Keystone Mfg. Co., Buffalo, N.Y.

[four.cycle]

Keystone Mfg. Co., 41-63 Chandler St., Buffalo, N.Y.

(* not to be confused with Keystone Drop Forge Co., Northumberland, PA. or Keystone Reamer & Tool Co., Millersburg, PA. *)

Manufacturers of the "Westcott" wrench

More information about Keystone at:

http://toolarchives.com/node/572

http://alloy-artifacts.org/other-makers-p2.html#keystone

photos of Westcott curved adjustable wrench HERE: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=380394

photos of another early Keystone socket set HERE: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=302643

==

Here's a little Keystone 250 8-pc 1/4" hex drive SAE socket set

6-pt sockets: 3/16", 1/4", 5/16", 11/32", 7/16", 1/2", 1/4" square socket, and "ell" handle

the holder is stamped on the bottom:

"250 Keystone Mfg. Co. Buffalo, N.Y., U.S.A."

presumably the patent applicable to the holder is 1696444 issued June 27, 1925



a few early catalog snips:

 

[ken w.]

Keystone is still there on Chandler St in Buffalo. I just drove by it the other day.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I think I have one of their socket sets, as well as an 8 inch westcott

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Here is the extent of my keystone collection

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Keystone sparkplug sockets. No part numbers, just sizes.

 

[Farmer J.]

Here's the pics again of my Keystone wrench, as posted on the thread referenced above.

This one arrived on the farm here some time before 1936 as part of the tool kit of a 'Standard Fordson' model N tractor, or possibly a model F.
It says 'FORDSON THE KEYSTONE MFG CO' on one side
and 'BUFFALO NY USA 10 INCH NO 80. ' on the other

Seeing the script on the handle always seems so evocative to me....

 

[Farmer J.]

Keystone is still there on Chandler St in Buffalo. I just drove by it the other day.

I am so pleased to hear this, thanks for posting it. For some reason that old wrench of mine always inspires images of reliable American craftsmanship..

I have only been to Buffalo once, passed through there in the middle of the night almost 40 years ago so didn't have a chance to research the Keystone Mfg Co!

Happy Christmas to you. J.

 

[d42jeep]

I guess this would be a good place to show the box my wife found at an estate sale recently. I originally posted it in the 2018 garage sale thread.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Building is still there?!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I guess this would be a good place to show the box my wife found at an estate sale recently. I originally posted it in the 2918 garage sale thread.
-Don

That looks to be the same box as the one I posted above. 717c seems to have been their 17 piece socket set. This one appears to be complete...

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Nice set, Otg.

 

[ken w.]

I never see those sets here in the Buffalo area.

 

[3baygarage]

I never see those sets here in the Buffalo area.

I used to see loose ratchets and pieces all the time. Box sets on occasion. I have the deep well set in the green box, those particular ones seem to have cracked easily.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I never see those sets here in the Buffalo area.

How about the wrenches?

 

[3baygarage]

Night pics again.

 

[3baygarage]

The wrenches are pretty common. Keystone, Westcott. The thing is if you look at alot of tools you will notice them more. I'm talking about years of going to estate sales, so they seem common to me anyway.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice factory pics! I see the various sets and pieces on ebay sometimes. The westcott wrenches still turn up at estate sales.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I have a Keystone curved adjustable and I've seen several others at flea markets, but I have never seen a socket set or even one of its pieces in the wild.

I won't repeat my Garage Sale thread joke about 3bay having nighttime (rather than daytime) photos of the old Keystone plant, but I am sure you can fill in the blanks yourselves!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I used to see loose ratchets and pieces all the time. Box sets on occasion. I have the deep well set in the green box, those particular ones seem to have cracked easily.

I have found the deep sockets in two different boxes, green box and this smaller one

 

[3baygarage]

Is the handle marked? I don’t have that.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

No markings, but fits sockets and box perfectly

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I just posted this set in an old safariknut thread, linked here, because of the unusual 1/2-inch double-hex (vs. hex) drive opening in the socket with a 1/2" size 12-point service opening. Cross-posting here for completeness. The inclusive midget set is 1/4-inch hex drive.

 

[3baygarage]

Nice. Saw a real nice longer red crinkle box set a few years ago.

Some stuff I picked up locally over the years. Same box OTG posted. Found it on a basement shelf and was surprised by the condition.

Found the 1/2” sockets separate, a couple are duplicates. It was nice to reunite them with the box. I think maybe they weren’t the strongest sockets as several are cracked.

Also a random hex ratchet. The ratchets, hex drive stuff, and shallow square drive all fairly common around there. The deep chrome sockets not seen as much.

