My Small But Growing 1/4" drive Socket Set Collection

[Private Lugnutz]

Duro Chrome / Indestro "D I" 1/4" drive SAE socket set in New Britain / None Better box
(* This is, as near as I can tell, kind of a mish-mash of old Duro Chrome and Indestro - all "D I" period stuff - inexplicably in a "None Better" box that's in really great condition. *)

Since everything is wartime – DI tools and NB box, the explanation just might be that it came out of some US Army Ordnance Dept maintenance depot. Either in someone’s pocket, or as surplus. They bought tools in sets and they bought individual tools as replacements, but when they hit the maintenance depots in the field and started being used, as you can imagine, they didn’t much care about keeping brands together.

Mustang 1/4" drive SAE socket set in slide-top steel box

O man, I want this bad and I’m not even going to hint around about it. I am working on a MUSTANG 1/2-inch drive set. If you are ever in the mindset to let this go, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

(* Made by New Britain Machine as a "price point" line. Cadmium plated. Note the wonky slide-top box. I did find a Mustang ratchet in a 1/4" drive, but the box is too small for the ratchet to fit in there. I'm guessing this was the low-end 1/4" drive set in their product line-up. *)

If you mean because it’s MUSTANG brand, I agree. If you mean because it doesn’t have a ratchet, I disagree. Well, technically, it is still probably low-end in terms of price because it has fewer tools, but we modern day collectors of vintage tools are jaded by bigger, fuller sets of everything. In this era, drive tools were offered in a variety of packages based on need/application. Classic nut spinner sets never came with ratchets.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Crescent "Give Wings to Work" 1/4" drive SAE set in the original box.

Firestone 1/4" drive SAE socket set in original box
(* The box is a little rough on outside but sockets and drive tools are in fabulous condition. Everything is stamped "Firestone". *)

Two of my favorite sets in the thread so far!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

A Penens Corp. 1/4" drive SAE socket set in the original box.
The larger sockets are stamped "Challenger" as well as "Penens". I think it would be reasonable to assume that the smaller sockets were not stamped with both names simply due to space limitations.

Agreed. Note that PENENS also made sets that had nothing to do with the Challenger brand. I have a straight-up PENENS set, no Fleet or Challenger or any other sub-brand markings. Found it with a bunch of 1/2-inch drive tools and a few DOE wrenches, all marked only PENENS CORP. I am positive the whole shebang was a PENENS Combination Master Wrench set that I am trying to complete and place in a PENENS decaled box.

Here is what I have so far, including the midget set...

And here is a close-up of the midget set...

I thought I posted detailed photos of the markings and a contents list somewhere before, but I can't find it. I can double-back and do that if anyone is interested in comparing construction and markings to the other later sub-branded PENENS sets that have been posted.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

A Spiegel "Precision Bilt" 1/4" drive SAE socket set with original box.
(* It appears from a similar set posted by Private Lugnutz on Garagejournal.com (HERE: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=363163 ) that this set is missing the ratchet.

Thanks for remembering and linking my Spiegel PB set, 4.c. It’s one of the sets in my collection that challenges my ability to keep my excessive pride in check!

Since my fleamarket find I have spent 5 x the $$$ that I paid for the set on Spiegel catalogs from eBay! HAHA! Trying to nail down the production history. You can see some of the fruits of my labor and catalog excerpts on a thread linked here.

Because not everyone follows links, and for some visual continuity, I will post a few pics here too (be sure to check out the sockets )

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The Bonney is a work in progress

I will gladly add this set to Unaiu’s lone Bonney No. V-51 1/4-inch drive set, if only because I hate to see Bonney short-shrifted here!!

This set actually has a funny story behind it. After a few years of owning it, I moved it on to a fellow collector. While I usually don't have many pangs or regrets about doing that, this one haunted me. Like a lost homing pigeon, it came back to me a few years later! :Lol:

 

[Private Lugnutz]

All I want is a complete Hanson tray in every size drive and both SAE/metric and I be happy. Even if I got to buy the individual ones!

