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Barcalo Buffalo Tools

RTM

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May 13, 2019
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I actually did pick up a 6“ adjustable wrench recently. The adjuster was kind of sloppy so I added a small spring similar to what Crescent wrenches have. Barcalo adjustables normally just have a small flat washer on one end of the adjustment wheel. Before and after pictures.
Is it supposed to be a flat washer, or a Belleville or wavy washer? I have a Diamond Calk that had a wavy washer and I dropped it. Have a donor washer, but misplaced the wrench. The wavy or Belleville will give you a little bit of spring action.
 
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d42jeep

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Is it supposed to be a flat washer, or a Belleville or wavy washer? I have a Diamond Calk that had a wavy washer and I dropped it. Have a donor washer, but misplaced the wrench. The wavy or Belleville will give you a little bit of spring action.
The ones I’ve seen seem pretty flat although they may have started wavy. Crescent’s little spring seems like it was a better way to go, in my opinion.
-Don
 

d42jeep

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Fairly good haul of a variety of Barcalo tools at this morning’s estate saleIMG_1398.jpeg
Here they are after some cleanup.
Smooth handle pliersIMG_1425.jpeg
Scoop end DBE wrench IMG_1424.jpeg
Raised letter DBE wrench IMG_1427.jpeg
Prewar comboIMG_1429.jpeg

IMG_1428.jpeg

Early Chrome Moly DOE wrench IMG_1430.jpegIMG_1431.jpeg
-Don
 
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d42jeep

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I saw this Barcalo lot (plus one Indestro) at a reasonable price on eBay and they arrived today. They cleaned up reasonably well. IMG_1462.jpeg
Shined up the chrome ones.IMG_1473.jpeg
This style of DOE wrenches first appears in the 1955 catalog IMG_6870.jpeg
All the new ones together. IMG_1474.jpeg
-Don
 
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StillTooManyHobbies

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I find the "scoop" wrenches to be very cool. Several years ago I found the 1-1/8 in a pawnshop and that stated my collection. I just finished the 3/8 to 1" no skips by getting the 15/16 from ebay a couple weeks ago. They are mixed brands, which is cool as it shows the different brands and styles that were made. The 3/8 is Wardmastr, the 7/16, 3/4, 7/8 and 15/16 are Powr-Kraft, 1/2 is Blue Grass, the 13/16 is Crescent and the rest are Barcalo. The Powr-Kraft 5/8-3/4 shorty DBE is a bonus. I don't know as I will go any further on this set as I don't know the complete size range. Just thought I would share my accomplishment.
 

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Private Lugnutz

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Several years ago I found the 1-1/8 in a pawnshop and that started my collection. I just finished the 3/8 to 1" no skips by getting the 15/16 from ebay a couple weeks ago...[ ]...Just thought I would share my accomplishment.
:thumbup: Not that I am opposed to one-fell-swooping anything should it present itself, but any collection put together with perseverance and patience over several years deserves extra special praise, in my opinion, and, I agree, it is cool showing off the many brands in the "Scoop" Combo style. Reminds me a little of @BFBOB and his GJ-famous Vee or Vee Groove wrench collection, just completed not too long ago, consisting of at least one example of sixteen (16) different brands in that style!
 

StillTooManyHobbies

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Looks like I actually have 5 to go (1/4, 5/16, 11/32, 1-1/16 and 1-1/4), but the 11/32 might be tough to find. Thanks for the encouragement. I passed on the smallest short dbe at Carlisle last fall as I did not want to start another set. If I bought it I would be half way there. Which are earlier, the oval raised panel of the rectangular raised panel?
 

PowderKeg

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I've also been gradually building mixed brand sets of combos and dbl boxes over the years - will have to pull them out and see how far I've gotten. Scooped Barcalo-sourced wrenches can be fun to search thru the wrench piles for, they easily stand out from the myriad other USA and Chi-wan wrenches populating the boxes. I'll routinely scan for those and Billings combos with the slightly tapered beams. You can add a few more brands to the scooped Barcalo list too - Crusader, Life-time, Channellock, and Wizard.

A few sets I've scored include a set of dbl-box Blue Grass (at a Steam Threshing show) and a Barcalo combo set from Fat Phil. Most recent was a most-of-a-set of Crescents - the 1/2 & 9/16 were replaced with non-Barcs - so if anyone has one or both of those in the double-sided raised panel style (they were also made with one side raised and the other indented/recessed) I'd be interested in talking possible swaps or such...
 

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d42jeep

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I found a damaged Crescent 9/16“ combo back in July and picked it up due to the Barcalo connection. You are welcome to it if you want it. It might serve as a placeholder until a better one is found.IMG_9792.jpegIMG_9791.jpeg
-Don
 
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PowderKeg

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A quick n' dirty pic of the other Barcalo-sourced scooped-box brands I mentioned, add Wards to the list as well. The Wardmast'r ones I have (not in the pic) appear to be screen printed or somesuch (def not laser etched), as some are nearly impossible to read because the printing is mostly worn off.
 

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PowderKeg

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I found a damaged Crescent 9/16“ combo back in July and picked it up due to the Barcalo connection. You are welcome to it if you want it. It might serve as a placeholder until a better one is found.
-Don
Thanks much for the offer Don, but as I rooted thru my mixed drawer of Barcalos tonight for some of the other brands, I stumbled on a single-sided RP 9/16 Crescent that suffice as a stand-in until I eventually find a matching dbl sided. That's one of (many) problems with getting old - losing track of what you've already got and adding more of the same...
 

