J.C. Penny tools

[d42jeep]

Here are a couple of Penny’s screwdrivers I found on Saturday at an estate sale. Quite a bit of damage to the Stanley looking one’s handle.
-Don

 

[ecotec]

I said that I would post pictures of this ratchet over two years ago… I forgot.

Anyways… it’s a 1/4” ratchet. It is either 56 or 60 tooth.

I have never used it… but I keep it in my “good” ratchet drawer.

 

[BFBOB]

Re: Penncraft machinist's toolbox (many pages ago!)- I have one and it's a dead ringer for the Kennedy 7-drawer, flip top with removable front panel. Same crinkle finish paint, only it's black, not brown. Could well have been made by Kennedy for Penney's but I don't know. I paid nearly $100 for it - probably high, but it is in excellent shape and includes the front panel. It now leads an easy life, sitting on a shelf beside my drill press.

 

[TheWanderer]

A friend gifted this to me tonight. Was his grandfathers.

Penncraft 3632 1/4 drive ratchet

Seems to be a 99% match to my 1/2 drive US made Husky. Only difference is the Husky has far milder knurling.

 

[four.cycle]

^ I just noticed earlier this evening that my New Britain manufactured ratchets vary in the type of knurling used on the handles, even on models of the same part number!
If you are interested in collecting "Penncraft" branded 1/4" drive sockets and drive tools, do please let me know....

 

[genog]

Found a cool JC Penney 3/8" drill in nice shape
Box with owner's manual

 

[rustyzman]

Didn't buy it, but saw this at an estate sale this weekend.

 

[nadogail]

I have a 7" body sander that I bought at JC Penny in 1980 to smooth the Bondo on my 1973 Toyota HiLux Pickup.

 

[30-30remchester]

Some 35 years ago I bought an J C Penny, SK built 3/8" ratchet just like "outofbounds" posted pictures of on page 5. Bought it used at some pawn shop for a couple dollars. It ended up on a ranch in Colorado. The owner of the ranch could tear up an anvil in a sandpit using a rubber mallet. He bought a new Snap-On 1/2" drive ratchet and broke it within a week simply working on his snowmobile. The Penny's ratchet was his main ratchet for 35 years and was never put in a toolbox. Usually was found on the ground where he left it from his last project. It preforms flawlessly after years of his use and abuse. I gave him a newer S-K ratchet and took my Penny's ratchet back. Cleaned it up and it is as good as new. Say what you want about S-K's not being top tier tools, but I doubt any other brand could survive Tom.

 

[toolmiser]

I have a JC Penny wood chisel on ebay with the original packaging. Not a lot of interest in it.

 

[d42jeep]

I found a JC Penny Carpenter’s box at a yard sale on Friday. It seems to have been owned and used by a plumber. It cleaned up pretty well.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Here's a 1/4 metric set

 

[d42jeep]

Nice set. Has a bit of an S-K look about it, especially in the area of the ratchet head.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Yes it's sk stuff. The extensions and universal are marked sk.

 

[Macduf]

At a dollar each couldnt say no.

 

[RTM]

Hey all, here is a Penncraft ignition wrench set I picked up at our local Antique Flea Market last weekend. The roll was hidden from view behind something larger, and I had reached over it to pick up something else, and saw this tucked against the larger object. The Penncraft was immediately visible, so I wasn't super excited about it, until I opened it. Even more excited when I got it home, and found there was very little information available on it. Not sure where to best put this, so will start here in the brand thread, and then drop links into the Vintage Rolls, DOE, and ?? any other place that might care about this one.

Google had very little on Penncraft ignition wrenches, and of course a couple were here, but only one direct hit came from @Private Lugnutz (of course), in this thread. Often it was someone's ignition set, and something Penncraft. Lugz has 4 of a set.

Here is the complete set of 10, in a vintage roll with a Penncraft sticker, but I don't think the set originally lived in this roll. I found a similar set on a Worthpoint listing, but it was a standard black back clear front vinyl pouch w lettering on it. I would have cared a bit less for that set, but I have a thing for tiny wrenches, there is a small box full hiding somewhere in my tool chest. I don't think there are any missing wrenches for this set, as all the numbers are in order, no skips, and the largest is a 3625, and a Penncraft 3626 is a 1/4" extension. No Google hits on a 3615 from Penncraft.

So, like Sears Craftsman and Montgomery Wards WardsMaster (and other brands), they outsourced them from reputable manufacturers, so, any clues as to who made these? I tried searching for
ignition wrench 3625
and go no other hits, so they didn't just copy a name brand wrench and put their name on it.

Anyway, here they are, front and back, and front and back of the roll

As Lugz noted, one of his had the = at each end, like a certain Craftsman vintage. My set has them on all the wrenches, =(Angled size) Penncraft 36xx (straight size)= "Made in U.S.A. "on the reverse.

The sizes

Size 1 / Angled	Size 2 / Square
15/64	13/64
1/4	7/32
13/64	15/64
7/32	1/4
19/64	17/64
5/16	9/32
9/32	5/16
3/8	11/32
11/32	3/8
1/2	7/16

 

[four.cycle]

something about them says "New Britain" to me, but I could be way off.
they are NOT Duro/Indestro... the forging where the heads meet the shank isn't right.
who else was Penncraft outsourcing from?
most of the socket sets are made by Duro/Indestro, Wright, or Thorsen, but ignition wrenches.... I have not a clue!

 

[four.cycle]

What's with the Heritage-y looking "=" marks on the 3617?

I was just wondering the same thing and thinking "Thorsen" - which is how Thorsen marks their sockets.

