Plomb tool picture thread - show your stuff!

[d42jeep]

Here are my Plomb/Proto finds from yesterday's sale. An almost complete metric set of Proto Professional grind-offs (since cleaned up) and some Plomb 1/2" drive sockets. The chrome one is a little unusual being 6 point and rather tall.
-Don

 

[notlob]

Nice proto set Don! Metric chevron style protos are pretty rare - I think I have 1.

 

[RubiconJK]

Plomb WF-91 "unknown" found. 3/8 x 5/16 DOE

 

[d42jeep]

That is a great find! Another mystery solved. Speaking of WF tools, does anybody have a theory about the difference in markings between these two 9/32" flex handles?
-Don

 

[RagTopTA]

On today's hunt, I found a couple of strange things. First, I am pretty sure I found the only Plomb WF-WTF ???!!! next up, is yet another 9/16 Pebble, with no pebble! last, is a 4" German made adjustable... with PEBBLE.... looks like a miniature of the Walden Pebble I have.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Plomb WF-91 "unknown" found. 3/8 x 5/16 DOE

Very cool, Rubicon! That wrench has only been theorized for years!

does anybody have a theory about the difference in markings between these two 9/32" flex handles?

If you mean the little "D", Don, many WF tools have letter suffixes, including DOEs, DBEs, drive handles, sockets, etc. Theories are batch control numbers or different factories. (EDIT: I should qualify that. Those are my theories. I don't recall any reference to the little letter designators on AA, and I don't recall if Todd and I have discussed them, or if there is a write-up on TA. EDIT2: Todd includes this note in the WWII dating section: "Note that tools branded WF for the Wright Field contract have been found with multiple single letter codes including G, O, Q, R, and X. The meaning of these codes is not yet known.") If you search through your WF tools I bet you'll find other examples. First time I ever noticed them was a couple of boxes of NOS 9/32" WF sockets I had. I'll try to make some time to find some of my examples later.

First, I am pretty sure I found the only Plomb WF-WTF ???!!!

Haha! That looks homemade to me. Like someone had to turn a certain fastener in a weird place, with a weird access, slipping the split socket over it flare nut wrench style, and they had to do it frequently enough that it was worth making a special chopjob tool for. Almost looks like an aircraft spark plug lead removal tool but the angle isn't right between the handle and the socket wrench end.

Can you tell what the socket was originally?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Don,
Here are few more WF-** examples from my collection (left to right: WF-82G DBE wrench, WF-9F 9/32-inch drive sliding tee handle, and a WF-11H 9/32-inch drive socket).

 

[RubiconJK]

That is a great find! Another mystery solved. Speaking of WF tools, does anybody have a theory about the difference in markings between these two 9/32" flex handles?
-Don

D42jeep, I have some variations in markings on my Plomb tools also and from what I've read they would use different plants to sub contract production.

 

[RubiconJK]

Very cool, Rubicon! That wrench has only been theorized for years!


If you mean the little "D", Don, many WF tools have letter suffixes, including DOEs, DBEs, drive handles, sockets, etc. Theories are batch control numbers or different factories. (EDIT: I should qualify that. Those are my theories. I don't recall any reference to the little letter designators on AA, and I don't recall if Todd and I have discussed them, or if there is a write-up on TA.) If you search through your WF tools I bet you'll find other examples. First time I ever noticed them was a couple of boxes of NOS 9/32" WF sockets I had. I'll try to make some time to find some of my examples later.


Haha! That looks homemade to me. Like someone had to turn a certain fastener in a weird place, with a weird access, slipping the split socket over it flare nut wrench style, and they had to do it frequently enough that it was worth making a special chopjob tool for. Almost looks like an aircraft spark plug lead removal tool but the angle isn't right between the handle and the socket wrench end.

Can you tell what the socket was originally?

Thanks! Do you know if anyone is updating the published listings of the Plomb WF tools? I know that Plombob did have a great website where these were updated, but last time I talked to him I believe his site is now inactive. The first of these lists I had found several years ago was on the Vannattabros web site, but I'm also not sure it is updated any longer.

As an FYI, about a year ago another Plomb WF collector had mentioned to me he found a WF-3 and identified it as a 9/32 X 3/8 adapter socket. I'm guessing it would be a 9/32M X 3/8F but don't recall him saying.

 

[r_olson_06]

Plomb WF-91 "unknown" found. 3/8 x 5/16 DOE

Amazing find.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The first of these lists I had found several years ago was on the Vannattabros web site, but I'm also not sure it is updated any longer.

Ditto, and no, it's not being updated. Neither is Alloy Artifacts. Both were very useful sites in their time, the Van Natta Brothers Plomb page in particular for early Plomb collectors, but the status quo becomes an issue, even in discussions here on GJ at times, when the state of research has moved beyond those sites, but collectors still cite them as gospel. Van Natta gets a pass. It was all above and beyond their call of duty to begin with. I have no such regard for AA, which refused to share resources and refused to accept outside references and research that disagreed with their conclusions.

