Kent's Tools in Tucson

[Oldtuleguy]

I have one carter kit but it is postwar. Has a bunch of neat carb tools in it. If only someone had a carburetor that needed rebuilding! I used to do 3 or 4 a week, now maybe 1 a year.

 

[bonneyman]

I have one carter kit but it is postwar. Has a bunch of neat carb tools in it. If only someone had a carburetor that needed rebuilding! I used to do 3 or 4 a week, now maybe 1 a year.

Shoot, several years ago I took my Toyota in to a recommended shop, and he said none of his guys even worked on carbs anymore.
Guess the tech schools aren't even teaching it, as so much has gone to EFI.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Had a decent haul from Kent's this month.

Most of these are soaking in various solutions. Will post a few more photos here and a lot more on brand- or type-appropriate threads as they come out and get cleaned up. But from top to bottom, that's a very early Bonney 3/4-inch drive HERCULES ratchet with original push-through drive plug, a WWII-era Williams S-51 Superratchet, various midget drive spinners (Craftsman BE flex, SK, NB, and Blue-Point) and various ignition wrenches (NB, Duro), combo wrenches (interesting Herbie, even more interesting unknown with a factory wedge head box end), and a MAC DOE.

Besides the tools, the banter, and the music choice on the radio, this is what I like about Kent's the most. The guys behind the counter (neither of them Kent) will tally up the tools as marked, and take 20% off if I've got a goodly number, and then I can dicker from there. Like this lot. It was a number, and then with the discount it was a round number that ended in $X7.50. And I said "I had the round number in mind as an offer before you even tallied", and he said "Cash?" and I said of course, and he said "Deal."

 

[Corndoggeh]

I feel obligated to post this... FYI he also sells tools at the tucson gem show. Kent and his wife and my mom knew each other for ~25 years and i knew him growing up. Kent is the most abhorrent man I personally knew along with his wife, hires under the table and then abuses illegal immigrants situations and had them working in a warehouse filled with black mold. Pits workers against each other and has workers lie about employment of others so that the ones fired cant claim unemployment, his warehouse that his workers worked in was uncooled and unheated during summer and winter. His wife called my brother, who was joining the marine corp at the time, a baby killer (his wife was a hippie in the 60s) infront of everyone. I knew this place existed but i will never step foot in his business or recommend him to anyone. My mother worked in these conditions in 2008 after she lost her job and was the sole breadwinner of the household.

I would recommend that no one shop there.

As a side note, Roy at the garage sale clearance center on old nogales highway in tucson is a good place to find treasures. Thats where I found my millers falls red permoloid bit n brace at. Good guy that loves to banter.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Well, I don't know Kent from Adam, but it's a free country, Corndoggeh, and you are certainly welcome to voice your opinion on my thread. While I understand and respect your vehemence and your sense of obligation, I have never witnessed anything like that, the place is packed with guys of all stripes looking for tools whenever I stop in, and I look forward to picking it again.

 

[Corndoggeh]

I appreciate it Lugnutz letting me put my voice out.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

No prob. He sounds like a ****. And thanks for the tip. Do you have an address? I am in Tucson on a Friday morning once every month just killing time (my flight back is always mid-afternoon).

 

[3baygarage]

Man, that Hercules is darn cool. Nice spinner haul too. The unmarked wrench looks like a Barcalo to me.

 

[r_olson_06]

Had a decent haul from Kent's this month.

Most of these are soaking in various solutions. Will post a few more photos here and a lot more on brand- or type-appropriate threads as they come out and get cleaned up. But from top to bottom, that's a very early Bonney 3/4-inch drive HERCULES ratchet with original push-through drive plug, a WWII-era Williams S-51 Superratchet, various midget drive spinners (Craftsman BE flex, SK, NB, and Blue-Point) and various ignition wrenches (NB, Duro), combo wrenches (interesting Herbie, even more interesting unknown with a factory wedge head box end), and a MAC DOE.

Besides the tools, the banter, and the music choice on the radio, this is what I like about Kent's the most. The guys behind the counter (neither of them Kent) will tally up the tools as marked, and take 20% off if I've got a goodly number, and then I can dicker from there. Like this lot. It was a number, and then with the discount it was a round number that ended in $X7.50. And I said "I had the round number in mind as an offer before you even tallied", and he said "Cash?" and I said of course, and he said "Deal."

Well done. The Hercules is amazing.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrench 3061

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Man, that Hercules is darn cool.

Well done. The Hercules is amazing.

Thanks, guys. I about fell over when I saw it.

Nice spinner haul too. The unmarked wrench looks like a Barcalo to me.

The midget spinners came out of a bin of at least three dozen or so midget spinners, and easily over half of those were =CRAFTSMAN= =V= or -V-.

