Autokit counterfeit

[alton1911]

I was first attracted to the large double open ended beauty of the Auto Kit 200
I was advised that the previous model was an Auto kit 100. I went digging. After several months of digging, I still have only a couple Auto Kit 100 wrenches and one interesting counterfeit. The first two are authentic Kit wrenches and the third is an unbranded “select steel” Indestro copy? maybe? Or is the Indestro the original and the Auto Kit the counterfeit?
Some confusion still exists.
Any information on which one is original would be great.



Thanks again
alton1911

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Indestro was making DOE wrenches sets held together with a screw type clip at least as early as 1935, maybe earlier. J.P. Danielson patented the tapered screw used in their Auto-Kit sets (combination wrenches) in 1937. But I wouldn't call them counterfeits, a term usually reserved for fakes or reproductions. Indestro started making combination wrench sets pinned together with a screw in 1938, but I wouldn't call them counterfeits of the Auto-Kit, either. Barcalo also made a very similar set (or it may have been made by J.P Danielson for them). This is just the industry appropriating successful tool designs that weren't patented.

GJ has a thread for Kit wrenches, including Auto-Kit, Indestro and others, where many members have shown their Kit wrenches (Auto-Kit, Indestro, Barcalo, and others) and discussed the history. Link here.

 

[disston]

Here is a link to the Kit Wrenches thread.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=354478

 

[alton1911]

Thanks again. I remember that there was a great discussion about them before but I was unable to find it.
On another note... How should I use the search feature to find a particular topic? I have mixed results, but you make it seem effortless.
Thanks again,
alton1911

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I use key words in Advanced Search, with General and Vintage discussions selected.

If you try that, by typing in "auto kit" right now, this thread is at the top of the list you get back. Then there are a bunch of threads in which the words "auto kit" have been used. If you open those threads, those words would be highlighted in red in the thread. (Or you could use the thread search tool and it would only show you the posts in which the words "auto kit" were used in those threads. That is different than the board wide search tool, located under Thread Tools at the top of every thread.) The 12th thread down on the list is the "Kit Wrenches, Auto Kit and others" thread I linked in my first reply above. The one that disston linked again. The 14th thread down is an earlier thread you already started on the topic of the Auto-Kit wrenches you've found.

If you want to keep your posts together by topic - and in my philosophy, that is ideal not only for you but others (the board), my suggestion is to start fewer new threads and subscribe to your own threads. That way you don't have to search for them. They are always in your subscriptions.

That's how I found the link to give you, not by searching. I am subscribed to the "Kit Wrenches, Auto Kit and others" thread. I merely went to my subscriptions, found the thread, and copied the link.

You should also subscribe to all threads you think you might always be interested in by topic. That way you don't have to use the search feature to find those topics in the future. When there is new activity in those threads, they will be shown in bold at the top of your subscriptions list. But even when there is no new activity, you only have 3 or 4 pages of threads to look through to find a thread you are participating in, whether you started it or not, instead of thousands of pages of threads. And instead of searching for it.

EDIT: Some guys say they have better luck combining the same key words and "Garage Journal" in a google search outside of GJ.

 

[leg17]

How does one 'subscribe' to a particular thread?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

At the top of the thread, click [Thread Tools], then [Subscribe to This Thread], then [Add Subscription].

EDIT: Once you've subscribed to a bunch of threads, click on [User CP] in the black bar up at the top of the board. That will give you a list of your subscribed threads that have new activity. If no threads show up there, it means there haven't been any new posts in your subscribed threads. While on that page, there is a little Show all subscribed threads link at the bottom right. Click on that to access ALL your subscribed threads, whether there is new activity or not. They will be presented like all threads, in pages, arranged in chronological order of last activity. In my opinion, that tiny Show all subscribed threads link is the single most powerful function on GJ. I routinely scan the Vintage Forum main page for new threads that might interest me. Typically, a What is it? or someone who has posted something on a topic for which there is already a thread, but they didn't know it. Very rarely on a topic that doesn't already have a thread. But the majority of my participation on GJ is on subscribed threads, and I access those through that little Show all subscribed threads link.

 

[Bad Eye Bill]

I found four wrenches like those in a bunch of tools I got off the scrap truck the other day. They have Barcalo Buffalo on three of them, the other is blank.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I've found some one off brands, such as the Franklin wrenches I posted in the Kit Wrenches thread, but by and large, the three brands that I see most often in the wild are Indestro, Auto-Kit, and Barcalo, in my experience.

 

[Gmonkee]

Those were made by/branded for many in the 1930's. I think some continued into the 1940's too.

Older ones will be bare steel finish and later ones nickel plate. But not always, just a guideline.

I have two Barcalo in a bag of old stuff I am selling off. Not very nice wrenches to use.

 

[leg17]

At the top of the thread, click [Thread Tools], then [Subscribe to This Thread], then [Add Subscription].

Thanks Lugz