Chopped! The GJ User Modified Tools Thread

[RTM]

If it has been modified to 1/2" drive, it may a plumbers wrench to change water heater elements.

Nope to 3/4"

 

[harley jim]

I brazed this 9/16" wrench to the socket probably 40 years ago, I'm pretty sure it was used to get to a starter bolt on a 3208 cat motor, I think!
I needed a tool to unbolt a yard light that had a hollow threaded shaft with wires coming through it so I cut the notch out of the box wrench, I think I just repurposed a repurposed tool!

The lamp post, it just needed to be tightened a bit more.

 

[d42jeep]

Somebody found it necessary to bend this poor little Blackhawk combo so I decided to try to straighten it. It will never be like new but it is at least usable.
-Don

 

[Outlawmws]

I've been leaving tools alone that were modded to the point they can't be bent back without showing it.

 

[Provincial]

I tried to straighten a slightly bent Ward's Master 1/2" combo one time, and it broke like glass! That cured me of trying to straighten (or bend) wrenches without heat.

 

[d42jeep]

I figured that I would either straighten it or throw it away so I made the effort. It’s ugly but not too bad.
-Don

 

[Ed in Virginia]

11/16" combo wrench modified to allow the owner to r/r the safety valve in a '39-52 Ford tractor's hydraulic pump without having to drop the pump. Sasquatch-sized hands prevent doing it this way via the right-side inspection port.

 

[2oolhound]

Here's a mod you can do on bent wrenches with a box end. If there are any UK members here that know the name of these please chime in. I've seen these on ebay 10 or 15 years ago and there was a name for them. They are for limited access where you can't get a wrench in. The idea is to slip them over the nut or bolt and tap them with a punch to turn the fastener. I think I got the shape correctly but maybe there's just supposed to be one triangle in the centre.

 

[kaymccampbell]

I love these tools. I have an entire big drawer full of this homemade ****, plus about 3 more in every other drawer.

 

[mikeinri]

That is an outstanding idea, @2oolhound!

Mike

 

[RubiconJK]

I brazed this 9/16" wrench to the socket probably 40 years ago, I'm pretty sure it was used to get to a starter bolt on a 3208 cat motor, I think!
I needed a tool to unbolt a yard light that had a hollow threaded shaft with wires coming through it so I cut the notch out of the box wrench, I think I just repurposed a repurposed tool!

Nice. It reminds me of one that I found shown in post #125

 

[harley jim]

Nice. It reminds me of one that I found shown in post #125

It is really close, that one looks like it was a lamp socket.

 

[Ed in Virginia]

I'd be interested in hearing opinions/theories on why a previous owner modified this Ford script plier. Kind of a shame from a collector's point of view since they were mfg'ed by Barcalo which makes them somewhat rare. Note how the jaw tips were customized and a hole drilled through both sides. How do you think the customizer used them?

 

[d42jeep]

The grinding is a shame. How did you determine that they were made by Barcalo?
-Don

 

[Ed in Virginia]

The grinding is a shame. How did you determine that they were made by Barcalo?
-Don

The "B" inside the circle is their logo.

 

[Bucko]

I picked up a bunch of tools in one large lot from a retired Machine shop owner. They were mostly low end tools but there was alot of big stuff I didn't have. I was looking at just the wrench sets that were comprised of the 3 jumbo size sets that harbor freight sells. It had a few replacements of other brands like a Napa wrench. He said all the guys that worked for him had Snap-On and such and would joke with him about his stuff. That was until they were stuck having to modify a wrench and didn't want to mess up their prized tools. He told them to grab his and have at it and get the job done because he knew he could replace it cheaper than what he was getting paid for on the job.

I don't have any individual pics of the modified tools in the lot but I cropped a few from when I had everything layed out. One is a 1-5/8 wrench bent to a 90 degree and the other is a box end leverage wrench turned into a slugging wrench that had been beat on pretty good after the modification.

 

[ChefRex]

I'd be interested in hearing opinions/theories on why a previous owner modified this Ford script plier. Kind of a shame from a collector's point of view since they were mfg'ed by Barcalo which makes them somewhat rare. Note how the jaw tips were customized and a hole drilled through both sides. How do you think the customizer used them?

