odd Plomb custom FlexHead wrench

[jpilgrim]

Here's an odd one for you.
Seemingly a factory custom Plomb flex head wrench, based on the pebble 5265 3/8"dr <strike>breaker bar</strike> hinge handle.
The first picture, showing the flex head next to a stock 5265, indicates to me that this was a custom forging and not a user modification.
No other part numbers are present, other than the shadow of the old part number from the modified die.
The head is removable, via a spring loaded ball.
I almost want to tear apart a few universal sockets to make additional heads.

 

[Bull]

I am very interested to see what the experts have to say about this oddity!

 

[mkdive]

VERY cool find! Man that would be neat to have a full set of those. Nothing on AA? Where did you find it....ebay?

 

[mkdive]

I just did a quick search on AA....found nothing. You should submit your pictures there.

 

[selohssa]

That is awsome.

 

[arkangel06]

I doubt thats custom...

 

[Tool Pants]

Still learning about Plomb, but since it is a pebble I guess late 1940s. There are people here with the old catalogs.

 

[jpilgrim]

Still learning about Plomb, but since it is a pebble I guess late 1940s. There are people here with the old catalogs.

You all have the old catalogs: http://bartlettstreet.com/toolcatalogs/

And there's a new catalog coming soon!

 

[woody 73]

Very nice,I have never seen anything like that tool.

 

[Hiball]

Man.. I wanna say that thing is Original... But i think its Custom. I also think that someone took some time to do it. With the tool knowledge around here i would think if it was a factory tool that someone would have seen those sockets before, Letalone the Bar. Dunno Maybe it was a Plomb Prototype that got out..

 

[Elroy]

That's a slick piece you got there.

Definitely something you won't see everyday. THANK YOU for posting something so unique.

 

[jpilgrim]

FWIW, the seller said it came from the estate of a machinist who worked for the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena. Not that far geographically from Plomb. Maybe it was a one off or prototype for the govt.

 

[webscrounger]

Maybe a specialty socket tool that came with other swappable sockets as well....like any breaker/socket set.

 

[Bolster]

Definitely a rare piece. Let's get PlomBob to give it a look. He's the resident expert. I'll give him a shout.

 

[jwitt]

Very cool. You never know whats going to turn up.

Jim

 

[Cliff McNeill]

If no luck try an email Bob Thomas at the Plomb Tools website. He has always helped me out with tough id's.

[email protected]

 

[RM209]

That's a real collector's item!
Looks like some cool engineering.

Thanks,
RM209

 

[sk farmer]

that is one fine piece of history, no matter what it is. thanks for the pics.

 

[wreckercologist]

Neat piece of iron but I suspect they were short lived. That's assuming this is a production tool and not some prototype. There's a lot of metal missing where the socket fits into the groove. It's still really cool.

 

[jayrush13]

Man.. I wanna say that thing is Original... But i think its Custom. I also think that someone took some time to do it. With the tool knowledge around here i would think if it was a factory tool that someone would have seen those sockets before, Letalone the Bar. Dunno Maybe it was a Plomb Prototype that got out..

If it were custom do you think they would go through the trouble of removeing the part number on the handle

Plus it would have to be from the factory there isn't enough material on the breaker bar to machine that hook in the end

 

[bonneyman]

Definitely an oddity. I love the articulation knuckle - verynice machine work there!

 

[Hiball]

If it were custom do you think they would go through the trouble of removeing the part number on the handle

Plus it would have to be from the factory there isn't enough material on the breaker bar to machine that hook in the end

I honestly dont know, IF the head was turned 90 degrees it would give enough metal to make that hook. Its a cool piece regardless, I would think there would have been similar threads concerning rare sockets that have been found if it was a production set.

 

[jayrush13]

I honestly dont know, IF the head was turned 90 degrees it would give enough metal to make that hook. Its a cool piece regardless, I would think there would have been similar threads concerning rare sockets that have been found if it was a production set.

That's what i thought about the head but if it were turned the handle would be the other way

 

[Hiball]

That's what i thought about the head but if it were turned the handle would be the other way

Yeah the head only could be turned 90.

 

[jpilgrim]

Here's some more pictures...

The ends of the handles are flush, to show the differences in the heads.

I see something interesting in the next two images, but first I'll let you all look for yourselves.
Also, Bolster, this next image shows all the markings that are present on the detachable head.

Link to larger version of above





I think this flex head design is of limited utility, because as the joint flexes, there are points where little of the torque would be applied to the dowel and most applied to the walls of the socket head. It seems weak mechanically to me, how relatively unsupported the dowel is.

