairline crack, and the 7/16” has its wooden peg lodged inside the drive opening.
The model No. 516 ratchet is a transitional design: the handle is forged steel, but the body is pressed steel. It has a forged in patent pending notice and a small “-K-” code on the handle. It uses a removable drive plug, model No. 1109. Also included is a model No. 102 female-to-female universal joint, and a model No. 1139 extension.
Everything that is forged appears to be soft nickel-plated.
Alloy Artifacts - which has a less complete version in their collection - dates this set to 1919-1924.
I don’t normally collect antique era tools, but this one – like the GTD tap and die I found a few weeks ago – was too good to pass up.
