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Dunlap tools & boxes

Dennis Leigh Henry

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Thanks. The problem with finding those is that the post ‘60 Sears marked screwdrivers are very similar in appearance. I find that I pick up a lot of screwdrivers at sales and end up setting them back down.
-Don

I used to see lots at a local flea market... but they didnt start back up this year (first time in 20+ years) but all I did was keep my eyes open for the familiar yellow / red... and look at them. Sears, yes. Dunlap, yes... rough shape.. yes. I passed up a lot, only because I really didnt want dupes....
 
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d42jeep

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One of the projects that I’ve been meaning to get to during the shelter in place time is to add in my recent Dunlap finds and eliminate some duplicates. Here are the results in some pictures of the main toolbox.
-Don18F1B1B4-4E9D-4C9B-ACC2-8B7CFDB3A6DE.jpgAAF34D82-D41D-48CE-A412-6DABF4B6A0CA.jpgB146E398-5EAE-4614-97CF-C3347505C891.jpg6E970AB5-700F-4EE7-B1A7-B5E7F999B08A.jpg2E9CE193-C34A-4379-8ABE-9BF911331E86.jpgFDC29D24-BAC5-4ED6-B388-EF4E4482EBEB.jpg4E850B17-A4E0-48E3-AEA9-529314DFE2F4.jpg
 
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d42jeep

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Yeah. It’s hiding in one of the boxes with the blowtorches in a picture I didn’t upload. I appreciate you sending it to me. When I closed up the main box to put it away, I had to empty out a few drawers in order to lift it.:wtf:
-Don038BC2D5-1793-4685-8D1F-E8E0E5E318B0.jpgF5EAC8DB-500B-4505-9A80-EB427EC4E733.jpg
 
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chstrumpetdude

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IMG_0261.jpgIMG_0262.jpgIMG_0265.jpgIMG_0266.jpgIMG_0268.jpg

I just picked up one if those machinists boxes. However, the one above looks to have a form of a friction slide system?

Mine does not and you can tell that they tried to use the thinnest gauge steel. They actually crimped the drawer sides on themselves to give the drawers more rigidity


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NoahG

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Picked up this rather nice 16oz claw hammer yesterday. 758e623e42684d5ebc207a35b46e9441.jpg
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a598008873a0b5091ef079bddc47ef66.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

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d42jeep

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Nice find. The original handle looks to be in really good condition for a hammer made before 1961.
-Don
 

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NoahG

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Nice find. The original handle looks to be in really good condition for a hammer made before 1961.
-Don

Thanks for the catalog pic. Yeah, its a surprisingly fresh hammer. I have much newer hammers with far more wear. I've always had a thing for that fully rounded neck on those old hammers.
 

Private Lugnutz

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I wonder who made it. Vlchek made ball-pein hammers for Craftsman and Dunlap. And they did make a claw hammer in that era, in one size, 16 ozs. Could've been just about anybody I suppose. It looks an awful lot like my Heller Bros, but maybe they all looked similar or I'm not noticing the distinctions.
 

Private Lugnutz

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Don,
Let me know if you already have this or if I should put it in the Donlap pile. Some of the blade markings (inked, not etched) in the middle sizes have worn off, but I see .002, .003, .004, .006, .008, and then a .020 and .025.
 

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d42jeep

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Thanks for the offer but I seem to have Dunlap feelers covered. They must have been a popular item. Steve just sent me two, as well.
-Don
 

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d42jeep

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I received a nice care package from bmwrd0 today and it included my very first wood handled Dunlap screwdriver.
-Don
 

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WinMod21

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My collection started with a $2.00 flea market toolbox that came with an offset screwdriver. It seems that not a week goes by without something being added. Now my Buddies are sending me their Dunlap finds. -Don
That's a very nice collection! I also have a set of five offset box-ends, but I think mine start around 3/8" or 7/16", and go up to 3/4" or 15/16", and include a 25/32"...that I've never seen with any other set. Will add pics asap.
 

