Cincinnati Tool Co.

[woody 73]

I thought that perhaps when I first started my search for their company information the web would come to life with a ton of information going back to the early days of the Cincinnati Tool Co. but that was not the case which I find very interesting.

What I can gather was that the company started in in 1877 and was eventually bought by Edward Hollister Hargrave, in Cincinnati,Ohio. A move in 1911 to Norwood, Ohio and a name change (not sure of this date but it happened sometime in 1924/25) and became the Hargrave Company. Then it was sold to the Warren tool group sometime in 1955 (not sure about that date either?). In 1994 it was again sold to the Wilton Corp.; then another sale this time to the WMH tool group and last to Tenex Capital Management and the name again changed to JPW Industries.

I have a few links and a nice grouping of some of their early tools if you look close up at the pictures you can see an H in a circle for the Hargrave name.


http://trowelcollector.blogspot.com/2014/12/history-of-cincinnati-tool-co-hargrave.html

http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2013/03/vanished-tool-makers-cincinatti-tool.html

http://www.datamp.org/patents/search/xrefCompany.php?id=3161

 

[jakemac]

I have a bunch of Cincinnati, Hargrave, and Cincinnati/Hargrave marked c-clamps from yard/estate/flea sales that I've restored. They're good clamps.

 

[drivesitfar]

Woody: here's a Cincinnati Tool company grinder i sold to my Honda mechanic that was a high quality beast.

 

[ER70S-2]

It is hard to find information on Cincinnati Tool. I found the same pages you linked to when I briefly researched the company. Check out this thread I started a few weeks ago on some NOS C-clamps I found. These C-clamps have the "H", so I guess they were made after the name change.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=299632

 

[woody 73]

Tell me about how hard it is finding information...sigh very hard

 

[drivesitfar]

Woody: when i was researching Cincinnati tool company to get information on my grinder it led me to a company that makes huge engines now. in fact my mechanic friend called them and was able to find out that the grinder was i think a 1946 made product.

you'll find the link and maybe knowing they are still in business might help you.


cheers

ER: i too have a lot of Cincinnati clamps and they are very high quality.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

I know I have some C Clamps in my shop, I'll snap and post pictures later..

Drivesit.. What company making large engines are you alluding to?

Good thread....

 

[Private Lugnutz]

If you ever see a 30's-40's vintage grease gun, push type, small (typically 9 ozs), like Alemite, with Bakelite or loop steel handle, marked Cincinnati Balcrank, or Cincinnati Ball Crank, please let me know. They made oil pans, funnels and similar service equipment also. Ditto on those, please. Thanks.

 

[twertsy]

You seem to be doing a lot of research lately Woody.............[emoji41]

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Here are a couple of pictures of my C Clamps..

I have the following:

8x of the 56
1x of the 55 (found at the flea market today, this is the "original" color)
1x of the 54
1x of the 51

The picture with the blue ones includes the 56, 54, & 51 L to R. I painted all my C clamps (from 20" all the way to my 3/4" ones) this blue color since they were all over the color and condition spectrum..

I believe I first saw these Cincinnati Tool clamps in the metals lab at Indiana State University College of Technology, and started accumulating them after graduation at auctions, estate sales, etc.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Picked up 3 more yesterday at the flea market.. 2X #53, 1X #50.. $6 total. A bit rusty, but a little TLC and PB Blaster / Scotch Bright and now they're back in service...

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Picked up this 3 #44 C Clamp at the flea market this morning...

 

[Muttly]

If you ever see a 30's-40's vintage grease gun, push type, small (typically 9 ozs), like Alemite, with Bakelite or loop steel handle, marked Cincinnati Balcrank, or Cincinnati Ball Crank, please let me know. They made oil pans, funnels and similar service equipment also. Ditto on those, please. Thanks.

like this?

 

[Muttly]

like this?

well it was bigger than I thought, bought it at a local online auction.

It came with a 30 gallon drum half full of penzoil gear lube, just what I was going to use it for.

The gear lube is worth more than the $11 I paid for the pump.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The gear lube is worth more than the $11 I paid for the pump.

Haha. Very true! Thanks for posting this. I have never seen anything branded with Cincy Balcrank so it's very helpful. But the type of grease gun I am talking about looks like this..., and may have a solid steel loop handle instead of the bakelite.

(Sorry for side-tracking your thread, Woody.)

 

[RivennHewn]

Here is a spoke shave:

 

[woody 73]

Very nice.

