3/8" Socket Spinners!

[bmwrd0]

And the final* two from my collection:

Blackhawk and Cornwell. Both in excellent condition.

*somewhere I have a Snap-on F40 with black octogrip, but for the life of me I cannot tell where it is. When it shows up, and they always do, I will post a pick.

 

[RTM]

I have one. T109-51. (I know I said I didn't have any, but I was referring to major OEM's in regular sets.)

Well Heck, guess I can play along too. I forgot about this thing. But mine has this crossbar thing stuck in it, so I didn't really consider it a spinner. Mine has a 17 before the Carter Carburetor and a C after it. But the same number, and more rust, at least on this side, than Lugz'

 

[c1504]

This A50 is the only 3/8 spinner I have come across and also the only Britool I have ever found in the wild. Not sure when they started making them but they show up in the 1964 price list which is the oldest thing on the ITCL

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It seems unlikely that Bonney, Blackhawk, Snap-on and Walden all apparently introduced the spinner handle into their 3/8-drive lines in 1941 by pure coincidence.

The first thing that comes to mind is WWII. There are examples of military specifications actually driving new products, but this would be counterintuitive. One of the underlying principles of WPB Order L-216, which limited certain production during the war, to conserve steel and optimize tools that were needed, was to eliminate redundancy. That's the reason the low end of the 3/8-drive range was struck. Same reason why hinge handles of same drive size but different OAL's were struck. Doesn't seem like the WPB would be encouraging a new handle to turn 3/8-drive sockets when a ratchet or hinge handle could be used.

Maybe one of them brought it to a trade show and the others quickly appropriated it.

It may take some digging, but it would be interesting to try to track down.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

For something less serious..., inspired by the magical properties alluded to in this line in the Plomb thread...

...you must live in the land of 3/8th's spinners!

..., and with a little extra kick in my coffee this morning, I give you this verse, sung to the tune of Harry McClintock's "Big Rock Candy Mountain".

In the Land of 3/8th Spinners
Where the tools are clean and bright
10mm sockets grow on bushes
And broken studs EZ Out all right
Where the lifts are always empty
And the tool rooms always full
Of lost ratchet springs and tommy bars
Pin-up girls and hot rod cars
In the Land of 3/8th Spinners.

 

[Username already in use]

If you have a V22 (1/4-drive), I'd be curious to see if it's the same handle, dimensionally.

It’s not the same handle. The T42 handle is both longer and thicker.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It’s not the same handle. The T42 handle is both longer and thicker.

Thanks. Just one of the engineering principles (mating of ergonomics, functionality, and physics (torque, sheer, etc)) at work here that I alluded to prior in terms of the drive size difference, and how well - or not - it was considered suited by industry for a spinner handle. Now I'm wondering if the others (Snap-on and Walden in that same era) took the same approach or just re-used the midget spinner handle.

 

[CoogarXR]

Dangit you guys, now I want one of these. lol

I've got spinners out the ying-yang, but no 3/8"... Yet...

 

[bonneyman]

None of these are homemade. Granted, the perfect handle is a very small batch type, but all were produced in factories of some sort.

Hmm, didn't know Proto made those. I was aware of the 1/4" driver (#4769 I think), but not a 3/8". I like the handle shape on those enough to "make" tools Proto didn't offer just to have them.

 

[d42jeep]

I’ll quit whining now. I just ordered this on eBay. I was feeling pretty left out.
-Don

 

[Milton Shaw]

I had one that was an 8" 3/8 extension that had a 4" plastic handle on it, so you could use it with a ratchet to break the bolt loose, then just the handle to run the loose nut/bolt the rest of the way out. Very handy. I have another that was basically a 2" extension that did the same thing.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Not exactly vintage, but I use these mac versions at work. I like them because they double as extensions.

 

[vwpieces]

Not exactly vintage, but I use these mac versions at work. I like them because they double as extensions.

