Old Crow Bars

[D45]

Any way to date code crow bars?

Bought these 3 for $20

The 70 year old guy said he used to work at mill and watched them get made

 

[woody 73]

Perhaps if we knew what company made the crowbars then we could look at old catalogs for an idea of what era they were made. The best idea of age is from the 70-year-old man watching them get made.

Just a guess but let's say the older man was 20 when he started working for the company, so perhaps they are at least 50 years old, so maybe they were made around 1973, mind you this is all just a guess on my part.

Woody

 

[D45]

I believe he said the early 60s when he was at the mill

I'll look them over good and try to find a marking

 

[oldwino]

They won’t let crows in bars. They get drunk and poop all over the stool

 

[Ricky Joe]

I have a lot of old crowbars. Several are obviously hand made. There may not be a manufacturer who made these for the public, but possibly a company that needed them internally, like a foundry or rail yard. When I was young, an oldster pointed out to me that with punches, chisels, prybars, etc., that eight sided steel was better than six sided. I’ve always remembered that, He didn’t address four sided (Vlchek, Duro, Craftsman). The bends on yours indicate to me that they were not made by a tool company, but for industry.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

When and where I grew up we called those goose necks, maybe even pry or wrecking bars.
This is what we referred to as a Crow Bar.
In around 5-6 feet long.

 

[619DioFan]

When and where I grew up we called those goose necks, maybe even pry or wrecking bars.
This is what we referred to as a Crow Bar.
In around 5-6 feet long.

I call this a pinch point bar.

 

[neophyte]

When and where I grew up we called those goose necks, maybe even pry or wrecking bars.
This is what we referred to as a Crow Bar.
In around 5-6 feet long.

This is a video from a French/European manufacturer called MOB Outillage.
Starting around 1:30 in the video, a worker is shown forging that type of Pinch Bar out of a chunk of steel that might be 2’ long by 2” square or so.
I have no clue whether US manufacturers of similar bars use the same technique.
It looks like it takes about 5-6 minutes to forge each bar, and it is all hand and eye work using a power hammer.

Warwood Tool in the USA still manufactures similar bars, but I don’t know whether they use the same techniques.

 

[Debcrow]

They won’t let crows in bars. They get drunk and poop all over the stool

That's true. If they did let crows in bars, they would have to get rid of the old saying: 'Straight as the Crow flies".
same thing with bees not allowed in bars, they could no longer make a 'Bee line' to somewhere.

The weird thing is if you look at the bottles behind the bar you can sometimes find "Old Crow".

 

[ecotec]

I call this a pinch point bar.

Yes, or a spud.

 

[D45]

These are solid and heavy

I have some other old vintage crow bars also, but they are round

These 3 have a hex pattern shape

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

Any way to date code crow bars?

I think you saw them in half and count the rings?

 

[Lucid Moments]

Wait a minute. There are bars especially for inexpensive bourbon? Count me in!

 

[Ricky Joe]

My son had just turned seven, and we were eating at a restaurant that has a bar at the end of the dining room. He spotted Seagrams Seven, with the big number seven on the label, and got excited because they had whiskey for seven year olds.

 

[d.mcfarland]

I believe he said the early 60s when he was at the mill

I'll look them over good and try to find a marking

So he was 10 when he started working there?

Also, it was very common for workers to make their own tools like crow / pry bars. My great grandfather worked in a mill and did the same thing. They had plenty of steel bars and equipment around.

 

[mv213]

Wait a minute. There are bars especially for inexpensive bourbon? Count me in!

I’ve had a hard time finding Old Crow the last couple of years. Found it in 1.75 litre bottles the other day at the liquor store. Happy dance!

 

[D45]

I estimated he was 70, could have been older

I looked all over each of the three bars, no markings to be found