Howdy everyone, got a couple pairs pliers I'm trying to figure out. Both marked with "SOS" and an "A" inside a shield logo (I think). One pair has a carved out jaw on one side, the other has concentric circled out jaws. I have not been able to find a maker/brand or intended purpose. Any insight or thoughts would be great, thanks.
Help with mystery pliers!
- Thread starter Mustangfe
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four.cycle
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I am really not sure about this one, but this is as close as I can get with what I currently have here:
Armstrong / Armstrong Mfg. Co., 385 Knowiton St., Bridgeport, CT / taps & dies, screw plates /
but... they primarily made taps and dies and screw plates.... but... they also made a pipe cutter and a pipe vise, so they most certainly would have had drop forging facilities.
I have to defer to the experts on this one.... this is just my best wild guess.
Armstrong / Armstrong Mfg. Co., 385 Knowiton St., Bridgeport, CT / taps & dies, screw plates /
but... they primarily made taps and dies and screw plates.... but... they also made a pipe cutter and a pipe vise, so they most certainly would have had drop forging facilities.
I have to defer to the experts on this one.... this is just my best wild guess.
Oregon Dave
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They look like blasting cap pliers; the side holes for bending the wire for insertion in to the plunger.
Does Atlas have a logo/trademark using a shield?
Could sure use some better pictures of the jaw inside & maybe a ruler/scale for reference.
Does Atlas have a logo/trademark using a shield?
Could sure use some better pictures of the jaw inside & maybe a ruler/scale for reference.
four.cycle
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AHA!
Atlas / Atlas Powder Co., Wilmington, DE / blasting cap crimping pliers /
Only images I have of "Atlas" blasting pliers have a much different logo, but I believe you are correct in respect to their being blasting cap pliers:
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Beerhippie
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Whoah! The blasting cap pliers I've used (many years ago) were non-sparking. Seemed like a good idea to me when priming a five lb bundle of 60-40 for a muck shoot.
Those were for fused caps. I'm not real sure why you need pliers for electric caps.
Those were for fused caps. I'm not real sure why you need pliers for electric caps.
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Private Lugnutz
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When were they made? None of my wartime sapper/blasting cap pliers (Wm. Schollhorn, Filson, HK Porter) are non-sparking and I suspect the OP's are much older. (Wm. Schollhorn, linked here, for example.)
Beerhippie
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No idea when they were made. It was the late seventies, working on my great-uncle's flagstone quarry in north-central AZ. Many of his tools--and vehicles--were WWII surplus. They were some sort of bronze, but I wasn't really up on my alloys back in my teens.
I didn't actually do any of the work with the dynamite. My uncle was the only one allowed to touch it. He claimed to be the only rockworm in AZ with ten fingers, so I guess he knew his stuff.
The only thing we used fused caps and 60-40 for was much shoots--clearing overburden from the working ledge. The rest was all gelnite laced with det cord and impact igniters--much safer.
Oregon Dave
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As far as the age of the O.P.'s pliers; old - drop/stamp forged handles; blacksmithed together.
Another clue, if they are Atlas; the Hercules Powder Company and the Atlas Powder Company were formed after the Dupont monopoly was dissolved in 1912, per an A.I. blurb from a Google search.
O.P. where are the additional pictures requested of the jaws; the "concentric circled out jaws" might just turn out to be fuse cutters.
Another clue, if they are Atlas; the Hercules Powder Company and the Atlas Powder Company were formed after the Dupont monopoly was dissolved in 1912, per an A.I. blurb from a Google search.
O.P. where are the additional pictures requested of the jaws; the "concentric circled out jaws" might just turn out to be fuse cutters.
Private Lugnutz
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^ Thanks, @Beerhippie. I wasn't asking specifically so much as suggesting the move to non-sparking compositions (BeCu, AlBr, etc) may have come later. I don't recall seeing any antique/vintage. Again, all mine are steel. I could be wrong.
Thanks everyone, I didn't say anything as to not lean anyone's thoughts in any particular direction. My best guess was mid to late 1800's blasting cap pliers, I just can't find a dang thing on the "SOS" or the harp/shield/ upside down omega/ohm symbol with an A inside it. I've exhausted archive.org and alloy artifacts. Assuming these are western made due to English letters, I've searched European sites with no luck so far. Here's more photos.
