Plomb tool picture thread - show your stuff!

[MR.X]

Curious if anyone has ever found a 5211, 3/8 drive 11/32 12 pt socket? It is listed in catalog 18A, but isn't shown in 15A and by the time 19R was published it is marked through as discontinued. Even in 18A it isn't shown in any of the standard sets. I've never seen one in the wild or online.

I sold a nice one within the last year. I had an advanced Plomb collector friend bust my balls over it when he found out. I had assumed he had one.

 

[RubiconJK]

I sold a nice one within the last year. I had an advanced Plomb collector friend bust my balls over it when he found out. I had assumed he had one.

Thanks for sharing the 5211 photo. That is my first proof of existence to see other than the limited catalog exposure I mentioned earlier.

Also, FYI here are a couple links to posts in the 1/4" drive collection thread showing some of my Plomb midget stuff.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7581393&postcount=408
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=7581430&postcount=410

 

[RubiconJK]

I will have to grab a picture but I picked up my first XXXX-H socket in 3/8 drive. They seem to hard to find.

Come to think of it I need to look to see if I have any of those. You are right, they are scarce. I did recently find this 1/2 drive 5432 S, 1" 8 Pt that looks NOS. I'll try to remember tomorrow to take a pic of a standard 5432 and this side by side. This 8 pt is considerably heavier duty.

 

[TrailHawkZ71]

Only Plomb stuff I have is a 3/8 x 5/16 wrench and a 13/16 that got modified somethime way in the past

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[RubiconJK]

I'll try to remember tomorrow to take a pic of a standard 5432 and this side by side. This 8 pt is considerably heavier duty.

Here are the pics of the 5432S and 5432 side by side.
5432 Dims: 1 3/8" OD X 1 1/2" H
5432S Dims: 1 3/4" OD X 1 3/4" H "chunk"

 

[ssdave]

I'm out of town for two days, I'll post a picture when I get back. I haven't packed them to ship yet. I checked them to see if they worked with my growing 1/4" drive set, and that extension had a 9/32 female end. but, the male end looked small, so checked it and it fit 1/4". Looked very carefully and it wasn't ground down as far as I could see. I didn't get my glasses, though.

Got back and packed up the Plomb stuff to ship. Looked again, and the 9/32 x 1/4" extension has been ground down. Don't know how I didn't see that the first time, I guess I was concentrating on sorting out what fit my 1/4" set and didn't look close enough.

 

[RagTopTA]

got this super worn 12" Plomb adjustable in yesterday. Cleaned up ok. Cant really make out the date codes on it. Works well though! Looks as though it was used a ton in its life, but not really abused.

 

[3baygarage]

Got back and packed up the Plomb stuff to ship. Looked again, and the 9/32 x 1/4" extension has been ground down. Don't know how I didn't see that the first time, I guess I was concentrating on sorting out what fit my 1/4" set and didn't look close enough.

I was wondering about that because I hadn’t seen or heard of one before.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

A little beauty and beast scenario...

The WF 8 is interesting, fully chromed, native 1/4 drive, the plate screw pokes through just enough to keep the selector from over-traveling, and the dogs have a counterbore in the back to keep the spring from wandering. None of my other W rats have the on - off marking either. The 'PLOMB' lettering is tapered to converge at the middle of the gear. There are a few spots where cosmoliney stuff wasnt quite cleaned off, and it etched the chrome a little, for example under the selector, and at the head end of the recessed area on the part number side of the handle.
Inside the head was coated in the same stuff. I replaced it with a little Timken red grease and a drop of synthetic oil. backdrag is so light if it's hanging from the drive it ratchets before it moves a handle width. Maybe postwar?

The other one looks like hell, but works good.

 

[RubiconJK]

A little beauty and beast scenario...

The WF 8 is interesting, fully chromed, native 1/4 drive, the plate screw pokes through just enough to keep the selector from over-traveling, and the dogs have a counterbore in the back to keep the spring from wandering. None of my other W rats have the on - off marking either. The 'PLOMB' lettering is tapered to converge at the middle of the gear. There are a few spots where cosmoliney stuff wasnt quite cleaned off, and it etched the chrome a little, for example under the selector, and at the head end of the recessed area on the part number side of the handle.
Inside the head was coated in the same stuff. I replaced it with a little Timken red grease and a drop of synthetic oil. backdrag is so light if it's hanging from the drive it ratchets before it moves a handle width. Maybe postwar?

The other one looks like hell, but works good.

