Old Soviet Socket Set. Anyone seen this kit?

[uart]

I've got the old heavy duty Russian/Soviet socket set that I've had for about 25 years or so. I just wonder if anyone else has seen one like this. I thought maybe it was from a state trucking company or something like that. It's not pretty but it's tough, I never have managed to break anything yet. Definitely designed for work rather than looking at.

Does anyone else have one like this or know anything about this set?

BTW. It's all 1/2" drive, 12mm though to 32mm.

V

 

[Hank McMauser]

no, but now I need one! dang it I thought I was content there for a while!

 

[Outlawmws]

Interesting that it is 1/2" drive based. I wonder if that is a result of WWII lend lease? Hmmm are European ratchet sets also 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 drives...?

And it is also Russian/English, even on the ratchet. "Vanaduim"

 

[lbgradwell]

Does anyone else have one like this or know anything about this set?

No, but I'd sure like to...

Very cool set!

 

[uart]

Yeah there's Russian and English on the little printed contents sheet. I thought the name "Drivers Tool Kit #4" was interesting.

The history of how I came across this set is interesting. It was some time back in the 80's but can't remember exactly what year. I was in one of those "bargain stores" (like a $2 dollar junk shop) and among all the really cheap Chinese tools (and I mean the lowest of the low) I spotted this set. I could see straight away that it wasn't the anything like the same rubbish quality as the other tools so I snapped it up. I cant even remember the price but it was incredibly cheap, like $8 or something ridiculous like that.

When I got it home my Dad saw it and went straight into that store and bought himself one. Then when my older brother saw it he went straight in the get one but there was none remaining. I've used this set a lot over the years but I've never come across another one like it, apart for the identical one my Dad bought.

 

[930dreamer]

Herbrand has a similar logo?

 

[SMKS]

I've been wondering about Russian tools lately. I've never seen a Russian tool.

I did see a set of Russian-made garden tools at a local hardware store. It included trowels and stuff like that. They were super flimsy and looked like complete garbage. I couldn't tell how old the sets were, but they did look like they'd been sitting around for a while.

 

[uart]

Herbrand has a similar logo?

Thanks 930dreamer. Wow that is similar.

I wonder if there's some connection or if it's just coincidence?

 

[lbgradwell]

I wonder if there's some connection or if it's just coincidence?

Notwithstanding the admitted similarity between the logos, I doubt very much that Herbrand was connected to that set.

I've never seen a Herbrand in that ratchet style...

 

[uart]

Notwithstanding the admitted similarity between the logos, I doubt very much that Herbrand was connected to that set.

I've never seen a Herbrand in that ratchet style...

Yeah, it seems Herbrand was/is made in USA, so very unlikely any connection.

On the contents sheet it says "HABOP" (though its not really a "B") in the Russian title. That's what I've always assumed the "H" stood for in the logo.

 

[CO535i]

Nice set. Still like the Soviet Submarine clock though.

 

[R-132 Fan]

That's a pretty interesting tool set. Please forgive my ignorance, but do the Russians use the metric system, or do they work in inches?

 

[DrkMtnDew]

from what i've seen the Russians built some good solid stuff. most of in isn't fancy or very complex, just simple and built to last forever.

 

[GoBlue]

Their guns are the same way. I have a gross of Makarov pistols as well as a few Tokorev pistols and Kalashnikov rifles. All are very ugly and the machining is awful but well designed and functional.

 

[G_P]

Their guns are the same way. I have a gross of Makarov pistols as well as a few Tokorev pistols and Kalashnikov rifles. All are very ugly and the machining is awful but well designed and functional.

Do I really want to know why you have 144 Makarov's?

I guess they could be considered a good investment

I have a 1943 built Mosin Nagant. It definitely is not the prettiest rifle out there but it is ridiculously simple and rugged!

 

[GoBlue]

Do I really want to know why you have 144 Makarov's?

I guess they could be considered a good investment

I have a 1943 built Mosin Nagant. It definitely is not the prettiest rifle out there but it is ridiculously simple and rugged!

lol well i did not mean literally. I have 2 dozen or so. I have sold at least that many however and they were all the same. I did come into a case of 18 E. German Makarovs about 10 years ago. By comparison they were beautifully machined and blued. They honestly rivaled 60's era Colt 1911's. They worked no better than the Bulgarian's but man were they nice. I purchased them for $25 a piece and sold them for over $300 a piece last year!

 

[american lockpicker]

Their guns are the same way. I have a gross of Makarov pistols as well as a few Tokorev pistols and Kalashnikov rifles. All are very ugly and the machining is awful but well designed and functional.

I used to have a TT(Norinco 213) crude but effective.

 

[CISO1969]

Could it be "Lend lease" stuff from the 40's? We made uniforms and all manner of gear for the British, Russians and others under that program. Clothing is usually marked "War Aid " with a Broad Arrow stamp on the clothing wemade for the Brits. Anything like that marked anywhere on the set? "WA" or any markings or dates? Soviets mark their years like this: "1942" would be "42r"

Cool set.