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Oregon Dave
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Appreciate the additional pictures.
As above; if the A is Atlas Powder Company, tool would be after 1912
S O S; I'm sure you already suspect mining or rail road company customers - might be a decent direction for more research if so.
"Last one" didn't get to here.
As above; if the A is Atlas Powder Company, tool would be after 1912
S O S; I'm sure you already suspect mining or rail road company customers - might be a decent direction for more research if so.
"Last one" didn't get to here.
four.cycle
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Hercules had a completely different logo
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Oregon Dave
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The reference to Hercules Powder Company was only for dating, re: the breakup of Dupont in 1912.
four.cycle
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^ I understood that, Dave... was just showing an example. Pretty sure they're blasting pliers, but I'm at a complete loss on maker.
Puzzled that we're not seeing the pointy end or the screwdriver blade on the ends of the handles, which seems to be a feature on every "blasting plier" image I have here.
Puzzled that we're not seeing the pointy end or the screwdriver blade on the ends of the handles, which seems to be a feature on every "blasting plier" image I have here.
Yeah, was trying to get the better quality ruler photo to post, wouldn't go? And the SOS, I found (services of supply) for the army, but that was in 1942, different logo and no info, and (I think) well after these were made.
The other, (half jaw?) Pliers do have a flat head on one handle.
Oregon Dave
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Thanks for the research & sharing it. My Grandma used to say "A days not worth living if you don't learn something new"
Am sure you noticed the 'dressed' end on one of the handles of the pair with the side-drilled holes. "blasting plier" is close enough for grenades - thing is; as you know, these guys are OLD, early in the evolution to modernish tools - coarse embossed nomenclature, rivet in the pivot - clues I'm observing - tools my Grandad & Great Uncles used; as a kid, remember watching them blowing stumps.
Beerhippie
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That was another feature I thought was missing. The "pointy end" is for making a hole in the explosive to insert the cap.
Oregon Dave
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Hey Far NE - Near Troy; was a land of deer, elk & rattlesnakes when I was boy there; creeks were full trout, banks had a lot of rattlesnakes - was a saw mill at Troy, rocks on the bank of the Grand Ronde, had a lot of rattlesnakes.
There are no shortages of vintage blasting cap pliers, like one of the O.P.’s, that have completely rounded handle tips; some illustrated directions show use of a nail. Ingenuity kicks in and you can leave the nail in your pocket. Pointed ends has probably got more to do with tool improvement; pretty much found in all tool lines.
Another image at:
[https://largescalecentral.com/t/the-nature-of-dynamite/78016/21?page=2]
scroll down a ways; sitting by the detonator & pointy handled pliers.
Further a Google search for: atlas powder company early trademark A in a shield
Yielded this A.I. reply: The trademark for the early Atlas Powder Company was a distinctive capital "A" set within a shield. The "A" was featured prominently, and some versions of the mark also included a depiction of the figure Atlas supporting the world. . . This brand was a significant part of the company's early identity as a leading explosives and chemicals manufacturer.
Two links were provide, but I couldn’t acquire anything useful; others with more i/net harvesting talent may.
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Yes
four.cycle
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Exactomundo. And most all of the screen shots I've harvested of those things have that feature. (below)
Then it should be listed at the USPTO with an illustration of the trademarked logo.
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Oregon Dave
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Beerhippie said: That was another feature I thought was missing. The "pointy end" is for making a hole in the explosive to insert the cap.
four.cycle said: Exactomundo. And most all of the screen shots I've harvested of those things have that feature. (below)
For starters, why is point no point even an issue; the O.P.’s images show two pliers, four tips; none pointed. The O.P. further mentioned up-thread that one tip was fashioned into a screwdriver tip; an Old World attribute that was included in early American made pliers.
four.cycle, I know that you have observed in the three images you include that given the pivot hardware and perceived manufacturing processes; the images are of tool made further down the time-line than the O.P.’s.
If the A in a shield is for Atlas Powder Company, founded in 1912; an ad in a 1918 Mining catalog shows a pair of Atlas Cap Crimper pliers with a pointed tip handle.
Tool history, as well as all history, to me is a moving picture, a photo or even a personal observation are snap-shots & personal observations.