Antique Henry Packer Ratchet Drills

[AntiqueBen]

One of my passions is collecting, restoring & researching antique ratchets. One of the earliest ratchet drills manufactured was patented by Henry H. Packer in 1858. I was never particularly interested in ratchet drills, but I have learned to appreciate them & the role they played in the progression of ratchet manufacturing through time. Packer was the only one in town boasting he was the only ratchet in the US & that everyone from sea to shining sea (including the military) was using his ratchets. They were usually one direction bohemaths used for drilling & reaming holes in metal. Yeah, this was more than 50 yrs before Black & Decker introduced the first portable electric drill.

One reason I never dove to deep into understanding Packer timelines is because it is an interwoven web of confusion. It is literally a "manufacturer salad" when trying to understand who was actually manufacturing Packer's ratchets. So far I have discovered at least 5 different manufacturers dating from 1860 to the early 1900's that manufactured a Packer ratchet drill. Were these manufacturers just making their own version of a Packer, or where they the "actual" manufacturer of the ratchet for Packer? Kind of like all the pipe wrench manufacturers making their own version of a Stillson. This is what I am trying to answer in my current research on this matter.

Without getting to far into the weeds on this, below are the manufacturers & the timelines they produced the Packer ratchet drill.

1) Eagle Ratchet Company 1858-1865
2) Ashcroft Mfg. Co. 1866-1872
3) Barwick Wrench Company 1873-1875
4) Billings & Spencer 1876-1905
5) Armstrong Bros. Tool Co. 1906-1910

This timeline is based on the dates of manufacturer ads I've found. Could there be a small window of time that someone else produced a Packer? It wouldn't surprise me in this web of Packer ratchetilia. The only discrepancy I found is an Ashcroft Mfg. ad from 1879 stating they were producing the Packer ratchet drill. Problem with this is Barwick Wrench Company was producing the Packer ratchet drill 6 years earlier in an 1873 ad. This brings to thought, are all these manufacturers offering their version of a Packer ratchet drill all at the same time, or are they taking turns being the official manufacturer that is forging the tool for Packer? Like I said....."manufacturer salad."

I will break up the next 5 posts by the five manufacturers & pics of their ads that corresponds to the timeline. I'm sure the timeline may change as this gets sussed out by anyone interested to chime in & share any knowledge or research. Also, please post pics of your antique Packer ratchets here & anything you know about them.

 

[AntiqueBen]

First company to manufacture the Packer Ratchet Drill was the Eagle Ratchet Company from 1858-1865. All the ads below are in this time period.

 

[AntiqueBen]

The second company to manufacture the Packer Ratchet Drill was the Ashcroft Mfg. Co. from 1866-1872. All the ads below are in this time period.

 

[AntiqueBen]

The third company to manufacture the Packer Ratchet Drill was the Barwick Wrench Company from 1873-1875. All the ads below are from this time period.

 

[AntiqueBen]

The fourth company to manufacture the Packer Ratchet Drill was Billings & Spencer from 1876-1905. They seem to have a longer run than any of the others. All the ads below are from this time period

 

[AntiqueBen]

The fifth company to manufacture the Packer Ratchet Drill was Armstrong Bros. Tool Co. from 1906-1910, maybe a little longer. The ads below are from this time period.

 

[AntiqueBen]

An interesting catalog ad I found from a seller of tools states, "There are several makers of this style of Ratchet but we prefer to sell the Billings & Spencer make as they are drop forged from bar steel while most of the other makes are of malleable iron." So, it appears all these manufacturers were selling their version of the Packer Ratchet simultaneously. Just like all the pipe wrench manufacturers selling their version of a Stillson, even though Stillson was still selling theirs.

The original manufacturer of the Packer Ratchet was Eagle Ratchet Company. After they stopped manufacturing the Packer Ratchet, was Mr. Henry Packer just satisfied to make royalties on all these other manufacturers knocking off his ratchet? If not, who was the manufacturer of the original tool & for how long? This is the elephant in the room

 

[AntiqueBen]

Here is the advertisement ad that states Eagle Ratchet Company commenced in 1858. This ad makes many boastful claims. Like they "are the only ratchet manufacturer in the United States, probably in the world." Also says they are all manufactured under Henry Packer's supervision & are warranted perfect in every respect. They were definitely proud of the success of this ratchet.

 

[AntiqueBen]

Here is my only Packer Drill Ratchet I own. It's a 10" No. 1 & weighs a ton. Definitely a boat anchor. What I find interesting is it has the Eagle Ratchet Company (Eagle) logo, but is also stamped The Ashcroft Mfg. Co. New York.

