Plomb tool picture thread - show your stuff!

[Oregon rock crusher]

Portland Swap Meets were on over the weekend!!! One of my favorite times of the year. I spent Thurs and Friday at PIR where the entire track and infield is lined with vendors. A hardy lot they are as the weather was fairly rough most of the time. I spent Saturday at the Expo but really didn't even get through all of it and most of the stuff I found was at the track. I picked up about 50 pieces of Plomb over the first two days of endless walking. Most all of it coming from one vendor who had it piled up on a very wet table I passed on the 2nd day. I'd missed them the first day even though I may have walked right by them. I saw Riley there on day one and he mentioned passing the Plomb top box, which was kind of rough in spots, up in the direction I was headed. For $80 I couldn't walk by and I'm pretty sure I can clean it up fine. Missing the two little drawers but the other two are actually very good.

Here are a few pics. Mostly wrenches with about a dozen pebbles and a fairly complete set of plain finish 46' or early 47' wrenches. A lot of the plain wrenches had no date code with dots. Not WF or war finish though. Probably came from the same original owner. A couple ratchets and a few sockets as well. I think I ended up out about $175 on the tools and passed on quite a few $20 wrenches and am pretty sure I left a pile for Smoke to find too. Ed.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Awesome haul!

 

[notlob]

Wow! I've never seen so much Plomb booty in one find.



Let me know if you need pics/measurements for the small drawers - I've got two sets.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Portland Swap Meets were on over the weekend!!! One of my favorite times of the year. I spent Thurs and Friday at PIR where the entire track and infield is lined with vendors. A hardy lot they are as the weather was fairly rough most of the time. I spent Saturday at the Expo but really didn't even get through all of it and most of the stuff I found was at the track. I picked up about 50 pieces of Plomb over the first two days of endless walking. Most all of it coming from one vendor who had it piled up on a very wet table I passed on the 2nd day. I'd missed them the first day even though I may have walked right by them. I saw Riley there on day one and he mentioned passing the Plomb top box, which was kind of rough in spots, up in the direction I was headed. For $80 I couldn't walk by and I'm pretty sure I can clean it up fine. Missing the two little drawers but the other two are actually very good.

Here are a few pics. Mostly wrenches with about a dozen pebbles and a fairly complete set of plain finish 46' or early 47' wrenches. A lot of the plain wrenches had no date code with dots. Not WF or war finish though. Probably came from the same original owner. A couple ratchets and a few sockets as well. I think I ended up out about $175 on the tools and passed on quite a few $20 wrenches and am pretty sure I left a pile for Smoke to find too. Ed.

Ed- you **** for finding that top box ! I know which seller you got them from I believe [emoji849] gentleman with long hair and a beard ? I bought 3 very large proto combo wrenches from him on Saturday , plus some other plomb including a 12" adjustable !


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[Rileysan]

Portland Swap Meets were on over the weekend!!! One of my favorite times of the year. I spent Thurs and Friday at PIR where the entire track and infield is lined with vendors. A hardy lot they are as the weather was fairly rough most of the time. I spent Saturday at the Expo but really didn't even get through all of it and most of the stuff I found was at the track. I picked up about 50 pieces of Plomb over the first two days of endless walking. Most all of it coming from one vendor who had it piled up on a very wet table I passed on the 2nd day. I'd missed them the first day even though I may have walked right by them. I saw Riley there on day one and he mentioned passing the Plomb top box, which was kind of rough in spots, up in the direction I was headed. For $80 I couldn't walk by and I'm pretty sure I can clean it up fine. Missing the two little drawers but the other two are actually very good.

Here are a few pics. Mostly wrenches with about a dozen pebbles and a fairly complete set of plain finish 46' or early 47' wrenches. A lot of the plain wrenches had no date code with dots. Not WF or war finish though. Probably came from the same original owner. A couple ratchets and a few sockets as well. I think I ended up out about $175 on the tools and passed on quite a few $20 wrenches and am pretty sure I left a pile for Smoke to find too. Ed.

Nice haul!

You really don't have to worry too much about Smoke - he's as resourceful as they come and will find gems in places I turned upside down!

