mysterious 1/4" drive sockets

[stlwesley]

hello all, first post here (shamefully, as I have been reading on here for years, without giving any input)

anyways, I have been sorting my sockets and compiling an excel spreadsheet for everything I have and all the sockets I need to fill my sets.

I came across these 1/4" (mostly square) drive sockets in my collection. they have an unusual finish to them. they are stamped with USA and their size, that's it.

I would of said they're old New Britain or Industro made, but the finish is throwing me off....they also do not look as old as my other sockets marked with only USA and their size, not to mention the vast majority of my sockets that are not marked with the manufacturer's name are hex-drive, as opposed to these which are square drive

any thoughts would be appreciated

 

[Rileysan]

hello all, first post here (shamefully, as I have been reading on here for years, without giving any input)

anyways, I have been sorting my sockets and compiling an excel spreadsheet for everything I have and all the sockets I need to fill my sets.

I came across these 1/4" (mostly square) drive sockets in my collection. they have an unusual finish to them. they are stamped with USA and their size, that's it.

I would of said they're old New Britain or Industro made, but the finish is throwing me off....they also do not look as old as my other sockets marked with only USA and their size, not to mention the vast majority of my sockets that are not marked with the manufacturer's name are hex-drive, as opposed to these which are square drive

any thoughts would be appreciated

I have come across a LOT of these sockets over the years. I think they are part of a small set sold under various names for light duty/home use. IIRC, they come in a plastic pouch and the driver is an 'L' shaped, square drive tool that looks like an allen/hex wrench. I typically throw those into my junk bucket.

Brian

 

[four.cycle]

Oxwall / Oxwall Tool Co. Ltd., 133-10 32nd Ave., P.O. Box 231, Flushing, N.Y. 11352 / formerly 401 Park Ave. So., New York, 16, N.Y. /

G.M / G.M Mfg. Co., 1308 43rd Ave., Long Island City, N.Y. / http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2014/02/vanished-tool-makers-gm-co.html

My eyes are tired. It's kind of difficult to discern between the two- they both look very similar.

Don't believe I have any photos of my Oxwall. Take a look at Ebay and you'll find all kinds of sets listed.

Here's a G.M. set, because you can NOT find "G.M. Mfg. Co." using any kind of search function:





Yours are most likely one or the other. Low-end stuff made for the consumer market. Cheap plating - looks pretty good when it's new. Exposed to any kind of humidity and it'll cloud up and start looking dull.

The "Made in U.S.A." stamp makes me lean more toward G.M than Oxwall. Sorry I don't know where any of them are in the mess here or I could go check. Best I can do on short notice.

 

[four.cycle]

Found an excellent example of Oxwall. I do not believe I've ever seen "U.S.A" stamped on any Oxwall sockets, which leads me to believe what you've got there was made by G.M Mfg. Co.

 

[bonneyman]

I have taken a set of these and combined them with a shorty Craftsman mini-ratchet for those tight jobs. If they prove to be too long I can grind them down shorter for an extra shallow ratcheting tool without any remorse.

 

[four.cycle]

Oxwall's cheapie 1/4" ratchet is about as "low profile" as you can get:

 

[stlwesley]

I also think they came in small set for light duty, but they're made in USA so that's a plus in my book

speaking of GM CO tools, I've got 4 sockets that are 3/8" hex drive....my 1/4" could be manufactured by GM CO, but they're definitely not marked like the 3/8" (see pictures)

 

[d42jeep]

Here is my small collection of the poorest quality tools made in the US.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

"I also think they came in small set for light duty..."

Both G.M. Mfg. Co. and Oxwall made various types of small 1/4" drive sets. In addition to those two G.M. sets I posted above, they also made one in metric (there is one on Ebay for about $12 bucks HERE: https://www.ebay.com/itm/G-M-Co-Man...ic-Socket-Set-6MM-to-12MM-w-Case/351930044659 ).

Oxwall also packaged their 10-piece set in a plastic pouch:



^ Note that the sockets in this example do not have the knurling like the example above.

Oxwall also packaged the same socket set in a small plastic box with a set of their stamped steel ignition wrenches.

Your 3/8" hex drive G.M. sockets are something I do not believe I've seen. (But then maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention.)

Here is my small collection of the poorest quality tools made in the US.

I think you forgot about early Globemaster!

