723 wrench

Any idea on maker? Marked metric on one side and sae on the other .

Could be made by anybody. Bonney, Indestro, Billings, who really knows... It's just a good old fashioned, made in the USA wrench that has been outdated and replaced with newer, more modern designs.

It's actually a very unusual wrench. The Industry Standard Number (723) refers to the imperial sizes (3/8 x 7/16). It was extremely rare for an American mfgr in the ISN era to be also marking wrenches with metric sizes. In fact, I have never seen one before. The earliest wrench I have ever seen with imperial and metric sizes was a Bridgeport in the 1950's, and it did not have an ISN.

I did not know they were rare. I have a couple at home.

Interesting, now you are going to make me go check my pile of old wrenches like that... LMAO...

It resembles most the Bonney made wrenches in my collection. I will need clearer pictures to see how the form and location of the markings are to say more.

The large parabolic heads and the format of the marking on the shank reminds me of Herbrand, but the ones I have do not have metric sizes on the flip side faces.

I'll post some pics later.

I went through this pile of 723’s this afternoon.



Believe it or not, I have the same wrench! I had never looked at the flip side before or it didn’t really hit me how odd it was at the time I collected this one.





Now that I have had a chance to inspect it in person, spec it out, and compare it to the other 723’s in my collection, which provides a context not provided by your photo, I can say with even more assurance that this wrench has all the characteristics of being made no later than the late 1930’s. The bulky shank and the bulky parabolic shaped heads are a dead giveaway. That makes it even more peculiar to have metric sizes markings on the flip side.

Here is the wrench with some other 723’s, Bonney -ZENEL-, Williams, and Barcalo, all 1940’s vintage.



Here it is again with an assortment of Herbrand wrenches. I selected Herbrand wrenches because they’re only one of two mfgrs (the other being Williams Superior) that I am aware of known for putting the ISN on the shank in this era. Typically, the ISN was placed on the face of the jaw on the opposite end of the face with the brand. (See the Bonney, Williams Superrench, and Barcalo above.) The wrench just under the wrench in question is also a 1930’s era wrench, which you can tell from the bulky construction and large heads. All the others are 1940’s vintage. You can see how they got much sleeker. Note the wrench in the middle marked, “No. 1723.”



Williams Superiors



Here is a closer look at the "No. 1723":



I mentioned Bridgeport earlier. Their catalog #52 (1953) is the earliest I am aware of a mfgr advertising DOE engineers wrenches with metric size markings on the flip side of fractional inch markings. But those were Hy-Bar wrenches with two concave panels. In the late 1930’s they were making Master Quality DOE engineers wrenches with a single concave panel.

I’m stumped on the maker but intrigued by the metric markings.

^^^Guess they're not that rare after all.

Nice selection!

I am not quite as well stocked in them.
There are a few no. 23 in my archives but most are later versions.
I had to import them out of CA at that. Kinda hard to find locally.

gdocktor3 said:

^^^Guess they're not that rare after all.

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If you're implying they're common, I disagree. But, I never said this particular wrench was rare. I said it was unusual. I said it was extremely rare to find any wrench in this era with fractional inch markings and metric markings. As a category of wrenches. And I stand by that 100%. A dozen of these particular No. 723 wrenches, or even dozens of wrenches like this one made by the same unknown mfgr in other sizes (e.g., "No. 725", 7/16 x 1/2, "No. 727, 9/16 x 5/8, etc) wouldn't change that fact.

If you can show me hundreds of examples of 1930's or even 1940's era wrenches with both imperial and metric size markings made by any of the mfgrs you cited above - or even unbranded, it would be considered a common wrench.

Among the thousands of wrenches I own, ALL made before the 1950's, the only one - in any size combination - that has metric sizes on the flip side is this one. Same story among the thousands of DOE engineers wrenches I have seen elsewhere (GJ, AA, Tool Archive, etc). If we polled other major vintage wrench collectors, I'd be very surprised if we turned up a bunch more of them in any size combination.

If you consider that common, we have an impasse in terminology.

Calling this wrench anything but odd, unusual or rare would be misleading, in my opinion. It's a very interesting puzzle and I am glad the OP called my attention to it.

Gmonkee said:

Nice selection!...[ ]...Kinda hard to find locally.

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Thanks. And I agree. The 723 was the tiniest DOE engineers wrench in the most common 6-wrench auto kit set in that era. With the 25, 27C, 28S, 731A and 33C a mechanic had 3/8" to 1" with no repeats on any end. Armstrong and others made a 721 (5/16 x 3/8), and even a 21 (5/16 x 13/32) but those were getting into ignition wrench territory. Anyway, my point is, as the tiniest, they often went missing.

The double marking is interesting also for the fact that the 9mm/3/8" end would be quite loose on the metric fastener. .375 opening on a .354 fastener, giving a gap of .021". The other end is only about .004 larger than the metric size, so that one should fit pretty well.

Anyone need it for there collection let me know.

I'm back on Bridgeport.

Marking their wrenches with millimeter sizes in the same format (e.g, "9 m/m") as early as 1950 just seemed too coincidental to ignore to me, despite the two concave panels on those shanks, so I went back farther, until I found these smooth plain shank wrenches in their Catalog #40 (1940)!

I'm pretty sure this is the wrench set.

