Indestro Socket Set?

[mechanicalchild]

Hello everyone, I have recently purchased a vintage Indestro socket set on kijiji. I got a set of 1/2 drive from 1and 1/4 to 7/16. I also got a set of 3/8 indestros from 13/16 to 3/8. Both sets came with a flex adaptor, and I got the half inch breaker bar. All the chrome is perfect. Does anyone know anything about them, or the quality of these tools? These are my first Indestro tools.

 

[BJ42LX]

Indestro is good stuff.

I have a couple sets of Wizard - a house brand made by Indestro for Western Auto in the 60's. The sockets are thin-walled compared to modern pieces, but they're still tough as hell.

I really like the semi-gloss, textured chrome on my Wizard sockets.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Search the web for the web site alloyartifacts.com and it will tell you all about the Indestro Company. I am partial to Plvmb but I do have some indestro tools and they are on par with Plvmb for the most part. They are good tools!

 

[knobby]

Not to be confused with industro tools
http://industrotools.com/

 

[oak_park]

Good tools that were made here in Chicago. Take some pictures of the sets and post them here.

 

[pauls_workshop]

I've got a number of Indestro and they are tough. Very good sockets. - Paul

 

[woody 73]

The quality is top notch

At garage and flea sales people think they are junk and let them go for next to nothing (which is good for us ); Had the name been snap on forget about buying it for pennies on the dollar.

 

[mechanicalchild]

I don't get what the big deal is on snap on. I had one of their ratcheting wrenches, and broke the Paul under regular load. I go with Gray Canada, or old tools like belzer, and gedore. Also, old husky tools are excellent.

 

[monomach]

Indestro's solid, strong, no-frills stuff. They were made in Chicago.

It's really, really common in garage sales here in Illinois. I must see 500 Indestro wrenches and sockets each summer. Old guys in their 70s have piles of it from the days when it was sold in auto parts and mom-and-pop hardware stores.

The actual "Indestro" name stopped being used in the late 60s. The company that owned them owned another toolmaker in Chicago and just started stamping that name on everything instead of continuing with both (Indestro was actually their lower-quality line). The company stopped production altogether in the 70s or 80s, I think.

They made some of the stuff rebranded by Montgomery Ward, too.