Lineman's Pliers; Two Puzzelers

[Oregon Dave]

new; put this in the wrong forum at first.


My first words in my first post will be used to recognize and express thanks for the knowledge, humor, and advice shared by this community; #10 borderline eleven. What a contribution you have all made. (Impatient types drop off here - this got long.)

Have 2 lineman’s pliers, can’t submit pictures; grandkids live too far away.

Both pliers are old, sturdy, well-made, smooth actioned, 8½” Klein 'knockoffs'; both have the bobbed off snout and the isosceles trapezoid mouth.

Pair #1 has two transverse lines of text stamped below the pivot: BRASS?UR then GUARAN??? (suspect something like Brasseur Guaranteed). This pair also has very aggressive 45° checkered handle grip pattern; bordered top and bottom by a double transverse line.

Pair #2 has a stamped logo, centered in and extending outside the pivot. There is an outlined W in a diamond; there are two rectangular rhomboids, each tangent to each upper edge of the diamond; text with them, best I can see is: The Whitaker then Mfg. Co. This pair has a 45° crosshatched handle grip pattern with a Vee shaped upper edge, lower edge transverse with no border (similar to Utica and Pexto). The jaw grip pattern is reminiscent of a miniature version of Wilde’s rope-banded handle grip pattern; I’ve not seen one like it before.

I can find no other markings on them and no hits on google, GJ, AA or 4cycles list for me.

My dad became a lineman out of WWII and in my recollections was a very, very devout Klein man; these could have been some earlier try-outs, I rate their quality of build very good.

Any guidance towards their identification, of course would be greatly appreciated.

Lastly if anyone could point me in the direction a good read on grip handle patterns; would be great also.

Out here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon - think’n I was a ‘Tool Nut’, realizing I’m a sesame seed.

 

[RTM]

: The Whitaker then Mfg. Co.

that’s a pretty good guess, couple of entries here.

Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Books, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine

archive.org

First is 90 pages , too early without coffee for me to look.

 

[four.cycle]

Not sure if this is what you're looking for:

Whitaker / Whitaker Mfg. Co., 509 W. Monroe St., Chicago, IL (1914) 409-15 S. Greene (1917) / files, wrench / patent 1363288 Dec 28 1920 Charles .A. Swanson / http://americanmadefiles.blogspot.com/2015/12/whitaker-manufacturing-co.html /

Need some photos to try to make sense of the second one you're talking about.

 

[Oregon Dave]

You are certainly to be commended for compiling that tremendous List of Mechanics Hand Tool Manufacturers & Brands U.S & Foreign - UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Shifting sideways; what format is the database and do you have in an excel version? The sort-ability of a spreadsheet yields some interesting insights. Your file must be huge; I and certainly others would be available help; providing we can measure up to your standards.

Pliers #2. I had found the above entry in your list early on in my search; as well as other Whitaker references you had recorded; didn’t track out the link to find the logo and couldn’t make any kind of a comfortable connection with those Whitakers and pliers or lineman’s pliers; other than Klein and others being in the same town or nearby.

RTM’s link does make a Whitaker Mfg. Co., Chicago, connection to the older riveted slip-joint pliers

HOWEVER the logo images you sent pushes things beyond a definite maybe. I don’t do pictures yet; grandkids handle all my hi-tech stuff beyond chewing gum; will have them on this next they visit.

For now, using the double diamond (right image when it got here; thick black lines); you have two major diamonds overlaid, forming a third minor diamond with a centered block ‘W’. Change the block ‘W’ to an outline ‘W’ and center it in a major diamond with a thin line border and you got the crux of this logo’s core and proportional symmetry. The rectangular rhomboids share a common border with the outside of the upper two borders of the diamond - clear eh? looks like a ‘flying diamond’.

Also the the logo is pressed ‘craftsman-like’ with a clean delicate refinement into the metal; very, very similar to Kleins ‘Climbing Lineman’ quality. Hints of Klein being involved; possibly the contract manufacture; maybe testing out handle grip patterns on another’s brand. Hopefully a Klein guru will surf through.

Would like to tie up the loose ends; but my thing is finding old iron, putting it back into its working clothes and using it or passing it on to some who will and appreciates the tool and its heritage.

Thanks, takes a special person to compile to that extent and share as you have done - am impressed as well as grateful.

Thanks also RTM; your fast response to a spot-on links indicates you have a vast knowledge base also and appreciate you sharing.

Thank-You both - Dave

 

[four.cycle]

You are certainly to be commended for compiling that tremendous List of Mechanics Hand Tool Manufacturers & Brands U.S & Foreign - UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Shifting sideways; what format is the database and do you have in an excel version? The sort-ability of a spreadsheet yields some interesting insights. Your file must be huge; I and certainly others would be available help; providing we can measure up to your standards.

Well... it's a dirty job, but somebody needed to do it.

The file is just a regular ol' Windows notepad file. Nothin' fancy. No "excel", no spreadsheet. Just the text file that you can download that the link on my "signature" line. (I just posted an updated list a couple days ago.)

The objective of creating the list was solely to create a LIST. It's just a point of reference. I am hoping that somebody will pick up the torch and DO something with it - create a database, write a book, what ever. I'm not "techie" enough, nor do I have the time or inclination to take it any farther than the notepad *.txt file.

RTM is one of the stewards at datamp.org and he's better than me quite often at ferreting out stuff others have missed or can't find.

The patent gives us an irrefutable point of reference: a name, date, and location. Who where, when. We're not concerned with why.

If you have any questions about the LOGOS, you can check the LOGO thread here, but that project got back-burnered some time ago.

I sent all the logo material I had to Alloy-Artifacts.org, and he has worked into his "Trademarks and Logos" page in a more comprehensive manner. There are challenges in making a "list" (or a "chart") of logos that we're both still struggling with.
I think the manner in which he went about it makes sense, but he's omitted those logos that actually contain a NAME, which may or may not present difficulties for users and collectors.

====

Off the top of my head, I don't know of any connection between Whitaker and Klein, although they were both located in the Chicago area.

Whitaker / Whitaker Mfg. Co., 509 W. Monroe St., Chicago, IL (1914) 409-15 S. Greene (1917) / files, wrench / patent 1363288 Dec 28 1920 Charles .A. Swanson / http://americanmadefiles.blogspot.com/2015/12/whitaker-manufacturing-co.html /

Klein / Klein Tools, Lincolnshire, IL / https://www.kleintools.com/ / formerly Mathias Klein & Sons Inc., 7200 McCormick Rd, Skokie, Chicago, IL 60645 / est. 1857 / http://alloy-artifacts.org/klein-tools.html / http://alloy-artifacts.org/klein-tools.html#history / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/the-klein-tool-addiction-thread.368079/ https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/m-klein-sons.406740/