 

[AntiqueBen]

I have, what I would call, a ground breaking discovery on this whole Packer Ratchet Mystery (PRM). Yes, it probably deserves it's own abbreviation by now. I found a document that eludes to E.H. Ashcroft being involved in Henry Packer's original 1858 patent, even though Ashcroft is not mentioned in Packer's patent.

J.H. Parker, for Ashcroft Mfg. Co., patented his own improvement, on Packers original 1858 patent, in 1860. Parker's 1860 patent papers is quite interesting. Parker says he has an "Improved hand-drill stock-partly a communication by Henry H. Packer of Boston in the state of Massachusetts." He goes on to say "he is in possession of an invention of An Improved Hand-Drill Stock, the "same" (implying Packers original 1858 patent) having been partly my "own" invention and partly communicated to me by Henry H. Packer, of Boston, in the state of Massachusetts.

This seems to imply that Packer & Parker (Ashcroft) were working together on Packer's original patent in 1858 & Parker's improved patent of 1860. Parker even implies that Packer's ratchet was partly his own invention, even though he is not mentioned in Packer's original patent. Oddly enough, Packers original patent drawing does not list an "inventor" like most patents. There are lots of theories that could be taken from this. This would obviously be why Ashcroft Mfg. Co. was a manufacturer of Packer ratchets.

Below is Parker's (Ashcroft) patent papers. This information is stated on the bottom of page 1. Also is a pic of Parker's patent drawing of his improvement on Packer's ratchet. I think I've said enough for now. I'm at my 10 post maximum to start a thread I'm interested to hear any feedback, hypothesis, thoughts or theories on this woven web of Packer Ratchet Mysteries. What say you?

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

I have, what I would call, a ground breaking discovery on this whole Packer Ratchet Mystery (PRM). Yes, it probably deserves it's own abbreviation by now. I found a document that eludes to E.H. Ashcroft being involved in Henry Packer's original 1858 patent, even though Ashcroft is not mentioned in Packer's patent.

J.H. Parker, for Ashcroft Mfg. Co., patented his own improvement, on Packers original 1858 patent, in 1860. Parker's 1860 patent papers is quite interesting. Parker says he has an "Improved hand-drill stock-partly a communication by Henry H. Packer of Boston in the state of Massachusetts." He goes on to say "he is in possession of an invention of An Improved Hand-Drill Stock, the "same" (implying Packers original 1858 patent) having been partly my "own" invention and partly communicated to me by Henry H. Packer, of Boston, in the state of Massachusetts.

This seems to imply that Packer & Parker (Ashcroft) were working together on Packer's original patent in 1858 & Parker's improved patent of 1860. Parker even implies that Packer's ratchet was partly his own invention, even though he is not mentioned in Packer's original patent. Oddly enough, Packers original patent drawing does not list an "inventor" like most patents. There are lots of theories that could be taken from this. This would obviously be why Ashcroft Mfg. Co. was a manufacturer of Packer ratchets.

Below is Parker's (Ashcroft) patent papers. This information is stated on the bottom of page 1. Also is a pic of Parker's patent drawing of his improvement on Packer's ratchet. I think I've said enough for now. I'm at my 10 post maximum to start a thread I'm interested to hear any feedback, hypothesis, thoughts or theories on this woven web of Packer Ratchet Mysteries. What say you?

I think you are superb history detective Ben. I am years away from catching up with your knowledge. I will just follow along. Great job.

 

[AntiqueBen]

I think you are superb history detective Ben. I am years away from catching up with your knowledge. I will just follow along. Great job.

I appreciate the kind words Mike. I find the inside story on antique tools fascinating. It allows me to look at a tool differently knowing it's historical journey from its inception to my hand. I appreciate your support.

