Plomb tool picture thread - show your stuff!

[d42jeep]

Sorry for the blurry picture but I can’t make out the date code on this 12 point socket. It is probably 1938 or earlier. It’s odd that it is stamped USA and not LA.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

I have some tools that just have the sideways 0 that indicates to me that they were made in 1940. No letter is included. I also have tools with just the I and no letter. I think those are made in 1941.

-Don

 

[d42jeep]

Here is a set with plenty of 1941 tools.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

A collector on G503.com made a cool find that can be been by scrolling down after following this link.

Rustman's Rusty Flea Market Tool Thread - Page 5 - G503 Military Vehicle Message Forums

I‘ll post his pictures here.
-Don

 

[MR.X]

Sorry for the blurry picture but I can’t make out the date code on this 12 point socket. It is probably 1938 or earlier. It’s odd that it is stamped USA and not LA.
-Don

Nice. Looks like a "6" to me......1/4" stuff seems to often have exceptions to the standard date code. I know I've seen and or posted stuff with "5" date codes and "USA" instead of the expected Los Angeles.

 

[Outlawmws]

Man that catalog and letter are cool! and the pages inside look new!, not 83 years old!

I agree, a 6 on the socket.

 

[d42jeep]

Here are some Plomb pictures from yesterday’s checking of Plomb codes.
-Don
1/2” drive ratchets from 1940 & 1941
Plomb GMTK tools in Plomb box
Plomb GMTK tools in top tray
Hand US and ORD engravings on 1/2” drive u-joint
Plain finish 1/2” drive pebble ratchet

 

[Arne73]

A collector on G503.com made a cool find that can be been by scrolling down after following this link.

Rustman's Rusty Flea Market Tool Thread - Page 5 - G503 Military Vehicle Message Forums

I‘ll post his pictures here.
-Don

Awesome catalog-
In my "pre tool infatuation" days I had a full line Government purchase Snap-On catalog from the 80s. I still have the binder but the loose leaf pages were sacrificed when I made one of many moves.

 

[d42jeep]

I definitely overpaid for this postwar Plomb pair of lineman’s pliers. I was surprised to see it for sale on eBay since I wasn’t aware that Plomb had ever made lineman’s pliers. I mentioned the pliers to Tin Medic and he was able to find them in his catalog 19-R third printing.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice find. I don't remember seeing those before!

 

[Smokeshow69]

I definitely overpaid for this Plomb pair of lineman’s pliers. I was surprised to see it for sale on eBay since I wasn’t aware that Plomb had ever made lineman’s pliers. I mentioned the pliers to Tin Medic and he was able to find them in his catalog 19-R third printing. They will be added to the Plomb based GMTK,
-DonView attachment 1737283

Nice grab! Here are my dual marked 266 pliers. You are right they don’t come up for sale much. These pair was a gift and i haven’t seen any in the wild since

 

[Smokeshow69]

Subsequent post because for whatever reason gj is not allowing me to attach more photos to my original post

Never mind. It’s being stupid… despite multiple page refreshments and trying to add 1 photo at a time it won’t let me?? At any rate my pliers look the same like Dons with the same later Danielson grip pattern and they are my only set of dual marked pliers!

Edit- it let me add this one! Both showed 100% loaded but only this one is showing!

 

[Arne73]

Subsequent post because for whatever reason gj is not allowing me to attach more photos to my original post

Never mind. It’s being stupid… despite multiple page refreshments and trying to add 1 photo at a time it won’t let me?? At any rate my pliers look the same like Dons with the same later Danielson grip pattern and they are my only set of dual marked pliers!

Smoke, IRT picture posting problems: I had increasing difficulty posting pictures as my local 2G/3G service dwindled down.
Don't know if that affects you in your locale, just throwing it out there.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Smoke, IRT picture posting problems: I had increasing difficulty posting pictures as my local 2G/3G service dwindled down.
Don't know if that affects you in your locale, just throwing it out there.

Interesting. I tried a bunch of different ways to get them to load but no luck. I have pretty rippin fast internet and phone coverage so I am not sure why the pictures are being difficult. Hopefully it is resolved soon.