Your WF8 is indeed an interesting variant. I don't believe I've seen in person that version with the on/off marks. If it is truly a 1/4" drive then that too is different since these were 9/32" drive other than the WF8S which is marked differently than yours. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

We were just comparing these on 1/4 inch thread, so I will post my 1/4 wf8 here as well. The workings of it look like my later penens racetrack ratchets.

 

[3baygarage]

I have the Challenger 1/4 with that same selector like yours and Slew’s. Knurled handle, but brass colored selector.

 

[r_olson_06]

Inching closer to finishing the pebble wrench marathon. Should have 2 additions this week. The first one showed up today. Thanks to Lugz I am down to 2 wrenches left. Here is the 3060. Still looking for the 3061 and the 3070. The 3061 currently is ground off. The family photo is almost complete.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrenches 3061, 3070,

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Your WF8 is indeed an interesting variant...[ ]... If it is truly a 1/4" drive then that too is different since these were 9/32" drive other than the WF8S which is marked differently than yours.

My hunch is there is either a faint "S" on it somewhere (I have had them from early production, before the "S" was a suffix to the "8") or it's post-war, and, like all those post-war Plomb and even some Proto WF-21's and WF-38's out there, not for any Wright Field contract, they just sort of adopted the number through re-using the dies and blanks etc., and put a 1/4-inch drive plug in it.

 

[r_olson_06]

Shipped out all the Plomb I thought I had yesterday, had added a few more that I found in between the sale and the shipping. But, I moved my big box of working tools from storage today into my garage, and ran into another small hand tool box that had a bunch more large Plomb wrenches and some P&C in it. They must have been too big for the box I had the rest stored in, or I just got confused. Can't seem to get to the end of all these old tools.

At least I hadn't lumped the P&C together and sold them off yet. I can add these big wrenches to the lot.

I hope in the next few months to get rid of all my backlog of duplicate and old tools, and just have my working stuff and the Proto that I choose to collect and keep. I'm glad to finally be there after having stuff in storage for more than 3 years.

Post up some pics when you get a chance. I am looking for some bigger wrenches to fill the holes in my collection if you are looking to part with them.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrenches 3061, 3070,

 

[tym]

If anyone stumbles across a spare 1210 pebble, please let me know!

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

My hunch is there is either a faint "S" on it somewhere (I have had them from early production, before the "S" was a suffix to the "8") or it's post-war, and, like all those post-war Plomb and even some Proto WF-21's and WF-38's out there, not for any Wright Field contract, they just sort of adopted the number through re-using the dies and blanks etc., and put a 1/4-inch drive plug in it.

Ther eis nothing subtle about any of the marking, and there is a big ol S in the middle of U.S.A., but I don't think that counts.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Hahaha. Second category then. Is it plated or just shiny?

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Chromey as chrome can be.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Yeah I would put it in the category of the postwar jobbies where the WF number is inconsequential.

 

[RubiconJK]

I don't think I've shared this socket with you guys before. It is a NOS looking PWA1402 which isn't super rare in and of itself but this one is also marked with the "war finish" mark. I've never seen another PWA piece also marked war finish.

 

[d42jeep]

That is very unusual because the conventional thinking is that any tool marked War Finish was intended for the civilian market to explain the difference in appearance from prewar tools. Maybe that theory needs to be re-examined.
-Don

 

[RubiconJK]

That is very unusual because the conventional thinking is that any tool marked War Finish was intended for the civilian market to explain the difference in appearance from prewar tools. Maybe that theory needs to be re-examined.
-Don

I wonder if the Plomb folks way back in the day knew how many mysteries they were creating?! Here is a link to another mystery socket which I have posted about before. It is a 3/8 drive 1/4 socket that is dual marked 5208 and WF-25. Again, another combination I've not seen other than this one.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6671700&postcount=2600

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The civilian aircraft industry did not come to a halt during WWII (for context, per Janes' All The World's Aircraft, 1945, which includes a 34-page section on the civilian aircraft industry during WWII, there were 2,866,824 civilian airline passengers in 1943, and 3,914,904 in 1944). PWA was definitely making radial engines for the civilian aircraft industry and perhaps they kept their civilian and military lines separate. Also, keep in mind that most if not all of the Plomb, Bonney and other OEM tools we find with PWA markings were bought by the USAAF and issued to USAAF on-board and ground crew tool-sets. The tools that PWA was using in their factory and buying from Plomb directly may have been marked WAR FINISH.

