"Master Socket" ? Who knew?

I have at least a couple older hex-drive socket sets that contain a weird "splined" (for lack of a better word) socket that have puzzled me for some time.
I came across an Ebay listing for an old "G.M. Mfg. Co." socket set containing one, and noticed that the pouch calls it a "Master Socket for round nuts".
So how come nobody told me this before?



G.M / G.M Mfg. Co., Long Island City, N.Y.

You do know if I had that set in my hands it would make for a great story...But I don't get a lot of readers, perhaps op you could write a story ?

Here is a good start:

http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2014/02/vanished-tool-makers-gm-co.html

HA! I was just on that site about an hour ago - found the address of G.M. Mfg. Co. in an ad that's posted there. Is that your site, Woody? I've tapped it several times recently digging for information on obscure tool brands.

I don't own that set - it's currently up for sale on Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/122227283385?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

The ones I have now are in little Indestro sets.

Plate of shrimp, four.cycle.

The 1/4-inch drive sockets in this photo, which I posted on the Garage Sale thread yesterday…



…are all “G M Co”!

Had to look them up. I never heard of them before. The broaching left leafy flakes of steel at the shelf in the openings. These seem “economical” to me, with a zinc finish. They are 3-8 (12 point), 11-32 (12 point), 5-16 (12 point), 9-32 (6 point), and 1-4 (6 point).

Private Lugnutz said:

"These seem “economical” to me"

Click to expand...

Definitely low-end stuff. Bottom-line pricing.
Competitive with "Oxwall" and "Meteor" and old "General" - all four outfits offered pretty much the same cheap little 1/4" drive socket sets.
Believe it or not some of the sets are going for $20-$30 on Ebay. Go figure.
Brand new they were only a few bucks. Good enough to fix an old toaster I guess, right?



Hey Lugnutz - by the way -

I was poking around in a folder and came across a page out of an old Stevens-Walden catalog showing various models of 1/4" drive socket sets and you were indeed correct: there were about four versions on one page - with/without spinner/ratchet/extension/etc. Went to move the file into a different folder and it's disappeared! Can't find it! Not in recycle bin. Not a clue.
At any rate - bottom line is same as Indestro or Craftsman or any of the rest, or so it would appear: "complete" depends upon how much the original buyer wanted to shell out when it was sold 40 or 50 years ago.