IBM hand tools.

[woody 73]

Strange in my 50 plus years of collecting tools this is my first IBM tool. I do not even know if it is vintage or not?

I had this funny feeling in the back of my craw, that it "had the look" of maybe being made by snap on; so I sent snap mom a pm last night and asked if there was any connection with the snap on company.

Her reply was she had seen IBM tools and snap did make tools for other companies, but she was not aware of any connection at this time and date.

A little wiki History for you:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM

Not much to report about which tool companies made tools for them, wish I could give you some answers but I am drawing blanks at this time. Before I forget it is half the size of a one dollar bill.

Anyhow the wrench in question maybe some of you will know who made the wrench for them?

 

[RTM]

This listing claims Selectric era, so can you pin it down a bit?

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/ibm-type-bar-selectric-typewriter-405837279


But big picture, we probably have an IBM repairman, or son of a repairman online, so its only a few hours til someone pulls one out of the vaults.

 

[woody 73]

RTM good job.

I did find this on the old inter-web:

https://munk.org/typecast/2016/09/06/typewriter-repair-tools-reference-1960-ames-catalog/

 

[toolmiser]

I had a couple that I picked up at an estate sale cheap. Layed around for a few years and decided they could leave. Did a little research and found out they were for repairing a typewriter. Sold on Ebay, didn't get rich though.

 

[RTM]

RTM good job.

I did find this on the old inter-web:

https://munk.org/typecast/2016/09/06/typewriter-repair-tools-reference-1960-ames-catalog/

Well heck Woody, that’s an odd coincidence.

Check out this thread, does the first two tools on the first page look similar?

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=478435&highlight=Dragon

The jaws here look very similar
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/antique-typewriter-tools-peening-412036928

Well done sir, even if inadvertently.

 

[CoogarXR]

I have several different screwdrivers and nut drivers that are branded IBM. Mostly Xcelite and Vaco, and a few oddballs.

 

[ray h]

In Federal System we had a mix bag of manufacturers. I had a bunch of Armstrong tools along with Snap-On. There was always special purpose tools with just a IBM part number ( no name), those often had a 6-7 digit number.

 

[Provincial]

I ran into a bin of IBM wrenches at an estate sale last Friday. The cost was minimal, so I cleaned out all those marked IBM while I was picking out my collectible wrenches. The first photo is of the whole 29 I found:

Here is a close-up of the top of the stack:

Close-up of the middle of the stack:

Close-up of the bottom of the stack:

There were a lot of duplicates in there! I assume that these were accumulated over years of being an IBM repairman. There was a case (like a salesman's sample case) that had a lot of small drawers that was marked IBM in large white letters sitting over in the corner of the garage.

Some of the wrenches are marked "Japan" or "Taiwan" so IBM did some offshore sourcing. All have shiny chrome, so it must have been a thing for IBM to have its repairmen look like they had professional-quality tools.

I think we can only guess at some of the suppliers, except for the two Proto DOE's that have IBM numbers as well. Some of the other DOE's kind of look like Bonney. I did find some Williams, Proto, Herbrand, and Armstrong in the bin that didn't have IBM numbers. I don't know if they had come from IBM or if the deceased had picked them up elsewhere.

Feel free to show your IBM tools here!

 

[thefraze_1020]

Recent purchase...IBM 990068 slotted head screwdriver. I bought it thinking, "I wonder what the IBM tool company is?" After seeing this thread I realized this tool was associated with the real IBM, International Business Machines. I was interested in the "See-lect" brand on it as well. Any idea who made this piece? I thought it looked like an Xcelite screwdriver. And I found one reference to this tool in a 1973 IBM Maintenance Tool and Equipment Catalog.

 

[CoogarXR]

...

 

[Provincial]

I picked up a couple of IBM tools Sunday at the flea. A feeler gauge and this interesting nut driver. If you push the rubber-capped button on the handle, you can slide the shaft into one of three positions.

 

[Provincial]

Recent purchase...IBM 990068 slotted head screwdriver. I bought it thinking, "I wonder what the IBM tool company is?" After seeing this thread I realized this tool was associated with the real IBM, International Business Machines. I was interested in the "See-lect" brand on it as well. Any idea who made this piece? I thought it looked like an Xcelite screwdriver. And I found one reference to this tool in a 1973 IBM Maintenance Tool and Equipment Catalog.

"I was interested in the "See-lect" brand on it as well"

IBM branded their typewriters with head the rotated and indexed as "Selectric."

 

[Tool Pants]

About 20 years I bought off ebay a new CDI torque wrench laser engraved IBM. Under that, Solutions for a Small Planet. Which is an adverting logo IBM used in the late 1990s.

 

[IBM Customer Engineer]

"I was interested in the "See-lect" brand on it as well"

IBM branded their typewriters with head the rotated and indexed as "Selectric."

I was issued the See-lect sliding nut driver as a tool in the official Customer Engineering tool bag -- when I joined IBM in 1973. I cannot help date it before that. I do not believe the "see-lect" had anything to do with the Selectric typewriter. I worked mostly on key punch machines and 3270 terminals. When a tool was branded IBM, I believed it meant that the tool was made specifically for a hard to see/feel adjustment on a particular machine. That said I ended up with three identical tiny green screwdrivers; one is IBM and the other two are Xcelite -- You know, it was 49 years ago.

 

[LNKMK8]

Snap-on screwdriver I came across...

 

[LNKMK8]

Found these last month... 1/4" x 5/16" Box Wrench and some sort of specialty pliers 9900098

 

[Roberts210]

I have an IBM Correcting Selectric II from 1972. Works great after 50 years. I do use it. Show me a printer that lasts 1/4th that long. The IBM Selectric was the last, great, mechanical invention. Yes, I know it has an electric motor, but that just activates all the mechanical parts. You could run it with a foot treadle if you wanted to.