d42jeep

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I’m looking forward to seeing yours. It seems like there were two primary suppliers of offset DBE wrenches. The earlier seem to have possibly been Moore Drop Forge and the later style were supplied by Lectrolite and included the 25/32” end.
-DonBC78D090-ED6A-4FFE-A225-3A8C8063D149.jpg78615860-9966-4D5D-A264-D3DEDAE102D8.jpg54B03C05-72D2-468F-A1BA-B8034A38292E.jpgF7CD3886-32D5-409E-8889-7F8CA63A7626.jpeg
 
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WinMod21

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Wow! You sure have a nice collection of them!
And yes, mine have those 'H' & 'D' & 'LC' initials too; I was gonna ask what those signified?
I'll try to take a pic today; I only have the five, that were handed down to me from my Father, along with his Craftsman collection; he was a Boeing Engineer, since 1947, and later on in the 60's when I was young, it seemed like we'd visit the Sears tool dept just about every Saturday morning, if we weren't Salmon or Steelhead fishing, or if he wasn't golfing; though he wasn't a big collector, I think he just liked to browse for new tools, and for me it was all about the wonderful aroma & taste of the Sears tool dept popcorn... that wafted through the whole Sears store every Saturday morning! :)
Anyways, pls forgive my digression, but I think Dunlap was still being sold there, back then.

. . Pics won't upload; keeps saying "Uploading file - Please wait"
 
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d42jeep

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I was pleased to find this lightly used punch and chisel set with holder at a local garage sale today.
-Don
 

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WinMod21

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I was pleased to find this lightly used punch and chisel set with holder at a local garage sale today.-Don
Very cool punch & chisel set! You must live in Dunlap county! :cool:
I guess I had to add this text in order for pics to post, instead of just editing last post.
 

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WinMod21

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Those are nice. They look like new. The LC stands for Lectrolite Corp but the other letters are kind of a mystery. -Don
Well, one of them had old paint all over one end, for some unknown reason :dunno:
like the wrench had been used to stir a can of paint. So I cleaned it off with Acetone...and then accidentally kicked over the little canning jar---that my wife would kill me if'in she knew I had appropriated---the Acetone was in :rolleyes: ...so then wiped them all with the spilled Acetone. Cut the old grease really well and i guess made 'em sparkle. :)

But it looks like you have the world's biggest Dunlap collection! :bowdown:
 

d42jeep

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I don’t know about that but thanks. The collection now has kind of a life of its own with additional pieces coming in from my tool buddies. I still pick up pieces that I find in the wild that I don’t already have. For a Sears price line only offered until 1960, most of the tools are of quite high quality.
-Don
 

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bonneyman

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I forget about this Dunlap thread and then come back after a few weeks and you guys have found lots of great stuff! :rocker:
 

WinMod21

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I don’t know about that but thanks. The collection now has kind of a life of its own with additional pieces coming in from my tool buddies. I still pick up pieces that I find in the wild that I don’t already have. For a Sears price line only offered until 1960, most of the tools are of quite high quality.-Don
Is that the same set as the previous pics above? Those are beaut's. :)

We used to go to those old 'Drive-In Swap Meet's... that were held every Sat & Sun at many Drive-In theater sites. You could literally find just about anything at 'em, as you strolled up & down the Drive-In theater aisles.
We used to go just about every weekend that we weren't out-of-town. Then out to brunch. Ahh, those were good old days. You could nigh on find just about every kind of tool imaginable. Even old side-by-side shotguns; clay pigeon throwers; bamboo fly rods; old collectible fishing reels; old 1st edition sporting (fishing & hunting) books, (for a buck or two or maybe $5), etc, etc.

Anyways, was able to find some Winchester & Remington & Keen Kutter tools there.
But now I wish I would've had an eye out for Dunlap tools as well. :(
 

Climatecreator

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Two of my favorite smaller boxes.