I have quite a few Plomb items to show as well but I manned a booth much of the weekend so have barely started sorting my stuff.

Brian

 

[woodland_hank]

Here in the midwest Plomb can be difficult to come by. I've never seen that many Plomb pieces at a swap meet before. Never. Is it more of a west coast thing because of where they were made?

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I think that is part of it. There is often more of it in proximity to naval/military bases. I have found some stuff here in az but pretty slim

 

[Rileysan]

Here in the midwest Plomb can be difficult to come by. I've never seen that many Plomb pieces at a swap meet before. Never. Is it more of a west coast thing because of where they were made?

Local distribution is definitely a big part of it. I walked past dozens of Plomb items at the same swap meet because I either had them, or I didn't like their prices. You also have to consider the shear quantity of sellers at this swap meet. At PIR, the entire 1.9 mile road course was lined with vendors as well as the paddock inside the track. At the Portland Expo Center, there are thousands of vendors covering dozens of acres. It's a bit overwhelming to say the least!

Brian

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

Wow! I've never seen so much Plomb booty in one find. Let me know if you need pics/measurements for the small drawers - I've got two sets.

Thanks notlob, I probably will need dimensions on those small drawers eventually but I'm not likely to get started for a while. Ed.

I know which seller you got them from I believe [emoji849] gentleman with long hair and a beard ? I bought 3 very large proto combo wrenches from him on Saturday , plus some other plomb including a 12" adjustable

Well Smoke, that description probably fits at least half the vendors at the track so your guess is pretty good. Really though I think you're right as he had several tables out and quite a bit of Proto also. He was set up not too far around the track making left turns from the main gate. Sounds like you had a pretty good time searching and finding too.

Nice haul!

You really don't have to worry too much about Smoke - he's as resourceful as they come and will find gems in places I turned upside down!

I have quite a few Plomb items to show as well but I manned a booth much of the weekend so have barely started sorting my stuff.

Brian

You got that right Brian....Smoke seems to have done fine as did you...one of these days I need to set up as a vendor so I can also get the hole shot on the crowds.

Here in the midwest Plomb can be difficult to come by. I've never seen that many Plomb pieces at a swap meet before. Never. Is it more of a west coast thing because of where they were made?

Hi Hank. One other thing that was in this area was a huge timber industry. There were a lot of field mechanics and millrights supporting those operations with multiple logging outfits and mills in most towns. The trucking shops to keep log and lumber trucks moving also demanded quality tools. Plomb and P&C being west coast companies providing excellent tools were a popular choice for working on heavy equipment in rough environments.

 

[woodland_hank]

Makes sense. I’ve been to one of the largest Midwest swap meets, Iola, Wisconsin, many times. Not much for Plomb. We have a big paper mill industry in Northeast Wisconsin but most around here use Snap-On tools.

 

[jabberwoki]

I saw that box on Wednesday looks like he dropped the price some. Glad you got it Rocky.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

He had $100 on it but took $80....It definitely needs some attention but I didn't have this style box and still had a few bucks to spend. Sounds like you got in with the vendors Jabberwoki. I know a few who were there and probably should have went up early to help them set up but duty called so I went to work instead on Wednesday.

 

[drivesitfar]

ORC: you might have to build a new shop just for PLVMB tools if you keep up this pace. WELL DONE and nice haul!!

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

ORC: you might have to build a new shop just for PLVMB tools if you keep up this pace. WELL DONE and nice haul!!

Thanks Drives, building more shop just to house my Plomb would be a pretty good problem to have however unlikely. Undoubtedly it's my other collections/obsessions that will necessitate adding on someday. I'm pretty sure you can never have too much roof when you live here in the Northwest. Ed.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I have found some stuff here in az but pretty slim

Where in Arizona are you located? I'm at Fort Huachuca several times a year. Good buddy in Patagonia does okay in Tucson, but just okay.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The funny thing about Plomb being considered a west coast brand is all the factories and OEM's they had in the Midwest and East. Not arguing with the regionalism. I agree with the regionalism. It was less of a nation-wide brand than Snap-on, Blackhawk or Walden. I find it regularly, not in large quantities, but regularly, because of my proximity to military bases. It's just funny considering their prominent plants in Ohio and their OEMs in New York state.

 

[48548]

I am in phoenix and don't see a lot....

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[Smokeshow69]

Thanks notlob, I probably will need dimensions on those small drawers eventually but I'm not likely to get started for a while. Ed.







Well Smoke, that description probably fits at least half the vendors at the track so your guess is pretty good. Really though I think you're right as he had several tables out and quite a bit of Proto also. He was set up not too far around the track making left turns from the main gate. Sounds like you had a pretty good time searching and finding too.







You got that right Brian....Smoke seems to have done fine as did you...one of these days I need to set up as a vendor so I can also get the hole shot on the crowds.







Hi Hank. One other thing that was in this area was a huge timber industry. There were a lot of field mechanics and millrights supporting those operations with multiple logging outfits and mills in most towns. The trucking shops to keep log and lumber trucks moving also demanded quality tools. Plomb and P&C being west coast companies providing excellent tools were a popular choice for working on heavy equipment in rough environments.

Ed, I like your idea on becoming a "vendor"... Wondering in my mind if perhaps the garage journal nw guys should buy a spot next year but not actually sell anything and just use it as an early entry tool [emoji16] maybe we could clean out all the plomb and p&c before anybody else gets there [emoji38] rileysan and I cleaned up the expo center before you got there and I see you handled the track before we got there [emoji16]. At the expo center I found one vendor selling tools by the bucket and bought about 20 pieces of plomb, proto la and p&c for $25... I even found 2 of the 8" plomb pipe wrenches in that haul. I kept one and gave Riley one!


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[Oregon rock crusher]

Very good idea that joint venture vendor space Smoke. I actually have quite a bit of "treasure" to at least make it resemble a real junk store. One of the guys I know just used his rented space for his camper and even though he took a few things to sell he didn't bother to set them out where anyone could see them. Oh, and I'm pretty sure pics of your bucket of Plomb plunder are pretty much necessary... Ed.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Very good idea that joint venture vendor space Smoke. I actually have quite a bit of "treasure" to at least make it resemble a real junk store. One of the guys I know just used his rented space for his camper and even though he took a few things to sell he didn't bother to set them out where anyone could see them. Oh, and I'm pretty sure pics of your bucket of Plomb plunder are pretty much necessary... Ed.

I am still cleaning things up and will post the p&c in its correct thread but here is a teaser shot [emoji16]



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[btrnuthatch]

Plomb toolbox - South SF Bay/Silicon Valley

Looks great; I suspect it's a repaint. $200.

No affiliation yada yada... My usual and customary finder's fee is 12.5%, or two mint condition pebble combos.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/tls/d/plomb-tool-box-made-in-la/6555602506.html

I bought it -- $180. By chance I saw the ad right when it posted. Not a repaint. A little rust on bottom, otherwise quite clean. It's my 2nd; have 3 grandkids so need a third.

 

[d42jeep]

Congratulations. That is a great grab. I would be happy to find one like that. It’s good that you didn’t have to pay full price, too.
-Don

 

[Smokeshow69]

I bought it -- $180. By chance I saw the ad right when it posted. Not a repaint. A little rust on bottom, otherwise quite clean. It's my 2nd; have 3 grandkids so need a third.

More pictures please of that jewel !


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[btrnuthatch]

More pictures please of that jewel !


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Leaving on a trip this morning. Will post images later this month.

 

[RagTopTA]

I bought it -- $180. By chance I saw the ad right when it posted. Not a repaint. A little rust on bottom, otherwise quite clean. It's my 2nd; have 3 grandkids so need a third.

Just noticed that box has the round O's as most of mine do. But the sticker in the lid has the upside down triangle.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I bought it -- $180. By chance I saw the ad right when it posted. Not a repaint. A little rust on bottom, otherwise quite clean. It's my 2nd; have 3 grandkids so need a third.

Don't forget about me gramps!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Just noticed that box has the round O's as most of mine do. But the sticker in the lid has the upside down triangle.

