Globemaster

[Michael Bryce Winnick]

I have a 3/8 ratchet made by Globemaster in Spain. It needs to be rebuilt. Nobody I have spoken to has ever heard of Globemaster. Seldom do I put a tool in the shop that is not American made, but its not like this is from Asia. Can anyone tell me where I can get it repaired?

 

[Bull]

I think you are going to be limited to scavenging parts from another ratchet, or hoping an NOS repair kit appears on eBay sometime.

 

[Bull]

Why don't you post a pic of it? I've never seen one before.

 

[barney rubble]

Is this the same Globemaster they sold on a table where everything was the same price about 40 years ago?

 

[larry_g]

Is this the same Globemaster they sold on a table where everything was the same price about 40 years ago?

I was going to say the same thing. I remember globemaster as the cheap stuff that was usually 99cents a piece. Even as a kid working on my bike I remember this as being junk.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Dale B]

That was my experience too. Really cheap import tools You could bend the screwdrivers by hand .......Late '60's into the '70's

 

[Bull]

In the archives here, there are at least a couple of people who indicated that there was a spectrum of Globemaster quality, from good to absolute rubbish. I believe that the tools were manufactured in different countries, which might account for the varying degress of quality.

 

[tonydanzah]

hence the name globemaster

 

[Michael Bryce Winnick]

With the exception of what is made in Asia, every tool deserves a life. I cannot post a picture because in all honesty I am technologically handicapped. I do not have a lap top. I use an etch a sketch. The tool is as durable as any Craftsman tool in my box from an integrity standpoint. The mechanism has failed after close to 40 years of use and even abuse. Get me another one for .99 please and I will live dangerously with no warranty. The tool was made in Spain and very well at that. Do any of you have one that you can donate to the cause?

 

[Fedwrench]

With the exception of what is made in Asia, every tool deserves a life.

Wow, did an Asian made tool cause you to skin your knuckles or let you down in some other way? I don't really think of Spain as being the cradle of quality tool development but, I guess those blue point spanish made screwdrivers are ok. Just because a tool comes from Asia doesn't mean it ***** right out of the box. I've had great service from my Gearwrench tools. Others here seem to like Toptul, and others have posted pictures of high end Japanese tools. Each tool needs to stand on its own merits regardless of where it was made. There are no bad tools, it's just that some are better than others.

 

[Bull]

There are no bad tools, it's just that some are better than others.

I dunno, Fed. I have seen some pieces from India that could only really be called "bad" if we want to be truthful.

 

[Zrexxer]

I dunno, Fed. I have seen some pieces from India that could only really be called "bad" if we want to be truthful.

Ahh, the catch is, that **** from India never makes it as far as meeting the definition of "tool," so it can't ever be a "good" tool or a "bad" tool!

I remember Globemaster being sold on discount tables at the lumberyards and the grocery stores around here when I was a kid.

 

[Michael Bryce Winnick]

Asian tools are ok on my knuckles, but disasterous for my country. While I am not Spanish, I am ok with European products, but with all things being equal, still prefer USA. Drive by the closed Vise Grips factory and ask the guys about their knuckles. Forgive me for buying imported in the first place, but I was in 4th grade and used my lunch money.

 

[Bull]

Asian tools are ok on my knuckles, but disasterous for my country. While I am not Spanish, I am ok with European products, but with all things being equal, still prefer USA. Drive by the closed Vise Grips factory and ask the guys about their knuckles. Forgive me for buying imported in the first place, but I was in 4th grade and used my lunch money.

I haven't really seen any of your posts prior to this thread, but I think I like your style.

We need to get you up to speed on pic posting, though; it's expected here that members are willing and able to show off their tools, garages, and projects when necessary.

 

[RM209]

I was going to say the same thing. I remember globemaster as the cheap stuff that was usually 99cents a piece. Even as a kid working on my bike I remember this as being junk.

lg
no neat sig line

Yes, I remember the Globemaster tools on the 99 cent tables at places like Penn Jersey auto parts. The word 'junk' does come to mind.
Interesting, I hadn't thought of Globemaster in quite a while; I'm surprised no one has any photos.

RM209

 

[BanjoSavesTheDay]

I have a 9/16" Globemaster wrench made in Italy. Italy being the global manufacturing power house that it is, I imagine the quality is excellent.

 

[Bruce Lancaster]

Globemaster was not any sort of manufacturer and I think was not even a possible source of parts when the stuff was new...as said above, they were just a retailer that sold cheap tools that were generally in a big table bin at hardwares and car parts stores. I have some stuff...some of it turned out well and is usable now, decades later. Some of it broke immediately or turned into a ball of rust and a shower of tiny chrome flakes...anything rubber disintegrated within weeks.
On an orphan ratchet, if actual gear or pawl fail, you are screwed. Most ratchet failures, though, are just crud, requiring nothing but cleaning, or the tiny ball and spring that many designs use...these can oft be matched up with available Craftsman or SO bits or even a cut down ball point pen spring/standard ball bearing. Flapper type pawls can often be reversed.
El cheapo tools used to be German...then Japan, a few from Spain in '60's and '70's, then Hong Kong and a bit of India. I think most HK stuff was actually Commie China laundered through a legal source before Nixon opened up trade.
Some things are actually excellent, bulletproof tools...it took a while before the foreigners, led by the Chinese, discovered that Ameicans will buy ANYTHING and then go buy another one when the first shatters.