CCa20f0e4159c7803574c1598baecec95b.jpgcf8f4d3f61859e6f47fb3b98685bebeb.jpge3c77b789a74ff655dc24586c43e4c5e.jpg0b544a3b5e1d12f084af2ea4eea8ae5e.jpg
 

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Private Lugnutz

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I grabbed this case this morning just in case you didn't already have one. None of the miscellaneous mix of hex keys inside were marked DUNLAP. There were four =CRAFTSMAN= -V-. (I pulled out the UNBRAKO's. :))
 

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d42jeep

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I grabbed this case this morning just in case you didn't already have one. None of the miscellaneous mix of hex keys inside were marked DUNLAP. There were four =CRAFTSMAN= -V-. (I pulled out the UNBRAKO's. :))

Thanks for thinking of me. I think I’ve got the hex keys covered. Usually I avoid buying Dunlap tools on eBay but I hadn’t seen one of these so I picked it up. I’m not sure about the manufacturer’s code.
-Don
 

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Mintgrun

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I stumbled upon this screwdriver today. I didn't realize they shared the same handle style as the contemporary Craftsman tools. I can't quite make it out, but it says something like "Reg US Patent Office" under DUNLAP.

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d42jeep

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Dunlap drivers come in a few styles, some of which are quite similar to the early Craftsman drivers, other than color.
-Don
 

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d42jeep

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Familiar looking box. Mine came from Twertsy’s shop.
-Don
 

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Old Radar

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I picked up this Dunlap "Made in Germany" 8" Adjustable on Friday and am trying to pin down a time frame for manufacture/import. Don, I know you posted one like it a few years ago.

09 Oct 20-1a.jpg 09 Oct 20-1b.jpg

The first use of Dunlap as listed in Sears trademark application was January 1937.
The Sudetenland was annexed in September 1938 and Hitler marched into the rest of Czechoslovakia six months later.
I have to believe that long before he rolled into Poland and the UK started blockading German exports in December 1939, Germany must have stopped sending anything made of steel out of the country.
That leaves roughly at most a two year window between when contracts could have been established and when steel became too important to export--early '37 to early '39.

Can any of you WWII tool buffs adjust or narrow the window further?
 

d42jeep

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You raise an interesting question, one that I hadn’t thought much about. If we assume that tools manufactured in Germany during the Cold War after WW2 would have been marked “Made in West Germany” by elimination, our “Made in Germany” wrenches had to have been made in the late 30s. By 1939 the catalog clearly shows that the Dunlap wrenches were being sourced from Danielson and continued to be until at least 1942. In some of the later catalogs they state that the wrenches are sourced from West Germany.
-Don
 

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d42jeep

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Here is a Danielson sourced Dunlap adjustable and the 1942 catalog listing showing that Craftsman was selling Danielson sourced wrenches.
-Don
 

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Private Lugnutz

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Can any of you WWII tool buffs adjust or narrow the window further?
I can't. You've probably got it hemmed in pretty well with those milestones.

Your wrenches, imported at an interesting juncture, to say the least, cast some revelatory glare on some shady history, though.

Hitler and the Reichsbank were faced with a fierce dilemma in those years. Yes, they needed to conserve resources for the war, as you alluded to. But the worldwide Anti-Nazi boycott, which started as soon as Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, had a deeper impact on their economy than most people realize. They needed cash and goods that they couldn't produce in trade. The controversial 1936 Havaara Agreement and the Olympics helped their cause, but the regime was always still in deep fear that a growing boycott would cripple their economy as late as November 1938, as evidenced by many of the memos to and from the regime and the Reichsbank. The numbers were way down, even with the US, which remained as you know a matter of official government policy largely neutral and indifferent to the Nazi policies.

In hindsight, it's not a very good look for Sears, Roebuck & Company. In 1929, those wrenches would've been just a drop in a total imports bucket of 1.79B in Reichsmarks. In 1938, a much bigger part of only 209M Reichsmarks worth of goods US companies were still willing to buy from Nazi Germany.
 
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Old Radar

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So we may be able to tighten up the dates to roughly a year and a half span--from early '37 to late '38. Thanks, Don!

And thanks, as always, Lugz, for the deep dive into the background!!
 
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