The combo wrench does have that Barcalo look with the elongated raised panel, but the deeply punched size marking in the face threw me. Curiously, on the flip side panel it has two of the forged in asterisks associated with Vlchek, but seen on a few other wrenches, including SK, suggesting perhaps Lectrolite was making them.

I will be posting more photos in various threads soon.

 

[bonneyman]

I feel obligated to post this... FYI he also sells tools at the tucson gem show. Kent and his wife and my mom knew each other for ~25 years and i knew him growing up. Kent is the most abhorrent man I personally knew along with his wife, hires under the table and then abuses illegal immigrants situations and had them working in a warehouse filled with black mold. Pits workers against each other and has workers lie about employment of others so that the ones fired cant claim unemployment, his warehouse that his workers worked in was uncooled and unheated during summer and winter. His wife called my brother, who was joining the marine corp at the time, a baby killer (his wife was a hippie in the 60s) infront of everyone. I knew this place existed but i will never step foot in his business or recommend him to anyone. My mother worked in these conditions in 2008 after she lost her job and was the sole breadwinner of the household.

I would recommend that no one shop there.

As a side note, Roy at the garage sale clearance center on old nogales highway in tucson is a good place to find treasures. Thats where I found my millers falls red permoloid bit n brace at. Good guy that loves to banter.

Roy's place is da bomb! I hate going there....because I spend money just about every single time!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Great. So now I have to take twice as much pocket cash on my trips from now on and hope my checked bag doesn't go over 60lbs!

I posted a lot more photos of the Hercules rat at the end of the Bonney thread linked here.

And here are group shots of the spinners and the wrenches all cleaned up.

 

[bonneyman]

Great. So now I have to take twice as much pocket cash on my trips from now on and hope my checked bag doesn't go over 60lbs!

I posted a lot more photos of the Hercules rat at the end of the Bonney thread linked here.

And here are group shots of the spinners and the wrenches all cleaned up.

Oh yeah you'll have to check out Roy's. The tool section has shelves of all sorts of odds and ends, stuff that a handyman like me is always scrounging for. But he also has medical supplies, DVD's, nice furniture, auto stuff, just tons of stuff.

 

[Corndoggeh]

Roy's place is da bomb! I hate going there....because I spend money just about every single time!

I think I just found the reason why I never found any Bonney tools at Roy's.

I live in Phoenix now but when I visit family down for Christmas Im going to make it a point to stop by.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

So are one of you Arizonans going to tell me where the heck it is on Old Nogales or are you going to make me drive all the gas out of my rental looking for it the next trip?

Disregard. Thanks, Corndoggeh.

 

[bonneyman]

I think I just found the reason why I never found any Bonney tools at Roy's.

I live in Phoenix now but when I visit family down for Christmas Im going to make it a point to stop by.

Yeah, "BV" (i.e. Bonney vacuum) is my middle name!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

6th Avenue heading south out of Tucson turns into Nogales highway. It's not too far.

 

[bonneyman]

8300 S. Nogales Highway - right near the airport.

https://garagesaleclearancecenter.com/

 

[Private Lugnutz]

As a side note, Roy at the garage sale clearance center on old nogales highway in tucson is a good place to find treasures. Thats where I found my millers falls red permoloid bit n brace at. Good guy that loves to banter.

Roy's place is da bomb! I hate going there....because I spend money just about every single time!...[ ]... The tool section has shelves of all sorts of odds and ends

8300 S. Nogales Highway - right near the airport.

I'm literally typing this from Gate B11 at the Tucson airport sipping a Thunder Canyon amber waiting for my flight.

Thanks to tips from Corndoggeh and bonneyman, I stopped by Roy's Garage Sale Center just a few short hours ago and I was happy to find a Mossberg No. 650 Ford script hub cap wrench for my Mossberg No. 600 Salesman Board, and a Duro-Chrome Circle-X dwarf double offset DBE wrench for the GMTK. See top of pic.

Thanks, guys! Roy wasn't around, but the lady in the counter was fun to talk to. She was from Massachusetts and when I said I was a flea market picker from NJ she apologized for the meager offerings. But the place clearly does not disappoint!

Everything else on my suitcase came from Kent's.

The other double offset DBE dwarfie is a wartime Blue-Point Boxsocket. The knife sharpener has a 1930 patent number (1,749,442) on the flip side. Those heavy nickel-plated prewar Bridgeport combination pliers have the cool BHM logo. The half-moon wrench is a 40's Bonney. The box end attachment is PWA. Not sure of the OEM. Could be Plomb. The midget spinner is actually a prewar Livermont preset click-stop torquer (15 inch-lbs). That sheet metal thing is the sliding sheath for a 1930's era Duro-Chrome No. 660 or Indestro No. 1306 convertible T-L handle. I have two of the T-L bars, both without the sheath! (If you're reading, LesserSon, no worries - I will still trade you one of them.) No markings except the patent (1,744,413). Lastly, on the right there, five (5) GMTK spec-correct 10-pin spring steel carbon scrapers. A Proto LA, a Duro-Indestro (literally!), a VIM (!), and two generics.

I will post more pics, including close-ups, after clean-up.

 

[bonneyman]

I dropped by Roy's today just because. I hadn't seen him in awhile so we chatted.
Found a Bridgeport Hardware DBE wrench but it was a bit chewed so I passed.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It's kind of neat to see an early 1900's Ford hub cap wrench hanging on a hook with shiny modern tools in the same store. Haha. I mean, I see that every week laid out on tables at the flea market, but seeing it at a "store" was funny.

 

[lafester]

I'll be in Tucson next week so I'll have to see if you guys left anything worthwhile.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Or maybe they'll get some good new loads!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Due to the pandemic, travel restrictions, and max telework postures, I made my first trip to Fort Huachuca since.... checks last haul reported in this thread... February 2020! Two years and 4 days!

Spent an hour or so with my **** on a bucket or a knee on the floor pawing through various bins and cubbies, and I was happy with my haul.

The pair of long SOE tappet wrenches are Herbrand and the other DOE pair with the 22-1/2* angle heads are Armstrong.

That little obstruction wrench is a Williams and I am pretty sure I need it.

The markings on the "alligators" are illegible right now.

The Duro-Chrome box is a midget set that was mis-stacked on a shelf with bushing driver boxes and drill indexes. The DI sockets appear to be complete. Missing a rat, spinner, and sliding tee. The Crafty BE 3/8-dr rat and that orphan socket do not belong.

The prize in this lot is the adjustable hacksaw frame. It's an early K-D.

 

[four.cycle]

^ I have one of those Duro-Chrome D-I sets here. I don't think it came with anything else. Maybe so. (?) (I'm sure Don has at least two or three of those - wartime - big box.)
That alligator at top looks like maybe a Hawkeye. (?)
Your odd little attachment in post #30 is a screw starter to fit a 1/4" drive flex driver like this one here.
I had previously thought Indestro was outsourcing them from Ullman, but (as I noted in that post) after I spoke with them on the phone I'm pretty sure they were being made by SE Tool - sounded like they were OEM for pretty much everybody.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I have one of those Duro-Chrome D-I sets here. I don't think it came with anything else. Maybe so. (?)

The sets are pretty well referenced. I was happy to see the cross bar.

That alligator at top looks like maybe a Hawkeye. (?)

I'll let you know when I get back. They're both very thin, unlike my others.

Your odd little attachment in post #30 is a screw starter...

I confirmed my own initial ID on that a couple years ago, but thanks, I don't think I ever figured out the mfgr.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Odds and ends from last visit.

 

[Username already in use]

Odds and ends from last visit.

Cool! Is there a brand on the drive plug?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Armstrong. Wartime. I posted in the Armstrong thread.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Plucked these out of various cubbies yesterday. The days of bantering and negotiating a price for a lot of tools at Kent's are apparently gone, though. Butch used to just blurt out a price and then I'd blurt out a lower price and we'd meet somewhere in the middle, ignoring the marking pencil prices on each tool altogether. But Butch has passed away and I may have to pass on Kent's more often than stopping if this ringing things up piece by piece thing sticks.

Posting close-ups on various threads.

 

[bonneyman]

I'm literally typing this from Gate B11 at the Tucson airport sipping a Thunder Canyon amber waiting for my flight.

Thanks to tips from Corndoggeh and bonneyman, I stopped by Roy's Garage Sale Center just a few short hours ago and I was happy to find a Mossberg No. 650 Ford script hub cap wrench for my Mossberg No. 600 Salesman Board, and a Duro-Chrome Circle-X dwarf double offset DBE wrench for the GMTK. See top of pic.

Thanks, guys! Roy wasn't around, but the lady in the counter was fun to talk to. She was from Massachusetts and when I said I was a flea market picker from NJ she apologized for the meager offerings. But the place clearly does not disappoint!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it appears that Roy's has closed. I drove down there last week for my monthly obligatory run and it was all locked up and the front lot was empty.

Just to save you a trip for nothing.

 

[Mesozoic]

When I called Kent's a few weeks ago, scrounging around for some odd sized socket, the phone number was correct, but the business name may have changed. New ownership, perhaps?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Last time I was there, 2 months ago, I was scrounging around, the guys working the shop were not wearing masks, and then suddenly they saw Kent coming, and scrambled to get them on. (I don't know if you were ever in the shop during COVID or after, but he was a maniac about it. It's optional for customers, but he still insists on employees wearing them.) Unless something changed since then, pretty sure it's still Kent's.