 

[NJ Marty]

Here is a spoke shave:

Dams that's nice

 

[RivennHewn]

Thanks guys.

After a little tweak'n and tune'n, it cuts great.

I have an album of vintage woodworking tools on my profile page.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Here's a Cincinnati c clamp I picked up at the flea market this morning... #556


View media item 64397

 

[tym]

Found a small Cincinnati C-clamp at a recent flea market, as I wrote about here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5995336&postcount=1

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Picked up some #50s and #54s for cheap at the flea market this am....

View media item 69800
View media item 69801

 

[woody 73]

Very nice good job.

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

New to me #52, found at flea market this weekend for a buck.... Size I didn't have....

View media item 74203

 

[AngryBeaver]

Wrong post. Oops

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

Saw this at the local flea market on Saturday.. didn't need it but thought it was cool....

View media item 76017

 

[Dennis Leigh Henry]

A couple more Cincinnati Tool c clamps .. Lots of variety and styles...

View media item 78501
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View media item 78502

 

[shanny19]

My most monstrous c-clamp is a Cincinnati, I painted him pink just to keep his ego from dominating the clamp rack.

 

[The Bean]

I was searching the web today for info on Cincinnati Tool Co. and hit a result that put me on this GJ thread. I didn't see any of my big clamps there, so I thought I would revive the thread and show my tools.
I inherited the three bar clamps from my father who probably inherited them from his. Pop-pop was a Carpenter. I use them all the time. They’re market C.T.Co and have the Hargrave symbol: H in a circle.
How rare are these, in great condition!?

 

[The Bean]

Here's a few more C.T.Co C-clamps in my collection. A 6" and a 4".

 

[woody 73]

Rare I think not, they made them by the train load; now of course if they all got turned in by both the World wars for scrap metal, then indeed you would have something very special.

A 1940 catalog for you to look at on this nice warm day in Feb. 2022.

Hargrave : The Cincinnati Tool Co. : Catalog No. 100 : The Cincinnati Tool Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

20 p., illus., 15.1 cm, trade catalog

archive.org

 

[AntiqueBen]

I got all of these clamps at the same time. The bigger Cincinnati Tool Co clamp is very heavy & we'll constructed. I still have to clean the other one. The 2 Wetzler Clamps are very interesting. They work great, but I noticed some of the lettering is missing. Some of the letters in Wetzler are missing & one of the L's in Long Island. The space for the letter is there? Was this just a stamping error at the manufacturer? Not sure about the no.4 stamped on the back either?

 

[AntiqueBen]

Does anyone know when this grinder model was manufactured? I understand Cincinnati Tool Company changed their name to Hargrave around 1925. Does this mean this grinder is pre 1925? This grinder is a beast. I'm anxious to use it. I can't find any info online about this model. Any info helps.

 

[RTM]

I believe they are completely different companies. I looked them up once before.

See this search for more

Search results for query: "cincinnati electric tool"

www.garagejournal.com

 

[AntiqueBen]

At the bottom of the badge on my grinder it says Cincinnati Electrical Tool Company?

 

[RTM]

At the bottom of the badge on my grinder it says Cincinnati Electrical Tool Company?

And that is not the same as Cincinnati Tool Company, no. That funny word Electrical in the middle makes a huge difference in who makes the tools.

Please check out the link I gave to search results, there are a few posts that contain information useful to you.

 

[AntiqueBen]

Ok. I'll check it out. Thanks.

 

[AntiqueBen]

I've been searching through old Cincinnati Electrical Tool Company catalogs online & I cannot find my model 100, 3/4hp (type GPJAY) anywhere? Actually, I can't find any grinder in their catalogs that is 3/4hp? Not finding anything on google books either. Anyone know of a reference for this model?

 

[RTM]

I've been searching through old Cincinnati Electrical Tool Company catalogs online & I cannot find my model 100, 3/4hp (type GPJAY) anywhere? Actually, I can't find any grinder in their catalogs that is 3/4hp? Not finding anything on google books either. Anyone know of a reference for this model?

Might have better luck asking in one of the threads dedicated to the Electrical company, or grinders, rather than here. Different people focus on different threads.

 

[ararat]

Thought I'd add some Cincinnati Tool Company examples from my collection.
Spokeshaves concave, convex, round bottom, flat bottom hardwood shave, round "cigar" shave. These are really nice, heavier duty than the Stanley. Two are marked "Martin's" I read that he was the president of the company.