Plomb tool picture thread - show your stuff!

[MR.X]

Today's findings, 1240 combo 1¼; 3020 and 3021 DOE's, less frequently seen Proto metric(DBE), and an old undated Crows foot.

Nice pull on that 29ish crowfoot. Almost never see those.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Headed back to Amarillo.

Nice work! That will clean up nicely. Post that in my presssteel thread when you have some time!


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[930dreamer]

Nice work! That will clean up nicely. Post that in my presssteel thread when you have some time!


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Will do.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Will do.

Feel free to also post progress pictures as you go along!


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[Smokeshow69]

Well, i got a 1214- 7/16th dual marked combowrench in the mail today... getting a little closer to the goal... i still have 12 spots to fill but i am closer than i was [emoji481] I put the needed wrenches in my signature line . If anyone has them please let me know![emoji481]

 

[bmwrd0]

Don't forget that I have a few for you, already in the "Smoke bucket".

 

[Smokeshow69]

Don't forget that I have a few for you, already in the "Smoke bucket".

Yup! I have a running master list and those are not listed in my signature. And at this point it is probably bigger than a bucket [emoji23]


Looking for the following PLVMB/PROTO dual marked combo wrenches- 1208, 1210, 1212, 1224, 1228, 1230, 1240, 1242, 1244, 1246, 1248, 1252

 

[Rileysan]

This popped up on Marketplace today - a Plomb 9980 tool chest - and was only ~20 minutes away from me. It was full of misc sockets, ratchets, and related, most of which were chinese junk but I salvaged a few nicer (SK, Bonney & Snap-on) items out of the mess. I paid $50.

Brian

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Good deal. Looks pretty straight.

 

[Smokeshow69]

This popped up on Marketplace today - a Plomb 9980 tool chest - and was only ~20 minutes away from me. It was full of misc sockets, ratchets, and related, most of which were chinese junk but I salvaged a few nicer (SK, Bonney & Snap-on) items out of the mess. I paid $50.

Brian

Man that looks nice! With some soap and water I think it would really clean up well! That is a you ****!


Looking for the following PLVMB/PROTO dual marked combo wrenches- 1208, 1210, 1212, 1224, 1228, 1230, 1240, 1242, 1244, 1246, 1248, 1252

 

[bmwrd0]

Nice pickup Brian. That will go nicely with all the other plomb.

 

[930dreamer]

Great find.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Nice pickup Brian. That will go nicely with all the other plomb.

You’ll love this- so Brian sends me a link to the ad via email and then calls me. He was wondering if this was a 9989 but I said no because it didn’t have the ledge to rest the tray on. He asked what model it was and I said I couldn’t remember but that I was pretty sure it was the model it turned out to be. So then he said he was looking through a catalog for it and then I grabbed a catalog I had nearby because I had been updating my signature with the wrench numbers. I laughed and said we were both super nerdy for having catalogs nearby but alas, if the shoe fits [emoji23][emoji41]


Looking for the following PLVMB/PROTO dual marked combo wrenches- 1208, 1210, 1212, 1224, 1228, 1230, 1240, 1242, 1244, 1246, 1248, 1252

 

[bmwrd0]

I don't have any Plomb catalogs, but there are more than a few Proto catalogs handy.

Not to mention Challenger, Armstrong, Snap-on, OTC, Bonney...

Nerds is right.

 

[Smokeshow69]

I don't have any Plomb catalogs, but there are more than a few Proto catalogs handy.

Not to mention Challenger, Armstrong, Snap-on, OTC, Bonney...

Nerds is right.

We are so nerdy[emoji23] but I love it. I have a bunch of printed catalogs and have a bunch in pdf format saved on my computer. I have 2 Proto la jobber size catalogs and 1 -62’ full size proto


Looking for the following PLVMB/PROTO dual marked combo wrenches- 1208, 1210, 1212, 1224, 1228, 1230, 1240, 1242, 1244, 1246, 1248, 1252

 

[bmwrd0]

Oh, I have a whole bunch on a thumb drive, as I just got a new 'puter and haven't transferred them yet. Also, it is great to look them up on the International collection, Twersty's site, and any other part of the internet they might be hiding.

 

[Provincial]

I posted a tool on the Proto Picture thread that will give you catalog nerds a project. It is a tool that had the part number change sometime between 1954 and 1970.