 

[four.cycle]

King / R. King Mfg. Co., Kingston NY / Packer No. 2 ratchet drill / patent ? /

 

[AntiqueBen]

King / R. King Mfg. Co., Kingston NY / Packer No. 2 ratchet drill / patent ? /

Nice example 4C. I'm saving more information for later posts, like other manufacturer marked Packer ratchets like yours. Other manufacturers like King, Keystone & some others. The history on these is all over the place. It's difficult to place all of it into context, but I'm giving it a shot. Cool ratchet btw

 

[four.cycle]

Ashcroft / Ashcroft Mfg. Co. (see also E. H. Ashcroft Co., Boston) / Bridgeport, CT (offices in NYC) / wrench (1876-1909) Consolidated and eventually part of Dresser Industries, Stratford, CT / http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=7337&tab=0 / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/ashcroft-pipe-tongs-the-forgotten-tool.524784/ / http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2017/08/vanished-tool-makers-ashcroft.html / https://ashcroft.asia/about-us/at-a-glance/history/#history-tab-1 /

Ashcroft / E.H. Ashcroft Co., Boston, MA (see also Ashcroft Mfg. Co., Bridgeport CT) / "Brown's patent" pipe tongs / TM 4102 Nov 7 1876 Edward H. Ashcroft & patent 22157 Nov 30 1858 & 79724 Jul 7 1868 James R. Brown / http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=7337&tab=0 / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/ashcroft-pipe-tongs-the-forgotten-tool.524784/ / http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2017/08/vanished-tool-makers-ashcroft.html / https://ashcroft.asia/about-us/at-a-glance/history/#history-tab-1 /

note the "arm and hammer" logo stamped on the Ashcroft tongs - Edmund H. Ashcroft's TM4102 registered Nov 7 1876:


1901 Logan-Gregg Hardware co catalog Ashcroft Buda Crerar Adams Gracey Keystone Millers Falls ad pp 158

 

[four.cycle]

Ashcroft Mfg. Co. Packer Ratchet Drill No. 1 No. 2

 

[four.cycle]

Armstrong / Armstrong Bros. see Armstrong Industrial Hand Tools /

Armstrong / Armstrong Industrial Hand Tools, Apex Tool Group, 14600 York Rd., Suite A Sparks, MD 21152 / "Armstrong Bros." / http://www.armstrongtools.com/ http://alloy-artifacts.org/armstrong-bros.html / http://alloy-artifacts.org/armstrong-bros.html#history /

patent on the ratchet shown in the first ad is 176683 Apr 25 1876 Joseph Renshaw

 

[four.cycle]

Barwick / Barwick Wrench Co., Boston, MA / wrench / patent 115678 Jun 6 1871 William Henry Barwick / "By 1876, Billings & Spencer had "purchased the entire stock, machinery, patent rights and good will" of the Barwick Wrench Company." /

 

[AntiqueBen]

I can't make heads or tails of either of the patent dates in the first ad:

Here is the patent for the Armstrong swivel head ratchet in that first Armstrong ad.

US Patent: 613,950 - Lever and Ratch Attachment

US patent 613,950 Lever and Ratch Attachment was issued to Harvey D. Williams of Ithaca, NY and Horace G. Hoadley of Waterbury, CT and Everett C. Lewis of Woonsocket, RI. It was granted on 11/08/1898. Swivel head ratchet driver for drills, wrenches, etc. The position of the internal pawls and...

www.datamp.org

 

[four.cycle]

@Ben -
As we have seen with "Brown's Patent Nippers", various makers have made claims of being "sole manufacturers" of any number of products.
This is another case where I take some of those claims with a grain of salt.
Overlaps, acquisitions, and outsourcing have always been part of the picture.
Just my two cents.

 

[AntiqueBen]

@Ben -
As we have seen with "Brown's Patent Nippers", various makers have made claims of being "sole manufacturers" of any number of products.
This is another case where I take some of those claims with a grain of salt.
Overlaps, acquisitions, and outsourcing have always been part of the picture.
Just my two cents.

Oh I agree. I talked about it in my Pipe Tongs thread. I chose the Packer ratchet story to try & break down some of its history, mainly because I really enjoy early antique ratchet history. You have to admit, the Parker (Ashcroft) & Packer collaboration in Parker's 1860 patent is quite interesting & ads an unexpected element to the story.

 

[four.cycle]

Billings & Spencer / Billings & Spencer Co., Laurel and Park St., Hartford, CT / acquired by Crescent Niagara Corp. 1962 / patent 212298 Feb 18 1879 & D26111 Sep 29 1896 & 260359 Jul 4 1882 Charles E. Billings & 518041 Apr 10 1894 J.A. Lowe & 525311 Aug 28 1894 C.E. Billings & 804351 Nov 14 1905 William R. Tomlinson / http://alloy-artifacts.org/billings-spencer-company.html / http://alloy-artifacts.org/billings-spencer-company.html#history / http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgIndex/detail.aspx?id=2522 / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/charles-billings-christopher-spencer.277390/ / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/lets-see-your-billings-and-spencer-goodies.390065/ /

Billings and Spencer were marketing their own drill in 1882 - patent 260359

 

[AntiqueBen]

Billings and Spencer were marketing their own drill in 1882 - patent 260359

Yes. I mentioned this in post 7. The catalog ad I posted said they chose to sell the B&S version because it was made of bar steel, superior to the other malleable iron versions.

