Plomb tool picture thread - show your stuff!

[d42jeep]

My end of a trade with Smokeshow arrived last night. I did a little work on the chrome plated wrenches with the 3M rotary wheels to pretty them up.
Large 3051 DOE wrench



Dual marked 13/16” combo #1226
I like the #2010 early brake adjusting wrench quite a bit and may add it to my Plomb based GMTK as an extra. It was made in 1936
-Don

 

[RagTopTA]

Hi, I got these here wrenches.

 

[RagTopTA]

And then, I got this old Rat...

 

[MR.X]

And then, I got this old Rat...

theory on the ratchet? I know the eBay seller threw out a G.M. possibilty........Is there something written under the grinding marks?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Cool finds, Rags.

 

[d42jeep]

I found three WF tools at yesterday’s estate sale, all 3/8” drive. These are definitely available to trade. WF-17 extension, WF-30 and WF-31 sockets.
-Don

 

[Smokeshow69]

Didnt come away empty handed at the swap.
-Pile of plomb. Alot of the sockets are not in great shape but they were $1 each so I'll clean them and see how they look.
-2 tappet wrenches, 1/2 drive shallow and deep sockets . Grind off wrench that it appears to be plomb?
- early cape nose chisel with poor markings but it's hand struck and round O
-3/8 extension $1

**Does the early style DOE the second wrench up from the bottom look plomb to you guys? I paid $1 and it looks plombish but I dont have any other examples to compare it to?** It's ground off so I cant see if there is a name

 

[Outlawmws]

Reminds me of the A. Plomb marked early wrenches Smoke.

 

[MR.X]

Didnt come away empty handed at the swap.
-Pile of plomb. Alot of the sockets are not in great shape but they were $1 each so I'll clean them and see how they look.
-2 tappet wrenches, 1/2 drive shallow and deep sockets . Grind off wrench that it appears to be plomb?
- early cape nose chisel with poor markings but it's hand struck and round O
-3/8 extension $1

**Does the early style DOE the second wrench up from the bottom look plomb to you guys? I paid $1 and it looks plombish but I dont have any other examples to compare it to?** It's ground off so I cant see if there is a name

Hey Smoke, would say it's almost certainly a Plomb K2 / 2002 Lincoln, Cadillac, Chandler brake wrench. I waited for the usual crowd to jump in but the Catalogs that cover this must not be on the Internet Archive. 30/31 time frame give or take.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Hey Smoke, would say it's almost certainly a Plomb K2 / 2002 Lincoln, Cadillac, Chandler brake wrench. I waited for the usual crowd to jump in but the Catalogs that cover this must not be on the Internet Archive. 30/31 time frame give or take.

Thanks. I hadn’t had time to research it yet and am thankful for the heads up.

 

[bmwrd0]

I really like that early(ish) hex socket. That is the find of the Plomb day.

 

[Smokeshow69]

I really like that early(ish) hex socket. That is the find of the Plomb day.

AI would really have a field day with that one if I posted it on the bay ...poor old 3/8 socket.

 

[Provincial]

This dual-marked 1218 turned up in the bottom of a bin of wrenches at an estate sale Thursday.

 

[Squez]

Arrived yesterday in a trade from smokeshow69
Now they are in their new home

 

[Outlawmws]

Squez, I stack my metric wrenches on edge like that. It saves SO much space! But I need or mark the common sizes some way, maybe colored electrical tape band? I flip the commonly used sockets in the 2 racks I use for that reason - which is the 12 or 14 MM? easily spotted! but picking between a 13 or 14? Nope - My eyes were trained for SAE, not metric...

 

[Smokeshow69]

Arrived yesterday in a trade from smokeshow69
Now they are in their new home

Looking good squez!

 

[Smokeshow69]

Picked up these 2 loaners yesterday for $1 each. Into the trade fodder bin they go! The 1212 is an early mark one but will clean up decent

 

[RagTopTA]

theory on the ratchet? I know the eBay seller threw out a G.M. possibilty........Is there something written under the grinding marks?

I think this is most likely a PO mark.. what are your thoughts?

 

[RagTopTA]

Anyone have one of these Nailpuller/wrecking bars? Is it a 141? or a L41? cant find any info on this thing.

 

[Beerhippie]

Anyone have one of these Nailpuller/wrecking bars? Is it a 141? or a L41? cant find any info on this thing.