If you don't know about Tool Archives, you should check it out. It was started by a GJ guy (twertsy), has an open source library of catalogs, and accepts inputs and examples from members, including a comments function, making it more of a community enterprise. Link here.

Also, since we're on the subject of moving the Plomb needle to the right with new research, you may be interested in this thread, which moves the start of the Pebble Plomb period several years to the left (into wartime) of where Van Natta and AA have it starting.

 

[RubiconJK]

Ditto, and no, it's not being updated. Neither is Alloy Artifacts. Both were very useful sites in their time, the Van Natta Brothers Plomb page in particular for early Plomb collectors, but the status quo becomes an issue, even in discussions here on GJ at times, when the state of research has moved beyond those sites, but collectors still cite them as gospel. Van Natta gets a pass. It was all above and beyond their call of duty to begin with. I have no such regard for AA, which refused to share resources and refused to accept outside references and research that disagreed with their conclusions.

If you don't know about Tool Archives, you should check it out. It was started by a GJ guy (twertsy), has an open source library of catalogs, and accepts inputs and examples from members, including a comments function, making it more of a community enterprise. Link here.

Also, since we're on the subject of moving the Plomb needle to the right with new research, you may be interested in this thread, which moves the start of the Pebble Plomb period several years to the left (into wartime) of where Van Natta and AA have it starting.

Thanks again. Yes, I am a member on Twertsy's Tool Archives site and left him a message there this morning also. At the time I visited with Plombob (probably over a year ago) he had mentioned that he had visited with Twertsy about moving the data from his old site to Tool Archives, but not sure if that effort is still alive. Plombob's info was the best I had found. I'll also check out your other thread.

I'm an avid Plomb WF collector and now have 92 of the known 130 or so pieces of the full set including some of the unicorns like 8S, 21S, 38T and now 91. 14 pieces of what I'm missing are the 3/4 drive sizes. I am also just about finished with full sets of 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2 drive standard Plomb sets.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Plombob's info was the best I had found.

I did some horsetradin' with him awhile back and didn't even realize he had an info site. Cool.

I'm an avid Plomb WF collector and now have 92 of the known 130 or so pieces of the full set including some of the unicorns like 8S, 21S, 38T and now 91. 14 pieces of what I'm missing are the 3/4 drive sizes. I am also just about finished with full sets of 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2 drive standard Plomb sets.

Congrats! The timeline and the wartime dating initiatives on TA are excellent, but now that I think about it, I'm not sure we have a basic WF inventory going. It sounds like you're just the man for that job!

 

[RagTopTA]

Very cool, Rubicon! That wrench has only been theorized for years!


If you mean the little "D", Don, many WF tools have letter suffixes, including DOEs, DBEs, drive handles, sockets, etc. Theories are batch control numbers or different factories. (EDIT: I should qualify that. Those are my theories. I don't recall any reference to the little letter designators on AA, and I don't recall if Todd and I have discussed them, or if there is a write-up on TA. EDIT2: Todd includes this note in the WWII dating section: "Note that tools branded WF for the Wright Field contract have been found with multiple single letter codes including G, O, Q, R, and X. The meaning of these codes is not yet known.") If you search through your WF tools I bet you'll find other examples. First time I ever noticed them was a couple of boxes of NOS 9/32" WF sockets I had. I'll try to make some time to find some of my examples later.


Haha! That looks homemade to me. Like someone had to turn a certain fastener in a weird place, with a weird access, slipping the split socket over it flare nut wrench style, and they had to do it frequently enough that it was worth making a special chopjob tool for. Almost looks like an aircraft spark plug lead removal tool but the angle isn't right between the handle and the socket wrench end.

Can you tell what the socket was originally?

I cant tell as they cut the socket number away, but I'm thinking you are right. Homemade for sure. Weird it had a hole drilled in the end of the handle even... musta been something used a lot! I'll see if I can figure out the socket size later today.

 

[twertsy]

I did some horsetradin' with him awhile back and didn't even realize he had an info site. Cool.


Congrats! The timeline and the wartime dating initiatives on TA are excellent, but now that I think about it, I'm not sure we have a basic WF inventory going. It sounds like you're just the man for that job!

Bob and I are still working on transitioning his domain over to toolarchives. We are having issues xfering the domain but we'll get there......

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

 

[RubiconJK]

I did some horsetradin' with him awhile back and didn't even realize he had an info site. Cool.


Congrats! The timeline and the wartime dating initiatives on TA are excellent, but now that I think about it, I'm not sure we have a basic WF inventory going. It sounds like you're just the man for that job!

I'm happy to help in whatever way I can.

