Masterench by Heller Bros. Post em up!

[diy62975]

Hi everyone,

I have learned a lot about this nice tool as I read through the entire thread. Great information and plenty of nice pictures.

Here is what I have: An 18-inch, 10-inch, 8 and 6-inch. All 6 through 10 are smooth jaw. The 18 is a pipe jaw. The red handle one on the far left is an unbranded made in Japan.

I think the 8" is quite unique and possibly the earliest original version per the patents history. It is marked "LYNCHMEAD MFG Co, TURLOCK CAL, PATENTS PENDING NOV 21 1921, FEB 26 1921. On the other side it says "8 IN MASTER RENCH (2 words), DROP FORGED STEEL". The spring design is the original style where it can disengage when the jaw is pushed beyond the wide limit and apparently was corrected and improved in subsequent versions (per patent). It is in great shape hardly used.

I am hoping to acquire a 14-inch. If anyone who has a 14-inch and won't mind parting with it, please contact me and I would love to buy it from you.

I have lots of pictures. Feel free to ask and I will add some more. Thanks!

 

[four.cycle]

hello @dly62975 and welcome to the site!

you might want to keep this link handy

and the one just below (my signature line):

 

[Beerhippie]

I picked up this 6" beauty today:





12-point broaching in the hanger hole seems to fit 7/16" pretty well.Dynamic jaw is nice and free and it looks like it just needs a good cleaning.

My first Masterench!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

My first Masterench!

Good luck that it was the Drunken N's production run!

 

[Beerhippie]

Good luck that it was the Drunken N's production run!

I was thinking the line boss was grouchy that day and told the tooler that his toddler could do a better job of engraving the dies than he did and the tooler said "Well, have him do it then!"

That, or someone really did come in drunk....

Noticed just now that the Ns are backwards!

 

[Provincial]

Dyslexic.

 

[Outlawmws]

Waht yuo Syane?

 

[Beerhippie]

She cleaned up pretty well,





But she'll never be the beauty she was back in high school.

I have a new theory. It goes like this:

"Boys, suits say we need to add another patent date to the six."

"Boss, there ain't no room on that handle!"

"Here (hands over his thermos bottle) have a sip of this and see what y'all come up with. More where that came from."

Front side is a little tipsy, but the reverse... now, that's gettin' well onto good and lit!

PS: I have no idea whatsoever how factory boys talked in Newark, NJ in the late twenties.

 

[Beerhippie]

I've been trying to use the Masterench in real-world settings for the last couple of days. It's a really clumsy tool and has a very narrow range of bolt sizes it will grip well, and has to be kept near perfectly aligned with the bolt/nut head or it slips off. I thought it might work well as a mini-pipe wrench, but it doesn't grip round things well at all.

For now, it lives on my desk as a reminder of why we don't drink on the job.

 

[Outlawmws]

There are smooth jaw versions. I have both in almost every size.

Are the pipe teeth on that one sharp?

I have a 6" on my workbench and I was noticing its teeth are very sharp; and the last few plumbing jobs I did I used two 14", and in one case the 18" and they worked far better than my regular pipe wrenches.

 

[Outlawmws]

From post one:

I'll get pics of some of my others later but here is the 6" version:

From 5/32 (or equiv metric):

To 9/16/14MM (maybe 15?)

 

[Beerhippie]

Mine's also a 6" (looks like 6' in the drunken font), same "gripping" range. The teeth are fairly sharp, but it seems like they're convex side-to-side as I have to have it lined just so to get it to grip and stay on.

 

[Outlawmws]

Sounds like the teeth are worn. I've had good use for both pipe and smooth version. A smooth one has been my go-to for propane connections for at least 20 years on my tent trailer. (handle painted orange and an "S" Hook permanently affixed)

 

[Outlawmws]

Found another Turlock era 8" Master Rench today. Same markings as before:

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Picked up another 6-incher at the flea.



I have a complete set from 6" to 18", with several 6-inchers, but they're on hooks, like a rack, so I don't mind filling up the rack with more!



And, this is a really nice specimen.

 

[four.cycle]

Heller Bros. "Masterench" 6 inch and 8 inch models - Heller Bros. Co., Newark New Jersey

* applicable patents are 1533602 and 1634908

 

[Outlawmws]

Found another Turlock era 8" Master Rench today. Same markings as before:

A week ago I found yet another 8" Turlock Master rench - Again for hex nuts/bolts. it's not in as good a shape as the other two, but it's all there and operational, a few rust pits is the damage. -

Only partially cleaned, I'm going to go at the painted inset with Greaz-Off, and hope to get a better sense of the paint color. not sure how to attack the rust without taking the paint off...

I'm noting that this one and the one from a year ago have the blue paint in the background of the inset. I don't recall seeing it on others, but I may have missed it.