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

[Private Lugnutz]

Picked up this Herbrand partial set as a "hey do you want this too" while looking at something else. I obviously have some missing pieces to find.

Please post some pics of the sidewalls/markings on the sockets, JoCo. The ratchet looks late 40's to me. Are you sure that Sliding Tee is Herbie? The only stops like that (with the taper) I have seen have been Thorsen (or Giller and Dayton). I love that design.

Believe it or not, I have never found a single piece of Herbrand midget stuff.

 

[bmwrd0]

Yes. Out side of the handles, the one in the center shifts top to bottom, as opposed to side to side. That one is from the '40's with the other two being later. I don't know too much about Herbrand, but I like their stuff and usually pick it up.

 

[d42jeep]

In going through my orphan sockets, I found a PEC 7/16” if anybody is looking for one.
-Don

 

[JoCoSawdust]

Please post some pics of the sidewalls/markings on the sockets, JoCo. The ratchet looks late 40's to me. Are you sure that Sliding Tee is Herbie? The only stops like that (with the taper) I have seen have been Thorsen (or Giller and Dayton). I love that design.

Believe it or not, I have never found a single piece of Herbrand midget stuff.

The sliding T is Herbrand, marked M-21. Not very clear pics of the socket markings but top row is HERBRAND followed by a 3 digit part number. Second row is FREEMONT USA VAN CHROME. Fractional marking to the right of all of that.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I have been working on this one for a while now, and I have the feeling that it is going to take a looooong time. But, I might be willing to trade the full knurled handle ratchet.[/QUOTE]

BMW looks like you have my ratchet!

 

[JoCoSawdust]

Man everyone has cool kid logos on their Herbrand boxes but me......

Nice set OTG.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I put a nice badge pic on there if you want to make one

 

[JoCoSawdust]

I question if mine ever had one on it. If so, it was decal and not riveted. I'll just continue to covet yours!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The sliding T is Herbrand, marked M-21.

Hmm. Interesting. Thanks.

 

[bmwrd0]

Lugz, I have a 1/2" Herbrand sliding-T, S-21, that has the tapered ends like that also.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks. I don't have any postwar Herbrand drive tools, so I never noticed. That's not what the sliding T's looked like pre-war or wartime.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Could not resist this American kal set

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Some giller

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I wonder which are older, the Giller sets in the boxes that hinge on the side (4.c's in post #26, mine in post #119) or the back (yours, Don's in post #64, and CRTDI's in post #589).

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Don't know. As I understand it giller was a Vietnam war era military supplier, so none of them are super old.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The socket sets we have can't be any older than 1969 (when Hydrometals, Inc., which owned Giller at that time, bought Thorsen and made Giller a division of Thorsen), but Giller was established in 1955. My question isn't about their age, but the sequencing of the different boxes and tools. But yeah, not really worth digging that deeply into. Just more of a curiosity.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

The giller stuff all looks like thorsen. Before 69 was thorsen a supplier to giller?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I don't know.

 

[four.cycle]

"...was thorsen a supplier to giller?..."

This is one of those "unsolved mysteries" things. Twertsy in another thread recently stated that Thorsen moved operations from Oakland to Dallas in 1973, at which time both Thorsen and Giller would have (presumably) been manufacturing stuff on the same production line.

Private Lugnutz's question about "which is older" is another mystery. I own Giller and Thorsen socket sets in 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" drive, as well as double-end box wrenches in both brands, and other than the brand name stamped on them, they are indistinguishable - they even used the same part numbers on almost all of the sockets, extensions, ratchets, and wrenches. (I have "Action" branded 1/4" and 3/8" drive socket sets, and they also appear to be identical to Thorsen, other than the "A" added to the part number stamped on the item.)

Which one of them was making what remains a question until somebody unearths some sort of documentation, which thus far has been almost non-existent.

 

[d42jeep]

There had been some discussion about “black box” sets and I realize that I do have this one. I wish that there was some sort of dating on the label. At least it is partially 1/4” drive so appropriate to the thread.
-Don

 

[CoogarXR]

Man, how did I miss this thread? Some awesome sets here fellas. I skimmed this entire thread, but I didn't see any mention of Xcelite's 1/4" drive socket set. Here's mine. Sorry for the crappy pics, I'll take better ones when I get back to the shop:

Picked this up at the flea market this morning. Could just be an artifact of my collecting niche (nothing past early 1950's, really...), but I have never seen a 1/4-inch drive spinner this long before. No OEM markings.

I have this same one in my "misc spinners" drawer, see below:

I don't know if I ever put this up:

Still missing a couple sockets, but really, who isn't?

I also have that Cornwell spinner. Interesting bit of trivia- that Cornwell handle was almost certainly made by Xcelite. The mold and the color match a standard #12 Xcelite nut driver exactly. Xcelite did make handles for several other companies. I don't know if they made the whole drivers or just the handles, but they are unmistakable when you spot one.

Here's my "misc spinners" drawer for you:

 

[d42jeep]

I like the Xcelite set. I’m a big Xcelite fan.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Big fan of the xcelite coogar, great set!

 

[four.cycle]

classy little xcelite set there!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I like the "misc. spinners" drawer! Lol

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Philco socket set

 

[bmwrd0]

I had been looking at a set like that Philco one for a while on the 'Bay. Just couldn't justify the price though. Man, your set makes me reconsider!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

It was 10$

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Purdy.

 

[bmwrd0]

It was 10$

Muuuuuuch cheaper that the one listed.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Interesting it has the same stubby spinner as my thorsen

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Sure looks that way, Don. Makes sense they would outsource. The Philadelphia Storage Battery Company (Philco) wasn't making tools. But picking a supplier on the west coast seems odd.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Or thorsen outsourced them as well, maybe vim or something.

 

[CoogarXR]

I like the Xcelite set. I’m a big Xcelite fan.
-Don

Big fan of the xcelite coogar, great set!

classy little xcelite set there!

Thanks guys. I wanted one forever, and that's about how long it took to finally get one, lol. I collect Xcelite stuff too, and some of the oddball Orchard Park stuff can be tough to find!

I like the "misc. spinners" drawer! Lol

Thanks, lol. It's kinda like an "everything that looks like a screwdriver, but isn't" drawer.

 

[d42jeep]

Have you posted on the Xcelite thread?
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=368925
-Don

 

[CoogarXR]

Have you posted on the Xcelite thread?
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=368925
-Don

Looks like I did a couple years ago, but that was before I started collecting. I'll have to post some eye-candy over there.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I was shocked to find this Herbrand M-5 1/4-inch drive ratchet at the flea market today. I never see any Herbie midget tools in the wild out here. I am impressed. The action on the 24-tooth gear is like butter. It does have an unfortunate electric pencil owner's mark that's not too unsightly and disappears at certain angles. But I don't have any need for it, so it's available for trade. I could've sworn there was someone on this thread with a mint-y blue box with a mint-y round yellow decal and a near-complete set inside with handles having the two bands of knurling and all it was missing was a ratchet. I wonder who it could be!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Hmmm

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Hmmm

Well, you already know what I am angling for. I will throw in my Duro-Chrome deep offset line wrench, linked here, and a Tool To Be Named Later.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

You are tempting me... I will check some stuff and PM you