Tell me more, PhantomEB. Same Hanson as the Hanson that made all the fancy script “Ace” marked tap and die sets (including private label for Blue-Point)? I didn’t even know they made socket drive tools. What era production?

Lastly for now is my bastards and orphan department. This is where I keep tools waiting for boxes and boxes waiting for tools. If anyone needs something specific, lemme know.

HAHA! You really are a midget drive tools specialist! That is a really nice, concise, and well-organized set-up, Dan.

An indestro set. Missing ratchet plug unfortunately...

Love the blue cases with that decal. Don has one I drool over, too.

Williams driver is just neat!

Agreed. Those combination extension-spinners with the lockable rotating grip are very cool. I have a few. Don has one. I know 3bay does. Otg has one, too. They have come up in discussion before where we were wondering who owned the patent or if there were two slightly different patents, because another mfgr made one too (doh! can’t remember who now!) and it looks and operates very similar.

Some hex drive stuff. Husky, quickway...

That Husky set is a first for me.....awesome!

I’ll second that on the Husky! This is in my TOP 3 favorite sets on this thread so far.

 

[WarrenJ]

d42jeep -

In post #53 you show a "None Better" set in a black wrinkle-finish box. The sockets are chromed an polished and similar to those in a "New Britain" set i posted previously that are marked with a "C" in the part number.
Any idea on the date ranges of those two sets?

I've seen lots of Giller 1/4" sets with gray spinner handles. I've seen lots of them with clear yellow plastic handles (like mine above.) I do not believe I've seen a Giller spinner with a blue handle.

You certainly have acquired a far more comprehensive assortment of Walden and S-K than I believe I've managed to accomplish with Indestro.

Speaking of which, on that little Indestro cad-plated set you've got there - that box is in fabulous condition!

==

WarrenJ -

On that old Craftsman "circle H" set, as near as I can make out from the photo the socket size range is: 7/32, 1/4, 9/32, 5/16, 11/32, 3/8, and 7/16.
That is an old photo and I have no idea where that particular set is right now.

==

Catfishdan -

You've got a mess of Craftsman sets there!
On that one where you mentioned you had a decal and were thinking of repainting the box: how would you go about cleaning up the part under the socket tray?

==

Private Lugnutz -

The back-and-forth we had over the course of the last week was the catalyst for this.
I'm sorry I was unable to get better and more clear images on some of those - a lot of detail is lost there. I may try to re-shoot those images and re-post them later.
As I mentioned, what I've posted above is just what was within easy reach on the tops of the piles here in the back bedroom and the kitchen and one small box I rooted through a few nights ago. I haven't gotten out into the garage yet or torn into these other boxes in here. I know there's some other real screwballs in this mess somewhere.

I have a good idea of where the Walden Worcester 9/32" drive set is, so I may know which box to open next. I think that's the same box where the 9/32" (or 1/4" ??) drive VIM set is located as well.

==

And why were S-K's early cross-bars so big? How much torque needs to be applied to a tiny little bolt?

Carry on, gentlemen. I can tell already this thread is going to be great.

Thanks for the sizes, need to check my set.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Here is my large and unusual Walden set.

That is envy-worthy, Don!

I posted this lid closed in my first all-my-sets shot, and I’ve posted it before in your Walden thread, but that was during 4.c’s hiatus, so I am going to post it again here.

Walden-Worcester Set No. 39120-20 1/4-inch drive Box Only

Just the empty box. Probably no hope of ever populating it with the right tools, but a man can dream. Also intriguing because I can’t find it any catalogs I know about in the public domain and I don't know what the tools looked like!

Maybe 4.c can get his Hardware Store Catalog Google-fu going on it! 

 

[Private Lugnutz]

As for the SK sets, I won’t bother with the partial Brazil set since others have posted much nicer examples, but here is the partial SK “Carb-O-Mang” Set No. 1208 1/4-inch drive….

More details on the SK Carb-O-Mang set in the SK thread linked here and here.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Some hex drive stuff. Husky, Quickway...

On your Quickway “A” set, Otg, those are actually 3/8-inch hex drive. Not that I am complaining, just noting it. It’s deceptive, because the case is so small and it only came with an L-handle and extension.

