Canadian Wrenches; Dreadnaught, Gray, ETF, Fleet, Snap-on

[jabberwoki]

I do need a Dreadnought wrench now.

 

[snapmom]

Some made in Canada Snap on rats.

 

[snapmom]

Some Tecomaster Rats Made by Snap on Canada

 

[RyanE]

Wow! I just came across this thread and have lots to contribute! See my avatar!

I too have several examples of both the "controlled steel", Canforge and I believe also Penens Corp branded DOE wrenches.

I also have a huge collection of Gray, "Dreadnought", "Zenith" and ETF tools. I also have some Canadian made Snap On, much Proto/Challenger Canada as well as a single Herbrand 6 pt combination wrench that was also made in Canada.

I will go through my photos and post some up shortly.

 

[RyanE]

I will go through my photos and post some up shortly.

Well, I fibbed a bit.

I went through my photos for about 20 mins and decided that spending hours looking through 10+ years of albums for wrench photos was a huge waste of my time.

It will be faster if I just go out to the shop and dig through my old tools and take some new photos instead. Maybe I can clean up/organize while I'm out there too. Hopefully I don't get sidetracked on the myriad of other unfinished "projects" laying around out there.......

Stay tuned. I think .

 

[RyanE]

Well, it took a few days. I got sidetracked ya know?

I've focused on the wrenches for now, sockets and ratchets will come eventually.

So it turns out I have a single Canforge DOE in the style of the Penens Corp and Controlled Steel DOE wrenches. Seen at the top here in a cadmium finish. The Penens are a mix of satin chrome and cadmium. The Controlled Steel examples at the bottom were also cadmium that I wire wheeled off many years ago before I knew of the dangers...... There are some subtle differences. The Penens have slimmer beams for the most part but even then, there are differences between dimensions of the same size wrench. All 3 manufacturers use a 3 digit alpha numeric code. The Canforge appears to be C-4-4.



Okay, now for some ETF combo wrenches. These are quite roughly forged and they have very thin beams and jaws. Excellent for jam nuts I suppose. No idea on age/vintage?



A pair of what I presume are Gray terminal wrenches. I believe I've also seen the same wrench and 6481 nomenclature on Wright (?) wrenches as well? Sorry, they load upside down on the forum. Don't break your necks.


Okay, next up are the Dreadnaught and Spencer Billings styled Gray DOE wrenches, along with an offset "DUBL-HEX" DBE that snuck in there. Possibly a Gray, but looks like some other Lectrolite Trufits that I have. Anyone hazard a guess on the vintage of the Dreadnaught and SB look alike?



Okay, let me pause and make another post.

 

[RyanE]

Okay, let's keep marching.

A pair of Bluepoint Supreme Canada raised panel DOE wrenches. Sadly they've seen major use and the markings are nearly worn off.



A pair of Challenger of Canada 1/2" combos. They have the same shape and obvious lineage as some of my P&C and Penens branded combos.


Next up are a Snap On tappet wrench, 11/16" Snap On combo and one my favourites, a Herbrand 11/16" 6 point combo. I think it's the only 6 point combo that I own. The finish on the Herbrand is extremely nice. I've never seen any other Herbrand Canada wrenches. Did Herbrand make tools up here or did another manufacturer (Gray?) make them on contract? Anyone else have any examples?



Here we have some ubiquitous Gray "Maple Leaf" DOE metric in 15 to 19mm. I believe these are economy line tools once sold at hardware stores and such. Perfectly serviceable and nice chrome but very little post forging cleanup prior to chrome. No idea on age, possibly 60's or 70's?


Here's a complete set of Gray combos from 1/4" to 1 5/16" and some extras thrown in. Nearly all are the highest level of Gray wrenches with just 2 Maple Leafs thrown in. Acquired from a retired mechanic, not terribly old, maybe 70's to 80's vintage? Ignore the sweet William's adjustables hiding in the corner there...



Another mostly complete set of Gray combos, of various vintages and styles. Also a Challenger of Canada 7/8" thrown in.


Limited out on photos. Next post.

 

[RyanE]

Here's some close ups of the various marking Gray used over the years.



Here's a partial set of Gray metric combos. These are users above one of my benches. And the tiniest little 7mm.




More Maple Leaf finish Gray offset DBE wrenches and a pair of higher finish stubby DBE.



Ignition Wrenches by Gray.

 

[RyanE]

Okay some pipe wrenches.

24" McKinnon Stillson and an 18" ETF.

I've never heard of McKinnon?

 

[RyanE]

Came across these. For adjusting door closers?

 

[GaryM909]

I have a full set of Proto Challenger SAE wrenches (1 1/4 - 5/16) I have owned since about 1978 and about ten Proto metric wrenches ( no pics) that were made in Canada.
Also both 1/2" drive SAE 6 point Proto and SAE 12 point Challenger sockets ( the two largest are Williams ). Also a full set of 3/8 Challenger SAE 6 point sockets. I got them all around 1978 when I was apprenticing at a machine shop.
I also have a few Challenger Canada ratchets, extensions and a couple flex handles too.
The only difference I can tell between Challenger Canada and Proto is the finish.
I do have Gray metric sockets both 3/8 and 1/2 as well as a few Gray ratchets.
I also have a 1/2 drive Snap On ratchet as well.

 

[soundjunky]

I was sorting through a box of my neglected old wrenches to make a set, and noticed I had a variety of Canadian brands/styles. Some true Canadian brands; Gray, Dreadnaught (a Gray brand), ETF, and a couple of US subsidiary makes; Fleet Mfg CAN, and a Snap-on OEX 240.
Plenty of variation in the Gray product markings; different logos and different steels

I'm glad I found this thread!
I had said yesterday in one of my first posts something along the line of "for me to be interested in a tool, it has to have a feel and look" - My (few) old wrenches like this definitely have the look - they look old, and to me that's cool.

I was given some links yesterday, and this morning I decided to look up my 'Dreadnaught' double open end wrench;
I found it in the 'list of manufacturers' thread - it says "see Kraeuter";
I looked at the Kraeuter thread, and there is no mention of it(?);
I did follow an alloy-artifacts link, and it does mention the 'Dreadnought' line introduced in 1914 - but I didn't see any mention of 'Dreadnaught'...

My 'Dreadnaught' wrench is like the one in the picture/quote above, but is 1/2" on the big end and 7/16" on the small end(?);
It seems odd that a manufacturer would have two wrenches with the same size;
I would think that not having size overlap between wrenches in their line would have made their wrench sets more economical (because less in the set).

Does anyone have any idea as the the approximate age of these 'Dreadnaught' wrenches?

I also have another double open end wrench which looks like my 'Dreadnaught' - it's a 7/16" on the big end, and 3/8" on the small end;
This wrench has no name on it - maybe it's another brand(?) - the shaft in the middle is a little more rounded.
This wrench has the size stamped on the heads of the wrench on the opposite side as my 'Dreadnaught', and on the other side from the sizing is the following information cast into the shaft:
180 090 M1 <MHF>
Does anyone have any idea who the manufacturer might be?

I also have an ETF wrench like the one pictured (again, above quote) except mine is 13/16" on the small end, and 7/8" on the big end.
This one is a curious one to me because of the rough cast finish of the wrench.

Do these ETF wrenches have an approximate age range also?

 

[Stubby1743]

I picked up this 5/8 x 9/16 DOE over the weekend. The style of the size markings makes it 1940s or 50s I think.

 

[matthew]

Three Canadian Protos and one of their American cousins.