Old Armstrong wrenches

[thebreeze2012]

I cleaning out my garage and ran across these wrenches I was given back in the early 90's. The guy that was going to throw them out said they were very old and didn't have a need for them anymore so I took them.


Are these worth anything? Or should I scrap them, they're pretty rusty and can barely read the size on a few of them.

The biggest wrench is 1 7/16 on one end and 1 1/4 on the other.

 

[thebreeze2012]

I can't figure out how to post pics, what am I doing wrong?

 

[thebreeze2012]

OK try again

 

[CNGsaves]

Rig up an electrolysis tank and clean all the rust off those.

They they'll likely clean up just fine.

I'll take first dibs if you plan on scrapping them !

 

[yhprum]

try soaking in white vinegar. will clean up like new after a day or two.

 

[Craptain]

I use "Evapo-Rust" it is amazing stuff. Buy it at Auto parts store or Harbor Freight has it in gallon size. Use a coupon there. I use periodically it on the tools I leave on my boat. They come up like new. http://www.evaporust.com/index.html

 

[melliott28]

try soaking in white vinegar. will clean up like new after a day or two.

This^^. I would soak them for a day, then take a wire brush to stubborn spots. Then if you can't all of the rust off stick them back in the the vinegar for another day and try again. I bet that once they are all cleaned up, you probably won't want to get rid of them.

 

[jabberwoki]

Nice old wrenches once their cleaned up give them a light coat of oil and use them with pride.

 

[Gregg33]

some Evaporust, a wire wheel to polish them, then oil them to protect them. Not big on open end wrenches though, when a socket or box end won't work, I usually use the open end of a combo wrench, but I do have a set of Gray open ends and I use them on occasion just for the sake of using them. But you can never have too many wrenches.

 

[thebreeze2012]

Thanks guys... I have most of them soaking in vinegar right now and will try drying them off tomorrow night and hit them with a wire brush and see how they turn out.

When I went to soak them I noticed the Armstrong is different then all the others(not as thick and looks like different maching on the ends) and a few are the same size. It appears the other ones have no name and only a number on them, I'll report back when I get them cleaned up.

 

[Badasssapper67]

I mounted a wire wheel on my drill press and cleaned mine up real well. I advise using the rough wire brush first then a fine. Coat them with some 3in1 oil and put them away for a month or two. Wipe them down and give them another coat.

 

[thebreeze2012]

Here's a pic I just took of the wrench with no name just a number (#44625) it has a funny cut.

It looks like a cheap wrench or very old wrench that used a different method of removing the part that grabs the head/nut of a bolt, has anyone seen this on old wrenches?

I don't wana waste any more time if these wrenches are junk, besides the Armstong of course.

 

[thebreeze2012]

It looks like someone tried to make it bigger using a band saw, but's it's the same as the other wrench that's the same size.

 

[2oolhound]

I've run across this on old large wrenches too. It's almost as if the factory made a run of wrenches and decided to make another size they hadn't planned on making so they just machined one of the smaller ones to a bigger size.

I wouldn't turf them out. Those big ones can be used for handles on things.

 

[rick carpenter]

When they're ready, you gotta move quickly and finish them up right. They will rust while you watch if you just take them out of the vinegar and wipe them off and let air dry. I'd chunk them in water and hit them with wet-or-dry paper or steel wool where needed while in the water. If you use steel wool under water, keep it fully submerged til done then throw it away. Now proceed one by one. Rinse one in clean water and dry fast with a hair dryer. Then hit liberally with wd-40 and massage it in. Any areas that you may have missed in the water scrub can be scrubbed with the wd-40. Wipe off, then oil (and keep oiled). From out of water to the oil needs to be done quickly.

 

[thebreeze2012]

Update;

I removed the first batch of wrenches today after soaking a few days in vinegar and washed them off with water hose then wire brushed them while spraying off with hose, then quickly wiped them dry and put them in the sun.. Wow... some look almost new besides a few spots.

Here's some pics,they don't do justice to how well they actually look in person.

 

[thebreeze2012]

As I said they look much better in person, Im gona soak the 2 wrenches once again.

These have no oil yet, it almost looks like the paint is still on them, I'll confirm later.

 

[thebreeze2012]

I also found out the name of all the others besides one, it's a name I've never heard of but a quick search shows they've been around a very long time.

Anyone heard of Herbrand? I was Very happy when I got the first one cleaned and saw it said Made in USA...

 

[Gmonkee]

Check out a site called Alloy Artifacts.