 

[consti2tion]

Good friend of mine snatched this for me at an antique mall the other day.


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[Smokeshow69]

Good friend of mine snatched this for me at an antique mall the other day.


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Nice! The 4700 series box is for 1/4 drive tools


Looking for the following PLVMB/PROTO dual marked combo wrenches- 1208, 1210, 1212, 1224, 1228, 1230, 1240, 1242, 1244, 1246, 1248, 1252

 

[consti2tion]

Nice! The 4700 series box is for 1/4 drive tools


Looking for the following PLVMB/PROTO dual marked combo wrenches- 1208, 1210, 1212, 1224, 1228, 1230, 1240, 1242, 1244, 1246, 1248, 1252

I like it. Need to start collecting some sockets and what not to fill it up.


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[SilverDeck]

A longtime former Proto plant production supervisor recently gifted me several service awards he had earned during his tenure. These are gold-filled lapel pins (1/4" wide by 1/2" tall), and the fine detail on them is quite exquisite. The blacksmith figure measures about 1/8" by 3/16". The 10-14 year piece with the "P.T.I.I." initials above stands for "Pendleton Tool Industries Inc." (the entity that owned the Proto tool line before they sold it to Ingersoll-Rand in 1964).

 

[Private Lugnutz]

...the fine detail on them is quite exquisite. The blacksmith figure measures about 1/8" by 3/16".

Amazing to see bas-relief that small.

The 10-14 year piece with the "P.T.I.I." initials above stands for "Pendleton Tool Industries Inc." (the entity that owned the Proto tool line before they sold it to Ingersoll-Rand in 1964).

The name the board of directors of the Plomb Tool Company unanimously voted to change to in 1957. It appears on a lot of packaging and ads for everything (Proto, Fleet, Challenger, etc) in that era, often in a sort of tiny logo form, wrapped around a globe.

 

[SilverDeck]

The name the board of directors of the Plomb Tool Company unanimously voted to change to in 1957. It appears on a lot of packaging and ads for everything (Proto, Fleet, Challenger, etc) in that era, often in a sort of tiny logo form, wrapped around a globe.

...and it even appears on one of the J100 Types....

 

[outofbounds]

Turned up this 5280 Speeder in an estate sale haul today. 18-1/4" long. I seem called out as 5480 on Ebay. Is there a difference between these P/Ns?

 

[Catfishdan]

Turned up this 5280 Speeder in an estate sale haul today. 18-1/4" long. I seem called out as 5480 on Ebay. Is there a difference between these P/Ns?

52xx is 3/8” drive, 54xx is 1/2” drive.

 

[outofbounds]

52xx is 3/8” drive, 54xx is 1/2” drive.

Thanks. Someone mismarked one as 3/8" on Ebay, hence my confusion

 

[DD T/A]

A longtime former Proto plant production supervisor recently gifted me several service awards he had earned during his tenure. These are gold-filled lapel pins (1/4" wide by 1/2" tall), and the fine detail on them is quite exquisite. The blacksmith figure measures about 1/8" by 3/16". The 10-14 year piece with the "P.T.I.I." initials above stands for "Pendleton Tool Industries Inc." (the entity that owned the Proto tool line before they sold it to Ingersoll-Rand in 1964).

Whoa you met someone that actually worked on the "spacesship"?
Does he have any stories from the old days? Know any answers to our current mysteries? I wonder if he's familiar with the dating system Plomb used or know what happened to the decades of paperwork and reasoning on why Proto tools changed their designs etc.

Kindo cool to meet a real person who worked inside the place. Most of us take our guesses using newspaper articles, catalogs, and tools we found in a heap of trash at a Flea market.

 

[SilverDeck]

Whoa you met someone that actually worked on the "spacesship"?

Does he have any stories from the old days? Know any answers to our current mysteries? I wonder if he's familiar with the dating system Plomb used or know what happened to the decades of paperwork and reasoning on why Proto tools changed their designs etc.



Kindo cool to meet a real person who worked inside the place. Most of us take our guesses using newspaper articles, catalogs, and tools we found in a heap of trash at a Flea market.