 

[RTM]

can't make heads or tails of either of the patent dates in the first ad

First date is here

https://datamp.org

Set date to

11/8/1898

I toggle both print mode off and picture mode on.



And based on pics, I think it's this one. There are several ratchet drivers there

US Patent: 613,759 - Combination Ratchet Driver

US patent 613,759 Combination Ratchet Driver was issued to Elias Francis Cooper of Mount Gilead, OH. It was granted on 11/08/1898.

datamp.org

This one is listed as Armstrong in the text, talking about their ad

US Patent: 613,950 - Lever and Ratch Attachment

US patent 613,950 Lever and Ratch Attachment was issued to Harvey D. Williams of Ithaca, NY and Horace G. Hoadley of Waterbury, CT and Everett C. Lewis of Woonsocket, RI. It was granted on 11/08/1898. Swivel head ratchet driver for drills, wrenches, etc. The position of the internal pawls and...

datamp.org

Second date is a miss.

The above Armstrong patent points here

US Patent: 613,950 - Lever and Ratch Attachment

US patent 613,950 Lever and Ratch Attachment was issued to Harvey D. Williams of Ithaca, NY and Horace G. Hoadley of Waterbury, CT and Everett C. Lewis of Woonsocket, RI. It was granted on 11/08/1898. Swivel head ratchet driver for drills, wrenches, etc. The position of the internal pawls and...

datamp.org

 

[AntiqueBen]

I believe Billings & Spencer's 1882 ratchet drill patent is the first Packer style ratchet drill that is reversible. It has dual paws with the lever to change directions. From what I can see, all Packer style ratchet drills before this was only one direction. The reversible aspect of the B&S ratchet drill is the focus of discussion in the patent & the description on Datamp.

US Patent: 260,359 - Ratchet Drill

US patent 260,359 Ratchet Drill was issued to Charles E. Billings of Hartford, CT. It was granted on 07/04/1882. The handle has a double pawl, with a spring loaded sliding plunger in the handle behind it. The base of the pawl has three notches. Placing the slidin

www.datamp.org

 

[Mastools]

I recently purchased (haven't received it yet) a Keystone ratchet drill. I'd never seen or heard of one, so when I saw one for $5, I thought "I've got to have that!" There's not much info on the 'Net about these. So far this has been the most information rich location that I've been able to find, and it's got lots of great info. (I'm waiting for subsequent posts that cover Keystone branded versions).

Based on the catalog photos, it seems that maybe the models like the one that I bought are the "boiler ratchets" vs the monarch?
What's the difference between the short head on the boiler version and the long head on the monarch version? Even with the various catalog scans in this thread, I don't understand the various differences between the different models (in construction or use).

I think it's complete (other than the "old man"). What sort of bits do they take? I'm assuming it's not the tapered square shank bits that you'd use in an old 2 jaw chuck bit brace or breast drill, right? Anyone have an example of the sort of bits that would be used with them.

Attached are the photos of the one that I bought.

 

[four.cycle]

Hello Mastools and welcome to the site!

You will be wanting to keep this link handy at all times.

And this one as well.

To our collective misfortune, the proverbial gold mine of information at International Tool Catalog Library isn't accessible at the present.

Below are a few items which might help you identify your ratchet drill. Clicking the *.pdf files (the last two in the string below) will download them to your computer. (best I can do at the moment)

Please make a contribution to International Tool Catalog Library so they have adequate funding to protect their system from DDoS attacks. (which is why the site is down, for those who may be wondering.)

 

[Mastools]

Hello Mastools and welcome to the site!

You will be wanting to keep this link handy at all times.

And this one as well.

To our collective misfortune, the proverbial gold mine of information at International Tool Catalog Library isn't accessible at the present.

Below are a few items which might help you identify your ratchet drill. Clicking the *.pdf files (the last two in the string below) will download them to your computer. (best I can do at the moment)

Please make a contribution to International Tool Catalog Library so they have adequate funding to protect their system from DDoS attacks. (which is why the site is down, for those who may be wondering.)

Yep, I have a bunch of stuff from the ITCL (mostly woodworking hand tool stuff, Stanley, Millers Falls, Ohio Tool Co, etc....) and had noticed that the site is currently unavailable which is a bummer.
Thanks for the info!

