Interesting wrench set

[Ricky Joe]

I found this at a roadside tag sale. Each small wrench but one has a feeler gauge attached. Does anyone know the specific purpose ? No markings of any kind are on the wrenches or the pouch. Gauges are also unmarked, which I find interesting. The large wrench has two gauges attached.

 

[Leviton]

Magneto wrenches, with the feeler blade used to check/set the breaker point gap.
Great find!

 

[micromind]

Ignition wrench set.

As noted, the feeler gauge is used to set the point gap.

 

[Mike'smeatshop]

I found this at a roadside tag sale. Each small wrench but one has a feeler gauge attached. Does anyone know the specific purpose ? No markings of any kind are on the wrenches or the pouch. Gauges are also unmarked, which I find interesting. The large wrench has two gauges attached.

I really like that set. Very handy back in my engine days. I still would use them with the old stuff. Nice find.

 

[leg17]

Recently picked up a similar set.
Didn't see a maker's mark.

 

[Leviton]

Recently picked up a similar set.
Didn't see a maker's mark.

Per a post and catalog clip from @four.cycle, (below) those 3 wrenches on the left side of your roll came in a set and were held together with a screw from the top. And I can't tell for sure, but it looks like your BOSCH-SIMMS wrench has threads in the center hole making it the bottom wrench in the 3 wrench stack...

This one had me puzzled for a while until I took a closer look at the catalog. I often see mis-matched sets of tiny ignition wrenches listed on Ebay that contain one or two of these wrenches, but more often I see these listed on Ebay individually - orphans in search of new homes.
I wondered why I never saw any complete sets that included the screw that held them together, like the earlier model 137 ignition wrench set shown in the catalog illustration here:


Indestro 137 Handy ignition wrench set - 1935 Indestro catalog pp 42

Note that the wrenches in the 137 set are stamped with the name of the manufacturer of the magneto they're designed to fit - Delco, Splitdorf, Eisemann, etc.

 

[four.cycle]

nice stuff, guys.
@leg17's set is Indestro - old stuff. 1920s, 1930s magneto set.
@Ricky Joe's set is rather unusual, because usually there's only one magneto wrench with the pivoting feeler gauge in the set, exactly the opposite of what you have there.
I think that tiny one without the feeler gauge is for a Delco magneto.

although.... here's a 1930 hardware catalog page showing a set containing a mess of those wrench/feeler gauge things:

 

[humber2]

I found this at a roadside tag sale. Each small wrench but one has a feeler gauge attached. Does anyone know the specific purpose ? No markings of any kind are on the wrenches or the pouch. Gauges are also unmarked, which I find interesting. The large wrench has two gauges attached.

Here’s some answers and more questions, read on.

I started out with page 74 of Bonney Tools Catalog C-1 which shows set #18, use Internet Archive to find it and post a useful link please.

That gives descriptive allocations for each wrench.

My image shows my set #18 laid out. Bonney tools are usually numbered and relatively thick with Chrome Vanadium and the part # stamped therein.

Except for what I take to be E11 on the LHS and E7 4th from right but I ‘m open to correction.

The set numbers run from E2 thru E11 but I don’t have E2, however E10 on the RHS matches the Catalog image.


Now to the three from unknown makers which shown above my set....

The little one is marked REMY and the other two seem to suit the same device.

On the uppermost feeler gauge is stamped Battery and Magneto and underneath is Distributer.

My hunch is for a dual ignition motor such as a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, the jaw opening measures 11.8mm which corresponds to 3/16W or 1/4 BS.

One further comment I’d make is that new cars were shipped with a toolkit containing one magneto tool to suit the unit fitted.

These are the ones that had a feeler gauge attached.

Tool makers would stamp out sets and trust the mechanic to use his feeler gauge.

Edit, jaw size confirmed.


P