I like extensions with knurling as some of my Hazet extensions have. Super shiny, slippery tools are not my preference.
I have a couple handled drivers but the 1/4in driver is the one I use he most. Also have some hex nut drivers but again rarely used.
Those with the square in the handle are the most useful if I were to invest in some.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I did a little digging this morning, concentrating at first on Snap-on.

It looks the original kernel for the idea of the F-40 actually may have started in 1937. Here is a composite excerpt I made from Industrial Catalog 37P.



Note that the part number for the model with the 3/8-inch drive stud is GF-7, and it looks like it's being marketed as a special "Screw-Tite" tool for radio service, not as a Ferret accessory, although giving it the "F" (for Ferret) vs. "M" (for Midget) prefix is certainly revealing of where they ended up going in 1941.

I could not find any other documentation for "Screw-Tite". (If that's not their spin, pun definitely intended, on Walden's "Spintite", I'll eat my hat.) It doesn't look like the moniker lasted too long. Snap-on didn't TM it (a nail and screw manufacturer would in the 60's) and I can't find them using it in any other marketing (trade mags, ads, etc).

In 1947, in Industrial Catalog 47P, the only "Screw-Tite" listed is the GM-4 1/4-drive model.

The F-40 was not included in any sets in 1941 and the way it was introduced seems more like an accessory.



What's most interesting for me is the "Grip Handle" terminology.

Not postulating that there's anything more to it than coincidence, but Blackhawk always used that exact term for its spinners, including the 3/8-drive one they introduced in 1941.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Just to complete that train of thought on evolution and terminology, Walden did not TM the term "Spintite" until 1975, believe it or not. They claimed first use in 1923, but the earliest I can find any marketing is 1928 (@four.cycle may know better), and note, that was in reference to wooden handles on fixed socket wrenches of different sizes that they described as "Socket wrenches in screwdriver form." They reused the term "Spintite" for their detachable "Midget" (1/4) and "Pony" (3/8) size socket drive lines in their 1941 catalog.



Their explicit and purposeful use of the term "exclusive" to describe it on the "Pony" page has my utmost attention.

Since Walden was certainly aware that they were not the only mfgr in the US putting these spinner type handles in midget sets in 1941, I can't see what else they meant by that adjective except perhaps that they were under the impression when it was published (July) that they were the only mfgr making them for 3/8-inch drive size. They were not. Snap-on's 1941 catalog was published on January 1.

 

[bmwrd0]

Well, it is the only Walden Worchester Spintite. Thus excusive to that name.

But, seriously, I wouldn't put too much stock on ad copy.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

No, of course not, on any subject. By the same token, with due caution, it has also been a source, with other evidence, of answers to innumerable solved questions. But I agree, I'm probably reading too much into that.

I think Blackhawk may have had them both beat. More on that later.

 

[gpw_42]

It seems unlikely that Bonney, Blackhawk, Snap-on and Walden all apparently introduced the spinner handle into their 3/8-drive lines in 1941 by pure coincidence.

The first thing that comes to mind is WWII.

I was wondering if maybe a lend-lease spec or requirement introduced the idea of the spintite handles to American industry.

Just to complete that train of thought on evolution and terminology... Snap-on's 1941 catalog was published on January 1. [emphasis mine]

SnapOn's Jan. 1, 1941 catalog publication date probably pokes a hole in my idea.

 

[snapmom]

M4, GM4, GM5. have not seen the 7

 

[four.cycle]

A 1920s Stevens & Co. catalog page 56 claims "Trade Mark" on "Speed Up", but it doesn't appear to claim the same on "Spintite".
Maybe Stevens never applied for a trademark on "Spintite"? (That's difficult to believe.)
More difficult to believe is that Warren S. Bellows, a regularly occurring name on patent documents, didn't apply for a trademark on it.
Maybe "exclusive" is just their claim of being the only ones using that moniker and it's just 100% sales pitch.

 

[Harry Oh]

In 1967 our Army issued airframe repair tool box contained a 3/8 drive reversable spinner. It was so smooth. Always assumed there was some sort of a sprag in the mechanism. Don't remember makers name, just that it had a red plastic type handle. I think I had a couple of them when I got out of Army but no clue as to where they are today. They might show up some day if I happen to live long enough. I guess organization isn't my strong suit.

