Plomb tool picture thread - show your stuff!

[Smokeshow69]

Here are a few Plomb acquisitions I’ve picked up recently.
Double stamped spinner
What I believe to be an early 1942 date stamped socket
A 1941 1/4” drive extension
A 3/8” drive 1/2” deep socket from 1941
-Don

That double stamped spinner is pretty cool!

 

[Catfishdan]

Resurrecting a 5+ year old post -

@Catfishdan When you fixed you Firestone ratchet, did you use a rebuild kit and if so, which one?

I honestly can’t remember. I know I didn’t use a rebuild kit. I did find these parts from a wf8 in my shed, which makes me think I used the plate with the lever to fix the firestone. The broken face plate is chrome and doesn’t match the plomb like it does the firestone. The parts are definitely interchangeable.
I probably have a spare wf8 for parts if you need one…

 

[Outlawmws]

What I'm needing is the actuator cam/lever/Plate - Sounds like yours is used up?:

 

[Catfishdan]

What I'm needing is the actuator cam/lever/Plate - Sounds like yours is used up?:

I just checked my spare wf8’s. They all are broken in that spot! This one is only half broken. It still works fine though if you want it. It’ll get that firestone up and running at least…

 

[four.cycle]

is this a match?

 

[Outlawmws]

This one is only half broken. It still works fine though if you want it.

I'm a bit confused: "Half Broken" vs. "still works fine"?

is this a match?

That one has slight "figure eight" shaped plates vs. the ovals in the Firestone/WF8 heads.

 

[Catfishdan]

I'm a bit confused: "Half Broken" vs. "still works fine"?

see how part of the lever is broken off?

 

[Outlawmws]

Ah! Now I do.

Someone else is also looking in spare parts; let's see how that goes.

 

[d42jeep]

The lever should look like this.
One of these might be an acceptable substitute.


-Don

 

[Outlawmws]

Thx Don!

 

[Smokeshow69]

Piked up some spares today. Nothing earth shattering but never know when they may come in handy.

 

[four.cycle]

That one has slight "figure eight" shaped plates vs. the ovals in the Firestone/WF8 heads.

ahhh yes...
I sold that one about two weeks ago!
shipped it out @ no charge because it wasn't working properly!

 

[MR.X]

That kit had 3 flat handle fixed socket wrenches like that, the 39 (11/16), 450 (13/16) and 585 (3/4) I have a 39 and 585 marked Plomb and another 585 where the fixed socket portion is a Blackhawk Both my 450’s resemble yours with no brand name and an uneven shop look to the stamping. Sooo..make of that what you will.

Could this be a plomb made wrench?

Here’s some more pics of tool kit variations.

 

[Provincial]

Thou the Merlin Packard AT8027 valve adjuster does appear on an unofficial, oft circulated Plomb Ranger list. BTW, when I mentioned the 3 fixed socket wrenches, I'm actually not even sure if they were all part of the same Fairchild Ranger "kit". They could have been add-ons, a different echelon kit, or for the follow on, less successful Ranger engine for all I know.

The Fairchild Ranger tools all seem to have numbers with less than four digits, and the highest I have documented is 602.

 

[MR.X]

The Fairchild Ranger tools all seem to have numbers with less than four digits, and the highest I have documented is 602.

Hi. Yeah, I don’t believe there’s any connection with the Merlin Packard toolkit.

 

[930dreamer]

Plomb toolbox retrieved!

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

I snagged a few pictures of an early toolmobile, add mentioned 38-39, that appears to have sold in Northern California recently. Anyone get lucky? Interesting drawer layout and the paint was claimed as original. Pretty cool. Wish I'd been closer. Ed.

 

[Outlawmws]

Cool roller ORC! I agree. that would be a cool score to find.


I cleaned up a Plvmb WF-19 I got a week back. It was pretty rusty. I'm always divided on unplated tools how I want to go about de-rusting. On Black oxide I wil invariably go with a super fine 4-5" wire wheel on a "homeowner's 5"bench grinder as it will bog down before it starts "polishing to a new steel shine". For black oxide with a light polishing action, it just restores the black since rust is an oxide.

So I started with this - pretty rusty:



And finished with this, having decided on the light WW:



Its almost like it was blued. Did WF use black oxide? I rarely get this "blued" effect without a base of black oxide. I've seen old guns with worse blueing! Markigs up close:




Reminds me of the set of Plvmb, I think 3/4" socket set that Carla had, that she had polished and done black oxide to. They were spectacular, if not "factory"...

 

[Smokeshow69]

I snagged a few pictures of an early toolmobile, add mentioned 38-39, that appears to have sold in Northern California recently. Anyone get lucky? Interesting drawer layout and the paint was claimed as original. Pretty cool. Wish I'd been closer. Ed.

Ohh! That’s a good one. Not sure who got it but hopefully it was someone on here

 

[Provincial]

Boil the rusty ones first to change the chemistry of the rust, then use the light wire wheel. This is real "rust bluing." A very fine wire brush is called a "carding" brush, and is used for rust bluing. Rust and repeat to build up the blued coating.

 

[d42jeep]

This socket arrived yesterday from an eBay seller. It was one missing from my Chrome Plomb collection.
-Don

 

[Catfishdan]

Interesting fact: today I found my fourth pebble 1210 in the wild. Odd.

