I haven't tried yet. My way still works, though it's more laborious. See 'No patent number? No problem!' instructions in Sticky.Also, I can't figure how to, or if it's possible to search USPTO with just a date.


The trickster in me would have to load that up with some tiny tools and try to fool people on the toolboxes thread. "Just picked up this stack..." lol. Followed eventually, after the head scratching, with said paperclips, alligator clips, car keys etc for actual size context.This “jewelry box” is now on my desk at work full of office supplies I use daily, paper clips, rubber bands, post it notes, alligator clips, etc.


I planned two stops today. “Antique tools” caught my eye so I went to that one first even though the other one appeared to have more inventory. Beelined it for the garage and pawed through the CM stack tucked away in the corner and blocked by a lawn mower. It was empty except for one drawer that the estate agents obviously overlooked. It was full of pliers and a few DOEs but none jumped into my bag. I was a bit miffed because nothing in the garage was anywhere near “antique”—except for one thing that did make it into my bag—more on that later.
I asked one of the agents where the advertised antique tools were and was directed to a back bedroom. Sure enough, the room was full of tools but still no antiques. There was a gentleman looking through the tools and I could tell he was looking for the same “classic USA” tools I like because he was keeping up a running commentary with himself about what he was looking at—“Oooh, a Proto, and made in LA. Nice Craftsman, but it’s later than MDF.” Out of nowhere, he turns to me and says he had come from a sale that morning out in Boerne (pronounced Burney) that was disappointing because even though they had a lot of tools, most were **** from Harbor Freight. Since that was the sale I had planned on going to next, I thanked him for saving me a 60 mile round trip!
Giving up on finding any antiques, I wandered through the house and suddenly found them in the living room. Several braces, a MF chest brace, a corner brace, a few eggbeater drills and monkey wrenches—all well over what I was prepared to pay. Oh, well, I was happy with the antique I found first off in the garage, a brass hose nozzle. With no price on it, the guy wanted $4. Four dollars!? Hey, it’s brass! Hey, it’s locked up—how about $1? He took it and couldn’t twist it open either, so he said Yeah, okay, a dollar.
Once I got it cleaned off a bit, I saw two patent dates: Oct 16, 1877 and June 2, 1885.
The Eaton, Cole & Burnham Co. New York with what appears to be GEM after the dates, although the “M” is nowhere near as clear and sharp as the GE. The first patent was granted to John Gilchrist and Alexander Anderson (196216) for an Improvement in Hose-Nozzles. DATAMP lists 15 patent awards for the second date—none of which sound plausible—but when I try to follow the links, I get a “The page isn’t redirecting properly” message. I’ve had this issue since about the time the new USPTO page rolled out. Anyone else having problems with DATAMP? Also, I can't figure how to, or if it's possible to search USPTO with just a date.
Anyway, I let Kroil penetrate while I scraped the remnants of several washer generations out of the hose end and it now twists smoothly and shoots a strong jet. The only problem is with what I would call the inlet cone on a jet engine—except the flow is reversed with a hose nozzle. When twisted to restrict the water flow to “spray” the cone leans to one side producing an unbalanced spray. Oh, well, when 135 years old I am, work as well, I will not…
![]()
![]()
![]()






A reminder of Rule #2 for this thread...I received this Zenith Royal 500 transistorized radio last week and just completed an electrical restoration. This radio sold for $75 in c. 1957!
2.Without photos – it never happened.














An interesting, although unproductive sale this morning. House was jam packed with all manner of interesting items of every description, from puzzles to encased precision balances and sailing ships to Erlenmeyer flasks to African and Asian wood carvings to marble eggs to geodes to those little Christmas village houses--and just about everything in between. Almost every wall was covered with overflowing bookshelves. Pretty overwhelming for a 3-bedroom house. For tools, the garage was heavy on bench-top woodworking power tools--several lathes, a old planer, sanders, routers and all their associated paraphernalia. Not really much in the way of mechanic tools and what there was, was meh. All I picked up was this Starrett No. 79 Outside Caliper and a cheap Chinese laser level for $2 each. I thought the level used AAA batteries but had to send off for some of those tiny button batteries. I may go back tomorrow for what I believe is a mercury barometer.
![]()



let me know if you want to sell/trade that orange driverTwo sales,one after work yesterday, and one this morning yielded an Excelite 99-1-R ratchet handle,can Pro screwdriver,Matco and SK Wayne 3/8" dr ratchets,wrenches from Craftman,Plomb,Easco,s-K,Bonney,Husky and SnapOn .1 socket ,Easco 15mm swivel and a Scion Keychain for a co-worker.All totaled less than a Happy Meal.























Let's see the Corvair!Replied to an add in a car club newsletter. A corvair was found on a recently acquired property and the owner wanted it gone. I went to retrieve the car. When it was on the trailer he said look through the scrap metal and see if there is anything you want. First saw a boom pole for a tractor. That went in the goes with us pile. While we were getting the pole we were standing on scrap metal that turned out to be 9 sets of scaffolding. That too was in the comes home pile. All for the cost of a couple hours of loading and driving and a handshake
things I an looking for : Craftsman early BE sockets 1/2" dr 9/16" and 11/16" ,both shallow 12 points and a Master Mechanic 19mm combo wrench 6119M.let me know if you want to sell/trade that orange driver![]()
From a time that a company would actually lock in a price & print a catalog that would last a season or two.
My best guess is the 28 piece set listed here:
ok will see what I can dothings I an looking for : Craftsman early BE sockets 1/2" dr 9/16" and 11/16" ,both shallow 12 points and a Master Mechanic 19mm combo wrench 6119M.