Here is my VERY partial “A” set, with its bigger brothers, Sets “C”, “C Special”, “D”, and “F”.

View media item 77789
View media item 77779
And a close-up…

View media item 76657
If anyone wants to explore deeper into Bethlehem Spark Plug Quickway sets, 4.c started an excellent thread, linked here.

 

[Username already in use]

This thread is off to a great start and I’m really enjoying seeing all this midget goodness in one place.
I’m anxious to add some more of mine when I get the chance.

Lugz, I really dig that Carb-O-Mang set!

 

[CRTDI]

More 1/4" drive socket set madness located here:

http://garagegazette.com/index.php?topic=309.0

 

[Provincial]

Sorry for the poor photos, but here is an International Forge set. No ratchet or hinge handle. Made in USA.

 

[four.cycle]

"... I have seen you express some doubts about the color of yours. These faded in time and environmental exposure. I have seen them in many shades...."

Makes perfect sense. As I recall, the problem with my RTEC spinner is that the detent ball is stuck and it will not hold the sockets securely. I soaked it with light oil for weeks but could not get it to come back to life.
Not sure if I mentioned this already, but I managed to find a pair of those small RTEC pliers.

"... depressingly far less extraordinary than I initially thought..."

Looks just like Thorsen. Not a bit of difference. Looks like you've got an earlier ratchet from the convex selector knob. Can't remember what my Giller ratchet looks like - it's floating around loose somewhere.

"...Keeping it in the Thorsen family for a bit longer, here is my DAYTON set..."

Yes - contract made for Grainger by Thorsen. I finally found one of those - exactly like yours. Hard to find them in a complete state. That one of yours looks pretty cherry.

"...it is still probably low-end in terms of price because it has fewer tools..."

Actually, I meant that I thought it was the "low end" set because of the cheap cad finish and the wonky slide-top box and the fact that the set contained only the sockets, breaker, and sliding "t" handle. There's no room in that box for a spinner or a ratchet. I did manage to find a ratchet for the set, but it will not fit inside the box with the other tools.
As for parting with mine, if I remember correctly, I believe I own more than one of those sets. I'm not sure.

RE: Walden Worcester model 39120-20 9/32" square drive SAE socket set:
I have one of those here somewhere. It is missing the model 39120-23 "Spin-Tite" driver handle and the model 39119-34 1/4" six-point socket is rounded out. I am still looking for those two pieces. Otherwise it is complete. I have a vague idea of which box it is in, but I am not certain.
I have not been able to find it listed in any of the early catalog pages I currently have.
All I have at the moment for photographs are the images from the Ebay ad:




RE: Spiegel "Precision Bilt" 1/4" drive set:
It appears your set is missing a few sockets, but you have the ratchet and breaker handle.
I think mine has all the sockets and the breaker handle, but I'm missing the ratchet.
I suppose the only way to confirm what the set originally contained would be to refer to an early catalog listing.

"...It’s deceptive, because the case is so small and it only came with an L-handle and extension..."

We had this discussion in the "Bethlehem" thread. The "Set A" came in three variants, apparently (as near as I can figure) depending upon who you bought it from. It was available with just the "ell" handle, or with just the "tee" handle, or with both the "ell" and the "tee" handle. My "Set A" has both the "ell" and "tee" handle and the little cross bar.



(* Note that the "Set A" is 3/8" hex drive, not 1/2" hex drive as is erroneously noted in the caption on the 1923 Baker Hamilton & Pacific Co. catalog ad *)

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Lugz, I really dig that Carb-O-Mang set!

Thanks! I wish the marking on the actual decal needed less reconstructive imagery surgery to visualize! But it gives all us SK collectors an idea of what to look for.

Sorry for the poor photos, but here is an International Forge set. No ratchet or hinge handle. Made in USA.

Cool, Provincial. Never heard of it. Is the name embossed in the lid? Are they the OEM, and if not, I wonder who made it.

As I recall, the problem with my RTEC spinner is that the detent ball is stuck and it will not hold the sockets securely.

