d42jeep
Well-known member
A part of this morning's picks.
Nice! You got that in Vallejo? I'll be back in the Bay Area in a few weeks for the winter and start hitting the sales.
-Don
Plomb tool picture thread - show your stuff!
- Thread starter GRX
- Start date
Nice! You got that in Vallejo? I'll be back in the Bay Area in a few weeks for the winter and start hitting the sales.
-Don
oldmantaylor
Well-known member
A part of this morning's picks.
I love that box.
twertsy
Well-known member
A part of this morning's picks.
Dang! Nice pick!
Mooreag47
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r_olson_06
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Catfishdan
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My first Pebble grain plomb. Found at a garage sale.
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Yep - Estate sale in Vallejo. PO started work at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in 1941! He took excellent care of his tools.
Here's a bit more:
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Rileysan
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My first Pebble grain plomb. Found at a garage sale.
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Grats on a great find!
The drive square of your ratchet was installed 180 degrees off. It should be pointing out the opposite side of the selector.
It's an easy fix and if you take it apart to do so, it will give you a chance to inspect the the internals.
Brian
Catfishdan
Well-known member
Good catch. I'll flip it around and lube it up while I'm in there.
Smokeshow69
Well-known member
A part of this morning's picks.
Killer score ! It is rare to find that much all together ! If you don't mind my asking , did you get a good deal ? I would say market value would be over $250 on that much goodness !
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d42jeep
Well-known member
Yep - Estate sale in Vallejo. PO started work at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in 1941! He took excellent care of his tools.
Here's a bit more:
That is a great puller set too. The only Plomb I've found recently is this 1-3/16" 1/2" drive socket. It needed a bit of cleaning. Do we know why the grooves are in different places on various 1/2" drive sockets?
-Don
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Smokeshow69
Well-known member
The bans locations are due to different production ranges but I can't remember any more than that ? Also I agree on the puller, very nice to find one like that... I have seen some on eBay but keep hoping I will find one in the wild for less than the eBay prices [emoji1]
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drivesitfar
Well-known member
SMOKE: so does the top box you bought from me fit on top of that bottom roller you found for $25? does your wife know about your PLVMB ADDICTION? or maybe i should tell her cause i haven't seen much in a while since you and Riley grab everything or it seems like you do.
Riley: speaking of you how's the shoulder and i hope moving around all these cool tools and Toolmobiles hasn't injured it again. you rehabbing ok? nice finds on all your Plvmb.
Horse: yep i've been grabbing Plvmb and Proto LA for a while now and whoever told you that you can find Toolmobiles easily here in the PNW is pulling your leg. other than the 2 Smoke and Riley posted recently the last one i saw was a 4 hour drive (each way) and it was maybe 4 years ago and i almost hopped in my car to get it. If they are built anything like the top box i sold Smoke they would be hard to dent and should stay in place cause they probably weigh 100+ pounds.
ALL: i'm catching up on threads since i was MIA from GJ for a couple months and this thread has had maybe more posts than any of the big ones i usually watch including the big Vise thread. WELL DONE to all of you and congrats on your finds and thanks for posting them.
Riley: speaking of you how's the shoulder and i hope moving around all these cool tools and Toolmobiles hasn't injured it again. you rehabbing ok? nice finds on all your Plvmb.
Horse: yep i've been grabbing Plvmb and Proto LA for a while now and whoever told you that you can find Toolmobiles easily here in the PNW is pulling your leg. other than the 2 Smoke and Riley posted recently the last one i saw was a 4 hour drive (each way) and it was maybe 4 years ago and i almost hopped in my car to get it. If they are built anything like the top box i sold Smoke they would be hard to dent and should stay in place cause they probably weigh 100+ pounds.
ALL: i'm catching up on threads since i was MIA from GJ for a couple months and this thread has had maybe more posts than any of the big ones i usually watch including the big Vise thread. WELL DONE to all of you and congrats on your finds and thanks for posting them.
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
It's been awhile since I had something worthy of posting here, which changes today.
I ran into a mess of vintage pliers this morning at the early early bird, as first reported in this post on the 2017 GJ Garage Sale Thread. Good variety and brands, including dykes, duck bills, and slipjoints from Smith & Hemenway, Channellock and even a strange 'Bridgeport Line'.
None topped these though.
Plomb No. 227 7-1/2" duck bills, natural steel finish, with a "Name-Nurl" grip.