(* sorry about the Ebay photos - I have those sets above, I just don't know where they are in this mess. *)

 

[stlwesley]

here are two more sets of 1/4" drive, this time hex head

I have no idea about the first two pics...could be American made, could not be. I find their dark gray color strange. there are no markings as to country of origin, but sizes are on the bottom, which I have never seen on a quarter inch drive socket before

the other set are obviously American made, they are stamped "MADE IN USA" on the side. there are no references to sizes. this set looks much better quality than the ones I originally created the thread on

 

[four.cycle]

I have no clue! I'd say Taiwan or Japan if they weren't marked "USA".

Only thing I've got is a couple guesses here.
Sedgley example below is a set I have for comparison purposes.
Indestro example is currently posted on Ebay.
I have a couple of those Indestro 360 sets here somewhere*. It's difficult to see the knurling pattern in the catalog illustrations.
Note that the Sedgley and Indestro examples are nearly identical.
Compare them against New Britain/None Better. Ebay listings sometimes mention only the patent DATE on those sets (Dec. 12, 1922)







... and bear in mind I could be completely off-track here.

(* my 360 Indestro sets are later production than the example shown above, which is pre-1938 - it's stamped "pat. pending". I do not know if the knurling pattern on my two sets is the same as that one, but I would imagine it is.)
(* if you have a complete set of those, Ebay seller Trouble_Florida has/had a handle only for the 360 set but I believe he pulled it out of the listings because it was missing all the sockets. )

 

[3baygarage]

here are two more sets of 1/4" drive, this time hex head

I have no idea about the first two pics...could be American made, could not be. I find their dark gray color strange. there are no markings as to country of origin, but sizes are on the bottom, which I have never seen on a quarter inch drive socket before

the other set are obviously American made, they are stamped "MADE IN USA" on the side. there are no references to sizes. this set looks much better quality than the ones I originally created the thread on

First set is Shelton Socketool

 

[stlwesley]

a lot of good info from four.cycle on the sockets not ment to be in the picture lol
I'll post some pictures of those soon

I actually thought the dark gray sockets were, like four.cycle said, possibly Japanese made, because I think I have a set like them somewhere, but after reading 3baygarage's comment and searching "Shelton Socketool" on google, I think it's a safe bet to say they are shelton socketool

I've honestly never heard of them

 

[four.cycle]

First set is Shelton Socketool

I've heard of them - they're listed on Ebay frequently. I just never paid any attention to them.
I believe 3baygarage has nailed it on the ones in that first photo image. These are some examples I found listed on Ebay:

 

[four.cycle]

Here's another set of 1/4" square drive sockets made by G.M. Mfg. Co. for comparison purposes - these images show the sockets laying on their sides.
The difference between these and those made by Oxwall is minimal:





In all the confusion here I forgot all about another US company that made a product very similar to both Oxwall and G.M.:

Meteor Mfg. Co., 1441 Main St., Buffalo, 9, N.Y. / (see patent D167,868)

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I have this ox wall set. Picked it up just because I liked the flex driver.

 

[Cf mtn]

hi all, happy new year. when i seen the box oldtuleguy posted it reminded me of a box i picked up awhile back. shape and design look similar, but mine has japan marked pieces. missing some.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Looks the same but no driver

 

[four.cycle]

I have this ox wall set. Picked it up just because I liked the flex driver.

I have that same set somewhere around here.
Yes, the flex driver is kind of cool. Also WAY less money than a 4764 Proto!

The Japan-made knock-off posted by Cf mtn is the first one I've seen in the original container. Most of them I see have a different ratchet, though - with a fatter handle.

Looks the same but no driver

Oxwall made a number of different sets - some contained the flex driver, some did not. I do not believe I've seen a Japan-made knockoff that contained a driver - only the ratchet and a 2-inch extension. Almost impossible to tell the Japan-made sockets from Oxwall.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Interesting. It does say flexible driver on the box...

 

[Cf mtn]

I have that same set somewhere around here.
Yes, the flex driver is kind of cool. Also WAY less money than a 4764 Proto!

The Japan-made knock-off posted by Cf mtn is the first one I've seen in the original container. Most of them I see have a different ratchet, though - with a fatter handle.



Oxwall made a number of different sets - some contained the flex driver, some did not. I do not believe I've seen a Japan-made knockoff that contained a driver - only the ratchet and a 2-inch extension. Almost impossible to tell the Japan-made sockets from Oxwall.

yeah, i'm missing a lot of that set according to the listing on the top.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

It's got a few differences, but a close jap version