indestro tool set age?
- Thread starter gungatim
- Start date
woody 73
Well-known member
I had to do a double take on your two screwdrivers, very interesting indeed first time seeing that. I wonder did indestro make their own screwdrivers ? or did Crescent make them for indestro ?
Very interesting thank you for showing that set.
Very interesting thank you for showing that set.
Considering the style of the label and the plastic shell case, I think we're looking at the 1980s near the end of the Duro-Indestro years. The original wrenches are unnamed because they were 'contract' wrenches made by Indestro to be sold to other companies. That these unnamed wrenches would be used for an Indestro-branded set means they were just filling the case with whatever they had on-hand to complete a set to sell for the lowest possible price. Both the model number and "INDESTRO MFG CO" on the label are over prints, meaning other company names or model numbers could have been printed there based on the company buying them for resale. It has Duro-Indestro 'dying gasps' written all over it.
Nice find, and if you're a serious Duro collector, an historically important artifact.
Nice find, and if you're a serious Duro collector, an historically important artifact.
The blow-molded plastic box is a dead givaway. A plastic tool box in the 1960s or even 70s would have screamed JUNK. Bet they're still better (save for the junk pliers) than a lot of the Chinese stuff made today! I do think a serious Duro-Indestro collector may be interested, though, so if you don't have a use for them you might do well finding the right buyer.
Still a very cool find!
Still a very cool find!
From everything I've seen, these blow-mold cases came on the tool scene later on. I'd very much like to see (and I say this in all sincerity because I'm always learning something new) ANY verifiable 1960s-dated catalog for ANY brand tool with any clear photo showing such blow-mold cases for tools.
I don't have any documentation, just my own lousy memory. My father bought a 1960 Mercedes-Benz in 1968. It was his first foreign car, so he didn't have any metric tools. He did all of his own repairs, and the car seemed to need frequent repairs. So he probably wouldn't have gone long without buying a metric socket set. Anyway, I don't think it was likely he bought it after 1970.
Attachments
d42jeep
Well-known member
Duro/Indestro have been making screwdrivers for a long time although they may have had those particular ones outsourced. Here are some early examples. The Duro Chrome marked driver is from 1945.
-Don
Attachments
Thanks for the photo. Nice set! If you watch Antiques Roadshow, you'll see all kinds of instances where family recollection and physical evidence/documentation tell two different tales. It's hard to remember all the details on an item that was probably not an object of uncommon focus at the time it was acquired, especially if it was acquired by someone else. What we do see here and elsewhere are huge tonnage of socket sets from 1960s-70s and before having metal boxes. The label does look like an older style. However, I find the gold label on the extension interesting. It looks like one of those OSHA safety labels in the genre of "Here's a plastic bag--don't put it over your head." I can't be certain, but I think they were not employed until later during the voluminous lawsuit era against mfrs for the most minuscule minutia. Is it one of those safety labels?
Catalog documentation, while not always perfect, is still the best 'gold standard' we have.
More thoughts....the label is certainly more sophisticated and refined than the label on the OP's set. One of the ways to date plastics in these kinds of products is the type of plastic used. Now, I don't have a name for it, but think about the white plastic used today (and for many years) on those take-out Styrofoam coffee cups. It's a thin hard plastic with somewhat of a sheen to the surface. This kind of plastic would be more characteristic of the 1950s-early 1970s--it's one of the ways we can help date old Christmas blow-mold decorations. This kind of material, of course, would never be suited for a 'self-hinged' box as it would split very quickly under the stress because it's more rigid and fragile. Then came an intermediate form that was still thin and hard, but more of a satin finish--I've seen this material used as inserts inside steel tool cases to organize components, some USA, some Taiwan. The later plastic that we see blow-mode cases made from in recent decades is a thicker, softer affair that holds up much better in a self-hinged case. Now this is not always a sure bet, but barring documentation, it's a clue.
You're right about the spark plug socket with the gold label. That didn't come with the set. There is no manufacturer on it other than "Japan". I found the original Indestro spark plug socket that was loose in the drawer. If I remember correctly, my dad traded in the Mercedes on a brand-new 1973 Buick Century. The Buick had a smaller size spark plug, and the Indestro wrench wouldn't fit it. So he had to buy a single spark plug socket, which he then left in the case with the ratchet. He should have saved the receipt 
Attachments
I knew there was someone out in GJ land that would be very interested in it!