New Britain Hex drive?

[Zrxrunner]

Hey all, came across this old one yesterday and questions verifying. Searched alloy artifacts, and pretty sure it's a new Britain set, but by patent date, says they only have record of 1/4" hex drive this ones half inch. Has the 6 sockets described in the no.3 set, but none of the new Britain mtg markings anywhere. Still thinks it's new Britain, or None Better?

 

[DadsTools]

Hey all, came across this old one yesterday and questions verifying. Searched alloy artifacts, and pretty sure it's a new Britain set, but by patent date, says they only have record of 1/4" hex drive this ones half inch. Has the 6 sockets described in the no.3 set, but none of the new Britain mtg markings anywhere. Still thinks it's new Britain, or None Better?

I don't think size matters here. The utility patent would have claimed "means" to let's say fasten the sockets to the ell, "means" to stack them, or things like that. The size itself would be almost irrelevant--even a 3/4" or 1/" drive would be covered under the patent as long as the set used the same "means" as the 1/4" drive. If you've traced the patent back to NB, then it was either made by them or licensed from them. I've seen lots of these hex drive ell handle sets having no mfr identifying marks at all. They were a budget item, and I think sometimes a maker of finer tools might not even want its name linked to one of these.

 

[four.cycle]

New Britain / None Better / Handle Lock did indeed make 1/2" hex drive socket sets like that, but they most likely would have been marked with a completely different patent date - December 12, 1922 - which was when patent 1438900 was issued to one H.H. Chase. (That particular patent actually applied to the design of the stamped-steel socket holder, which your set does not have, but was used on a variety of different items from 1922 at least up into the 1950s.)

These are the only two listings I have which show a New Britain made 1/2" hex drive set like yours:



What you actually have there (at least the "ell" handle*) was made by the R.F. Sedgley Company. The patent date of December 31, 1918 applies to patent 1289558 for their "Hexall" hex-drive socket sets.

The Sedgley thread is HERE:

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=378656

* The reason I said "at least the "ell" handle" is because I frequently see listings on Ebay for hex-drive sets which have been cobbled together out of mis-matched pieces. More than once I've seen a Sedgley "ell" handle in what is clearly a New Britain made socket set - when the socket holder is stamped "PAT. Dec. 12 1922" and the "ell" handle is stamped "PAT. Dec. 31, 1918" it's not too difficult to figure out.
The conundrum, in those cases, is determining who actually manufactured the sockets, because both look very similar, and there were other manufacturers (Indestro, for one) who made sockets which look almost identical.

If you're willing to go down the "hex drive rabbit hole":

here's a thread that started out about hex drive ratchets:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=379751

here's a very short thread about 1/2" hex drive sockets:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=377884

and here's one that discusses some other makes of hex drive sockets:
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=378370

... and welcome to the site, by the way.

 

[Zrxrunner]

Thanx four cyc! Never woulda guessed how much history there was in hand tools. Kinda started as a winter hobby to keel busy, now my toolbox is filling up n find myself scouting bout anyplace I can find that'll have old tools! Gotta get some posts lit up so I cam start usin the classified for some of my finds

 

[Zrxrunner]

Sockets match the new Britain description and pics exactly, so pretty sure on those, but only marking at al on the ell bar is the patent date, so might be a mix n match, but i'll keep lookin around.

 

[four.cycle]

Another manufacturer who made 1/2" hex drive sockets was Keystone.
You may also want to compare yours to those as well. The differences between some of the brands are subtle, and some of them changed the knurling patterns, style of size stampings, and designs (of the sockets themselves) over the years; an early Duro / Indestro doesn't look like a later Duro / Indestro, for example.

Take a look inside the socket as well - broaching can vary from one manufacturer to another.

 

[hichamaziz]

I don't think size matters here.