Pls help me identify some oldies

[Michael Steinmann]

Hello. My mother found these tools in her attic and passed them on to me.
I would be happy to receive any information about them, such as whether the tool is high-quality or ordinary, production dates, and any other information.
Thank you kindly in advance!
Michael

 

[Michael Steinmann]

And here are more.
Some of them are unbranded or unknown to me.

 

[3baygarage]

Hi. The end nipper in the first post is EA Berg. Eskilstuna Sweden. That’s Erik Anton Berg. They have some age to them.

The second nipper is Smalcalda if you can’t make it out. Also some age to those. Looks like some nice European made stuff.

 

[d42jeep]

The first item is a common Stanley retractable utility knife sometimes referred to as a box cutter. They often have spare blades inside.
-Don

 

[Farmer J.]

The Knipex Combination Pliers with the insulated handles are good quality made in Germany.
New ones like that cost around £40 here in UK, equivalent $54 in USA

https://www.knipex.com/en-uk/combination-pliers?v=6686

 

[Michael Steinmann]

BTW, I opened that knife and found these stamping inside. Can we learn from them anything?

 

[RTM]

Probably just mold or die numbers. Unfortunately, that knife style had a long life. I swear my dad had one in the 70s, and the style can still be bought now, nut probably has a different part number. Poking around in the Stanley catalogs here might give you a range. I usually go in ten year or 5 year increments when searching for something like that, then halve the g when you miss it.

Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Texts, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine

archive.org

 

[RTM]

And here are more.
Some of them are unbranded or unknown to me.

Stahl is German for Steel, so you can poke around in the German catalogs here

Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Texts, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine

archive.org

The 1927-37 catalogs have multiple languages and a diverse selection of tools. Those look like carpenters nippers.


The final pair also look like nippers, I can’t read any of the lettering but GDR, and I don’t know that Germany called themselves that, I think it was DDR. Germans love compound words, so try breaking the long word up into smaller fragments and run it through google translate.

 

[crguy]

BTW, I opened that knife and found these stamping inside. Can we learn from them anything?

That knife is nothing to get excited about IMO.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I can’t read any of the lettering but GDR, and I don’t know that Germany called themselves that,

The "GDR" is the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. "Smalcalda" - as @3baygarage identified above - is a sort of brand name version of Werkzeugkombinat Schmalkalden, the formal name of East Germany's state-owned tool manufacturing combine. Those are Cold War end nippers from the other side of the wall.

 

[RTM]

The "GDR" is the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany. "Smalcalda" - as @3baygarage identified above - is a sort of brand name version of Werkzeugkombinat Schmalkalden, the formal name of East Germany's state-owned tool manufacturing combine. Those are Cold War end nippers from the other side of the wall.

But, DDR is the name they would be using inside East Germany, no? GDR I would expect if exporting to an English speaking country. I thought (scary eh?) that East Germany wasn't manufacturing for export, they were only making for internal consumption. I assume then that you are saying they were making for export outside the wall.

Stolen from AI do I don't have to retype: DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik), or German Democratic Republic, was a socialist state in East Germany from 1949 to 1990

This ^^ is what I was taught in HS, long before 1990.

 

[The Cobbler]

the knife is nothing special .

 

[Private Lugnutz]

East Germany wasn't manufacturing for export, they were only making for internal consumption. I assume then that you are saying they were making for export outside the wall.

East Germany's foreign trade was dominated by Soviet Bloc/COMECON partners, but not exclusively. In the 70's into the 80's - when I suspect those nippers were made - Western exports, including the UK, may have reached as high as 30%. They needed the cash! My understanding is that the "Smalcalda" is also anglicized for English-speaking markets. I see the "GDR" most often on axes.

 

[Michael Steinmann]

Hi again.
Some more tools I received.