 

[nadogail]

At my last place of employment I had the Weldor tig weld the male end of a 3/8 Drive extension onto a worn out Phillips screwdriver handle.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

have not seen the 7

Very interesting.

Maybe Stevens never applied for a trademark on "Spintite"?

Read post #55 again, at the beginning.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Maybe "exclusive" is just their claim of being the only ones using that moniker and it's just 100% sales pitch

That's what Beemer was suggesting, and you both may be right. It's odd phrasing, if that was their meaning, and as I noted, they don't use it on the midget page, which precedes it. But I'm certainly not going to be drawing any firm conclusions from it.

 

[Jim C.]

I don’t have much to add. I have this 3/8” spinner made by Giller. It seems like a good tool but I can’t say that I know anything about the Giller tool company.

Jim C.

 

[d42jeep]

The newer Giller tools are frequently clones of their Thorsen cousins although your Giller example‘s handle looks quite different than the Thorsen example posted upthread by the OP.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I think Blackhawk may have had them both beat. More on that later.

Following up on this...
As far as I have been able to ascertain from available catalogs, which, thanks to collectingsnap-on.com and IA/ITCL, is pretty dang good, it looks like Blackhawk may have been the first mfgr to apply the spinner handle idea from a midget line (in their case, 1/4-inch drive) to the 3/8-inch drive line, in 1937. It was steel. They also put one in their tweener Nugget 7/16-inch drive line, but gave that an amber plastic handle. I had previously reported that, erroneously, as 1941, now edited. Bonney and Snap-on followed suit in 1941. Not sure about Walden due to dearth of catalogs prior to 1941, but there are no ads marketing a 3/8-drive spinner.

 

[four.cycle]

Read post #55 again, at the beginning.

Yeah... I caught that... that's what I find rather puzzling: Stevens was making those for almost a decade before buying into Walden, and they waited almost 50 years to apply for a trademark?
Doesn't make sense, does it?
(Aside from the whole "3/8" spinner" thread subject.)

 

[d42jeep]

I have officially joined the 3/8” spinner group since this just arrived in the mail. Now I’m all set for some limited clearance work. Can anyone ID the unmarked red finger spinner?
-Don

 

[Smokeshow69]

I have officially joined the 3/8” spinner group since this just arrived in the mail. Now I’m all set for some limited clearance work. Can anyone ID the unmarked red finger spinner?
-Don

Any pictures of the top of the red spinner?

 

[d42jeep]

For some reason my phone is suddenly taking blurry pictures but here they are. I thought that it came off the Snap-on truck a long time ago but it has no markings.
-Don

 

[3baygarage]

It looks like the SG Tool Aid spinner, but I can only find pictures on the web of black ones by them. I've seen a lot of those red ones. Maybe K-D was selling them? I forget who they're by.

 

[JjKk40]

My only 3/8" drive spinner i have (I think). A Vaco. Looks very similar to Snap On made ones.

 

[NHtoolguy]

For some reason my phone is suddenly taking blurry pictures but here they are. I thought that it came off the Snap-on truck a long time ago but it has no markings.
-Don

In the early 1980's I bought a Cornwell spinner that was very similar to yours.

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks. I do have some Cornwell tools. You very well could be right. It’s pretty well made. I’m surprised that there aren’t manufacturers markings.
-Don

 

[charger 73]

here is my snap on F70

 

[bmwrd0]

Found this old girl the other day, a nice addition to the collection:

Sabina era MAC.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Some blackhawk spinners

 

[Mick56]

A nice blue Cornwell

 

[AK4570]

Here is an interesting 3/8 drive "flex" spinner I picked up on Saturday. Even after examination under magnification, I was unable to find markings of any type. Additionally, the handle shape/shade is not one with which I am familiar. The only literature in which I've seen flex spinners is the 1960 Snap-On catalog posted by Don in this thread (post #69), item G. This, however, does not scream SO to me... Thoughts?