Magnetic Screwdriver Pat. # 2,550,775 F. G. Clark

woody 73 · Jan 6, 2021

Funny how some of the best ideas are so very simple in nature; we all (well most of us) use this idea everyday in our shop who would have thought just by placing a small magnet in the tip of a screwdriver and presto you could interchange different tips with ease.

Well it would seem that on July 13th,1949 Frederick G. Clark and his partner Wade Stevenson of Buffalo New York Applied for this patent and it was granted on May 1st, 1951.

I thought this was interesting (how my mind works) that a company was just started in 1951 called the Magna Driver Corporation also of Buffalo New York.

The following example that I have is for the Cleco pneumatic Company with a Houston, Texas address. ( Cleco was founded back in 1894 in Cleveland Ohio as the Cleveland Pneumatic Tool Company).

Alas I could not find any information about either man, I am afraid Clark is a rather common name.

I found some other nice examples on the web of different model numbers, my model number is marked #81.

A few links and some pictures for you to look at on this nice cold Jan. Day.

https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid...&SectionNum=&idkey=NONE&Input=View+first+page

https://patents.google.com/patent/US2550775A/en

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ma...406093?hash=item21819c034d:g:D4cAAOSwRS5f82~X

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cleco-111-...398778?hash=item263fdff3ba:g:F-kAAOSwQiBfBKEW

https://toolhse.com/who-is-cleco-air-tools/

https://www.bizapedia.com/trademarks/magna-tip-71593181.html

macgee · Jan 6, 2021

Ha, I was just looking at mine last night, haven't touched it for years. I found an old tool box of mine last night filled with spare and multiple tools being stored in it. It looks like the same driver but has a screw cap on top to hold three hex bits. Snap-On also offered these but they have no model # marked on them?

Here's mine marked Magna-Driver and the hex bit fits nice and tight, no play. It's actually a good driver, feels good and better than I remembered. This would work really well with my PB Swiss torx & PZ bits

bonneyman · Jan 6, 2021

Doesn't Cleco make those attachment accessories for assembling aircraft wings? Could this have been an aerospace design?

https://www.panamericantool.com/cleco-fasteners.html

woody 73 · Jan 6, 2021

bonneyman said:
Doesn't Cleco make those attachment accessories for assembling aircraft wings? Could this have been an aerospace design?

https://www.panamericantool.com/cleco-fasteners.html

I guess anything is possible, but I never came across anything that mentioned aerospace design in my readings.

n8n · Jan 6, 2021

I know Cleco makes impact guns... I have a 3/4" (really) stashed away somewhere although don't have the air to run it.

I use my Snap-On ratcheting screwdrivers pretty much exclusively unless I need to access a recessed screw or need a precision driver. Basically the same as pictured but with a ratcheting mechanism in the handle.

Provincial · Jan 6, 2021

Cleco developed the spring-loaded fastener that is inserted trough a drilled hole and draws two or more sheets of material together, while aligning the holes in the sheets. It is commonly used in building sheet aluminum aircraft structures. These fasteners became so common in the mid-20th Century that the company name became the generic name for such fasteners, much like the "Crescent" wrench.

Cleveland Pneumatic was a major player in aircraft riveting tools during the growth years of the aviation industry, with these fasteners an important part of their product line.

Straightgrain · Jan 7, 2021

Yours has the same patent number as my Snap On version, though mine looks a bit longer.

Private Lugnutz · Aug 10, 2025

Resurrecting this old thread to post a very early vintage example (well, 90% of one, anyway...) found at the flea market this morning.

Mine is missing the cap, and, therefore, also missing all the bits.

Regarding the original post and ensuing discussion and questions surrounding the many variants and names found on examples.

The Magna Tool Corporation made, advertised, and sold them directly from 1950 through the early 1960's, at least.

Much later they were also made third party production or at least design-licensed to many other companies, a couple of the most prominent already mentioned (e.g., CLECO, Snap-on) and at least one not mentioned (e.g., Brownells). They are very popular with gunsmiths!

I'm not sure why the early examples are marked "Magna Driver Corp." when business documents show that the Magna Tool Corporation (no "Driver") owned the "Magna-Tip" trademark.

I did note that the Secretary of the company bore the same last name as the man Clark assigned 50% of the patent to, Wade Stevenson, and I assume Charles is either a son or possibly a brother. (Not interested enough in bios to care to research that further.)

After a series of assignments, sales, and mergers in which the TM was passed to several familiar companies, including Dresser and Vermont American, it is currently owned by Robert Bosch Tool Corp. Whether Bosch makes them for others, or they just lease the name, I don't know.