 

[CISO1969]

It's got to be Herbrand. We sent a lot of Ford trucks to Mother Russia under lend lease. Anyone know if Herbrand made the tool kits for them?

"H-Diamond, Herbrand, Yes

Forge mark used on contract production" from Alloy artifacts page.

 

[acer66]

Interesting that it is 1/2" drive based. I wonder if that is a result of WWII lend lease? Hmmm are European ratchet sets also 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 drives...?

And it is also Russian/English, even on the ratchet. "Vanaduim"

Yup, German ratchets drives are also standart size.

That's one of these weird things, last time I checked plumbing is also standart.

 

[jabberwoki]

****** nice i wish i had a set!

 

[Scout Driver]

That is a great set! Now I have something else to seek out.

Scott

 

[William Payne]

Yup, German ratchets drives are also standart size.

That's one of these weird things, last time I checked plumbing is also standart.

Drive sizes are standardised no matter where they are made, would be kind of silly to have that not standardised.

 

[acer66]

Drive sizes are standardised no matter where they are made, would be kind of silly to have that not standardised.

True, but we as people would never do silly things like one country has the steering wheel in a car on one side and the next country has it on the other side, would we?

 

[eborcim]

So is that a leverage adapter built into the ratchet handle or the direction switch?

 

[uart]

So is that a leverage adapter built into the ratchet handle or the direction switch?

It's to adjust the spring tension on the ratcheting mechanism, like how firm the ratchet "clicks" are. I've more or less just left it where it was originally set though.

It's a very primitive ratchet, one direction only and pretty firm clicks. To reverse it you push the 1/2" square drive through to the opposite side and just turn it over. The indent retention on the square drive section is a little firmer than that of the sockets themselves, so simple as it is, it actually works pretty well.

 

[ilya]

uart,

Could you please post a close-up photo of the label on the inside lid? I'm wondering if there might be manufacturer's info on the bottom.

 

[ilya]

I have a strong suspicion that the "H" logo stands for "Новосибирский инструментальный завод" - Novosibirsk Tool Factory. I found their website and it looks like they still make the "driver's toolkit #4a" .

http://www.niz.ru/caralog.html?page=shop.browse&category_id=48

 

[lbgradwell]

I have a strong suspicion that the "H" logo stands for "Новосибирский инструментальный завод" - Novosibirsk Tool Factory. I found their website and it looks like they still make the "driver's toolkit #4a" .

Very well done, ilya! There is little doubt you have it.

The ratchet style was actually very common and was produced by US, Canadian, British and German companies for certain (likely more) and now we can see it was made by the Russians too.

This is the first Russian set I have ever encountered...

 

[fatfillup]

Russian tools,,,,,,,,,,,,arrrrrgh,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,one more thing to look for


That is a cool set.

 

[kartracer55]

The ratchet is pretty cool. Push through style!

 

[kartracer55]

I cant believe they STILL make ratchets this way...

http://www.niz.ru/caralog.html?page=shop.browse&category_id=19

 

[skloon]

Neat never seen the Soviet sockets, my Lada had a few combination wrenches though, I always thought the standard Soviet toolikit was a rock and a bottle of vodka, if you can't fix it with the rock drink the vodka

 

[lbgradwell]

Neat never seen the Soviet sockets, my Lada had a few combination wrenches though, I always thought the standard Soviet toolikit was a rock and a bottle of vodka, if you can't fix it with the rock drink the vodka

My "father" had a Lada in Montreal in the mid-1980s. An old, used, rusty one at that...

The car was a complete POS, but the heater was a phenomenom; seriously, the cabin would be sauna hot in minutes on the coldest Montreal day!

 

[yjWrangler]

Any "Made in the USSR" labels?

 

[lwlobo]

Interesting that it is 1/2" drive based. I wonder if that is a result of WWII lend lease? Hmmm are European ratchet sets also 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 drives...?

And it is also Russian/English, even on the ratchet. "Vanaduim"

Not sure why, but inch drive sizes seem to be a de facto standard world-wide. Not being extremely familiar with early ratchet history, it seems the US must have led in this area, because much of the world was already metric (e.g. metrification in 1870's for most of central Europe) before ratchets and detachable sockets became mainstream tools (1920's-1940's?).

Does anyone know of any square drive sockets that are a true metric size, like 15mm or something? Often you see them listed as metric but they are inch sizes, like 12.7mm for 1/2, etc.

 

[Hank McMauser]

I just browsed through that catalog, and the set listed above is only about $20.00 all we need to do is get a hold of them and find out if they have a US dist./importer.
Although from looking at the pictures it appears this is stuff that if any of us saw it on a table at the flea mkt would pass it right up as junk,to reach for a craftsman/s-k/Wright of the same type tool.

FYI the current exch rate 1000 Russian Rubles= $33.57 US dollars

 

[chevelle67]

Damn 1969 you beat me to it.

 

[Lomotil]

I think these sockets were used to assemble a certain Beetles live performance... Then retired shortly thereafter.

 

[Jarhead0408]

Amazing they still make it.

I've got three Mosin-Nagants.
Two of them are M91/30's, the last one is the older, longer M91. That one is actually the best of all three. All of them are built solid as a rock!