Penncraft 3632 1/4 drive ratchet

Clearly a New-Britain outsourced ratchet (Kilness patent design)

So.... Penncraft was outsourcing from New Britain as well.

@RTM - a bunch of yours have that little = mark on them (like that 3617 @Private Lugnutz posted in post #236)

does Don have any Thorsen ignition wrenches for comparison? (I don't own any.)

 

[LNKMK8]

Nice little JC Penney Ignition Wrench Set that I came across last month... All tools are marked S-K, so it would appear only the storage pouch is unique for JCP. Sadly its missing the original screwdriver

 

[hmpbk37]

I bought a set of JC Penny combination wrenches back around 1978. 3/8" thru 1-1/4" for $49.95. Still have them. Look alot like Snap-On wrenches.

 

[genog]

They're darn nice wrenches.
I've got a few.....

Someone somewhere, sometime ago, said that they were made by SK
Well.....they may indeed be right

 

[nadogail]

I bought a Pen Crest disk sander/buffer in 1981, it not only paid for itself; it made me some money.
It looks like it is identical to a WEN.

 

[MShaw]

"Seems to be a 99% match to my 1/2 drive US made Husky. Only difference is the Husky has far milder knurling."
The knurling on ratchet grips was done by centerless grinding the grip to a "controlled" size and then knurling them in a flat die thread rolling machine. The problem was that the grinder was severely abused to make production quotas and there was significant variation in the presize. While I was there the grinder was rebuilt and the consistency of the knurling improved for a while until continued abuse of the grinder returned the variability to the presize.

 

[genog]

I am on the look out for one more JC Penney combo wrench
I'm trying to complete a second set of them.....just need a 3/4

So....of course, I run into just about Every size that I Don't need!
Saw and left an 11/16
Then felt obligated to buy this 5/8 from a nice seller that I don't want to walk away empty handed from.....


If anyone wants this one, let me know

 

[Oldtuleguy]

recently added a 1/2" set to my penneys stuff

 

[Nutria]

Anybody ever see a Penncraft rollaway toolbox ? A freind of mine had one ...a 6 drawer top and a 6 drawer bottom. I wished I had pictures but he passed away about 8 years ago and the thought never entered my mind.

An answer to a 2010 (!) question from page one: here is a Penncraft rollaway.

Not original paint, unfortunately. It didn't come with a push handle, so I added one using rivnuts. Someone had welded caster brackets to the bottom, which had to be ground off before I could replace them. Slides and lock mechanism were good; just had to replace the lock. The rollaway works well for me. I use it for my wood turning tools. Solid little box, made by Waterloo, I think.

 

[d42jeep]

Here are before and after shots of a 3/8” drive Penncraft spark plug socket found on Saturday.
-Don

 

[Cruzan80]

I got lucky yesterday at a estate sale. Saw a small box pictured that was angled slightly. Turns out it was a JC Penny 1/4" socket box, with almost all the sockets (had the universal, but missing the 1/4), and driver. The box was in amazing condition with the top advertising decal almost all intact (thinking the circle would have said 3003, to match the end of the reference number?). It even had the Guarantee slip still inside. I wonder if she still works there?

It matches some other JC Penny stuff I had found at a sale earlier (ended up grabbing a blue Penncraft box there, since they don't have the right one at the previous sale). Inserted the ratchet and 6" extension (now only missing the 2.5" extension). Will post up the other finds from before a bit later.

Obviously SK made, but do we know what era? Sorry for first pic flipped. Ratchet is in the last pic for the scale of the card.

 

[fitter30]

Have a 15" adjustable wrench. Used it many times haven't broken it it yet.

 

[INSP380]

Brought this one home yesterday along withe the Kennedy 5150 below it. Top box is a JC Penney (Kennedy 526) ….Can’t be a ton of these out there..extremely oily but the inside is perfect. Time for a good cleaning…

Steve

 

[d42jeep]

Here is a JC Penny 1228 screwdriver received in a care package from BK yesterday.
-Don

 

[genog]

I got lucky yesterday at a estate sale...... Turns out it was a JC Penny 1/4" socket box, with almost all the sockets (had the universal, but missing the 1/4), and driver.....

Very Cool

I have a partial 1/4" drive JCP Metric set.
Ratchet
Sockets from 4mm through 9mm and the Universal

No box though....and no spinner

 

[d42jeep]

I found this S-K made 3/8” drive ratchet at yesterday’s estate sale. It took a while to remove the pink paint someone had marked it with.
Some paint removed
Final cleanup.
-Don

 

[Snaparxon]

They're darn nice wrenches.
I've got a few.....

Someone somewhere, sometime ago, said that they were made by SK
Well.....they may indeed be right

I believe they are SK sourced, I'm not a SK fan at all but I have ran across a few of these JC Penney wrenches and resold them and am always sorry I let them go. I recall a nice heft to them and a comfortable feel in the hand.

 

[zimman]

I love JC Penny's. My Mom actually worked with him at a store in Washington DC back in the 60's. He was just visiting and she was lucky enough to meet and work with him for a few days.
I'd love to have a memento of that.
Zim

 

[genog]

This weekend, I happened upon a fairly complete 1/4 drive Craftsman set that included this Penncraft spinner

 

[four.cycle]

^ That is one rare bird.

 

[genog]

Here's most of a set of JCP polished metric combos

I'm not sure if a 16mm or an 18mm were part of the set, so I believe it's only missing a 9mm.....
....perhaps an 8mm?

 

[Cruzan80]

I have a set I picked up a while back and can see if they have 8, 9, 16 or 18...

 

[Red Tractors]

I had a JCPenny marked roll around for several years. Kennedy built. Good solid box but I sent it down the road because I needed more space.