Inheritance of a Craftsman BE series socket set

[rdgamache]

Hi everyone. First time posting here. Stumbled across this site while trying to research this socket set I recently inherited from my Uncle when he passed. It's a BE series, 1/2" drive and appears to be complete. I really dont know much about it other than we found it in his garage. It may have been his fathers, possibly even his grandfathers. My uncle was 65 when he passed, just to put the timeline into perspective. I have boxes and boxes of tools to sort through once I get my garage organized, but my father and I kept this set aside because it seemed out of the ordinary. The case seems handmade and is all wood. The reason for the single socket without a home is there was a =V= series socket mixed in taking up an extra slot.

Any ideas on value? I snapped the pictures without cleaning anything off the sockets or ratchet. Nothing has been done to them in who knows how long. The ratchet turns just as it should and seems to be in perfect working order. I imagine the sockets would clean up quite nicely, there isnt any major scarring or pitting on them that I can see, though looking over my pictures again, the camera picked up some surface rust and corrosion I didnt really see before.

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa152/devestator_x/Socket set/1103161341_HDR_zpssayjwe9p.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa152/devestator_x/Socket set/1103161341a_HDR_zpsngpfja5r.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa152/devestator_x/Socket set/1103161342_HDR_zpszrv5pt9t.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa152/devestator_x/Socket set/1103161342a_HDR_zps8yqpuvts.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa152/devestator_x/Socket set/1103161343_HDR_zpspprirabd.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa152/devestator_x/Socket set/1103161344_HDR_zpsy6nxjz9e.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa152/devestator_x/Socket set/1103161344a_HDR_zpsbvjh3ace.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa152/devestator_x/Socket set/1103161344b_HDR_zpsq8puct7f.jpg

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa152/devestator_x/Socket set/1103161345_HDR_zpsfccdckbg.jpg

 

[Pontiac787]

I don't have any insight into the value but searching the "sold" listings on eBay is a good place to start.

 

[twertsy]

Sorry about your uncle.

Any markings on the box?

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

 

[rdgamache]

No, nothing on the box, just plain blue paint (most likely lead based given the timeline). Like I said, I believe it to be hand made. My uncle came from a long line of woodworkers, so it would have been easy for his father to make something like that with a spade bit and chisels.

 

[Cruzan80]

So, it isn't a full set. Full sets would go from 7/16 to 1_1/4 (by 1/16's, skipping from 1_1/8 to 1_1/4). The box looks to be handmade as you said. So nothing adding value there (to anyone other than family). So higher side of normal pricing (figure eBay):

For nine sockets it seems to generally run between 3-5 each, so up to $45, worth more if they are all in order and you only need to get the ones on the ends.

Universal could be between $5-10

The extensions and speed wrench don't seem to sell much, since most people don't use a speed wrench as often as they used to. Call it $10 for the three.

Ratchet seems to be worth about $10.

So adding it up you are looking at about $70 on the higher estimate, before eBay takes it's cut. If on CL or other local ads, I would put it up for $50 and take the first $35 offered. Sorry to say there isn't anything super-valuable in there. I have managed to pick up almost that entire set for $1-2 each at estate sales and such.

 

[Rileysan]

So, it isn't a full set. Full sets would go from 7/16 to 1_1/4 (by 1/16's, skipping from 1_1/8 to 1_1/4). The box looks to be handmade as you said. So nothing adding value there (to anyone other than family). So higher side of normal pricing (figure eBay):

A couple of points:

There were several different sets offered during this era. It's possible this is a full set. One would have to review catalogues to see exactly what came in each of the sets.

Sets may also include /32 sizes (19/32 & 25/32 to name two) and deep sockets. The BE experts can tell you all the sizes BE sockets came in.

So adding it up you are looking at about $70 on the higher estimate, before eBay takes it's cut. If on CL or other local ads, I would put it up for $50 and take the first $35 offered. Sorry to say there isn't anything super-valuable in there. I have managed to pick up almost that entire set for $1-2 each at estate sales and such.

I agree with this. Assuming the condition of everything is fine, $30-$50 is a good estimate of price/value.

Brian

 

[rdgamache]

Technically there are only 8 sockets in this "set" one of them was a 1/2" =V= series socket that didnt seem to belong with the rest, along with the 1/2 BE series that was in there. The sizes do run from 7/16 to 7/8 in order by 16ths. Well at least I know where it stands now, thank you for the insight. Didnt think it was anything super rare or crazy valuable, but I didnt have a clue about it.

