Aetna Tool Co.

[woody 73]

Another company that has me in the dark looking for information, I guess this week when it rains it pours ...
Now for some good news I think (key word here) that I found the company that manufactured the wrench for the Aetna tool co. I cannot tell you 100% for sure because I do not own a copy of that Indestro wrench to compare the two side by side.

I do have an AA web-site picture and the 1937 catalog that gives us a better snapshot of the wrench in question, if I was a betting man, don't tell the wife I would think that Indestro did indeed make the wrench and stamp them with the Aetna name.

The thing that made my search so hard is the fact that an insurance company has the same name.

A picture of the Indestro wrench in question.

http://alloy-artifacts.org/Photos/tools/indestro_oe2832_wrench_nut_tap_2_cropped.jpg

 

[woody 73]

A copy of the 1937 Indestro catalog for you to look at:

Indestro Tools : 1937 Catalog : Indestro Manufacturing Corp. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

76 p., illus., 26.9 cm, trade catalog

archive.org

 

[3baygarage]

Hi woody. Have to agree the two look much alike as I’ve seen a lot of them but can’t say I’ve ever done a direct comparison. While that wrench has a square cutout, there are many with the not quite triangular center hole.

Looking around, there are numerous examples of a Aetna Tool Co Stillson pipe wrench on the interwebz. I don’t really know what that says other than it’s another tool with the brand name.

 

[3baygarage]

There is also an Aetna bicycle wrench patented 1898 by Upson and Hart of Unionville, CT.. Apparently that name was used more than once.

 

[woody 73]

Well Today another mystery solved, lightning must have struck twice this week for me! A very special thanks to my good friend Coulton who takes his valuable time and looks for old tools for me to write stories about. Without his help I would not be able to write as many stories as I do, so a big shout out and thank you my good friend.

Today Coulton showed me an indestro set of their plate wrenches and I bought the set and took it home to compare the two wrenches side by side. What I found is the same thickness, and the very same number 1 stamped into both models. The only difference being that the Aetna wrench was just a little longer being cut out of the plate steel.

It is my belief that yes indeed Indestro made the wrench for Aetna; now I need to find out about the Aetna tool Company.

 

[prospector530]

Well, I am late to the conversation, but recently I obtained a "set" of stamped steel wrenches.
Two of the wrenches have "Crown" stamped on the wrench(Hardened Steel) and the other two have the name "Aetna"(Carbon Steel) but hey look the same. Each end has the opening size while the center triangle is a re-threading area for SAE threads.
I need assistance to determine who and when they might have been manufactured. Any takers?
There is some discussion the "Crown" items were manufactured by "Crown Tool" of UK. My guess this is not correct as the threading size is US SAE not metric.
Any further information would be appreciated.

 

[four.cycle]

@prospector530 -
Both the "Aetna" and "Crown" stamped-steel open-end wrenches remain something of a mystery.
Yes, they do look alike. Yes, they do look like they might have been made by Indestro, as @woody 73 alludes to.
And then on the other hand, they look like they may have been made by Wakefield, as @LesserSon's example might make us think:

Crown / Crown / wrench / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...uto-kit-and-others.354478/page-4#post-9313422 / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...uto-kit-and-others.354478/page-6#post-9830078 / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...uto-kit-and-others.354478/page-4#post-9314170 / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/aetna-tool-co.515118/ /

Aetna / stamped steel open end wrenches manufactured by ? / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/aetna-tool-co.515118/ /

keep this link handy at all times

this one too

Welcome to the site!

 

[LostBoy(IRL)]

There is some discussion the "Crown" items were manufactured by "Crown Tool" of UK. My guess this is not correct as the threading size is US SAE not metric.

SAE would not rule out UK though, there are a lot of older machines over here that use 'Imperial' sizing which is SAE. The machine I'm currently working on is from the UK and manufactured in the fifties, all imperial fixings.