@four.cycle - you may want to consider modifying your A-Z Mfgrs List. Currently the only place "Magna-Tip" shows up is in the Brownell's entry. I would recommend also adding it to your Magna Tool Corp entry. If you want to poke around for yourself in the TM documents on TSDR, link is here: https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=...TION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch

four.cycle · Aug 12, 2025

Private Lugnutz said:
@four.cycle - you may want to consider modifying your A-Z Mfgrs List. Currently the only place "Magna-Tip" shows up is in the Brownell's entry. I would recommend also adding it to your Magna Tool Corp entry. If you want to poke around for yourself in the TM documents on TSDR, link is here: https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=...TION&caseType=DEFAULT&searchType=statusSearch

I just read this thread. I do not believe I've ever seen it.
I'm kind of dazed after "catching up" here.

Bosch now owns the trademark? Not Apex?
Google is telling me it belongs to Apex Tool Group now.

Now I'm wondering how I got it connected to "Brownell" but without any patent number. :headscrat

Brownell's / Brownell's Inc., 200 S. Front St., Montezuma, IA 50171 / https://www.brownells.com/ / "Magna-Tip" / specialty tools for gunsmiths /

(I have zero documention for Brownell)

This device was manufactured by:
Cleco Pneumatic, Houston, TX
Snap-on, Kenosha, WI
Brownell, Montezuma, IA
Magna Tool Corp., Buffalo, NY

and....

Dresser was a corporate holding company.... which one of their divisions was cranking it out?
Do we have any extant examples manufactured by Bosch?

and....

We don't know for sure whether or not Magna was making these for the other companies, or if they were manufacturing them under license from Magna, right?
(It seems reasonable to assume Snap-on would have outsourced them from Magna - typical of their practice.)

Any ideas/opinions/documentation on the others? Gray area? The patent was never re-assigned, right? Just the TM?
(I'm really fishin' here because 2550775 isn't listed at datamp.org, so I'm seeing a whole bunch of holes that need to be plugged.)

Private Lugnutz · Aug 12, 2025

Don't sweat it, just put it on your to-do list. Not that important. Just add "Magna-Tip" (and also Magna Tool Corp) to your Magna Driver Corp entry for now - that's verified, and call it a day for now.

four.cycle said:
Now I'm wondering how I got it connected to "Brownell" but without any patent number.

I am guessing you saw the marketing. I ran into all kinds of examples, all of them relatively recent (i.e., last 20 years), with the (R) TM symbol accompanying the use of the Magna-Tip name. I didn't understand that, given what I discovered about its ownership chain on TSDR, with no mention of Brownells, but, as you know, I have no interest in modern tools, so I did not look into it further.

four.cycle said:
Google is telling me it belongs to Apex Tool Group now.

I gave you the link to the USPTO Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) site. That is the authoritative source. And it says the current owner is Robert Bosch.

four.cycle said:
We don't know for sure whether or not Magna was making these for the other companies, or if they were manufacturing them under license from Magna, right?

Right. But again, that's really beyond my interest area, which was only the original invention and production period. Woody never looked into it. Other than noting that his example was a Cleco, he cited the original patent, the date the company was established according to Bizapedia, and some links to Cleco and ebay examples. But I did. There is zero doubt that Magna Tool Corp owned the patent and the TM or that Magna Tool Corp (and, oddly, Magna Driver Corp, same address) was making and marketing it through at least 1967.

four.cycle said:
The patent was never re-assigned, right? Just the TM?

The patent would have been part of "The Entire Interest and Goodwill" (i.e., facilities, equipment, TM's, patents, etc), but I can't find when Magna Tool/Driver Corp sold out. I know it was to G.W. Murphy Industries. Looks like January 1967. I am trying to get this snippet-only view unlocked.

The patent would have expired in 1968, though.

TSDR shows that G.W. Murphy Industries assigned it to Dresser in 1969. Dresser only owned it for a year. They assigned it to Vermont American in 1970. And VA had it the longest, from 1970 to 1996, when they sold it to Credo. Series of weird mergers in 2003/2004 timeframe (Credo/VA, VA/Bosch).

JerseyBoatBuilder · Aug 12, 2025

Zephyr Tool Group makes the Magna-Tip bits for Brownells, They also make or made bits for Snap On. I know most of my Snap On bits purchased up to 4 years a go are made by Zephyr. Both brands will have a (Z) marked on the bit someplace.

Private Lugnutz · Aug 13, 2025

^ Interesting. Thanks, makes sense, and lends credence to the idea that they may have been made third party for VA, Credo, and Bosch when they owned the TM.

// BREAK //

@four.cycle

As I said earlier, Brownell's current website and all literature indicates they own a TM for "Magna-Tip". But I don't think it's the same TM or connected, believe it or not, to the Magna Tool Corp line, at least not legally. When you review the TSDR record I linked to you - and I highly encourage you to do so (I know it's not one of your go-to comfort zone research sites, but it really should be), you will see that the status of the original TM is actually Dead/Cancelled/Invalidated. Bosch is still listed as the current owner, but it was cancelled in 2016 for failure to re-register. Essentially, per TSDR, Bosch just let it lapse. When you review all the changes of ownership (as the TM was assigned from one company to another as Magna's original company was bought and sold through the decades - again, Magna->Murphy->Dresser->VA->Credo->Bosch), there is no record of a Brownells and Brownells is not owned by anyone. I'm starting to think they TM'ed it. I would say "again," but legally, it didn't exist.