Perhaps for removing a retaining ring?

 

[bsg1]

being in Southern California I see a lot of Plomb and collect it as well. there is a lot of modified Plomb out in the wild. some of it interesting and much done with genuine talent. some of the pieces modified is just heartbreaking....

 

[d42jeep]

The "B" inside the circle is their logo.

Thanks. Learn something every day. I’ll have to be on the lookout for one of those for the Barcalo shrine.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The "B" inside the circle is their logo.

Hmm. That's interesting. Do you have a citation for that other than the collector's reference you posted? Factory documentation or the like? Their trademark expressly included the words "Barcalo" and "Buffalo" on either side of a Circle-B and made no claims for just a Circle-B. See Pic below. Complicating that further, Bonney used a Circle-B for contract production. Bonney wasn't known for making their own pliers, though, let alone making them for others, so I'm not saying it's Bonney, either. It's just curious. I'm not challenging you. But I am wondering. Maybe especially because I don't believe the attribution for the "C" and "H" monograph to Chicago Manufacturing and Distribution is correct, which we already discussed on a separate thread. In its favor I suppose is the fact that Ford loved Barcalo during the war. Specified Barcalo wrenches and 6" slip-joints (Model #606) for several Ford military vehicle toolkits.

I’ll have to be on the lookout for one of those for the Barcalo shrine.

But that's the curious part. You have a whole shrine and you've never seen a Barcalo tool with a Circle-B before? And didn't know about it? I'm finding that odd. I'm not officially dubious, but I am curious. I'm not saying the Ford collector's chart is wrong. But maybe we can compare a pair of these ostensibly Barcalo-produced Ford script branded slip-joints with Barcalo-produced in-house branded slip joints of the same production era.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I have mentioned this before, in a different context. I made this modification for "comfort". What do I tell a friend who catches me holding a Squirrel? This adjustable knuckle buster was under $50 and I needed it for one job. I did not want to pay hundreds for a real CRESCENT adjustable.
I drilled out the adjuster nut and sleeved it with a bronze bushing to take the slop out of it. The squirrel came off in seconds with a carbide end-mill. Wile I had this wrench in the mill, I thinned the jaws by a third.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

On the Barc-Buff thing.... I DO see a few of those spark plug and head bolt service wrenches on AA with both the Barcalo-Buffalo branding on one side of the shank and the B-Circle on the flip side.

 

[Ricky Joe]

Hmm. That's interesting. Do you have a citation for that other than the collector's reference you posted? Factory documentation or the like? Their trademark expressly included the words "Barcalo" and "Buffalo" on either side of a Circle-B and made no claims for just a Circle-B. See Pic below. Complicating that further, Bonney used a Circle-B for contract production. Bonney wasn't known for making their own pliers, though, let alone making them for others, so I'm not saying it's Bonney, either. It's just curious. I'm not challenging you. But I am wondering. Maybe especially because I don't believe the attribution for the "C" and "H" monograph to Chicago Manufacturing and Distribution is correct, which we already discussed on a separate thread. In its favor I suppose is the fact that Ford loved Barcalo during the war. Specified Barcalo wrenches and 6" slip-joints (Model #606) for several Ford military vehicle toolkits.

But that's the curious part. You have a whole shrine and you've never seen a Barcalo tool with a Circle-B before? And didn't know about it? I'm finding that odd. I'm not officially dubious, but I am curious. I'm not saying the Ford collector's chart is wrong. But maybe we can compare a pair of these ostensibly Barcalo-produced Ford script branded slip-joints with Barcalo-produced in-house branded slip joints of the same production era.

I am not aware that any manufacturer for Ford tools with the Ford script name spells out their name in addition. They do use discreet marks, like Herbrand’s Diamond H or the circle M so widely known. Ford tools were made by other manufacturers, but their name is not spelled out when the Ford script appears.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Agreed. I wasn't suggesting or expecting that, RJ. My point was that I had never seen a Circle-B mark attributed to Barcalo the way a Diamond-H or a Diamond-M mark, just to name two prominent examples, are unmistakably attributed to Herbrand and Mossberg - irrespective of Ford tools. When you see them on any tool, without any other branding, the ID is automatic. I've never thought that way about a Circle-B. Perhaps because they're less prevalent. But I think I was wrong.