Ahhh. My bad for leaping to a different conclusion as to the source of your doubt. When Don and I were discussing them, the different colors came up as a question of which was legit, and we discovered that it wasn't constant and probably due to age and storage conditions.

Yes - contract made for Grainger by Thorsen. I finally found one of those - exactly like yours. Hard to find them in a complete state. That one of yours looks pretty cherry.

Thee cherriest set I have ever owned, in any drive size. Bought it off a tool lady at my Thursday flea. Love doing business with her. Pulls up in a little camper. Arranges her tables in a U, and the tools in an orderly fashion based on type, brand and age. Parks herself on a chair in front of the open door to her camper, where her dogs hang out. Knows tools very well, but also knows she can't price herself right out of sales, unlike many other vendors.

Actually, I meant that I thought it was the "low end" set because of the cheap cad finish

Ah. Gotcha. That is a dead giveaway for many tools in the 30's and 40's into early 50's.

and the fact that the set contained only the sockets, breaker, and sliding "t" handle. There's no room in that box for a spinner or a ratchet. I did manage to find a ratchet for the set, but it will not fit inside the box with the other tools.

That part of your rationale goes to my point, though. Most mfgrs offered sets in various configurations, but even though the sets with fewer handles were cheaper, I don't believe the motivation was price-point. The US Army, for example, actually specified a set late in the war and throughout the late 1940's with only a hinge handle and a spinner. I think they determined that the ratchet was not only redundant to nut spinning, but probably presented an obstruction in swing where the others did not. I can see shops and homeowners thinking the same thing. But that's just my speculation. I have not seen anything explaining the set configuration variants.

As for parting with mine, if I remember correctly, I believe I own more than one of those sets. I'm not sure.

If that's the case, I won't feel guilt about asking for one of them at some point in time. No rush.

RE: Walden Worcester model 39120-20 9/32" square drive SAE socket set:
I have one of those here somewhere...[ ]... All I have at the moment for photographs are the images from the Ebay ad

That's great to hear. I look forward to seeing yours whenever you have a chance to locate it. In the meantime, thanks for the sale ad photos.

RE: Spiegel "Precision Bilt" 1/4" drive set:
It appears your set is missing a few sockets, but you have the ratchet and breaker handle. I think mine has all the sockets and the breaker handle, but I'm missing the ratchet. I suppose the only way to confirm what the set originally contained would be to refer to an early catalog listing.

I am missing more than a few, but what I was alluding to was the fact that two of the sockets that it came with were NB-made MUSTANG instead of NB-made Precision-Bilt. I found this at a flea market and there is no way the vendor - a house liquidator - knew anything about it, so he didn't put them in there. Perhaps the pervious owner did, but I doubt. Frankly, I think it might've been shipped out that way from NB to the Spiegel catalog order customer on behalf of Spiegel, or from NB to a Spiegel warehouse to the customer, similar to the way many Long C Craftsman era socket sets show up with a mix of BE and (H) sockets.

We had this discussion in the "Bethlehem" thread. The "Set A" came in three variants, apparently (as near as I can figure) depending upon who you bought it from. It was available with just the "ell" handle, or with just the "tee" handle, or with both the "ell" and the "tee" handle. My "Set A" has both the "ell" and "tee" handle and the little cross bar.

We did. Thanks for clarifying. My intent was to point out (albeit inaccurately) that although it's a tiny spinner set with only a few handles in a tiny case, it's actually not midget (1/4 or 9/32 drive) class, but 3/8 drive.

my meager offering today is limited to just one set. *)
VIM Tool Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota - 8-pc 9/32" square drive SAE socket set

How many more of these cool and unique sets do you have to unveil? I love the driver, not only the BHM-ish looking handle, but the (hand-forged?) male drive end.

 

[3baygarage]

That Vim set is super cool. I generally think of much later to present specialty auto tools when I think of Vim.

Lots of great stuff guys.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I can't stop looking at the VIM driver. Other early wood-handled drivers had a ferrule, of course, but it was fairly minimal (see the NB earlier in the thread, for example). But with the big blocky close-quarter like handle and the long ferrule, it really looks like a screwdriver handle. Really neat.