Strange pliers (Polish):

 

[Michael Steinmann]

Cutter pliers:

 

[Michael Steinmann]

Oddly designed pliers, made in West Germany:

 

[Michael Steinmann]

Another strange pliers:

 

[Michael Steinmann]

And another heavy and well-designed pair of pliers

 

[four.cycle]

Your last post - Stubai - is Austrian:
Stubai / Stubai ZMV GmbH / https://www.stubai.com/en/start-2/ / http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2018/03/german-austrian-wrench-makers.html /

"Poland" in Polish is Polska, so I can only assume your Polish nippers were manufactured for the export market.
You might find a match to that logo on Wolfgang's website:
https://www.holzwerken.de/sitemap.phtml

"HiT" is the trade named used by Toho Koki
Toho Koki / Toho Koki Co. Ltd., 2500, Koizumi, Yamatokoriyama, Nara 639-1042, Japan / "Hit" / http://www.hittools.co.jp/eg/main.html / est. 1938 / http://alloy-artifacts.org/japanese-tool-makers.html#toho-koki /

I don't recognize the "Made in Western Germany" pair at all - perhaps @Eric Brown might shed some light there.

The 180 nippers with the odd stylized "A with an arrow" logo is puzzling: is that character Cyrillic?

 

[Eric Brown]

Oddly designed pliers, made in West Germany:

I really don't know who made these but they give me a Knipex vibe.

 

[Michael Steinmann]

Thank you all, I'll keep looking.

 

[Michael Steinmann]

Oddly designed pliers, made in West Germany:

Because I remembered seeing something similar in a box from the attic, I went back to it and continued rummaging through it and realized what reminded me of these pliers: a packaging for the tool and guess what was inside? Another brand new pair of pliers, still with traces of preservative oil and machining marks on the metal.

 

[four.cycle]

Blombach / Carl Blombach, Remscheider Strasse 125, 42899 Remscheid, Germany (1962), Franztrasse, Ronsdorf (1891) / est. 1878 closed 1990 / "Blosta" "Fit" tools / https://www.holzwerken.de/museum/hersteller/blombach_carl.phtml /

Blosta / Blosta see Carl Blombach, Wuppertal, Germany /

Fit / Fit combination pliers see Carl Blombach, Wuppertal, Germany /

Carl Blombach, Wuppertal (Remschied) Germany

Founded in 1878, it moved to Franzstrasse in Ronsdorf, Germany, in 1891. The 1906 address book clearly identifies fifteen Ronsdorf companies as publicly traded export companies, including the Carl Blombach company on Franzstrasse, now Geranienstraße.
The company building was destroyed during the air raid on May 30, 1943, but was rebuilt after the war. In 1978, the company, then run by the third generation of the Blombach family, celebrated its centennial.

Schaatsenmaker Carl Blombach

Schaatsenmaker Carl Blombach op schaatshistorie.nl

www.schaatshistorie.nl

Manufacturers of all manner of zange, zangen, and even hammerzangen!

 

[four.cycle]

You know.... that model 6916 there on page 112 sure looks remarkably similar to a Millers Falls unit I have here in a box in the kitchen.
From other catalog pages, it's clear that Carl Blombach was outsourcing some of their product offerings.

I am wondering how many of these objects @RTM can pin to a U.S. manufacturer?

(scratching my head trying to figure out the name of the maker of those blow torches.)

Google Translate tells me "Stangenbohrer" = "Drill Bit", but those are certainly the oddest "drill bits" I've ever seen. Gotta be another name for those gizmos.

Where's Olli?

 

[RTM]

Google Translate tells me "Stangenbohrer" = "Drill Bit", but those are certainly the oddest "drill bits" I've ever seen. Gotta be another name for those gizmos.

Those fall into the category of giant augers. Sometimes called ships augers. Those with the loop in the end are made for turning with a big stick of some nature. You aren't spinning those with an eggbeater or a brace, even a 14" one.

Swan called theirs Ring Augers

The James Swan Company : Illustrated Catalog and Price List of Premium Mechanics' Tools : 1911 : James Swan Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

138 p., 21.0 cm, illus., trade catalog

archive.org

 

[Eric Brown]

Those fall into the category of giant augers. Sometimes called ships augers. Those with the loop in the end are made for turning with a big stick of some nature. You aren't spinning those with an eggbeater or a brace, even a 14" one.