 

[d42jeep]

This 1/4” drive flex handle arrived in the mail yesterday. Kind of an interesting mystery little D code after the part number.
Here is what I believe to be a 1941 combo wrench out of my Chrome box
-Don

 

[nailheadmatt]

im currently in the process of making a "wheel about jr." i started with a typical 2 drawer pressteel box that i got at a yeard sale for 20 bucks. its coming along. i got the height exact, at 25". the wheel about jr was about an inch narrower and less deep than this will be, but not going to go through 12 feet of welding, over an inch here and there. ive never actually even seen a picture of a wheel about jr outside of catalog illustrations. my understanding is it came out in 42 and was immediately perminently discontinued during the war. i cant imagine they sold many either, as the design wasnt practical. why buy one, when you can get a tool mobile? i sectioned the box 8.75", reshaped the top surface lip to resemble plomb boxes. still have to make the front lip caps, above and below the door with a break. im going to cheat a little, as the front door i think was about 2 inches taller than the one i have. the door is actally a complicated piece to make out of one piece of sheet metal. going to use a 3 inch cap for the botto that will be flush fitted and make the top lip 3/4" longer. that will give me enough gap and look pretty damn close to the illustrations. also, the stripes on the bottom of the bx would have been 3 inches tall so i think itll look right. going to copy the stripes from the first gen 40s tool mobiles. going to do a plomb tools co stencil in white paint on the lid. very stoked on this project. more pics to come upon completion.

 

[RubiconJK]

This 1/4” drive flex handle arrived in the mail yesterday. Kind of an interesting mystery little D code after the part number.
Here is what I believe to be a 1941 combo wrench out of my Chrome box
-Don

Don, I've also seen those little codes following part numbers on a few of my pieces.

 

[Smokeshow69]

im currently in the process of making a "wheel about jr." i started with a typical 2 drawer pressteel box that i got at a yeard sale for 20 bucks. its coming along. i got the height exact, at 25". the wheel about jr was about an inch narrower and less deep than this will be, but not going to go through 12 feet of welding, over an inch here and there. ive never actually even seen a picture of a wheel about jr outside of catalog illustrations. my understanding is it came out in 42 and was immediately perminently discontinued during the war. i cant imagine they sold many either, as the design wasnt practical. why buy one, when you can get a tool mobile? i sectioned the box 8.75", reshaped the top surface lip to resemble plomb boxes. still have to make the front lip caps, above and below the door with a break. im going to cheat a little, as the front door i think was about 2 inches taller than the one i have. the door is actally a complicated piece to make out of one piece of sheet metal. going to use a 3 inch cap for the botto that will be flush fitted and make the top lip 3/4" longer. that will give me enough gap and look pretty damn close to the illustrations. also, the stripes on the bottom of the bx would have been 3 inches tall so i think itll look right. going to copy the stripes from the first gen 40s tool mobiles. going to do a plomb tools co stencil in white paint on the lid. very stoked on this project. more pics to come upon completion.

Really cool project Matt! As I have said on the other site, I have thought about making one of these for years but never got around to it. You are doing a fantastic job! What finish are you going with? Paint or powder coat?


All- anyone ever seen one of these in person? I know one local collector who said he saw one years ago and passed on it and now regrets it.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Picked up a few items a few weeks back. Nice wf cad plated extension, nice flat tip long screwdriver I paid $5 for. Normally I don’t pay up on screwdrivers but this one is nice and hasn’t been abused!

 

[Smokeshow69]

Picture because it wouldn’t work on my original post

Edit- seriously what gives. I probably tried 10 times to load 1 picture and no luck. I went to the proto thread and posted 2 pictures first try? This makes zero sense

 

[d42jeep]

When my pictures won’t load off of my iPad, and it happens fairly often, I just crop the picture a tiny bit and try again to post it. It works quite a bit of the time.
-Don

 

[Smokeshow69]

When my pictures won’t load off of my iPad, and it happens fairly often, I just crop the picture a tiny bit and try again to post it. It works quite a bit of the time.
-Don

Thank you! I did that and it worked first try!

 

[Smokeshow69]

I am currently working on freshening a plomb puller board that was in need of some serious love. I need 4 of these heavy duty tool hooks like the ones pictured here (photo I borrowed from another thread)...anyone have any of these they would sell ? Or know where I can get some?

 

[Smokeshow69]

I am working on fixing this abused plomb tool board. You can see it’s an earlier style based on the edges. They are not like the later style that carried into the Proto era. This is for pullers and parts! This is early enough it doesn’t even have a panel number like the more modern ones

I am wondering if anyone has this board and if so can you please post a picture? Somewhere along the way this one lost some of its hangers. The marks on the wood in front of my fingers show it once had some large metal base hangers on it but there is also evidence of the standard nail style in the same area. (Before picture showing how bad the board was, it was coated in oil).

 

[Smokeshow69]

Before shot. Apparently sometime in its life someone was worried about it rusting because it was soaked in oil . I used this stuff and hand rubbed the entire board to clean it and restore the finish

 

[Ricky Joe]

Im more likely to have the puller than I am the board accessory.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Im more likely to have the puller than I am the board accessory.