3baygarage

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Don, maybe a new vacation pad for you.

1074BC78-9182-4EB0-AD18-7361A986B6CB.jpeg19075A1A-588E-4759-92C3-7A9AD4752A3C.jpegCA9198E3-EDAA-4E75-84FA-A2B1A5152CDA.jpeg

I used to like riding my bike down Louisiana and that building. Now, like lots of other thigs, it appears to have been transformed over the last couple years while I was gone.
 

Private Lugnutz

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Don, maybe a new vacation pad for you.
Snerk. I guess you'd have to furnish it with at least one Barcalounger, right?

All joking aside, that would be kind of neat, at least for a week, if someone puts it up on BNB. You could theme a whole vacation out of it just visiting former mfgring sites. Williams, Keystone, etc. And make jaunts from there to Jamestown.

I really admire the way they re-used the logo.
 
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d42jeep

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Best guess on the vintage of that wrench set would be around 1955. Beautiful wrenches. They look unused. Our family car was a plain Jane beige ’62 Plymouth for a while. Not the most attractive of cars but the 318 and Torqueflite push button automatic were bulletproof. I did everything I could to break it but was unsuccessful. 👍
-Don
I found these pictures on the internet of a very similar car to ours. Ours wasn’t nearly as shiny though IMG_7658.jpegIMG_7657.jpegIMG_7656.jpeg
 
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threewood

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Yuma, AZ
Best guess on the vintage of that wrench set would be around 1955. Beautiful wrenches. They look unused. Our family car was a plain Jane beige ’62 Plymouth for a while. Not the most attractive of cars but the 318 and Torqueflite push button automatic were bulletproof. I did everything I could to break it but was unsuccessful. 👍
-Don
I found these pictures on the internet of a very similar car to ours. Ours wasn’t nearly as shiny though IMG_7658.jpegIMG_7657.jpegIMG_7656.jpeg
So the 62 Plymouth I have has been in the family since about new. Bought in Colorado, moved to Albuquerque...until we bought it from an elderly relative and drove it back to Kentucky. Only to be relocated to AZ for 14 years and it finally resides back in NM.

Great running car. Very rust free car. Rebuilt 318 Poly with a 4 bbl intake and pushbutton Torqueflite.
20151115_160309.jpg
 

Targa68

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I believe this could have been part of a WWII jeep toolkit:
BARCALO-BUFFALO-USA- with an "E"(?) forge mark
731A, 7/8 - 3/4

IMG_20240102_095759.jpg

IMG_20240102_100239.jpg
 

d42jeep

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It certainly could have been. The latest found original toolsets have had wrenches missing the ISN (in your wrench‘s case 731A) but admittedly three sets is not a very large sample size. Your wrench would definitely be considered WW2 GMTK correct as well. IMG_1411.jpegIMG_2225.jpeg
Here is the no ISN set in my Jeep’s onboard toolset. IMG_2301.jpegIMG_2300.jpeg
-Don
 

d42jeep

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So the 62 Plymouth I have has been in the family since about new. Bought in Colorado, moved to Albuquerque...until we bought it from an elderly relative and drove it back to Kentucky. Only to be relocated to AZ for 14 years and it finally resides back in NM.

Great running car. Very rust free car. Rebuilt 318 Poly with a 4 bbl intake and pushbutton Torqueflite.
20151115_160309.jpg
Thanks for posting it. I picked this up on eBay just for grins and giggles. It’s a tiny two door.
IMG_2275.jpegIMG_2274.jpegIMG_2273.jpeg
-Don
 

Private Lugnutz

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I believe this could have been part of a WWII jeep toolkit:
You are absolutely correct. Not just jeeps, though. The 5-pc set of wrenches that it was part of (for convenience, see Don's post for others) was standardized by the Ordnance Dept for several vehicles, as well as the GMTK (+ a 33C) to maintain them. The odd duck was Dodge. They needed different sizes.
The latest found original toolsets have had wrenches missing the ISN (in your wrench‘s case 731A) but admittedly three sets is not a very large sample size.
As you know, that's only pertaining to factory issue toolkit, Don. The Ordnance Dept was issuing replacements and Fed Specs actually required ISN's.
 

Debcrow

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May 14, 2019
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Obviously a Barcalo second.
My question is the coating. I am thinking Cad, but it seems awfully thick. Perhaps I am just used to the coatings being worn, and this factory second does not look like it has ever been used.

bbsem.JPGbbs3em.JPGbbs2em.JPGbbs1em.JPGbbs4em.JPG
 

MisterEd

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Chrome Molybdenum 3/8 x 7/16 Long 45 Degree Box End Wrench. Alloy Artifacts says Barcalo made this.
 

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Private Lugnutz

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Chrome Molybdenum 3/8 x 7/16 Long 45 Degree Box End Wrench. Alloy Artifacts says Barcalo made this.
I just found this 25/32 x 3/4 model this morning at the flea market. It's a dupe. I have one in a 4-pc partial set, posted on the DBE thread here, and discussed again later on the same thread here, and just a few posts after that. If you have any interest in combining it with yours and trying to collect a set, let me know, we could probably work out some kind of trade. If not, I will hold it for trading with someone else.
 

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torontotools

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Looks like I am in the right place for Barcalo. I am pretty new to the tool restoration game. What is the best way to clean up something like this Barcalo wrench? I have been using vinegar on other tools. Any info available on the wrench would be appreciated too.
 

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