 

[RubiconJK]

Bob and I are still working on transitioning his domain over to toolarchives. We are having issues xfering the domain but we'll get there......

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

Great news! I sent you a message on Tool Archives about this and about my WF-91 find earlier. Thanks.

 

[notlob]

I'm an avid Plomb WF collector and now have 92 of the known 130 or so pieces of the full set including some of the unicorns like 8S, 21S, 38T and now 91. 14 pieces of what I'm missing are the 3/4 drive sizes.

Hey Rubicon -

I have ~100 or so WF Plombs; if you post up a list of the pieces you don't have I'll check my stash and see if I have any duplicates.

 

[r_olson_06]

Thanks again. Yes, I am a member on Twertsy's Tool Archives site and left him a message there this morning also. At the time I visited with Plombob (probably over a year ago) he had mentioned that he had visited with Twertsy about moving the data from his old site to Tool Archives, but not sure if that effort is still alive. Plombob's info was the best I had found. I'll also check out your other thread.

I'm an avid Plomb WF collector and now have 92 of the known 130 or so pieces of the full set including some of the unicorns like 8S, 21S, 38T and now 91. 14 pieces of what I'm missing are the 3/4 drive sizes. I am also just about finished with full sets of 1/4", 3/8" and 1/2 drive standard Plomb sets.

You should really post a picture of your collection.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[RubiconJK]

Ok, here is some of the WF collection. This part is fairly organized right now, but I hope to find a semi affordable Plomb Toolmobile or larger Plomb Master chest to put them in later.

 

[RubiconJK]

And here is some of the non WF and duplicate stuff I could get to easily for pictures and also I forgot to post the WF 3/8 drive socket stuff and some of the larger DBE's in the last post, so they are here also.

 

[twertsy]

Nice collection Rubicon!

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

 

[RubiconJK]

Thanks notlob. Here are missing WF pieces I need:

WF1 3/8 x 1/2 adapter socket, WF2 1/2 x 3/8 adapter socket, WF3 9/32 x 3/8 adapter socket, WF6 9/32 socket driver, WF45 3/8 drive 12 pt 9/16 socket, WF46 3/8 drive 12 pt 5/8 socket, WF47 3/8 drive 12 pt 11/16 socket, WF48 3/8 drive 12 pt 3/4 socket, WF86 1 1/8 x 1 1/16 DBE wrench, WF90 1/4 x 3/16 DOE ignition wrench, WF93 9/16 x 5/8 DOE wrench, WF95 7/8 x 15/16 DOE wrench, WF104 3/4 line wrench, WF108 1 1/8 line wrench, WF114 1 1/2 line wrench, WF116 1 3/4 line wrench, WF120 3/8 drive 12 pt deep 3/8 socket, WF121 3/8 drive 12 pt deep 1/2 socket, WF122 3/8 drive 12 pt deep 9/16 socket, WF124 3/8 drive 12 pt deep 5/8 socket, WF126 3/8 drive 12 pt deep 3/4 socket, WF131 1/2 drive 12 pt deep 3/4 socket, WF132 1/2 drive 12 pt deep 13/16 socket, WF136 1/2 drive 12 pt deep 1 1/16 socket, and finally WF57 thru WF71 which is all the 3/4 drive stuff.

Thanks again.

 

[RubiconJK]

Nice collection Rubicon!

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

Thank you. Its been a challenge here in Oklahoma to piece this much together. I envy the CA folks who seem to have lots of good pickin' opportunities. I've resorted to EBAY when absolutely necessary, but mostly hit the flea markets every weekend and keep my ears to the ground for other leads.

 

[RubiconJK]

Hey Rubicon -

I have ~100 or so WF Plombs; if you post up a list of the pieces you don't have I'll check my stash and see if I have any duplicates.

notlob, I forgot to mention in my Plomb WF wish list post that I have lots of trade items available including a couple of duplicate Plomb WF unicorns. Let me know if you are looking for anything in particular.

 

[r_olson_06]

Thanks notlob. Here are missing WF pieces I need:

WF1 3/8 x 1/2 adapter socket, WF2 1/2 x 3/8 adapter socket, WF3 9/32 x 3/8 adapter socket, WF6 9/32 socket driver, WF45 3/8 drive 12 pt 9/16 socket, WF46 3/8 drive 12 pt 5/8 socket, WF47 3/8 drive 12 pt 11/16 socket, WF48 3/8 drive 12 pt 3/4 socket, WF86 1 1/8 x 1 1/16 DBE wrench, WF90 1/4 x 3/16 DOE ignition wrench, WF93 9/16 x 5/8 DOE wrench, WF95 7/8 x 15/16 DOE wrench, WF104 3/4 line wrench, WF108 1 1/8 line wrench, WF114 1 1/2 line wrench, WF116 1 3/4 line wrench, WF120 3/8 drive 12 pt deep 3/8 socket, WF121 3/8 drive 12 pt deep 1/2 socket, WF122 3/8 drive 12 pt deep 9/16 socket, WF124 3/8 drive 12 pt deep 5/8 socket, WF126 3/8 drive 12 pt deep 3/4 socket, WF131 1/2 drive 12 pt deep 3/4 socket, WF132 1/2 drive 12 pt deep 13/16 socket, WF136 1/2 drive 12 pt deep 1 1/16 socket, and finally WF57 thru WF71 which is all the 3/4 drive stuff.