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It's unfortunate that someone did some crude grinding for some unknown reason near the pivot on both sides, slightly obscuring the first "2" in the model number ("227") and the "U" in the "U.S.A." At first I thought that maybe I was looking at a Plomb grind-off, but I didn’t think the name was on the pivot, which I later confirmed, and why would anyone bother if they were going to leave that huge Name-Nurl "PLVMB" on the handle! And on top of that, these are natural steel, and I am thinking wartime, not 1948-50 period. It doesn’t detract from the overall appearance. These are handsome well-made pliers.
Maybe they're commonplace for you guys, but these are the first Plomb Name-Nurl pliers of any kind I have ever held in my hand. The fact that they are very likely wartime just makes it sweeter.
I ran into a mess of vintage pliers this morning at the early early bird, as first reported in this post on the 2017 GJ Garage Sale Thread. Good variety and brands, including dykes, duck bills, and slipjoints from Smith & Hemenway, Channellock and even a strange 'Bridgeport Line'.
None topped these though.
Plomb No. 227 7-1/2" duck bills, natural steel finish, with a "Name-Nurl" grip.
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It's unfortunate that someone did some crude grinding for some unknown reason near the pivot on both sides, slightly obscuring the first "2" in the model number ("227") and the "U" in the "U.S.A." At first I thought that maybe I was looking at a Plomb grind-off, but I didn’t think the name was on the pivot, which I later confirmed, and why would anyone bother if they were going to leave that huge Name-Nurl "PLVMB" on the handle! And on top of that, these are natural steel, and I am thinking wartime, not 1948-50 period. It doesn’t detract from the overall appearance. These are handsome well-made pliers.
Maybe they're commonplace for you guys, but these are the first Plomb Name-Nurl pliers of any kind I have ever held in my hand. The fact that they are very likely wartime just makes it sweeter.
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drivesitfar
Well-known member
LUGZ: I can't say i own or have even seen a pair of those with Plvmb's name cast on them. nice find!!
since you are a great history buff can you tell me (us) the use of the duck bill as you call them? or were they the beginning of the needle nose pliers? i've got several duck bills and i can't recall ever seeing names on them so i'll have to check, but i do recall them working very smoothly.
since you are a great history buff can you tell me (us) the use of the duck bill as you call them? or were they the beginning of the needle nose pliers? i've got several duck bills and i can't recall ever seeing names on them so i'll have to check, but i do recall them working very smoothly.
Smokeshow69
Well-known member
Very nice find ! I have been collecting plomb for 4 years and only have 2 pairs of pliers to show for it. I have a tiny set of ignition pliers and have a water pump pliers #240. They work very well and I actually use them quite a bit as the jaws are not as wide as modern pliers! Those duck bills are also pretty nice to have! If you are interested in trading for other plomb or proto empire tools, please hit me up ! I will take a picture of my pliers when I get home!
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twertsy
Well-known member
Those are awesome Greg! I don't have any of those either.......Perhaps some hip-pocket bargaining power for your next trip down
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Thanks, guys.
All,
Full admission, my inclination is to hang on to them, but just in case they show up here again belonging to someone else, I am - by pure coincidence to finding these! - already in the process of assembling a trade with another GJ 'Plomb guy'. Frankly, I'd dearly like to leave these out of it, and in hindsight, probably shouldn't have been so quick to show-and-tell them (you can see I am idiot who ***** at poker and trading!
), but if I have to part with them, that's where they'll go first.
Well, I'm no expert, Drives, but as Smoke alluded to, while needle noses are indeed needle-like at the very tip, they are actually much thicker in girth at the pivot than duckbills, and I believe most needle noses are also side-cutters, whereas duckbills are strictly for plying. I believe duckbills were designed for grabbing things recessed in narrow cavities. And the Plomb catalog description actually alludes to that, naming just about every application you can think of other than an engine compartment, all with small, intricate parts packed in tight cases (refrigeration, radio, typewriters, adding machines.)
Perhaps some hip-pocket bargaining power for your next trip down
All,
Full admission, my inclination is to hang on to them, but just in case they show up here again belonging to someone else, I am - by pure coincidence to finding these! - already in the process of assembling a trade with another GJ 'Plomb guy'. Frankly, I'd dearly like to leave these out of it, and in hindsight, probably shouldn't have been so quick to show-and-tell them (you can see I am idiot who ***** at poker and trading!
), but if I have to part with them, that's where they'll go first.misterbill
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Great find on the pliers, Lugz. I picked up this 9989 Master Tool Chest locally off of CL this morning. Those pliers would be very lonely in it as I find very little Plomb in my area so I won't ask you to part with them. 
Bill
Bill
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twertsy
Well-known member
Note to self; move poker table to shop before Greg's next trip.............