I have several--none of them Plumb branded. They're mostly used for removing trim work that you want to be able to re-use. Hint: pull any trim nails still stuck in the trim out from the backside so you don't get tear-out around the nail hole.

 

[d42jeep]

I saw this adjustable wrench listed on eBay this morning and it doesn’t make any sense to me. Wrong jaw configuration, round O Plomb, broached hanging hole, no date code. Any thoughts?
-Don

 

[MR.X]

I saw this adjustable wrench listed on eBay this morning and it doesn’t make any sense to me. Wrong jaw configuration, round O Plomb, broached hanging hole, no date code. Any thoughts?
-Don

I'm not big on contract adjustables but I've seen a couple of those in the wild, I think I have one somewhere...I know Bill has one on his Alloy site...ID's it as Diamond Calk. Didn't put a lot of effort into the Plomb stamping obviously.

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks. That makes perfect sense. I guess they were winding down using Utica as a supplier and hadn’t yet purchased Danielson. They probably needed to use Diamond as a temporary supplier in the interim to fulfill wartime contracts.
-Don
Wartime Diamond adjustable
Early postwar Plomb adjustable made in the former Danielson factory

Utica supplied Plomb adjustable wrenches

 

[d42jeep]

This War Finish 8 point 1/4” socket arrived in the mail today to fill out a War Finish set. This size of Plomb socket seems kind of hard to find recently.
-Don

This 3/8” War Finish socket arrived recently and I incorporated both new arrivals into this set today. Somehow the short extension got left out of the picture. It’s now been returned to the tower of Plomb

 

[LNKMK8]

Picked up a few of these at an auction last month... a very common WF-7 Flex End Bar but what I found interesting was the excellent chrome finish. I'm not sure I've ever seen a Plomb tool with a finish like this?

 

[d42jeep]

I’m not sure when they started making Wright Field tools but my 1939 Challeger set has some of the best chrome plating I’ve seen on any Plomb tools. Yours may have been made right before the metal restrictions went into effect. I found a #47 punch at today’s estate sale that seems to have led a hard life. I dressed up the striking end but couldn’t make it any longer.
After
-Don

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

We went to one of the grandkids ball game yesterday morning, which took us near Eugene, so we hit up a few shops after the game. This tote was tucked in on a bottom shelf in a Coburg shop and I nearly missed it completely. Priced about where any generic tool caddy would be it was a painless purchase. I already had a heavily modified red tote so here are a few pics of both. The difference in side height really stands out which sent me to the catalogs.

These totes could be ordered separately or with the master chests. In catalog #8 part number is KTT with dimensions given as 19"x10"x7" under handle. Later cats show it as #9920 with same dimensions but varying side graphics. This newly found tote is 19x9x5-1/2 loosing 1" in width and 1-12" in height and shows as #2099 in cat 19a and on. Green color is probably original. I didn't find the lower side height of my red tote which looks right as the graphic is centered. It fits in a toolmobile drawer which may explain why the top got chopped. A few pics. Ed.

 

[MR.X]

We went to one of the grandkids ball game yesterday morning, which took us near Eugene, so we hit up a few shops after the game. This tote was tucked in on a bottom shelf in a Coburg shop and I nearly missed it completely. Priced about where any generic tool caddy would be it was a painless purchase. I already had a heavily modified red tote so here are a few pics of both. The difference in side height really stands out which sent me to the catalogs.

These totes could be ordered separately or with the master chests. In catalog #8 part number is KTT with dimensions given as 19"x10"x7" under handle. Later cats show it as #9920 with same dimensions but varying side graphics. This newly found tote is 19x9x5-1/2 loosing 1" in width and 1-12" in height and shows as #2099 in cat 19a and on. Green color is probably original. I didn't find the lower side height of my red tote which looks right as the graphic is centered. It fits in a toolmobile drawer which may explain why the top got chopped. A few pics. Ed.

you Rule!

 

[Smokeshow69]

We went to one of the grandkids ball game yesterday morning, which took us near Eugene, so we hit up a few shops after the game. This tote was tucked in on a bottom shelf in a Coburg shop and I nearly missed it completely. Priced about where any generic tool caddy would be it was a painless purchase. I already had a heavily modified red tote so here are a few pics of both. The difference in side height really stands out which sent me to the catalogs.

These totes could be ordered separately or with the master chests. In catalog #8 part number is KTT with dimensions given as 19"x10"x7" under handle. Later cats show it as #9920 with same dimensions but varying side graphics. This newly found tote is 19x9x5-1/2 loosing 1" in width and 1-12" in height and shows as #2099 in cat 19a and on. Green color is probably original. I didn't find the lower side height of my red tote which looks right as the graphic is centered. It fits in a toolmobile drawer which may explain why the top got chopped. A few pics. Ed.

Dang, thats a huge you ****! Thats such a good find! Count how many people on here have one of those and it wouldnt even fill up one hand. Well done! Yes the green is original. During that era they were painting boxes that odd green color.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

This tote was tucked in on a bottom shelf in a Coburg shop and I nearly missed it completely.

Well spotted, Ed!

...a very common WF-7 Flex End Bar but what I found interesting was the excellent chrome finish. I'm not sure I've ever seen a Plomb tool with a finish like this?

I’m not sure when they started making Wright Field tools but my 1939 Challeger set has some of the best chrome plating I’ve seen on any Plomb tools.

First actual US Army Air Corps contract recorded by WPB was January 1941. Pretty early. They had a contract with the Army, agency not identified, in June 1940. I've always suspected that could be Air Corps. The other very real possibility is late 1945 or immediate postwar. I see that it has one of those tiny subscript letter suffixes. A "D". I don't think it has ever been definitively proven what they are, but one popular theory is that it has something to do with the multitude of subcontractors they were using late war. Like a factory identification code. Or a subcontract code. They had so many (39! by 1944) they had set up a separate enterprise, the Plomb Tools Contracting Company, just to manage it.

 

[Provincial]

Plomb jumped on the aviation sector pretty early on. Being on the West Coast, Bonney and Billings had an inside track with at least Pratt & Whitney and Wright, but Plomb linked up with Kinner, which was local, and aggressively advertised aircraft tools in their Depression-era catalogs.

Because aviation was willing to compromise accessibility in exchange for weight savings, aerodynamics, and "package efficiency," it opened up a market for specialty, low-production tools. The contacts made from supplying such tools were probably leveraged by Plombs aggressive sales staff to procure military contracts early in the game!

 

[Etchase]

WF-21. I like that they played with the up/down arrows. Industrial design was very good in generations past.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I like that they played with the up/down arrows. Industrial design was very good in generations past.

Yes, and if nothing else, like the number and configuration of legs on the John Deere logo deer, the up/down (vs. down/down) "arrows" (plumb bobs) gives us whacky code crazy collectors something to talk and theorize about!

 

[d42jeep]

Well spotted, Ed!


First actual US Army Air Corps contract recorded by WPB was January 1941. Pretty early. They had a contract with the Army, agency not identified, in June 1940. I've always suspected that could be Air Corps. The other very real possibility is late 1945 or immediate postwar. I see that it has one of those tiny subscript letter suffixes. A "D". I don't think it has ever been definitively proven what they are, but one popular theory is that it has something to do with the multitude of subcontractors they were using late war. Like a factory identification code. Or a subcontract code. They had so many (39! by 1944) they had set up a separate enterprise, the Plomb Tools Contracting Company, just to manage it.

Here is a nicely chromed 1/4” drive 4760 extension from 1940 that arrived in a S-K box recently.
-Don

 

[Smokeshow69]

Got this cool Shirt for Christmas!

 

[z28lsc]

some recent finds.

 

[Smokeshow69]

some recent finds.

Way to go young grasshopper! You are on your way to a good collection!

 

[z28lsc]

Way to go young grasshopper! You are on your way to a good collection!

Thanks. I'm Getting there.

 

[z28lsc]

Could this be a plomb made wrench?

 

[Smokeshow69]

Could this be a plomb made wrench?

Hmm, very possibly as plomb was a ranger contract supplier. You need to post it on this thread as the people in the know about the AT tools will be able to advise.

Packard Built Rolls Royce Merlin Tool Kit AT9368

You're quite welcome. Brought to you by "Google Books"! :) (As a general reminder to all, as I've said time and time again, and also included in the 'Helpful Hints' in the Sticky at the top of the page, with no exaggeration, the deep and widespread digitization of old documents and their open...

www.garagejournal.com