Thanks again.

I will check to see what I have in my dup's tonight and drop you a PM if I have anything.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[RubiconJK]

I will check to see what I have in my dup's tonight and drop you a PM if I have anything.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

I appreciate it!

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

WF WTF might be a thermo vac switch tool.

That is a great find! Another mystery solved. Speaking of WF tools, does anybody have a theory about the difference in markings between these two 9/32" flex handles?
-Don

I have some theoretically identical tools with marking far more different.

I can add 'K' suffix to the list.

I saw this shiny chrome oddity , but did not buy. It has the female square broach at the back.

 

[Catfishdan]

Got a couple of tools I've been searching for. They were listed in the bay under plumb tools so they went cheaper than normal.
1st is a 4751 ratchet. I've wanted one of those little guys for a while! Just as small and cool as I'd hoped.
2nd is a "plombaloy" 6 inch adjustable with the broached hanging hole. Before I strip it, there were no rare factory green plomb tools that are worth fortunes, are there?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RagTopTA]

never seen one factory painted but I don't know much. I also got a few things off the bay.... forgot about that little ratchet. glad you got it though! got this hammer and a couple of rare square nut sockets.

5432 S 1"
5428 S 7/8"
1385 rubber head hammer

 

[Moe_Hushlin]

My first 9/32 drive ratchet, found my first PLOMB ratchet last week (1/4) and thought to myself DAMN I already have this one. Upon further inspection and research I was pleasantly surprised.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

I also got a few things off the bay.... forgot about that little ratchet. glad you got it though! got this hammer and a couple of rare square nut sockets.

5432 S 1"
5428 S 7/8"
[rubber head hammer

I like your plastic tipped hammer and it looks like the ends are in pretty good shape for their age. I found one last summer too. It has a little chipping in the plastic but overall pretty good also. Ed.

 

[Smokeshow69]

I like your plastic tipped hammer and it looks like the ends are in pretty good shape for their age. I found one last summer too. It has a little chipping in the plastic but overall pretty good also. Ed.

Rag and oregonrockcrusher, I am liking your soft faced hammers ! I would like to find one of those in the wild some day [emoji2]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[RagTopTA]

I like your plastic tipped hammer and it looks like the ends are in pretty good shape for their age. I found one last summer too. It has a little chipping in the plastic but overall pretty good also. Ed.

Nice!! Now I gotta work on mine and shine her up! Itll happen this weekend! Wish the handle had a bit more paint on it but thats part of it. Least it has the original handle!

 

[McFarmer]

Found these while killing time in town. Paid $1 a piece.

The large one looks to be hardly used, the smaller is in good shape.

The shipping might be too much but if anyone needs them to fill a collection I would send them your way.

 

[d42jeep]

Here are my Plomb and Proto finds at an estate sale this morning. The first is the Plomb, the second the Proto. The last one is the Plomb chisel and punches after cleaning.
-Don

 

[Smokeshow69]

Here are my Plomb and Proto finds at an estate sale this morning. The first is the Plomb, the second the Proto. The last one is the Plomb chisel and punches after cleaning.
-Don

My favorite is the huge , unused extractor !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Found these while killing time in town. Paid $1 a piece.

The large one looks to be hardly used, the smaller is in good shape.

The shipping might be too much but if anyone needs them to fill a collection I would send them your way.

I'd be happy to give them a home. What's the ride to 95076 look like
ehh too slow.

Somebody was talking about pocket wrenches on the DBE thread

 

[r_olson_06]

Added a couple. Proto pebble 1/2 drive ratchet and 1-1/8 line wrench.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[Smokeshow69]

Picked up is proto la 1/2 drive extension for 50cents at the local habitat ! I have not cleaned it up but it should come out pretty good !

Also have a question on the below body hammers! Which logo is older ? I believe it to be the one without the copy right circle r... What say you ? Both heads say mfd USA on the flip side! By the way, if you have proto/plvmb/ p&c body hammers that need new correct octagonal 13" long handles, they can be purchased from dagger tools.com... There is a guy selling handles for $22 each but I believe the dagger tools ones are what he is selling. He has them painted for the newer proto green and not the older dark green. I paid Just under $7 not including shipping per handle

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro