Post up your Thorsen tools!

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks. Just went back and checked it out. Now I'm thinking that is probably the catalog AA has in their library, which they date to 1931 at the earliest.

 

[notlob]

Where did those pics come from? Your catalogs Notlob?

From the Early Thorsen Catalog on your TA site:

http://toolarchives.com/node/1996

 

[twertsy]

From the Early Thorsen Catalog on your TA site:

http://toolarchives.com/node/1996

Reminds me, I have to download those and get mediafire off my site.....

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

 

[four.cycle]

 

[four.cycle]

* If you want copies of these in *.jpg format contact me via PM with a valid email address and I will forward them to you. These images here are reduced considerably in size and are difficult for old eyes to read.

 

[d42jeep]

Here is my Thorsen find at an estate sale today. A 1/4" ratchet in really nice condition.
-Don
BK,
I wouldn't mind having those JPG files whenever you get time.

 

[bonneyman]

Sweet 77MC, Don!

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks, Bonneyman. It was good to find something I actually collect to go with the Craftsman tools I keep finding.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

sent.
that little 77MC is actually not a bad little unit.
I think they get sold short.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Reminds me, I have to download those and get mediafire off my site.....

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

Yeah, some of their browserjacks are kinda dubious.

 

[d42jeep]

I found this 16" 1/2" drive Thorsen flex handle at an estate sale this morning.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

As first reported in the 2018 Garage Sale thread, linked here, I picked up a Thorsen T-150 torque-indicating wrench today at the flea market. I never see Thorsen tools, so I couldn’t resist. And I am fond of the fluted handle design.

No clue on vintage. 50's? 60's? Anyone know?

 

[d42jeep]

It appears in the '75 catalog on Tool Archives.
-Don

 

[Offcenter12]

I don't have anything that hasn't already been posted, but in 1974 I was a welder for Nautilus Sports Medical Industries in Lake Helen Florida and the shop issue was a little red tool box with a Thorsen 3/8" ratchet and socket set and a couple combination wrenches. We used them for tightening and loosening the clamps that held the parts in the welding fixtures while we tacked everything up and they never missed a beat. I always smile when I see the Thorsen brand and think of those times. I think I was making a whopping $3.50 an hour.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It appears in the '75 catalog on Tool Archives.
-Don

Thanks, Don. shanny19 on the 2018 Garage Sale thread said his dad has had the exact same torque since '63, so possibly older than '75. Unfortunately, we've only got the 1931 and the 1975 cats with a lot of guesswork in between.

 

[d42jeep]

It wasn't in my '50s flyer or BK's 1958 price sheet so I would guess '60s at the earliest. Somebody needs to find more Thorsen catalogs!
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

^ Thorsen catalogs just don't seem to exist. That 1958 stuff is the only thing I've seen on Ebay in over two years, and that was just a few fly sheets and a price list.
From the T-100's I've seen on Ebay, my best guess is that particular model had a long production run. Early 60's through mid-to-late-70's sounds more than plausible. Just my humble opinion, of course.

Anything "catalog" is high on the priority list here. I post as many of the screen shots here as I think will be of any value. They seem to get listed in spurts - the old "when it rains it pours" thing. I shoot all the links to TW - I think he bids on some of them so they can be posted on TA. If you guys want me to include you in that loop let me know - maybe it would help to spread out the cost of purchasing them.. I know I've got probably two or three hundred invested just into Indestro catalogs and a few others - some of them get spendy in auctions. BK

 

[d42jeep]

BK,
The somebody I was referring to is Tin Medic, who has quite a large collection of vintage catalogs. He passes them along to Todd for inclusion on the Tool Archives site. I personally have very few catalogs.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

^ The irony here is that I vividly remember hauling boxes full of catalogs out the back door of the warehouse and tossing them into the dumpster. Hundreds and hundreds of them. Manufacturers usually shipped them in quantities of 100 or 200 to a box, and sent bulk shipments each time a new issue was released (or upon request.)
I had quite a collection of early catalogs all together in a binder that I gave to my cousin 20 years ago for safekeeping and he tossed them all out.
I gnash my teeth when I see them listed on Ebay for $30 - $50 bucks a pop now.

 

[bonneyman]

As first reported in the 2018 Garage Sale thread, linked here, I picked up a Thorsen T-150 torque-indicating wrench today at the flea market. I never see Thorsen tools, so I couldn’t resist. And I am fond of the fluted handle design.

No clue on vintage. 50's? 60's? Anyone know?

I came across one of these about a year ago. For some stupid reason I didn't grab it.

 

[notlob]

Looking for missing pieces for this metric Action set (9, 15, 16, 18 mm):

 

[notlob]

Here are a couple more recent vintage Thorsen sets.

If anyone has a Thorsen 3/8 dr 10mm socket and/or 5"(?) extension you would be willing to part with, I'd be mighty grateful if you'd let me know.

 

[four.cycle]

^ the 53J extension should be easy to find on Ebay. finding a deal on one might require some patience.

searching for "Action" anything on Ebay is a challenge because there are so many items listed with "action" in the header or item description.
you have to narrow the search parameters, i.e.:
"action 3/8 socket"
"action socket 10"
I've found that "excluding from search" the word "figure" eliminates about 80% of the BS listings.

don't know if you'd be the least bit interested in another package that will also require "filling an inside straight", but there was a set of 3/8" drive 6-pt Action metric sockets listed earlier today (of course, short the 10 and 13):
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ACTION-USA...15-17-19MM-3-8-drive-Made-in-USA/122983576037

That's a very nice 1/4" set there. Is that Thorsen or Action?

 

[notlob]

The 1/4" set is all Thorsen - looks to have had very little use. Wish the set had some sort of marking on it, but nada.

 

[four.cycle]

marking?
you mean the label inside the lid?
I think I have a couple like that - just blank boxes.
it's probably the 1416 set.
I have a couple where the "label" inside the lid is just a printed piece of cardboard that is not really "attached" to the lid itself. I just assumed either the glue dried out and failed or the cardboard label was just dropped in there.

 

[bonneyman]

Looking for missing pieces for this metric Action set (9, 15, 16, 18 mm):

I have a mixed set of Action and Thorsen of these, all I'm missing is the 16mm. Found an 18 and a 15 (which I was figuring would be the last one I'd find) so now I'm only missing the one size. Thankfully 16mm is not a size I need often so for a truck set it's working OK.

 

[d42jeep]

Here are a couple more recent vintage Thorsen sets.

If anyone has a Thorsen 3/8 dr 10mm socket and/or 5"(?) extension you would be willing to part with, I'd be mighty grateful if you'd let me know.

I put a spare Action 53J in the Notlob bag today.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

Here are my Thorsen finds at estate sales yesterday.
-Don

 

[notlob]

I put a spare Action 53J in the Notlob bag today.
-Don

Thanks Don!

 

[d42jeep]

No problem. Here is a Thorsen u-joint that came to a sad end. I have no idea why anybody would do this. Needed a short extension and didn't have one? Obviously someone with excellent welding skills!
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

^ maybe it went loosey-goosey on him and he was teaching it a lesson!

 

[crankshaftdan II]

This one almost was thrown into the scrap china socket box for recycling!
Looks to maybe be a cadimum plated 9/32" drive-six pointer. Never seen any TT in a circle ever--just a rare find on my part-was in a junk mixed box of **** I picked up! Maybe thorsen did mfg. a "Midget" set? The "Holly Grail"??

 

[3baygarage]

Good save. I think they’re seldom seen.

 

[d42jeep]

This one almost was thrown into the scrap china socket box for recycling!
Looks to maybe be a cadimum plated 9/32" drive-six pointer. Never seen any TT in a circle ever--just a rare find on my part-was in a junk mixed box of **** I picked up! Maybe thorsen did mfg. a "Midget" set? The "Holly Grail"??

That is the first 9/32" drive Thorsen I've ever seen and the TT logo is very early.
I picked up a few Thorsen items at an estate sale today including an early Thorsen DBE small 5/16" X 3/8" wrench that is 6 point on one end and 12 point on the other. Very odd.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

"...6 point on one end and 12 point on the other..."

(I've never seen any Thorsen 9/32" drive either.)

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Very interesting find, Dan.

We were just talking about this a few pages ago. There are no midget (1/4- or 9/32-inch) square drive tools in the 1935 (TT) logo era catalog. There is a special 1/4-inch hex drive set in a different undated (TT) logo era catalog posted on page 4 of this thread. So your 9/32-inch drive (TT) 3/16" socket is either later than those catalogs, or contract only.

The other strange thing about this socket is that it's the exact same service opening size (3/16") as 3bay's oddball cad-plated 1/2-inch drive socket, #506X (see post #350 and the ensuing conversation on page 18 and 19 of this thread). As discussed back then, 3/16" is an extremely unusually small opening for a 1/2-inch drive socket. If they were making 9/32-inch drive tools, including a socket with a very typical 3/16" opening for midget drive tools, why would they need to make such a weird 1/2-inch drive socket? (EDIT: Disregard. It's a possibility that some special fastener with a 3/16" hex head had unusual torque requirements.)

 

[crankshaftdan II]

Very interesting find, Dan.

We were just talking about this a few pages ago. There are no midget (1/4- or 9/32-inch) square drive tools in the 1935 (TT) logo era catalog. There is a special 1/4-inch hex drive set in a different undated (TT) logo era catalog posted on page 4 of this thread. So your 9/32-inch drive (TT) 3/16" socket is either later than those catalogs, or contract only.

The other strange thing about this socket is that it's the exact same service opening size (3/16") as 3bay's oddball cad-plated 1/2-inch drive socket, #506X (see post #350 and the ensuing conversation on page 18 and 19 of this thread). As discussed back then, 3/16" is an extremely unusually small opening for a 1/2-inch drive socket. If they were making 9/32-inch drive tools, including a socket with a very typical 3/16" opening for midget drive tools, why would they need to make such a weird 1/2-inch drive socket? (EDIT: Maybe some special fastener with a 3/16" hex head had unusual torque requirements.)

I was Damn lucky that I decided to read this thread and check my junk stuff-now this has got me to wondering if I might have thrown other treasures to the wind!!

 

[d42jeep]

Found a sale in El Cerrito, CA today that had almost a complete set of 1/2" drive sockets and larger combo wrenches. The prices were great, so we grabbed them.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

I spent some time today incorporating my new Thorsen MFD USA combo wrenches into the collection. Now I go from 3/8" to 1-1/4", only missing the 1" wrench. Here are those and some others.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

^cool.

looks like yours are retaining the chrome plating. (or are we just seeing the good sides?)

is it just my skewed perception, or did Thorsen have some issues with their plating?