 

[HeelSpur]

Here are numbers 76-84, there is no #83. Missing the 74 and there's another ******* numbered supposedly.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That's a real nice set and sight, HeelSpur.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice assortment. Good luck on the 74. Everyone I find they want a small fortune for it.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I picked up a pair of Keystone Mfg Co “Westcott” pattern (“S” handle) adjustable wrenches at the flea market this morning – a No. 78 (8” OAL) and a No. 82 (12” OAL). I already had the No. 76 (6” OAL). All of them are missing most of the original black japan finish.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Even though it pales in comparison to Heelspur’s layout (see Post # 24), having three (3) of these now (you know my saying, “One of anything is just one, and two is a pair, but three is a collection…”) prompted me to invest a little more curiosity than I had before.

According to Alloy Artifacts these wrenches were made by Keystone from “about 1900 onward,” and they imply that they were being made by a “Westcott company” prior to that.

Vague and begs a lot of questions. AA doesn't supply any evidence for either statement and they don’t explain how Keystone, if indeed they were being made before Keystone made them, came to be in possession of the rights to the name. I don’t recall what Tool Archives had on these, if anything. And I couldn’t find anything definitive anywhere else in the online toolsphere.

So I did some digging, which has produced some results that provide a more detailed history than I have found anywhere else on the web.

An issue of Iron Age indicates that a Westcott Wrench Company was successfully making wrenches in Homer, N.Y., at least as late as February 18, 1892.

US Patent and Trademark Office records show that Keystone Mfg Company registered “Westcott” as a trademark for “Pipe and nut wrenches” on May 21, 1907, submitting the application on February 22, 1907. It also shows that in the application, Keystone claimed that the name had been “continuously used by said business and the business of its predecessor, George X. Westcott, since March 4, 1894.”

Here is Page 1…

…and Page 2 of the Trademark certificate.

So, we have a report of a Westcott Wrench Co going strong in 1892, and we know from the USPTO certificate that a George X. Westcott had a company making the “S” pattern wrench under that name as early as 1894.

While I have not found any record of an acquisition or buy-out or merger, I think that “George X. Westcott” likely refers to the principal owner and founder of the Westcott Wrench Company, and that the term “its predecessor” indicates that Westcott Wrench Company either essentially became Keystone Mfg Company, or Keystone Mfg Company bought out Westcott and moved its machinery and operations from Homer, N.Y. in Cortland County (which is just south of Syracuse), to Buffalo, N.Y., or perhaps bought out the rights to the Westcott “S” wrench design and name only. Not sure when that happened, but at least as early as February 1907.

The earliest reference I have been able to find for “Westcott” wrenches being advertised for sale by either the Westcott Wrench Company or Keystone Mfg Company is Keystone in this January 1908 Automobile Trade Journal, linked here.

Other examples of marketing appear in this April 1914 issue of the Automobile Trade Journal, linked here, a November 1916 Automobile Journal, linked here, the 1921-1922 Export Trade Directory, linked here, the January 1922 Hardware Dealers magazine, linked here, and a March 1922 Motor Age, linked here.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

One more data point.

A Report from the Board of Governors of the State of New York to the Legislature on New York's Exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1894 (a sort of "World's Fair", judging by the introduction) indicates that Keystone Mfg. Co. was in business in 1894 and was one of several winners (along with J.H. Williams) in the 'Machine Tools' group, for "patent nonpariel (sic) wrenches". There is no other reference or elaboration, but it's possible they brought the Westcott patterns, which might elicit such a nonpareil superlative (compare to Williams' rather plain "wrenches").

 

[d42jeep]

This set arrived from an eBay seller this afternoon. It looked fairly complete and the tools are from Buffalo. Need I say more? The black box has some random hex tools in it for somewhere to store them.
-Don

 

[3baygarage]

Nice set Don. It caught my eye so I had it in the watchlist. Now I know why I didn’t try for it, it was already going to a good home.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I see don now has been bitten by the keystone bug! Here is a little hex set.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Another sparkplug socket set. Came with this cool gapper.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Cool extra. Cross Country was a Sears, Roebuck & Co brand made by Duro.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Good info. Had not seen one like it so was a neat bonus.

 

[Odd Job]

Found this at a flea market a couple of weeks ago. The guy said it was his Dad's and he wouldn't take less than $15 for it.
The outside of the case is a bit rough, but I couldn't resist.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Nice find, OJ. Appears to be the same contents and set number as Don's (Post #30).

 

[outofbounds]

Odd Job, you neglected to mention if you accepted the seller's challenge and got it for less than $15.....

 

[Odd Job]

I thought $15 was fair and I didn't try to grind him down. Not much room at that price anyway. He might have moved it up to twenty.

 

[outofbounds]

Not sure if anyone here is a Keystone afficianado, but suprised to see this set up locally in the Detroit area. $50 I have no affiliation to the seller.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1085302225139849/