Swan called theirs Ring Augers

The James Swan Company : Illustrated Catalog and Price List of Premium Mechanics' Tools : 1911 : James Swan Co. : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

138 p., 21.0 cm, illus., trade catalog

archive.org

I have one that bores a 3 1/2" hole. It has a handle about 28" long. I found a reference that said it was a boom auger. This is in reference to when they would group a bunch of logs together to float down a river or lake. Apparently they would bore holes at the ends of the outer logs and tie them together with chains.

 

[four.cycle]

^ I would imagine the handle was left up to the end user, which makes perfect sense. Wood was readily available in most places where one would be boring holes in wood. At least that seems a reasonable assumption.

So... I have to wonder... I Carl was peddling what appear to be Millers Falls twist drills (this gem in my kitchen is stamped "2")... and it's obvious the blow torches were outsourced ... one has to ask what else was he outsourcing, and from whom? If it is indeed an MF made drill (which it appears to be), he was an importer and exporter.

The other question that comes up is: What, if any, relationship was there between Carl and Walter?

Or is this just coincidence?

Blombach / Walter Blombach GmbH, Am Blaffertsberg 13, 42899 Remscheid, Deutschland / https://www.wabeco-remscheid.de/ / est. 1885 / vises, drill stands /

Updated LIST here 03/11/26 17:04 PDT

 

[RTM]

Carl was peddling what appear to be Millers Falls twist drills (this gem in my kitchen is stamped "2")

By twist drill, do mean
An Eggbeater drill
Or the actual twist drill bit.

If that's the egg beater drill bit that's one of my favorites for high style points. I think I have three or four hiding around the shop.

If that's a twist drill, I have no idea how the sizing runs. Auger bits go by 16th of an inch and so an inch and a half would be a 24. 1/2 inch obviously an eight

 

[RTM]

Google Translate tells me "Stangenbohrer" = "Drill Bit"

My app translates this to auger bit, and the first half to BARS. I take that to think about stairway banister verticals ¢¢

 

[four.cycle]

By twist drill, do mean
An Eggbeater drill

Yes. "Eggbeater" would be more accurate.
I own a Millers Falls model 2 - picked it up a few months ago but haven't had a chance to get it outdoors to fiddle with it.
Those eggbeater drills on that catalog page look remarkably similar to Millers Falls products.

What I was thinking was: it looks to ME like Carl Blombach was both importer and exporter, dealing with a good number of other companies. (What other explanation could there be?)

What I am curious about is what, if any relationship may have existed between Carl Blombach and Walter Blombach, both of whom were located in the Remscheid area.

 

[Eric Brown]

Yes. "Eggbeater" would be more accurate.
I own a Millers Falls model 2 - picked it up a few months ago but haven't had a chance to get it outdoors to fiddle with it.
Those eggbeater drills on that catalog page look remarkably similar to Millers Falls products.

What I was thinking was: it looks to ME like Carl Blombach was both importer and exporter, dealing with a good number of other companies. (What other explanation could there be?)

What I am curious about is what, if any relationship may have existed between Carl Blombach and Walter Blombach, both of whom were located in the Remscheid area.

In my studies of spiral ratchet screwdrivers, ratchet screwdrivers and German pliers, I have come to realize the German companies would sometimes copy the American designs probably as a way for an importer to compete at a lower cost for a tools that looks the same. I have also found some Miller Falls tools that were made in Germany.

 

[four.cycle]

I have also found some Miller Falls tools that were made in Germany.

^ I would not be at all surprised.
I think there was a good deal of "post war" activity going on that we may never know about, simply because it was being done "on the fly" and there were (quite obviously) many players involved.
Under the Marshall Plan, there would have been innumerable parties who were all jumping at the chance to get their fingers into all that "free money" being doled out to rebuild Europe.