 

[Outlawmws]

I'm not sure if this 1/4 breaker is Plvmb Empire or not, but it's closest to what I have here:

Anyone recognize it? Not a single maker's mark on the durn thing:

Knurling is slightly different, but we are talking Plvmb/Proto and their acquisition years too...
The breaker came with a Long C socket on it - but the tools in the Kennedy roller and top stack had been ransacked just before I could get to the box, so no clue what I may have missed. the tools I did snag were on the bench.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It's almost like it was blued. Did WF use black oxide? I rarely get this "blued" effect without a base of black oxide.

Not known for it. Most likely natural steel under the rust. As Jock suggests, you most likely did a very fine job of turning hematite into magnetite.

 

[Smokeshow69]

I'm not sure if this 1/4 breaker is Plvmb Empire or not, but it's closest to what I have here:

Anyone recognize it? Not a single maker's mark on the durn thing:

Knurling is slightly different, but we are talking Plvmb/Proto and their acquisition years too...
The breaker came with a Long C socket on it - but the tools in the Kennedy roller and top stack had been ransacked just before I could get to the box, so no clue what I may have missed. the tools I did snag were on the bench.

It’s most definitely Pti made…now it’s a question of by whom? Could be a pennens made one? I can’t remind their small drive tools were marked?

 

[d42jeep]

Here are a regular 3/8” drive Plomb and a PWA version. I have a Proto in the cosmoline box.
Two different 1/4” drive 4766 flex handles
-Don

 

[Outlawmws]

Smoke, I looked is a number of Pennen's pics of 1/4 drives, some similarities, but no match.

Don, are you showing 2 different 4766's? The one with the Ratchet is a close match except for the mouth the drive fits in. Yours has radius in the corner, mine is virtually sharp. The length shown in the 2nd 4677 pic is right. 5" to the bottom of the mouth.

 

[d42jeep]

A very interesting eBay purchase arrived on my front porch this morning. The main reason that I had to have it was that I spotted a unicorn marked pin handle in the listing. I have only ever seen another one in a picture. My other Plomb pin handles are unmarked.
The rest of the set was interesting as well.
Many of the tools appeared to be either unused or very lightly used. Initially, I didn’t recognize the box although it looked like the rest of the tools had resided in it for a long time. The 3/4” socket was dual marked and the 9/16” socket was a Proto LA. The outside of the lid of the box was covered with some paper tape which proved very difficult to remove.
Gradually and carefully I was able to remove the paper tape.
Here it is after completion.
The dual marked socket turned out to be cracked. I wasn’t too disappointed since it would have been a duplicate

I think that the set may have been gathered and put together for a few years after the end of WW2.
-Don

 

[Shelbylex]

Don, this looks almost new!!! Congratulations!

 

[Outlawmws]

Thats a winner Don!

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks, guys. Looks like I need a 9/16” (5418) and a 3/4” (5424) socket that matches these with the part number above the lines. Does anyone have any spares of those?
I got around to cleaning up the PWA 1397 chrome flex handle that I found on Saturday.
It looked way worse when I found it.
-Don

 

[Smokeshow69]

A very interesting eBay purchase arrived on my front porch this morning. The main reason that I had to have it was that I spotted a unicorn marked pin handle in the listing. I have only ever seen another one in a picture. My other Plomb pin handles are unmarked.
The rest of the set was interesting as well.
Many of the tools appeared to be either unused or very lightly used. Initially, I didn’t recognize the box although it looked like the rest of the tools had resided in it for a long time. The 3/4” socket was dual marked and the 9/16” socket was a Proto LA. The outside of the lid of the box was covered with some paper tape which proved very difficult to remove.
Gradually and carefully I was able to remove the paper tape.
Here it is after completion.
The dual marked socket turned out to be cracked. I wasn’t too disappointed since it would have been a duplicate

I think that the set may have been gathered and put together for a few years after the end of WW2.
-Don

Ohh! That’s a good find. I know that you have been looking for a pin handle for years. And the minty Proto la box is really nice! Hard to find nox that isn’t all beat up!

 

[3baygarage]

Very nice box. The handle has to be a tough find!

 

[RubiconJK]

A very interesting eBay purchase arrived on my front porch this morning. The main reason that I had to have it was that I spotted a unicorn marked pin handle in the listing. I have only ever seen another one in a picture. My other Plomb pin handles are unmarked.

Congrats Don. First marked pin handle I've seen.

 

[MR.X]

Thanks, guys. Looks like I need a 9/16” (5418) and a 3/4” (5424) socket that matches these with the part number above the lines. Does anyone have any spares of those?
I got around to cleaning up the PWA 1397 chrome flex handle that I found on Saturday.
It looked way worse when I found it.
-Don

Someone cocked up that patent stamping attempt. I assume that's supposed to be 1,380,643.

 

[d42jeep]

They did better on this one but still not perfect.

-Don

 

[MisterEd]

Couple weeks ago we thought we’d found a WF-7, 9/32 Flexhead Breaker Bar. Had never seen one and didn’t know it’d been modified. Along with it, though, was a Snap-on A-6 Adaptor, 9/32 to 1/4, dated 1949. That was cool.

Last week the SigO found a WF-8. It’s a fine little Ratchet and the Adaptor makes it potentially useful.

 

[d42jeep]

Here are some WF-7 repack flex handles along with their Snap-on equivalents.

 

[d42jeep]

Some “War Finish” marked tools arrived to add to some sets.
-Don

 

[930dreamer]

This popped up on MP $700. Bellevue, WA. No road trip to Seattle for me.