EDIT: BTW - Cool socket, Rubicon, and the first I have ever seen. (Sometimes I jump straight to the books and forget to enjoy the tool itself first. My apologies.)

 

[Provincial]

As I stated in post #5270, prior to WWII, and perhaps later, every aircraft engine shipped with a basic set of tools. It is likely that this policy extended into WWII for civilian engines.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That's an even more likely explanation than factory tool.

 

[RubiconJK]

The civilian aircraft industry did not come to a halt during WWII (for context, per Janes' All The World's Aircraft, 1945, which includes a 34-page section on the civilian aircraft industry during WWII, there were 2,866,824 civilian airline passengers in 1943, and 3,914,904 in 1944). PWA was definitely making radial engines for the civilian aircraft industry and perhaps they kept their civilian and military lines separate. Also, keep in mind that most if not all of the Plomb, Bonney and other OEM tools we find with PWA markings were bought by the USAAF and issued to USAAF on-board and ground crew tool-sets. The tools that PWA was using in their factory and buying from Plomb directly may have been marked WAR FINISH.

EDIT: BTW - Cool socket, Rubicon, and the first I have ever seen. (Sometimes I jump straight to the books and forget to enjoy the tool itself first. My apologies.)

Thanks Lugz. No apologies needed. I appreciate the comments and info from you guys!

 

[d42jeep]

I recently completed a Plomb trade that probably doubled my pebble inventory. Here are a few pictures.
-Don

 

[r_olson_06]

I recently completed a Plomb trade that probably doubled my pebble inventory. Here are a few pictures.
-Don

Nice Don. Be careful not to catch the pebble fever. I hear it's going around.

I had nice additions to my board thanks to SSdave. Have them sorted. Left box is new additions and right box is dups. I also have the complete 11XX series now adding to the completed 12XX and 38XX. Now to just finish the 30XX.

I will have some more detailed pics later.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrenches 3061, 3070,

 

[woodland_hank]

Good get Don. I'm still on the hunt for the last wrench to the 12xx combination set. Hoping to find the 1244 pebble combo soon so I can complete the set and make the display board. I've assembled a bunch of duplicates and extras that will need to go away once I'm done.

 

[RagTopTA]

So this came in today! Cleaned up well.

 

[3baygarage]

Nice one Rag. Perfect timing, here’s the 3/8 female 5249

I’m in need of a 3/8 plug, actually two plugs if anybody has some extras. I have a pebble minus the plug as well.

 

[3baygarage]

Finally sprung for a Proto IH-5449 too.

 

[RagTopTA]

had the USN markings I couldn't resist! I have a 3/8 also with plug. Never seen any single plugs.... maybe there's a source for them somewhere?

 

[davethorik]

had the USN markings I couldn't resist! I have a 3/8 also with plug. Never seen any single plugs.... maybe there's a source for them somewhere?

Four.cycle has posted it before...i believe Wiha makes them new. I'm not sure if there are any other sources besides used.

 

[ssdave]

Nice one Rag. Perfect timing, here’s the 3/8 female 5249

I’m in need of a 3/8 plug, actually two plugs if anybody has some extras. I have a pebble minus the plug as well.

I've got an old 3/4" drive plug that I'd pass on if anybody needs one. Have thought for years I'd run into a ratchet that needed it, but no such occurrence yet.

 

[r_olson_06]

I've got an old 3/4" drive plug that I'd pass on if anybody needs one. Have thought for years I'd run into a ratchet that needed it, but no such occurrence yet.

I need one for my old Plomb ratchet.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrenches 3061, 3070,

 

[ssdave]

I need one for my old Plomb ratchet.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrenches 3061, 3070,

I'll set it aside for you next time I see it. I've seen it in the past two weeks, but don't remember where. I think it's in a box with some Cornwell and Bonney and Herbrand stuff I sorted out.

 

[four.cycle]

you can get those drive plugs from KC Tool out of Kansas City, Missouri.
brand new. Heyco/Wiha

1/2" = 60366 https://www.kctoolco.com/wiha-heyco-60366-1-2-square-coupler/

3/8" = 60261 https://www.kctoolco.com/wiha-heyco-60261-3-8-square-coupler-0-98/

1/4" = 60141 https://www.kctoolco.com/wiha-heyco-60141-1-4-square-coupler-0-79/

There is another company that makes the adapter drive plugs - 1/4" x 3/8", 3/8" x 1/4", etc. I can't remember who right now, sorry. Up too late.
I'll remember later.

 

[RagTopTA]

awesome!! thanks fourcycle!!