 

[Mastools]

Below are a few items which might help you identify your ratchet drill. Clicking the *.pdf files (the last two in the string below) will download them to your computer. (best I can do at the moment)

Lots of great info in those resources that you posted. It seems that some of the differences between the different heads was (if I'm understanding correctly) 1 multiple standards of bit shanks requiring different heads (square head, morse taper head, square taper head, etc...) and also 2 the amount of space available (boiler heads being shorter and better suited to tight spaces.

DDoS on that site seems like an odd target. Must be some kids with nothing else to do. Usual targets are things like banks, ecommerce sites, gov sites, etc...

 

[baldytooltime]

I have, what I would call, a ground breaking discovery on this whole Packer Ratchet Mystery (PRM). Yes, it probably deserves it's own abbreviation by now. I found a document that eludes to E.H. Ashcroft being involved in Henry Packer's original 1858 patent, even though Ashcroft is not mentioned in Packer's patent.

J.H. Parker, for Ashcroft Mfg. Co., patented his own improvement, on Packers original 1858 patent, in 1860. Parker's 1860 patent papers is quite interesting. Parker says he has an "Improved hand-drill stock-partly a communication by Henry H. Packer of Boston in the state of Massachusetts." He goes on to say "he is in possession of an invention of An Improved Hand-Drill Stock, the "same" (implying Packers original 1858 patent) having been partly my "own" invention and partly communicated to me by Henry H. Packer, of Boston, in the state of Massachusetts.

This seems to imply that Packer & Parker (Ashcroft) were working together on Packer's original patent in 1858 & Parker's improved patent of 1860. Parker even implies that Packer's ratchet was partly his own invention, even though he is not mentioned in Packer's original patent. Oddly enough, Packers original patent drawing does not list an "inventor" like most patents. There are lots of theories that could be taken from this. This would obviously be why Ashcroft Mfg. Co. was a manufacturer of Packer ratchets.

Below is Parker's (Ashcroft) patent papers. This information is stated on the bottom of page 1. Also is a pic of Parker's patent drawing of his improvement on Packer's ratchet. I think I've said enough for now. I'm at my 10 post maximum to start a thread I'm interested to hear any feedback, hypothesis, thoughts or theories on this woven web of Packer Ratchet Mysteries. What say you?

Very Nice work! I appreciated reading it very much. Well Done!

 

[Fred Knox]

OK, here is my only Packer ratchet drill, but a good example of the fifth manufacturer, Armstong. It is a No. 9, with a great Armstrong "strong arm" logo. Thanks @AntiqueBen for the company context.

 

[AntiqueBen]

OK, here is my only Packer ratchet drill, but a good example of the fifth manufacturer, Armstong. It is a No. 9, with a great Armstrong "strong arm" logo. Thanks @AntiqueBen for the company context.

I've always liked the Armstrong version with the cool reversible knob. Nice example.

 

[john.k]

people who have never seen these ratchet drills working dont know how effective they are .....you can drill a one inch hole in a boiler shell in a few minutes ,and some will drill 2'' holes in steel or iron.

 

[Movin/on]

Here is my Ratchet Drill. It only drives in a CCW direction and ratchets in CW. Guess it needs LH drill bits?
Took the head apart and the cogs are a half-moon and the dog appears to be the same. Flipped side to side and it only ratchets. The dog didn't fit into the cogs. It does not have a reverse capability No markings or stampings, only 2 punch marks.
I'd posted this in the General Tools forum and was referenced to this thread. The thread for the cone has a 5/8 8 TPI thread that seems to move out as the ratchet turns to drive the drill forward
Richard >>> Movin/on

 

[AntiqueBen]

Here is my Ratchet Drill. It only drives in a CCW direction and ratchets in CW. Guess it needs LH drill bits?
Took the head apart and the cogs are a half-moon and the dog appears to be the same. Flipped side to side and it only ratchets. The dog didn't fit into the cogs. It does not have a reverse capability No markings or stampings, only 2 punch marks.
I'd posted this in the General Tools forum and was referenced to this thread. The thread for the cone has a 5/8 8 TPI thread that seems to move out as the ratchet turns to drive the drill forward
Richard >>> Movin/on

Looks like a Monarch made by Keystone. I can see the name "Monarch" stamping on your tool in the 2nd pic.

 

[Movin/on]

Good eye AntiqueBen. Sanded the areas down with 150 grit sandpaper and found Keystone Mfg. Co 12 IN
Monarch
Richard