 

[Michael Bryce Winnick]

I am relatively new to this forum. I had a prior post or two. I will eventually get a camera (not film type) and learn to take and post pictures. Ironically the guy in this thread talking about the Jersey Penn parts store is close to the mark. I bought this ratchet in the 70's outside of Patterson, New Jersey.

I stumbled across this site a few months ago and have read lots of posts and have seen lots of pictures. Without sounding like a braggart, I am really proud of my shop. It is 36x34 (2 stories), great lighting, Lincoln Arc Welder, my oxycetalyn torches, Hobart wire feed welder with argon cylinder, a compressor that makes the lights in the neighborhood flicker when it goes on and it rumbles upstairs like G-d is cheering for you, a sand blasting cabinet, great LP heat (HOT DAWG), work benches that can hold any big block and transmission attached that you put on them, metal locker for electrical tools and one for pneumatics, and lots of shelves.

My tool box is 6 inches taller than I am (Craftsman is midnight blue so it matches the color of my hot rods valve covers), but my goal is to add side boxes and another middle box. Eventually I hope to need a CDL to move it around the garage. I have a "USA only" rule in the VIP section of my shop which is where I keep my fridge, microwave garage burritos, beer, and peanutbutter cups. Even the European stuff does get into the VIP section of the shop.
My new best friend is Harry J. Epstein.

Because every tool deserves a life I have never tossed a tool that can ever plausibly be fixed. I have 2 other roll aways and a work area designated for the imported tools. I will never disgard them.

Ergo., I am on this site trying to rebuild a .99 Globemaster ratchet built in Spain and bought in New Jersey with lunch money around 1976.

 

[Bruce Lancaster]

One of my worst habits is avoiding useful work by spending lots of time fixing nearly worthless ****...I really do enjoy saving random objects made of metal. Just cleaned and lubed a little Japanese 1/4" ratchet in a set that probably has a street value of absolutely nothing...
I have a 3/8" Japanese set bought from the cheapo bin in NAPA in maybe 1965...probably cost like $3.00. That was for a vacation in which I was confronted with an immobile Model A and didn't have my little box of real tools. I was too young and poor to buy redundant tools, but my Father stepped up to the plate for me!
That little kit survived SERIOUS abuse doing work that really required a 1/2" breaker, with me pounding the handle with a brick, and still works fine today!

 

[Rocket442]

Re: I just found these Globemaster store displays

Globemaster was located in Houston tx, as marked on the bottom of the posi-grip sing.
Globemaster Military Aviation is all so located in Houston Tx, sence 1940 were thay still build the Boeing C-17
I dont think Military Aviation: US Air Force military would use cheap tools well we will never know at this point.
The cheap Co. copy of this tool named them selfs (Globe Master) two words And not only did they steal the name but they are still making cheap tool today.
I need the money so these are going up on ebay

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[Rocket442]

woops SIGN
ok i cant spell

 

[Retired guy]

[I ran across this forum on Globemaster Tools, very interesting as I worked for the Northwest Branch for 1960 to 1975..Globemaster was a distributor of impluse buying tools . They were noted for their tools bins of one price. They had .99C 1.97 2.97 and 3.97, as well as individual displays of wrenches screwdriver drill bits etc. these were the better quality tools. They sourced these tools from all over the world. 40 years later I am still using the adj. wrenches comb wrenches pliers anda screwdriver. I did however buy their best quality line which were as good as anybodies. Yes some of the cheap stuff was junk. They were headquartered in Houston Texas..I dont know if they are still around as the three owners were older at that time Anyway I thought I would throw this in EBill]

 

[Engelbrechtd]

I realize I am posting this well after the initial post but I thought it may be of interest to those that stumble across the post in the future or those searching for more information on Globemaster tools. If successful I will be posting a photo with this. The attached photo link is of a sign I have. It was found in the fall of 2013 when I was un-boarding some windows on a building I own. The building was an old general store at one time and I believe the sign was just an old board they used to block off an abandoned window.

https://plus.google.com/photos/101128034759395599032/albums/5965987531285354593

 

[Steinmetz]

I have a 9/16" Globemaster wrench made in Italy. Italy being the global manufacturing power house that it is, I imagine the quality is excellent.

Fiat, for example, is one of the largest corporations on Earth. Pirelli ain't no slouch, either. There are still other examples of prominent Italian manufacturing concerns.