Plomb tool picture thread - show your stuff!

[Shiftless]

That’s really nice, Don.

It’s good for a guy who put so much work into completing those sets to have a place to be able to see them regularly and enjoy the fruits of his labor.


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[RubiconJK]

Smokeshow sent me one of his Plomb tool board stickers and it motivated me to get going on a project that I had been planning. I had some leftover redwood pieces from a home repair and a retired carpenter buddy made this display shelf for my Plomb sets. Now I have to figure out a place for it.
-Don

Looks great Don!

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks, guys! I added this 1” deep socket, which was one of the tools Shiftless picked up for me on Saturday, to the 1/2” drive set on the bottom shelf. It replaced one with some finish issues.
-Don

 

[Catfishdan]

Don- that’s really cool. I’d put something like that right in my living room if I had the space.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Got ambitious and cleaned up my 1" drive stuff. Added a pebble Big Bertha from ebay.

 

[c1504]

Don, that is a pretty sweet set up!

OTG, are those sockets painted?

 

[d42jeep]

Don, that is a pretty sweet set up!

OTG, are those sockets painted?

Thanks!
My thought is that maybe they are media blasted to have that uniform finish.
A couple of tools came in the mail today, a lawsuit 3/8” drive flex handle and a cad plated 3/8” drive universal socket.
-Don

 

[r_olson_06]

Smokeshow sent me one of his Plomb tool board stickers and it motivated me to get going on a project that I had been planning. I had some leftover redwood pieces from a home repair and a retired carpenter buddy made this display shelf for my Plomb sets. Now I have to figure out a place for it.
-Don

Very nice display. Well done!

Got ambitious and cleaned up my 1" drive stuff. Added a pebble Big Bertha from ebay.

Those look amazing!

Looking for a Round Beam Plomb 1068 Double Box End Wrench

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Some of them had no finish so after a sand blasting I shot them with some aluminum paint to prevent rust. The one one the right here still has its original finish, the one on the left was painted. The sliding t head had no finish as well.

 

[Outlawmws]

Don, that's a great looking display - kudos to both you and your friend!

 

[z28lsc]

I picked these plomb pieces from the swapmeet the other day. I really like the 1/4 extension. It is so thin and nice.

 

[Arne73]

Proto 2108 chisel holder.
Got it from a buddy at work who was cleaning out his box.

Sent from my SM-G960U using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[drivesitfar]

Man this thread moves quick and gets a lot of great pics and information!! keep up the great work guys!!

I started pulling out some of my Plvmb & Proto 3/4 and 1 inch ratchet and sockets and put them in a drawer (yep this drawer is groaning a bit now).

these don't look as Purdy as Oldtuleguy's awesome 1 inch set he just posted, but they are mine and should clean up a bit when I have time. some of the back sockets are old Craftsman and Proto and other 3/4 inch that i'd consider trading for Plvmb or Williams if any of you might have a few.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice set up drives! I am working on cleaning up the box for mine, will post more pics when it is done.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I found this 5249 female ratchet with removable drive plug at the flea market on Thursday. I was so excited about some of the other things in the haul that I forgot to post it until now, when 3bay just reminded me of it on the Garage Sale thread. Shown with a 4749 ratchet in Pic 4 & 5.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice grab lugz. You guys probably don't see too much plomb out there.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks.

Generally speaking, you're probably right about the East Coast and Plomb, and as much as I'd like to say it was an extra special find, I am definitely an anomaly there, pretty much single-handedly blowing up that conventional wisdom. I don't see it as commonly as Craftsman, New Britain, or SK, but it's probably right up there just behind Snap-on and Williams. Including some uncommon pieces, such as stud pullers, oil pan screwdrivers, knock-off wheel pullers, and Name-Nurl pliers. I think I still have the oldest JPD-made adjustable crescent type wrench I have ever seen, I think I have one of the only two L-handles I have ever seen (tin medic has the other), I have never seen a special spark plug set other than mine and Roy's, and I believe I have the only complete LA tappet wrench set I have ever seen. WF pieces, especially wrenches, were my bread and butter income for years, regularly moving those and almost everything else I just mentioned above to a collector in Scotland.