I have most of the pullers as well. I was just hoping someone could answer my question about these hooks

 

[nailheadmatt]

Really cool project Matt! As I have said on the other site, I have thought about making one of these for years but never got around to it. You are doing a fantastic job! What finish are you going with? Paint or powder coat?


All- anyone ever seen one of these in person? I know one local collector who said he saw one years ago and passed on it and now regrets it.

It's getting blocked and painted to match the 9998 that I just restored that will be married to it. Red with white stripes. Going to use a stencil for plomb tools lettering on the lid. I blasted it today. Lots of work to do with a shrinking disk. Waiting on my guy to bend me some new cap pieces for above and below the door. I prefer to powdercoat whenever possible, as it costs a fraction of paint but this thing isn't straight enough

 

[Smokeshow69]

It's getting blocked and painted to match the 9998 that I just restored that will be married to it. Red with white stripes. Going to use a stencil for plomb tools lettering on the lid. I blasted it today. Lots of work to do with a shrinking disk. Waiting on my guy to bend me some new cap pieces for above and below the door. I prefer to powdercoat whenever possible, as it costs a fraction of paint but this thing isn't straight enough

I know you really like the powder coating but I understand why you are painting. Very cool project!

 

[csp]

From an estate sale a few weeks ago. There were also some Craftsman and larger ones marked "Vanadium" in the homemade metal box these were found in. It's interesting that the Proto has the size and part number marked on the other face.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It's interesting that the Proto has the size and part number marked on the other face.

Yeah, they got more sophisticated than the PLVMB days, adding the model number and size to the branding forge die, even before they added the Registered TM symbol to the die.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Ok, puller board is all cleaned up and fixed as best possible. I had to reglue a delaminated edge and I recreated the missing prongs with some rusty nails that I had that match the rust on the other prongs. Aside from the new metal appearance on the end of the nails I cut, you wouldn’t know I replaced the missing ones.

Before and after shots showing the board. It was soaked in oil and had several bent prongs that I straightened

 

[Smokeshow69]

Ok, I need help from you guys to locate the missing pieces. I wrote the part numbers on the sticky notes. If you have them let me know. I have a line on the 4056 slide hammer locally I believe

 

[MR.X]

Smoke I won't be back in the blue tarp ghetto until Spring but I'm sure I could cover all that stuff if it comes to that.

 

[mritchie77]

Thanks to @saukit, the wrench roll came in over the weekend. Super stoked to have this!

Included 1140, 1135, 1130, 1126, 1122 and the 2405 roll. Based on the catalogs, and the fact that the 1140 is the largest size, I imagine this was originally sold as a 1100A set, and someone added the 1122 sometime along the way.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks to @saukit

@saukit Dude, been there MANY times. The little is standing on your right shoulder, whispering good karma things in your ear, and the little is sitting on your left shoulder trying to convince you to keep it, right up to the moment you slide the box over the counter at the PO and the clerk has to look at you, like, 'um, you can let it go now!'

 

[saukit]

@saukit Dude, been there MANY times. The little is standing on your right shoulder, whispering good karma things in your ear, and the little is sitting on your left shoulder trying to convince you to keep it, right up to the moment you slide the box over the counter at the PO and the clerk has to look at you, like, 'um, you can let it go now!'

Yeah, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to just go grab the thing and not let on that I bought it! But that would not only be a ****** thing to do but would also doom me to a lifetime of Plomb purgatory. Gotta add to the karma account, not subtract! I'll find another one...maybe!

 

[Old Radar]

Ok, puller board is all cleaned up and fixed as best possible. I had to reglue a delaminated edge and I recreated the missing prongs with some rusty nails that I had that match the rust on the other prongs. Aside from the new metal appearance on the end of the nails I cut, you wouldn’t know I replaced the missing ones.

Before and after shots showing the board. It was soaked in oil and had several bent prongs that I straightened

Nice job on the board, Smoke! It probably won't matter when you have the tools fully stocked but if it was me, and no, I'm not ****, much, I would slide some washers onto your new nail prongs, just to complete the look.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Nice job on the board, Smoke! It probably won't matter when you have the tools fully stocked but if it was me, and no, I'm not ****, much, I would slide some washers onto your new nail prongs, just to complete the look.

Thanks! I have already pondered that action and will do that. I was just excited to get it laid out

 

[Old Radar]

Thanks! I have already pondered that action and will do that. I was just excited to get it laid out

Good to know you're not ****, either.