What you have is a small chunk of history even in the lessor quality wrenches among those. It is well worth the time to learn tool history.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Would you please post the ISNs? These numbers will be found on the same side but opposite end of the face with the logo. Also the fractional sizes for each wrench? They will be on the flip side faces. And if you find any forgings on the shanks, please tell me what those say as well? If any of the ISN's are 1723, 1025, 1027-C, 1028-S, 1731-A, or 1033-C and it says "HI-TENSILE" or "ALLOY STEEL" on the shank, they are wartime vintage and used in depot general mechanics' toolkits and some on-board vehicle kits. If it says "ARMSTRONG" on the shank and and "CHROME-VANADIUM" on the flip side of the shank, likely to be pre-war, but could also be wartime if they have a plain steel finish. Wartime Armstrong are collectible. Not top of the list in demand or value, but collectible.

Maybe it's just me, but they look plated to me. Hard to tell from the pictures if all the splotchiness is remnants of box rot or plating deterioration. If they're plated, they are definitely not wartime, but pre-war.

Hope this helps. I'd like to see all the markings regardless. Thanks for posting.

 

[thebreeze2012]

Check out a site called Alloy Artifacts.

What you have is a small chunk of history even in the lessor quality wrenches among those. It is well worth the time to learn tool history.

Thank you for the link!! I actually indentified a unknown wrench by seeing the pic. I now have 2 Armstrongs,1 is of a different era. More info shortly..

 

[thebreeze2012]

Would you please post the ISNs? These numbers will be found on the same side but opposite end of the face with the logo. Also the fractional sizes for each wrench? They will be on the flip side faces. And if you find any forgings on the shanks, please tell me what those say as well? If any of the ISN's are 1723, 1025, 1027-C, 1028-S, 1731-A, or 1033-C and it says "HI-TENSILE" or "ALLOY STEEL" on the shank, they are wartime vintage and used in depot general mechanics' toolkits and some on-board vehicle kits. If it says "ARMSTRONG" on the shank and and "CHROME-VANADIUM" on the flip side of the shank, likely to be pre-war, but could also be wartime if they have a plain steel finish. Wartime Armstrong are collectible. Not top of the list in demand or value, but collectible.

Maybe it's just me, but they look plated to me. Hard to tell from the pictures if all the splotchiness is remnants of box rot or plating deterioration. If they're plated, they are definitely not wartime, but pre-war.

Hope this helps. I'd like to see all the markings regardless. Thanks for posting.

I'd be more then happy to, this is what I have so far, I still have 3 more soaking in vinegar.


Armstrong;

1-7/16 1-1/4 stamped 39 on head
7/8 11/16 stamped 30 on head and 78313A on shank


Herbrand;

1-7/16 1-1/4 39 shank
1-1/4 1-1/16 37 shank
1-1/16 7/8 34 shank

The # on shank is not stamped but raised #'s (embossed?)

I also have a 1-1/4 1-1/16 that appears to be a Herbrand but is a little different and is stamped 37 instead of raised.

 

[thebreeze2012]

On Alloy Artifacts, the bigger Armstrong looks just like 31,the smaller one looks like 637.

The Herbrand's look just like 37, the pic is the exact same size and look of mine.There's no info I can find on the years of any of these wrenches, it seems these are the most rare of the Hebrands.

If you have any info on any of these wrenches I would love to know, Thanks..

 

[Gmonkee]

I also collect old wrenches of that type. I prefer the number wrenches and the older USS standard but will keep wartime production if I find it.

The 'rare' wrenches are the most expensive of their day and the common are the lowest priced of that epoch. I have but 4 top of the line in a sea of common stuff.

Armstrong, Billings and Herbrand as well as Hinsdale seemed to be among the best of the 20's and 30's.
Of course there are others but these are the ones I seem to find.

 

[rick carpenter]

A half cup of salt added to the gallon of vinegar helps a lot.
Ketchup is the paste form of this formula.

I keep three gallons of salt vinegar always ready on a five gallon plastic bucket.

Interesting about the salt, what does it do to the vinegar? Do you just soak in a straight ketchup bath or cut it with water? What does either do to chrome?

 

[thebreeze2012]

Here is a pic of the smaller Armstrong with the box type logo. The numbers on the shank are actually stamped by hand as you can probably see(had to fill with white out to get good pic), the A at the end isn't even from a tool stamp but more like engraving tool, I'm not sure if that means anything.

 

[thebreeze2012]

The stinkn camera makes them look bad, not sure if the lights or what.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I don't know anything about these wrenches with these sizes, breeze, but my guess is they are pre-war.