Linkage opening away from bolt.

Linkage opening 90° from bolt.

Linkage opening toward bold.

 

[Hiball]

After looking at those pics i believe you have 1 of 2 things, Either a prototype, Or a tool that a Damn good machinest made for himself. The location of the Recessed Ball and that there is no visible Pin marks on the the custom socket has me baffled. My first theory that it was a breaker bar that had been modified is out the window, unless he guy went to alot of trouble. Whomever did this took there time, I suspect a Mill was used to remove the stamping inside the handle. It wasnt done by hand, This im sure off.

 

[jpilgrim]

I suspect a Mill was used to remove the stamping inside the handle. It wasnt done by hand, This im sure off.

I dunno about that. The area under the "removed" numbers has a pebble finish! Maybe a CNC mill with a tiny burr, but not likely.
I don't know tool and die work, but the die seems like it would have had to have been built up, to create the lowered surface where the former numbers were. Maybe they just filled in the numbers on the die with weld bead and added some pebble by hand?

 

[Hiball]

I dunno about that. The area under the "removed" numbers has a pebble finish! Maybe a CNC mill with a tiny burr, but not likely.
I don't know tool and die work, but the die seems like it would have had to have been built up, to create the lowered surface where the former numbers were. Maybe they just filled in the numbers on the die with weld bead and added some pebble by hand?

The pebbles underneath the removed numbers is what im getting at, To get that clean of finish without damaging the Pebbles you would have to have used a Mill or had a very... very... very delicate hand. Or of course add the pebbles afterwards.

 

[sk farmer]

i am going to sy that this tool is from the factory. why would anyone making a one off tool for themselves go to the work of removing the model number. this baby is prototype or special tool mad for some custom application that noone remembers. i know that many people are capable of such nice work but why just to make a oneoff tool experiment? i believe that came from the factoy were people had the right tools to do the job right.

 

[Hiball]

i am going to sy that this tool is from the factory. why would anyone making a one off tool for themselves go to the work of removing the model number. this baby is prototype or special tool mad for some custom application that noone remembers. i know that many people are capable of such nice work but why just to make a oneoff tool experiment? i believe that came from the factoy were people had the right tools to do the job right.

Im leaning that way also.

 

[mkirkpatrick]

Im leaning that way also.

I agree I think this is a factory made item.

 

[Plombob]

This is a real treat! At first I thought it was a modification, because the owner was a machinist, a but closer look makes me think it was a factory modification. I have a different take than the others - It could be a prototype that someone at Plomb made, but was not deemed worth the cost to manufacture because it needed an entire line of sockets that wouldn't be cheap to make.

That looks like an early stamping on the socket. Late '30s.

This is what makes collecting Plomb interesting.

 

[nordstar]

Wow, JP. Custom or factory that is a cool piece. I dig that it came from JPL.

 

[iandh]

I just showed this to a friend that has been turning wrenches for a long time and he called it a "knuckle set". He works in an industrial diesel shop and said most of the guys have a set of these.

 

[fatfillup]

that is so cool i want to cry or shout or something!!! I'm jealous cause I'm thinking that is the rarest tool I've seen here.

 

[Plombob]

It's called a "knuckle set" because they efficiently remove the skin from your knuckles? If most of the diesel techs have a set that couldn't be the answer. So what is a "knuckle set" used for?

And I second fatfillup - I'm jealous!

 

[jpilgrim]

I asked the seller if they had found any more sockets like the one on this wrench and they said they hadn't come across any.

What intrigues me is how the socket seems to be made from a regular universal socket. The original dowel seems to have been removed and replaced with one of smaller diameter. You can see a gap where the larger hole wasn't entirely filled with weld bead around the smaller dowel:

 

[Plombob]

Sharp eye there jpilgrim! They did a great job cleaning up the pin on the outside of the socket. I also believe it was made from a universal.

 

[jpilgrim]

that is so cool i want to cry or shout or something!!! I'm jealous cause I'm thinking that is the rarest tool I've seen here.

This is my favorite Plomb rarity that someone has shown around here:

(Sorry I forget the owner and the thread where it was shown.)

 

[jpilgrim]

It's called a "knuckle set" because they efficiently remove the skin from your knuckles? If most of the diesel techs have a set that couldn't be the answer. So what is a "knuckle set" used for?

Maybe the reference is to Saltus wrenches?

As far as I recall, Plomb never made a Saltus type wrench. Maybe what I found could have been a prototype for a Saltus-hinge handle hydrid, that never went anywhere? As I said above, I feel there are some mechanical weaknesses inherent in the design. But it's always good to experiment and prototype, right?