This guy is 82 years old now and started working at the P&C factory in Milwaukie, Oregon, (then under the ownership of Pendleton Tool Industries) in 1962. He spent a total of 33 years working for Proto and retired after they shut down the Milwaukee plant and he helped shift the tooling and production to the new Proto plant in Wichita Falls, Texas. I quizzed him about anything related to Plomb but that was long before he started and he had no knowledge of it. He did tell me that when he started at the P&C/Proto plant that they were the only plant in the Proto system of factories that was making the J100 keychain screwdrivers and that screwdrivers and sockets were the specialty of the Milwaukie plant. So I suspect that when Plomb bought P&C Tool Co. in 1941 that they shifted J100 production from Los Angeles up to Milwaukie. (And I suspect that all post-1941 Plomb/Proto/P&C screwdrivers of any kind were also all made in Milwaukie). I asked him about the J100s that were marked “Proto Los Angeles” and he said these could easily have been made in Milwaukie and marked with the Los Angeles stamp. This sort of thing happened all the time within the Proto company. For example, the P&C marked pliers and adjustable wrenches were made at the Proto Jamestown plant and the P&C marked wrenches were made at the Proto Schiller Park plant. So even though he couldn’t answer anything related to pre-1962 production, this guy could walk me step-by-step through the entire list of processes that it took to produce a J100 keychain screwdriver. There were 15 steps to produce one in black oxide or chrome plated finish. I will be sharing all of this when I release my J100 research here on Garage Journal. I’m still gathering data and images so it’s not quite ready yet but will be coming, so stay tuned.


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[DD T/A]

Not trying to sound thankless but I'm much more interesting in screwdrivers/sockets/wrenches and exactly where they'd be made at his time in the company than I am interesting in J100 history, but history is good nonetheless so thank you for doing research and especially for him being willing to be open about it.

Nothing you/he said is surprising.

 

[Catfishdan]

My First plomb haul of the new year. 1932 5251 ratchet, an 1126 dbe, and a wilpen 8185. I think that’s the first wilpen I’ve found.

 

[3baygarage]

Flea find yesterday. Almost overlooked it on a table full of misc.. I was excited to find an old Los Angeles item. Measures about 1”. Is this a water pump wrench?

 

[Rileysan]

An embossed Plomb Toolmobile showed up in Eastern Washington for a "you ****" price. I'm not daunted by the distance but I won't have time to take a road trip for a couple weeks. Hopefully someone here can go get it!

Brian

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/423876675591380/

 

[Smokeshow69]

An embossed Plomb Toolmobile showed up in Eastern Washington for a "you ****" price. I'm not daunted by the distance but I won't have time to take a road trip for a couple weeks. Hopefully someone here can go get it!



Brian



https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/423876675591380/

Yeah someone is going to ****! I can’t make the trip either but hopefully someone on here can grab it! I need an embossed logo for my collection, and a square corner as well[emoji41]


Looking for the following PLVMB/PROTO dual marked combo wrenches- 1208, 1210, 1212, 1224, 1228, 1230, 1240, 1242, 1244, 1246, 1248, 1252

 

[Catfishdan]

eBay delivery today. I bought this lot primarily for the stubby spinner and the 19/32” socket. Too bad the ranger wrench has been modded. I might try to straighten it. There’s also a wf-124, wf-126, and a wf-124. RubiconJK - I’m gonna send you a pm about the wf-126.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Sweet stubby spinner. Maybe heat that wrench with a torch, should straighten out.

 

[Catfishdan]

Thanks. As is often the case, i traded for one a few weeks ago only to see one pop up for a reasonable price a bit later. I think I found 3 pebble 1210s after trading for one.

 

[Outlawmws]

I wouldn't try to re-heat and straighten the wrench, I don't think there is going back for an angle that sharp without damage showing. Then its just a damaged wrench.

I've straightened slight bends, but I'd just keep that as a modded wrench. I actually have quite a few Po modded tools now.

 

[ooba tooba]

Large Plomb tool board on FB marketplace Toledo. Measures 5ft X 30”. The one pic showing the whole board wouldn’t upload. No affiliation

 

[brainypencil]

Re: ~ Plomb tool picture thread - show your stuff!

Hi Everyone, I have been away. here is a Top Box I sold and one I just picked up

Very nice box. How old are they?

 

[RubiconJK]

eBay delivery today. I bought this lot primarily for the stubby spinner and the 19/32” socket. Too bad the ranger wrench has been modded. I might try to straighten it. There’s also a wf-124, wf-126, and a wf-124. RubiconJK - I’m gonna send you a pm about the wf-126.

Dan, thanks! PM sent back.