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Holy ****, Bill! That is one sweet find! But let me guess... So now that you've just about completed your 151-piece Snap-On 488 Super Service kit all nice and tucked away in its Snap-On K-55R tool chest, you're bored and needed another monumental project to occupy your time and wallet!!??
Oh man, I was going to post that wonderful 1946 Plomb ad for the No. 9900 returning veteran's kits they were selling at cut-rate prices only to vets, but I see that the last grain of sand in my Photobucket grandfather clause finally ran out! ****, I have some work to do now.
You'd be the first today! I'm afraid to open my PM's at this point!misterbill said:Those pliers would be very lonely in it as I find very little Plomb in my area so I won't ask you to part with them.
Snerk.
It just struck me that Drives's question and my answer may have solved the riddle of the grinding. There is a very similar pair of pliers called chain-nose pliers, No. 228, in the catalog, and AA has an example (that they have mis-identified as duck bills) in their collection. Link: http://alloy-artifacts.org/Photos/tools/plomb_228_pliers_duckbill_f_cropped_inset.jpg
See how the pin is slightly raised and rounded, not flush with the handles?
Here are some close-ups of the pivot area on my duckbills. I am wondering if a previous owner needed an even slimmer profile (for access to something) and grinded the pin flush. EDIT: No, on second thought, it looks as if the pin was flush to begin with.
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misterbill
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Holy ****, Bill! That is one sweet find! But let me guess... So now that you've just about completed your 151-piece Snap-On 488 Super Service kit all nice and tucked away in its Snap-On K-55R tool chest, you're bored and needed another monumental project to occupy your time and wallet!!??
Oh man, I was going to post that wonderful 1946 Plomb ad for the No. 9900 returning veteran's kits they were selling at cut-rate prices only to vets, but I see that the last grain of sand in my Photobucket grandfather clause finally ran out! ****, I have some work to do now.
Lugz, what can I say? In addition to the toolbox tomorrow I will have been married for 32 years - I'm a glutton for punishment!
I had forgotten about the returning veteran's kit. I wonder if that was what it may have contained. The man I bought it from said it had been his father's box
(all the tools went to a relative). I'm guessing the gentleman's father could have been a WWII vet. I'm not up on the year ranges of the Plomb logos, though. The embossing on the lid I figured was pre-war (round O's) but the decal has the inverted triangle O's which indicates later.
Bill
Ole Slewfoot
Well-known member
That decal is quite the survivor
I have a pair of those pliers without the name knurl. The wide form of the handles is really nice, but unfortunately my hinge is severely pooched. No rough grind though. I had pictures, but whaddaya know, Photobucket has them hostage. I'd be inclined to keep and use those.
Which brings me to 'for what?'
I use duck bills quite a bit for things like;
fuel line spring clamps
bending small flanges
gripping a bit harder than an needlenose appreciates
Toyota squeeze locking electric connectors
I have been noticing the jaws on mine have lost their tread, so I must have found something to do with them.
I have a pair of those pliers without the name knurl. The wide form of the handles is really nice, but unfortunately my hinge is severely pooched. No rough grind though. I had pictures, but whaddaya know, Photobucket has them hostage. I'd be inclined to keep and use those.
Which brings me to 'for what?'
I use duck bills quite a bit for things like;
fuel line spring clamps
bending small flanges
gripping a bit harder than an needlenose appreciates
Toyota squeeze locking electric connectors
I have been noticing the jaws on mine have lost their tread, so I must have found something to do with them.
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Yup! Thanks. There's your next kit, Bill!
It looks like someone made an image out of a button they would make visitors where during plant visits. I've seen the buttons for sale, from other Mfgrs as well.notlob said:
3baygarage
Well-known member
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Either that or an assemblage of the various tools they were selling in subsets and by individual part numbers to the US Army. Although I have found no record of the Army buying the Plomb master mechanics kit akin to the giant Blackhawk or Bonney kit, or the Navy buying master mechanics kits akin to the Navy's giant Snap-On kit, that would be a neat idea. The mid-to-late 1945 production would essentially be the same either way you want to go - issue, or selling off wartime stock in those veteran's kits. The box is wartime in my estimation, Bill. Don't be led astray by the "O" in the embossing. Many (if not all?) wartime boxes, all sizes, all kits, had the prewar logo, including LOS ANGELES. I think it was simply an economical matter of not bothering to change the die. The decal is wartime and they switched to a green box during the war (from red, which is annotated in their catalogs).
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d42jeep
Well-known member
A couple more finds from last weekend:
I'm wondering how long the wartime 3/8" offset screwdriver is? The military correct spec is 8-1/2".