Now when I was looking into it, I saw a picture of what looked like the exact same ratchet, but with the Circle H marking on the Alloy-Artifacts page. Most of the BE images Ive seen seem to have a different thumb lever. Not trying to grasp at anything here, just an observation that got me a little curious.

 

[r_olson_06]

Just bought a very similar set for $25 on Craigslist this week.

Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

 

[tym]

I found the identical ratchet and a handful of mostly-BE sockets at a flea market last year for $10. Ratchet still worked perfectly and I put it to use same day!

 

[Cruzan80]

So the smallest set in the '39 catalog was with 11 sockets (pg 7), from 7/16 to 1". Had the ratchet, two extensions, and a breaker with spinner. The speed wrench was part of a larger package, and the universal was sold separately.

The '42 catalog shows the same set, pg 8.

Circle H and BE were both produced around the same time period.

 

[tym]

^ Mine also came with 8 sockets: 6x 12-point and 2x 8-point.

Incidentally, if the OP cleans/lubes his, the two smaller Phillips screws can strip if there is dirt packed in them. If that happens, I have a whole box of spares.

 

[Cruzan80]

That was part of a larger set, which had 18 sockets in 12pt, the two 8pt, and some extras. Only in the '39, by '42 you had to get them with 1/4 and/or 3/8 in a set.

 

[tym]

That was part of a larger set, which had 18 sockets in 12pt, the two 8pt, and some extras. Only in the '39, by '42 you had to get them with 1/4 and/or 3/8 in a set.

Great info! Yeah, the guy I bought it from was rummaging around on his table looking for all the sockets that went with it--so quite possible that a few were left behind. One of the sockets he did include (and not one of the 8 I referenced) was a very old Duro Chrome, probably c. 1930 based on a check of AA.

 

[rdgamache]

Thanks for all the info guys. I am going to keep the set and use most of it. The ratchet will probably just be stored away, but the sockets and extensions will be cleaned up and put into rotation with the hundreds of other sockets I have.

 

[Carla]

Thanks for all the info guys. I am going to keep the set and use most of it. The ratchet will probably just be stored away, but the sockets and extensions will be cleaned up and put into rotation with the hundreds of other sockets I have.

If I may offer a suggestion.......whilst that socket set has little economic value today, it is a wonderful inheritance and is a rather elegant piece of Americana.

Consider......if your uncle passed away recently at 65, he could not have been the original purchaser of those tools. Whomever it was who made up that wooden box for the tooling was most likely a woodworker or patternmaker, who needed only a very basic socket set, but valued his tools enough to invest a good bit of time and skilled work in making that case for them.

The original owner of those tools took pride in having them, and they may well have been a serious level of investment, back during the depression, with a cost whiich represented a significant bite from a pay-cheque.

The New Britian-made wrenches were originally polished bright and lacquered. You could choose to re-polish them, to the same level of polish they had when new, and re-lacquer them, with modern spray can clear lacquer. Then, gently steel-wool the paint of the case, to remove the dirt and surface oxide layer, then rub in some boiled linseed oil, cut with one part of turpentine or paint thinner to one part of the oil, to preserve the paint and the underlying wood.

Put that set on display, and preserve it as a 'museum piece' for the same (probable) reason that your uncle did......a bit of sentiment for a deceased artisan, and a bit of sentiment for a bygone era......or, if doing that has no interest for you, offer that set to someone here who is interested in preserving industrial or workplace Americana.

cheers

Carla

 

[L43dean]

Well said Carla.

 

[notlob]

+1 on Carla's sentiment. Craftsman BE and circle-H 1/2" drive sockets, speeders, and extensions are surprisingly easy to find in similar condition. A similar condition ratchet is not as common, but certainly not rare. What's rare is to find a largely complete set with a family connection in a nice handmade box.

If those had been my uncle's tools, I'd try to ascertain the provenance as best possible, clean up the box, and carefully remove the yellowed boiled linseed oil or lacquer that is partially obscuring how nice that set truly is. I'd then spray each with a thin coat of polyurethane, put a letter in the box with whatever I knew of the set's family history, and put it away for whoever might value the history and craftsmanship down the line.