I have probably flipped three times as much as I have kept (see Pics 1 & 2) or what I have left in ye old box o' odds and ends (see Pic 3).

Having said all that, my impression is that the female ratchets are pretty uncommon everywhere, west coast, east coast, breadbasket, and online auctions - especially with the plug.

 

[d42jeep]

The Plomb ratchets went through a lot of changes from the mid 30s to around 42, when they pretty much had their final design worked out. I had traded away my oil pan screwdriver, so I was happy to see another in a recent eBay Plomb lot.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

^ there's an ebay seller who's been trying to unload one of those old Chev oil-pan-screw sockets for months - NOS Giller. lacking a Giller catalog, it took me a while to figure out what it was.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Picked up a 4766 for the challenger set

 

[d42jeep]

Picked up a 4766 for the challenger set

Wow. That is a super rare set in amazing condition. Congratulations on completing it. Have you shown that box before?
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I think so, had all the sockets was just missing the breaker.

 

[c1504]

What exactly was the deal with the challenger sets? I’m not seeing what makes them different from any other set. The 4700z challenger set, for example, is the exact same thing as the 4700a non-challenger set offered in the same catalog, except that it comes in a 4793 box instead of a 4795 box. Was it just that the challenger tools were chrome plated and all others were not? If that is the case were chrome finished tools that much cheaper to produce that they could sell the set cheaper or was it simply a marketing thing to make them look like something new and special?

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Not sure. I think just a marketing scheme. Pop up now and then, not really rare but hard to find.

 

[four.cycle]

Purely wild speculation on my part, but it might be analogous to the Duro-Chrome-Indestro or the Thorsen-Action marketing strategies.

Selling two different brands allowed the manufacturer to sell Thorsen to Bob's Auto Parts, and Action to Jim's Hardware right across the street, and they weren't really "competing" with each other on an apples-to-apples basis.

The same game is played in the current era. Only the names of the players involved are changed to protect the innocent.

 

[d42jeep]

There was discussion about the Challenger experiment upthread.
https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=8654346&postcount=9248
The offerings in most of the Challenger sets were slightly different than other Plomb sets. The tools themselves are no different than other Plomb tools. I haven’t seen many documented versions of them shown on the GJ. Personally, I consider them to be extremely rare.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Don beat me to it. We've discussed the original "Challenger" concept before.

First introduced some time after August 1939 (when Catalog 17-B was published) and Catalog 18-A.

From p. 24, Catalog 18-A (Oct 1940): The low prices on these sets are made possible by large volume production and combining many items into a set or “package sale.” These economies are passed on in the form of a lower price. Sets come in sealed packages. No sets are to be broken, but are to be sold as complete units.

The next time Plomb used "Challenger", in 1949, and throughout the 50's, it was more of a brand name thing.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Yes they went all the way to making it a separate brand.

 

[d42jeep]

Since we are on the subject, my friend and tool collecting counterpart in Wales sent me a picture of a Plomb set that he had acquired. After looking in the various catalogs and checking the date codes on the tools I came to the conclusion that it was another complete Challenger set that someone had added an adapter to. Unfortunately, the label was missing so I sent him pictures and measurements from my label and he created a replica, modifying the Y into an X.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

The labels are usually gone, but you can spot them by the box configuration.

 

[c1504]

Thanks guys. I guess I overlooked it last time it came up

 

[Private Lugnutz]

No problem. Stuff gets buried quickly.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Here's the big Bertha set in the box with a 4751 for scale.

 

[drivesitfar]

OTG: I bet you could post pics of that big bertha 1 inch set every week and i still wouldn't get tired of looking at it. talk about TOOL ****!!

just curious is that a toy ratchet or a 1/4 inch one on top of BB?

did that set come to you like that or did you spiff it up?

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Thanks drives! Plomb 4751 1/4" ratchet. I spiffed it up, still need to paint box.

 

[bmwrd0]

Speaking of tool ****, I picked this little guy up this morning:

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice one. I have a few dual marked wrenches but nothing that small.

 

[Provincial]

California Tool Co. feeler gauge that showed up today.

 

[four.cycle]

International Tool Catalog Library

URL:

 

[d42jeep]

Like these.
-Don