Bolster
Well-known member
'Modern' Generations of Snap-on Driver Handles
This thread has morphed into an attempt to create a timeline for 'modern' Snap-on handles, so I'm moving this information to the top. Your help is solicited to nail down dates. If you see errors or can add detail please post! Thanks!
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Early Octogrip. 1939-1946. Pyralin, with what looks like a clear section near the bolster. See here.
Later OctoGrip. 1948-1960. All black, the "classic" eight sided screwdriver handle. See here.
Par-V. Snap-on's economy drivers from the 1940s and 1950s. Translucent fluted amber handle.
Contour Grip (aka "1st Gen 4 side"). 1962-c.1988 (ends 1970 according to Collecting Snap-on website, but Contour Grip still dominates in 1988 catalogs, so we believe the website in error.) CG features slim square handles with rounded corners, predominantly black, but red for Pozidrive. Made of Tenite, which is prone to crack and crumble. More accurately, there's a gradual transition from Contour Grip to PowerGrip Plus in the late 1980s. (Contour Grip patent # 201171 filed 1961, granted 1965). See here.
Torque Grip, triangular grips in black, orange, and white, according to Snapmom (see photo in thread below). May have been available toward the end of the Contour Grip era (?). Lauver has a Torque Grip from 1988, and found it in the '88 price list but not the '88 catalog; therefore this may mark the end of the TG period. TG is also possibly made of Tenite, known to deteriorate and ooze; sound specimens of TG are relatively rare. See here.
PowerGrip Plus (aka "2nd Gen 4 side"). c.1988- c.2007-8, but with no firm begin or end date. These are the larger hard square handles (like the current Williams) with swooping curves that came in a rainbow of colors: commonly seen in red, orange, green, yellow, and black. See here. Often referred to simply as "Snap-on Hard Handles." In the 1988 SO catalog, most drivers were older Contour Grip, but some were optionally available with the newer PowerGrip Plus handles, so PGP was being introduced around this time. Phase-out date: the 2008 catalog has old-style PGP screwdrivers & current soft grip screwdrivers & introduces new instinct soft and hard drivers. According to a recent GJ poll, the PGP driver handles are by far and away the most popular, even as of 2010. Recently SO reintroduced just the PGP handles (after a bogus story circulated that SO had 'lost' the molds) so it's now possible to "make your own" PGP drivers. PGP is still available as of 2010 on nut drivers, pry bars, and possibly other tools.
Electronic Square Handle. Somewhere in here, SO is making small drivers with hard black (and later, orange) square-cross-section handles that are more reminiscent of very slim CG handles than PGP handles. Apparently limited to electronics service. Still available. See here. (There is a similarly shaped translucent yellow handle used on bit drivers and nut drivers, known to have been available in the 1970s.)
Soft Grip. 2001-2008? Called "new" in a 2001 catalog, where most drivers are available as either new Soft Grip or old hard PGP. They have a hard plastic colored top and bottom cap with a black gripping portion. The SG handle style is often panned, was remarkably unpopular in a recent GJ poll, and criticized for being difficult to clean, or too small in diameter. While mostly discontinued by 2008 (?) they're still available on ratcheting drivers as of 2010. See here.
Instinct Soft Handle. Introduced 2008. Hexagonal cross-section, black-and-color, overmolded with soft plastic. These proved popular in a recent GJ poll, second to the PGP handle style.
Instinct Hard Handle. Introduced 2008. Hexagonal cross-section, black-and-color, overmolded with hard plastic.
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This thread has morphed into an attempt to create a timeline for 'modern' Snap-on handles, so I'm moving this information to the top. Your help is solicited to nail down dates. If you see errors or can add detail please post! Thanks!
////////////////////// "Modern" Snap-on Handles. \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Early Octogrip. 1939-1946. Pyralin, with what looks like a clear section near the bolster. See here.
Later OctoGrip. 1948-1960. All black, the "classic" eight sided screwdriver handle. See here.
Par-V. Snap-on's economy drivers from the 1940s and 1950s. Translucent fluted amber handle.
Contour Grip (aka "1st Gen 4 side"). 1962-c.1988 (ends 1970 according to Collecting Snap-on website, but Contour Grip still dominates in 1988 catalogs, so we believe the website in error.) CG features slim square handles with rounded corners, predominantly black, but red for Pozidrive. Made of Tenite, which is prone to crack and crumble. More accurately, there's a gradual transition from Contour Grip to PowerGrip Plus in the late 1980s. (Contour Grip patent # 201171 filed 1961, granted 1965). See here.
Torque Grip, triangular grips in black, orange, and white, according to Snapmom (see photo in thread below). May have been available toward the end of the Contour Grip era (?). Lauver has a Torque Grip from 1988, and found it in the '88 price list but not the '88 catalog; therefore this may mark the end of the TG period. TG is also possibly made of Tenite, known to deteriorate and ooze; sound specimens of TG are relatively rare. See here.
PowerGrip Plus (aka "2nd Gen 4 side"). c.1988- c.2007-8, but with no firm begin or end date. These are the larger hard square handles (like the current Williams) with swooping curves that came in a rainbow of colors: commonly seen in red, orange, green, yellow, and black. See here. Often referred to simply as "Snap-on Hard Handles." In the 1988 SO catalog, most drivers were older Contour Grip, but some were optionally available with the newer PowerGrip Plus handles, so PGP was being introduced around this time. Phase-out date: the 2008 catalog has old-style PGP screwdrivers & current soft grip screwdrivers & introduces new instinct soft and hard drivers. According to a recent GJ poll, the PGP driver handles are by far and away the most popular, even as of 2010. Recently SO reintroduced just the PGP handles (after a bogus story circulated that SO had 'lost' the molds) so it's now possible to "make your own" PGP drivers. PGP is still available as of 2010 on nut drivers, pry bars, and possibly other tools.
Electronic Square Handle. Somewhere in here, SO is making small drivers with hard black (and later, orange) square-cross-section handles that are more reminiscent of very slim CG handles than PGP handles. Apparently limited to electronics service. Still available. See here. (There is a similarly shaped translucent yellow handle used on bit drivers and nut drivers, known to have been available in the 1970s.)
Soft Grip. 2001-2008? Called "new" in a 2001 catalog, where most drivers are available as either new Soft Grip or old hard PGP. They have a hard plastic colored top and bottom cap with a black gripping portion. The SG handle style is often panned, was remarkably unpopular in a recent GJ poll, and criticized for being difficult to clean, or too small in diameter. While mostly discontinued by 2008 (?) they're still available on ratcheting drivers as of 2010. See here.
Instinct Soft Handle. Introduced 2008. Hexagonal cross-section, black-and-color, overmolded with soft plastic. These proved popular in a recent GJ poll, second to the PGP handle style.
Instinct Hard Handle. Introduced 2008. Hexagonal cross-section, black-and-color, overmolded with hard plastic.
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