We've talked about that before somewhere. A lot of the wartime (OD green) boxes seem to have either come from new old stockpiles of boxes made before 1934 (when PLOMB TOOLS started using the more stylized PLVMB TVVLS logo), embossed with the old branding, or they were new, and Plomb wasn't too particular about extending the new branding to their box supplier(s). There are plenty of wartime (OD green) boxes embossed with the stylized logo, so the new branding eventually caught up, one way or another. Stickers, sometimes applied in corners on the socket set cases, seems to have been their makeshift solution until then.

 

[RagTopTA]

We've talked about that before somewhere. A lot of the wartime (OD green) boxes seem to have either come from new old stockpiles of boxes made before 1934 (when PLOMB TOOLS started using the more stylized PLVMB TVVLS logo), embossed with the old branding, or they were new, and Plomb wasn't too particular about extending the new branding to their box supplier(s). There are plenty of wartime (OD green) boxes embossed with the stylized logo, so the new branding eventually caught up, one way or another. Stickers, sometimes applied in corners on the socket set cases, seems to have been their makeshift solution until then.

Makes sense. I need to find a box with really good paint and the sticker still on it! I dont have one yet

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

I'm not really sure what to think on box colors or decals or embossing. Catalog 15a is showing drawings of tools sporting the round O and made in LA on them. The 9999 box in 15a clearly shows round O's embossed in the lid yet with a decal with the triangular O's. Hard to tell the color in a B&W pic/drawing but I assumed the wrinkle green is what they were. I would like to know more about the evolution of the top boxes as looking through a few catalogs raises more questions than answers for me. Ed.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

We had a bit of a similar discussion about this box because of the round o's and the decal with triangle o's

 

[d42jeep]

My unmolested 1939 Challenger set is a perfect example of round Os on the box and PL∇MB on the sticker.
-Don

 

[48548]

Hmmm....

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[Oldtuleguy]

Yes it would seem to be the case they were not picky about matching the stickers and the boxes.

 

[Oregon rock crusher]

I've got three top boxes, two square corner green wrinkle and one round corner red box which seem to have been produced at significantly different times and all have the same round O Plomb Tool Co. Los Angeles stamping in the lids. Some of the smaller socket set boxes had triangular O's though. I doubt you can positively date a top box by the stamping. Ed.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Indeed.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I could be wrong, but I've never seen a PLOMB TOOLS sticker. Only PLVMB TVVLS stickers on PLOMB TOOLS boxes. And again, I think that's an intentional inexpensive solution. Their brand was clearly important to them, or they wouldn't have invested time and money in updating it to begin with. Think of all the production line dies they had to change out and the new dies they had to make to change the markings on their tools from PLOMB LOS ANGELES to PLVMB MADE IN U.S.A. But they intentionally leave a big fat old-fashioned logo on their boxes? Which is the first thing anyone sees, and without holding it up to your face? We may never know for sure, but that just doesn't jibe for me. It would be an easy change on the sheet steel stamper, which I think they ordered, just as soon as they exhausted their supply of all the new old stockpiled boxes they had on hand.

It's a theory, anyway, and I'm stickering with it until proven otherwise.

By the way, Catalog 17B (1939) and Catalog 18A (1941) actually include illustrations of boxes embossed with the old logo and stickers with the new logo. The only boxes that are shown embossed with the new stylized logo are little specialty sets, which probably moved a lot slower than the others.

By Catalog 19 (1943), none of the boxes are shown with the old logo.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I personally wouldn't date any box with the old logo to any newer than 1943. Edit: As you can imagine, it's been a bugaboo for WWII collectors.

 

[d42jeep]

They continued to use the stickers even after the change to PL∇MB on the exterior of the box, at least with these 1/4” drive sets.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That makes sense to me, Don, through force of habit and especially when it had model number info.

 

[d42jeep]

Here are my Plomb empire finds from yesterday’s Oakland estate sale.
They are to the left of my WW2 tool finds in the first picture.
Big screwdriver needing some help, 1-3-16” socket, plain finish 3/8” speeder and some rusty wrenches. The second and third pictures are the wrenches de-rusted.
An 1125, a WF81 and a P&C 2716.
-Don