Note the "DROP FORGED / MADE IN U.S.A." marking on the shank of the wrench in the illustration. Note also that although the illustration is not showing a model number (e.g., "No. 723") on the shank to the left of it, they are using the ISN as the model numbers in the table below. Note that the No. 723 measures out at exactly the dimensions in the table. And the finish on mine, beneath the patina of age, is definitely mottled.

Oh, and just to confirm my understanding, I just checked a dozen vintage catalogs from the late 1930's and 1940's, including Bonney, Vlchek, Herbrand, Snap-On, Williams, Plomb, and several others. I couldn't find another major Mfgr advertising millimeter markings on wrenches. To call this progressive of Bridgeport, in 1940 - and from the looks of this wrench, most likely earlier, is an understatement. It may be unique.

I'm going to link this to an appropriate thread or two on the vintage board for four.cycle and others who may be interested.

I have very few X21 and few 23 and just one 24 in the piles. 25 have a good showing and X27 varients I could fill a bucket.

The bigger stuff I had not been buying much.
But its out there in numbers.

Pvt, I have suspected Bonney made contract tools in metric so I know it was possible for them to be made very early. I can get pics up on the other side of Forum Street (this site hates my pics) if you want.
It may be sidetracking but it is solid metal proof it was done.

I believe you, Gmonkee. All the bigs were making special order Whitworth sizes (especially Bonney), especially when WWII rolled around in Europe. I have never seen anything else with metric markings this early, but I wouldn't discount the possibility of special contract mfgring. Edit: Bridgeport actually openly advertising them in a catalog this early is quite unusual for the industry as a whole, though. Amazing really.

I believe this is an "Indestro" brand wrench. I have the same one, but without the metric on the back. I believe it is an earlier run of the same exact wrench... My namesake, my grandfather, whom unfortunately died two months before I was born came to the USA at age 8 from Italy by himself, and grew up in a home for abandoned youth in NYC back in 1921. He became a certified master mechanic at the age of 21 after attending trade school also in NYC. He opened his mechanic shop in 1945 in Endicott, NY, aptly named "Iannone's Garage." (which evolved over the years to include 4 gas pumps, a used Cadillac sales lot, and in a separate structure He had built a sort distance down the street, a large two bay, self serve, car wash.) He was able to pay for both his parents and a few other close relatives to come join him finally. He ran the business until he died unexpectedly of colon cancer in 1985, the year i was born. My two great uncles, both much younger than my grandfather, (15 and 17 year gap)inherited the shop and car wash, but as they were both teachers, and knew nothing or being a mechanic or running a business, they attempted to sell what should have been my future inheritance (that's my perspective lmao). They managed to sell both businesses, but due to the epa finding leaky gas tanks it sat unused for two decades (the shop and car lot/gas station;the car wash was fine.) The purchaser must have been so heated, he was stuck with it, unable to use or sell it, until right after I graduated high-school and a family friends son, a few years my elder, paid to clean it, filled the tanks and opened a used car lot. (I am happy with that outcome, lol). Now, all the old gas pumps, signage, merch, old equipment, even the neon signs, sat gathering dust in a barn my Mother inherited, I begged her to let me go in there and find out what all was in there (it was locked with chain and padlock) but a small gap revealed a small tease of the treasure that laid within, I will never forget the two old style globe "gulf' pump heads gleaming, albeit dusty which is what sparked my endless attempts to gain access and explore this treasure room... but, it was "too dangerous, the second floor was collapsing and there was a large hole on one side of the roof, so everything was ruined anyways, it would be pointless" or so I must have been told 7,690 times... until, I turn 18... well, my grand luck, as always, that year the area flooded for the first time in almost a century, fema bought out my mom's land, the house I was born in, and the barn that held what was the last of my inheritance, and a desire to fill an emotional void I had since birth, to know the man, whom everyone told me was the most amazing, brilliant, talented, charming, and savvy person they knew, and with whom I was named after, and was constantly told by family, I must have been his reincarnation, due to how much I was like the man I never met.... unfortunately, my inheritance was stolen from me yet again.... and, after finding out how much those two gas pumps were worth alone, I was even more enraged than when I found out about the mechanic shop, car lot, and car wash operation and its subsequent sale... anyways, I chose a different path in life, instead following my paternal grandfather, and went into the family business... after prison, I started my now successful masonry contracting business, which celebrates five years this year, and is named after my grandfather (the legit one). To my astonishment, after 34 years of believing I had lost all chances of a connection to my grandfather, on my birthday, my first one after prison, my aunt gave me a large, heavy box.... in that box, we're a very large assortment of tools, some original items from his business (a branded key chain, two branded sales booklets, and a few other small items... nothing very large, the largest being an old black and decker 7.5inch corded buffer, which like literally everywhere tool, besides some broken drill and lathe bits, and some random tool parts, still works better than anything you can purchase today! In fact, without these tools I wouldn't have been able to start my business, they were the only tools I owned at the time. Fast forward 5 years and now I have two workshops plus a large amount of my backyards filled with tools and equipment, all purchased in the last five years through my contracting business which I inherited 34 years after my grandfather died (not exactly, but, it is what made it possible!) Now, I keep the tools, mostly mechanics and machinists tools and accessories, mostly accessories, in the workshop, to be used on personal projects, I just used his Stanley no. 5 hand planer, and two different styles hand rasps, as well as, 6 sockets and two ratchets on a separate project, all within the last week, even though i have modern, newer, crappier versions of everyone... sorry for the rant, the day he died just passed, and that just sort of poured out unexpectedly.


Sorry, but, here is the pics of my *earlier?* version of that same exact wrench!