 

[four.cycle]

How many more of these cool and unique sets do you have to unveil?

Not a clue. The VIM and the Walden 9/32" drive sets are probably two of the more oddball sets. I'm only working out of three boxes right now: one in the kitchen and two here in this back bedroom.
I just went out into the garage and I can count at least 11 or 12 more boxes I haven't gotten to yet.

In response to your comment about your Precision Bilt and the oddball off-brand pieces in it: I've received all kinds of sets that have off-brand stuff in them. Yesterday I pulled out a little tray of EASCO 1/4" drive metric sockets that I'd never really looked at closely and found a Taiwan-made 4.5 mm socket had been inserted in it, and that the 11 mm was gone.
I've always assumed that it's just one of those things that happens as time passes - stuff gets lost - stuff gets put in the wrong place.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I can count at least 11 or 12 more boxes I haven't gotten to yet.

If there was a rubbing-hands-together-in-gleeful-anticipation emoticon, I would post it here.

In response to your comment about your Precision Bilt and the oddball off-brand pieces... [ ]... I've always assumed that it's just one of those things that happens as time passes - stuff gets lost - stuff gets put in the wrong place.

Of course, and we've all found those. But, when the mixed-brand sockets are all from the same OEM, I think a strong distinction can be made that there is a possibility they are factory. In fact, it's pretty much accepted with Long C era Craftsman socket drive sets that a bunch of BE sockets and a few Circle-H sockets (or the other way around) are most likely original to the set form the factory. Ditto with Plomb Tool Co and later Pendleton Tool Industries Inc sets with a mix of markings on the sockets that are all contemporary to each other (e.g., MFD. PENENS Challenger, MFD. PENENS Fleet, MFD. Fleet, MFD. Challenger, etc). A lot of collectors think they came that way from the factory/distributor, not that they were replaced by an owner or a number of owners over time. I am one of them.

With respect to my Spiegel Precision-Bilt set, I wouldn't call the MUSTANG sockets "oddball" or "off-brand." New Britain was making them both at the same time in the same factory. Just like they were making the BE and Circle-H sockets for Craftsman in the same factory a decade prior, establishing precedence for some occasional unintentional mixed branding distribution. I am suggesting that the presence of the NB-made MUSTANG-marked sockets with NB-made Precision-Bilt-marked sockets in a NB-made Precision-Bilt case may have been original to the set from the factory to begin with.

 

[3baygarage]

A few sets from the last year:

Brown Tool HI-LOK Hand Tool Kit HLKT1000

Sockets are a mix of Allen USA, ATI (Snap On), and Omega. Ratchet isn’t marked. Probably Omega brand.

Last two pics are the Snap On made socket.

 

[3baygarage]

Bonney 9/32 drive (1 SO recently added)

 

[3baygarage]

Companion

Ext. is Craftsman replacement

 

[3baygarage]

Truecraft made in Japan

 

[3baygarage]

Action and Thorsen

Not sure if this was pieced together.

Action ratchet and spinner, Thorsen sockets + ext., 3” is an SK replacement.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Dumb question alert... Are those hex ("Allen") keys stuck into the foam lining of that Brown set? And did they come with the set to turn the screws in the ratchet head and other pieces for maintenance disassembly and assembly? Or did you stick them in there like that?

 

[four.cycle]

3baygarage -

I've seen a great number of "Hi-Lock" ratchets on Ebay, but I have never seen a set before.
What's the story on the tiny set screw on the side of the sockets?

The 1/4" drive spinner handle marked "WF" in the "Companion" set seems to answer the question of who manufactured the ratchet. Someone posted a Companion set in a similar thread on GarageGazette.com and another member posited that Western Forge was OE.
I have one of those little Companion sets, but as I recall the spinner handle in mine is a bit different.

That model 80MA Action spinner is fabulous! Quite a find.
I do not believe that box is original to the set - it looks to be earlier vintage than the pieces inside (particularly the spinner.)

"I love the driver, not only the BHM-ish looking handle, but the (hand-forged?) male drive end."