-Don
Smokeshow69
Well-known member
Welcome back drives! We missed your input! Yes my wife knows about the plomb addiction and is fine with it since I do use the tools to fix things[emoji3] I believe the top box you sold me will fit the roller but I have been busy and have done nothing to either box but their time is coming soon as house projects are winding down.
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Smokeshow69
Well-known member
Ok per my earlier promise, here are a few pictures of the only 2 sets of plomb pliers I own ! I took a picture next to a plomb Carbon scraper for size reference. As you can see, the water pump pliers #240 are quite a bit narrower than modern slip joints as they were used to repack water pumps back when car parts where rebuilt by technicians!
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RagTopTA
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Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Thanks for the pics, Smoke. Those are the only other pair of Plomb pliers I have seen with the Name-Nurl grips, other than the duckbills I just found and the two on AA! Nice. On the subject of their profile, I have owned vintage water pump pliers from several different Mfgrs, and the Plomb look quite a bit thinner than all of them, including Channellock. I used to think vintage J.P. Danielson water pump pliers had the thinnest profile I had seen - but I think the Plomb might have them beat!
RagTopTA
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Provincial
Well-known member
Duckbills are very good for twisting safety wire, or any type of wire. The jaws are wide enough to grip both ends of the wire and they fit into tight spaces.
For aircraft work, I often get the wrap started with duckbills, then spin the section between the two fasteners with the Milbar automatic pliers, finishing the other end with the duckbills. It gives much better control in getting the wire tight on the nut/bolt/anchor point.
For aircraft work, I often get the wrap started with duckbills, then spin the section between the two fasteners with the Milbar automatic pliers, finishing the other end with the duckbills. It gives much better control in getting the wire tight on the nut/bolt/anchor point.
Smokeshow69
Well-known member
Thanks for the pics, Smoke. Those are the only other pair of Plomb pliers I have seen with the Name-Nurl grips, other than the duckbills I just found and the two on AA! Nice. On the subject of their profile, I have owned vintage water pump pliers from several different Mfgrs, and the Plomb look quite a bit thinner than all of them, including Channellock. I used to think vintage J.P. Danielson water pump pliers had the thinnest profile I had seen - but I think the Plomb might have them beat!
I am fairly certain jp danielson made plombs adjustable wrenches so would not be surprised if plomb had them make their pliers as well!
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Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
They did, but not until 1946.
Among the Plomb catalogs in the open-source public realm, J.P. Danielson-made adjustable wrenches and pliers first show up in Catalog No. 19-R FOURTH PRINTING, which I date to No Earlier Than (NET) 11/1946, helped in no small part by the presence of JPD adjustables and pliers. (It's possible they were being used earlier, but that is the safest date we can use based on the date that Plomb acquired JPD.)
Prior to that the adjustable wrenches and the pliers, including the water pumps, were made by Utica. The last catalog featuring Utica adjustables and pliers is No. 19-R REPRINT, which I date to NET 2/1944, based on War Production Board details I have elaborated on in other threads, to NLT 10/1946, again, based on the JPD acquisition date. (And again, that catalog might terminate sooner, but we don't have any catalogs in the public realm to determine that.) Catalogs 18-A (8/40-10/41), 19 (42-3/43), and 19-A (4/1943-1/44) all feature Utica adjustables and pliers. I have not looked at Plomb catalogs earlier than that, with my focus on WWII, but my bet would be Utica.
And, now that you call my attention to the subject of an OEM (sorry, I was really off my game last night!), yours were definitely made by Utica, not J.P. Danielson, which have a very distinctive dove-tail handle. The Utica handles have the same classic gripping pattern shape as Channellock, but were much slimmer around the shoulder akin to the JPD.
I have owned quite a few J.P. Danielson's. Due to their popularity among WWII collectors (date coded!), they have all been distributed to other collectors. I have also owned a few Utica's. Below are a few of my old photos for your reference and comparison, including several JPD's, (the shinier example - shown with a wartime Channellock, is post-war, and branded Vlchek, another JPD customer), and one Utica. You'll see the difference immediately, and if you consult the Plomb catalogs I cite above, available on the Tools Archive, you can see their matching catalog figures, and when the switch was made.
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Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
To qualify this... Technically, there is a way we can be more empirical and precise than 11/46 (the acquisition date), and possibly back it up, if JPD was supplying tools as a subcontractor prior to the acquisition. The adjustable crescent type wrenches that JPD made for Plomb also had the date code. I have had several of them, none earlier than 1948, and irrelevant. I'm assuming that the pliers made for Plomb had the date codes too. It would require a search and/or a poll. From my notes, the earliest date code I have seen - on a 12" Plvmbvaloy, AA, is 12-46.