 

[Ricky Joe]

.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I am aware of that, RJ. I have some. I wasn't saying it was unique or rare to see a tool made for an early Ford application without a Ford branding. I was reporting the presence of the Circle-B mark on a tool also bearing the Barcalo-Buffalo marking to put an end to my expressed doubt, questioning and wonder. I'm now thinking that was caused by two related tendencies: seeing such a teeming multitude of Barcalo tools without the Circle-B mark, including my own, but also others, especially Don's Barcalo shrine (granted, most of them later), and, previously attributing the Circle-B mark with Bonney Forge, a mistake which AA's logo chart also makes. Just a couple attributed to Bonney, which are apparently Barcalo, as examples here...

c. 1920 Neverslip Pliers with replaceable side-cutters

Today was my kind of haul as a collector at the flea market. I found a few tools made by mfgr’s I had never heard of before, which sent me to the history books, so to speak, one of the most rewarding parts of this hobby. One of those tools were these nifty Neverslip lineman’s pliers. The...

www.garagejournal.com

And here...

Spreading the Bonney affliction!

I recently picked up a MDF Stillson with a bend. The nut was still on the remaining couple threads of a mostly sheared-off tip. (I’m not sure how the PO did that.) The wood handle was buggered at the upper end because of the bend, so I trimmed it down and re-threaded the tip. It’s a bit shorter...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[ChefRex]

I had forgotten this one, I think it’s a SK, it had kicked around in one box or another for a long time missing the storage cap, shortened the body and the shaft and now it’s in daily use,

 

[Ricky Joe]

.

 

[Ricky Joe]

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[Moldyjim]

I posted this in a couple of other threads, but this thread looks like a good home for it. Best spark plug rat I ever used. Good for a few other jobs as well.

I have a similar speed wrench, but I took the end of a breaker bar and welded it onto a ratchet handle.
Makes a good nut driver or turned 90 dogs a long socket turns it into a spinner.
Actually quite useful.
I slotted the ratchet handle and slid the end of the breaker bar in the slot to weld it together.

 

[LesserSon]

Circle-B versus Oval-B
Excepting the Neverslips (the photo is taken at an oblique angle, so I’m not sure), the examples shown do NOT have a circle, but rather an elipse or oval, around the B.
(Technically, the ring around the B is neither an elipse nor an oval…. ”racetrack”? Perhaps condensed-, compressed-, or narrow- circle would be more accurate.)
That’s a different mark than the full-bodied Circle-B attributed to Bonney.

As to the purpose of the grinding and holes in the Ford script slipjoints that initiated the discussion - I’d add to ChefRex’s retaining ring guess: maybe hose clamps?

 

[mikeinri]

I have a similar speed wrench, but I took the end of a breaker bar and welded it onto a ratchet handle.
Makes a good nut driver or turned 90 dogs a long socket turns it into a spinner.
Actually quite useful.
I slotted the ratchet handle and slid the end of the breaker bar in the slot to weld it together.

Very interesting!

Mike

 

[Moldyjim]

If the pics come through, here is another ratchet I modified for a particular task.
I had a Crescent folding handle screwdriver with a mangled tip.. I cut the tip off and welded it to an orbiting head ratchet. Folded shut it's like a regular ratchet handle. Turned at right angles it's a tee handle ratchet driver.

 

[mikeinri]

That is brilliant!

Mike

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I am guessing fuel line work on this mod. The pliers were Bergman.

 

[Outlawmws]

I am guessing fuel line work on this mod.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Ya, what?

 

[d42jeep]

Here is a long C homemade flare nut wrench.
I have no idea why someone would do this to a nice Plomb deep socket.
-Don

 

[Outlawmws]

I've seen sockets made that way, (may have similar)

 

[Plombob]

Here's my contribution. Two Proto sockets welded together to create extra deep sockets. The two modified sockets are next to the unmodified deep Proto sockets.