I don't think it's hand forged. It looks like a production piece to me. I uploaded a video onto YouTube so you can get a better look at it:

(* BHM ?? *)

 

[3baygarage]

Dumb question alert... Are those hex ("Allen") keys stuck into the foam lining of that Brown set? And did they come with the set to turn the screws in the ratchet head and other pieces for maintenance disassembly and assembly? Or did you stick them in there like that?

They came with it. Original, idk. No set place for them in the foam, I may have moved them around.

3baygarage -

I've seen a great number of "Hi-Lock" ratchets on Ebay, but I have never seen a set before.
What's the story on the tiny set screw on the side of the sockets?

The 1/4" drive spinner handle marked "WF" in the "Companion" set seems to answer the question of who manufactured the ratchet. Someone posted a Companion set in a similar thread on GarageGazette.com and another member posited that Western Forge was OE.
I have one of those little Companion sets, but as I recall the spinner handle in mine is a bit different.

That model 80M Action spinner is fabulous! Quite a find.
I do not believe that box is original to the set - it looks to be earlier vintage than the pieces inside (particularly the spinner.)
:

The set screw on the socket is to secure to the ratchet. The hex drivers also have a set screw for the hex shank which adjusts.

The Companion surely are WF. I have all three drive sizes of ratchets. Neat how the driver is Craftsman colored though, some aren’t.

Not sure on the Action/Thorsen box. Could have been a Thorsen set and the two tools were replaced with Action because the rat head doesn’t fit the tray.

 

[four.cycle]

3baygarage -

I'm thinking the box is most likely an older Thorsen 1416 box with insert that was molded to fit the (earlier) 77M (open-gear) ratchet, which (unless I'm mistaken) had a slightly smaller diameter drive head than the later 77MC (Thorsen) RHFT model. (Your Action is a 77MA - same as the Thorsen 77MC)

 

[Provincial]

In response to Private Lugnutz' comments (post #136) about my International Forge set (post #133), here are better photos of the markings on the box and handles.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Pretty cool name and I like the embossed lid. That drive handle style is so common it says nothing to me. Info on the web is sparse. I got a sales manager to VP promotion announcement in a 1950 Chicago Tribune and a 1952 USPTO Gazette hit for pipe wrenches. Whole lotta nothing after that. Anybody know anything?

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Century partial set. I have been using and losing bits of this since the 70s...

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Mid 20s snap on midget set

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Later 20s snap on midget set

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Early 30s snap on midget set

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Mid 30s snap on midget nut spinner set

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Late 30s snap on midget set

 

[four.cycle]

Oldtuleguy - great collection of Snap-on you've got there!

Love that embossed Century box! 1960's Japan-made?

==

I'm going to take the liberty of posting these here as they seem more applicable to those viewing this thread than people looking for "hot deals":

9/32" square drive adapters

Walden 3133 1/4" female X 9/32" male drive adapter (two each) (chrome )
used
$9.99 + $3.75 shipping now. 0 bids now. ends Mon. 11/12
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-two...-32-DRIVE-Male-adapter-RARE-Nice/163357531070

==

Walden 3101 9/32" female X 1/4" male drive adapter ( two each ) (black )
used
$12.99 + $3.75 shipping OBO "buy now"
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-WALDEN-U...VE-Male-adapter-RARE-COLLECTIBLE/153238393685

( No idea why the guy is selling them in pairs. If somebody wants to split both of those two ways, let me know. BK )

 

[CRTDI]

Otg,

Super nice vintage Snappy sets. I really like that driver handle in the mid 20s set and the Blue Points wrenches in the later 20s set......

 

[Oldtuleguy]

My dad bought that century set in the 60s, ratchet is stamped japan. Used the heck out of it, just lost bits of it between me and my dad over the last 50 years.

I have some more snap on sets I will get around to posting.

 

[3baygarage]

My dad bought that century set in the 60s, ratchet is stamped japan. Used the heck out of it, just lost bits of it between me and my dad over the last 50 years.

I have some more snap on sets I will get around to posting.

Does it look just like the Truecraft?