The fun part of digging into the TSDR files is finding the original evidence that Magna Tool Corp provided to the USPTO. Note that they applied in 1950, before the patent was granted. So there are PAT PEND versions out there somewhere in the wild! The airbrush work is beautiful.

JerseyBoatBuilder · Aug 13, 2025

Private Lugnutz said:
^ Interesting. Thanks, makes sense, and lends credence to the idea that they may have been made third party for VA, Credo, and Bosch when they owned the TM.

// BREAK //

@four.cycle

As I said earlier, Brownell's current website and all literature indicates they own a TM for "Magna-Tip". But I don't think it's the same TM or connected, believe it or not, to the Magna Tool Corp line, at least not legally. When you review the TSDR record I linked to you - and I highly encourage you to do so (I know it's not one of your go-to comfort zone research sites, but it really should be), you will see that the status of the original TM is actually Dead/Cancelled/Invalidated. Bosch is still listed as the current owner, but it was cancelled in 2016 for failure to re-register. Essentially, per TSDR, Bosch just let it lapse. When you review all the changes of ownership (as the TM was assigned from one company to another as Magna's original company was bought and sold through the decades - again, Magna->Murphy->Dresser->VA->Credo->Bosch), there is no record of a Brownells and Brownells is not owned by anyone. I'm starting to think they TM'ed it. I would say "again," but legally, it didn't exist.

The fun part of digging into the TSDR files is finding the original evidence that Magna Tool Corp provided to the USPTO. Note that they applied in 1950, before the patent was granted. So there are PAT PEND versions out there somewhere in the wild! The airbrush work is beautiful.

I think maybe Brownells paid for a license to use the name Magna-Tip for their bits.
Their description for the bits do not even mention any magnetic abilities.
You can see in the picture on the link the (Z) marked on the bit marking Zephyr Tool Group made the bit like I mentioned previously.

Brownells Magna- tip bit

Private Lugnutz · Aug 14, 2025

JerseyBoatBuilder said:
I think maybe Brownells paid for a license to use the name Magna-Tip for their bits.

That's a good possibility, especially prior to 2016. According to the USPTO, the original TM has been dead since then, though. Maybe they're no longer paying licensing fees and just using the registered TM symbol out of force of habit, or maybe common law compels them to continue their licensing agreement with Bosch despite the USPTO designation lapsing.

JerseyBoatBuilder said:
Their description for the bits do not even mention any magnetic abilities.

I am guessing because it's implicit.

four.cycle · Aug 14, 2025

Private Lugnutz said:
When you review the TSDR record

ooooo very curious indeed.

And you are correct: that is not one of my favorite sites - I really fumble through that one because I never know which button to push!

It is, however, one of my very few "bookmarked" sites.

MidMoBob · Aug 26, 2025

JerseyBoatBuilder said:
Zephyr Tool Group makes the Magna-Tip bits for Brownells, They also make or made bits for Snap On. I know most of my Snap On bits purchased up to 4 years a go are made by Zephyr. Both brands will have a (Z) marked on the bit someplace.

I have two sets of the Brownell's Magna-Tips. I also have the thin blade add-on set. BTW, I've never been able to use the standard (long) handle they supplied with the sets. I use their shorter "Law Enforcement" handle. Makes all the difference.

Private Lugnutz · Aug 26, 2025

Testing

Private Lugnutz · Aug 26, 2025

@NUTTSGT Please check my account. There is something really bizarre happening. I can't access PMs, my account, certain forums, etc. Getting Oops! Security error messages almost everywhere. Also, it thinks I am other members depending on which forum I go into. If I use Watched Threads, it seems to know it's me, and I can reply. Such as this one. Sorry to tag you this way, on this thread, but it's very weird.

NUTTSGT · Aug 26, 2025

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/anyone-having-issues-with-the-forums.549791/

Private Lugnutz said:
@NUTTSGT Please check my account. There is something really bizarre happening. I can't access PMs, my account, certain forums, etc. Getting Oops! Security error messages almost everywhere. Also, it thinks I am other members depending on which forum I go into. If I use Watched Threads, it seems to know it's me, and I can reply. Such as this one. Sorry to tag you this way, on this thread, but it's very weird.

Private Lugnutz · Aug 26, 2025

Screen grab of the site thinking I am mike931x. Again, sorry to do this here, but it seems to be the only thread I can access and reply to as me. Everywhere else I get the Oops! Security error. If this is a site-wide problem you can delete these later.

NUTTSGT · Aug 26, 2025

If you can't access the link, clear your cookies and cache.

Private Lugnutz · Aug 26, 2025

Done. Cleared. Fixed. Please delete all this. I couldn't access Suggestions. Thanks. Sorry.

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