Post up your Thorsen tools!

[bmwrd0]

I would guess that Thorsen bought them from whomever supplied the handles to Philco.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That's what I meant by third party, Beemer. I agree, the leading theory. By extrapolation, I think we could also reasonably assume that whoever that is, they also supplied the sockets to the Philco set. I can see Thorsen buying a wood-handled spinner from a source and adding it to their sets with their sockets. But the Philadelphia Dry Storage Battery Company (Philco) didn't make sockets, and it seems illogical for them to buy the spinners from one party and the sockets from another. So the Philco set sockets could actually be helpful in identifying Thorsen's spinner supplier.

 

[3baygarage]

Lucked into this 1/4" hex partial set today. Garage sale sign in North Portland 2 1/2 hours after opening. I have the full set with a better decal somewhere but no way was I going to pass on this one. On a bit of a roll for the smaller drive stuff this past month.

Nice find.

Love those old sets everyone posted.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

The philco box and tool construction remind me of king Newton stuff

 

[Isaiah6113]

Hello all,

These three little 3/8-drive, 6-point Thorsen fellows were extras in a TECOmaster socket set I purchased a while back.

No idea how old they might be, but they are basically new looking.

Matthew

 

[Provincial]

Flea Market find. Giller M-2 blasting pliers.

 

[MR.X]

Flea Market find. Giller M-2 blasting pliers.

 

[d42jeep]

Here are the mostly metric Thorsen tools we found at a Nevada estate sale today
-Don

 

[Provincial]

Thanks X.

The Giller doesn't show up when searching for the M-2, so they must not have been a major supplier.

 

[MR.X]

I see lots of blasting cap pliers but If I've ever seen or used Giller branded ones I didn't notice.

 

[d42jeep]

I received this really nice set of DOE wrenches with pouch from a tool collecting buddy in Tennessee yesterday. It’s rare to find a set with a pouch that is this intact. The wrenches appear unused.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

I ordered these Quartermaster Corps marked spark plug sockets as soon as I spotted them on eBay since I hadn’t seen any before. They arrived today.
-Don

 

[brute84]

Grabbed these two sets off of eBay last week. I am guessing 1980's???

 

[d42jeep]

They start mentioning blow molded boxes in the ‘88 catalog.

https://archive.org/details/ThorsenToolCatalogNo10088/mode/2up

Maybe yours are a couple of years newer towards the end of Dallas production.
-Don

 

[Lesserstore]

They start mentioning blow molded boxes in the ‘88 catalog.

https://archive.org/details/ThorsenToolCatalogNo10088/mode/2up

Maybe yours are a couple of years newer towards the end of Dallas production.
-Don

I always thought that the 1988 date was a typo and was supposed to be 1978 or 79 because they show a 1979 release date for their quick release ratchet.

 

[d42jeep]

I think that your screenshot is Thorsen’s typo because the improved Thorsen patent wasn’t granted until the mid ‘80s. The ejector ratchets are fairly hard to find because most of the sets included the conventional ratchets. They are stamped with an earlier patent number but Thorsen isn’t named in that patent and the images are quite different than what Thorsen and Powr-Kraft ended up selling. It is a bit of a mystery. When comparing the ‘75 catalog to the one dated ‘88, it looks as if they are at least a decade apart when comparing the product offerings.
-Don

 

[Lesserstore]

Ah thanks for the correction. I always thought it was weird that Thorsen barely patented or trademarked anything until their later years.
I also came across when Thorsen officially changed their name to Thorsen Tool Company; 4/29/1970, recorded 11/13/1979.

 

[BFBOB]

Another VeeGee - sort of.

I've had one example badged KAL for a few years, but it wasn't a very good specimen. Then, cruising the 'bay I spied this gem. It's actually NEW! Not a sign of use anywhere on it, just the tiniest bit of drawer wear, and not even horribly expensive. $13 brought it to my door.

 

[d42jeep]

I admire your ongoing search. It’s amazing how many you’ve found. My only Thorsen find at a Tahoe garage sale was this 3/8” drive breaker bar. Here are pictures before and after cleaning.
-Don

 

[BFBOB]

Thanks, D42 -
The one I thought would be reasonably easy, but has eluded me thus far is Westcraft. One of Western Auto's brands, you'd think there should quite a few around, but so far no joy.

I found one in the possesion of a Tool Archives member, but the site crashed before I could make contact. Tod got it up again after a lengthy struggle, but a lot of the history is gone, and he couldn't help me track the guy down.

 

[d42jeep]

Since I’ve added a few wrenches lately, I took some pictures today.
-Don

 

[Catfishdan]

Nice looking metric set.

 

[bmwrd0]

I picked this set up yesterday at an Estate sale of a former auto dealership owner.

It is all pre-1962, as nothing says MFD USA. Between the 3/8's and 1/4 inch stuff, it runs from 3/16" to 3/4" along with having a spark plug socket. And none of it looks used. The ad card looks untouched as it was behind a couple of paper towels to stop everything from rattling.

Oh, and it had an extra Wizard socket.

 

[Mintgrun]

Wow, that is a nice set bmwrd0.


I grabbed this box for $10 last August and a friend that stopped by got very excited and offered me $30. Then he took it home with him (before I did a decent job of photographing it).

It was missing the 13/16" socket and a few of the little ones, but I've found replacements in the meantime. The 1/2 to 3/8 adapter was added. It looks just like Don's "Red Box Special" set on page two of this thread (post #22); shown in the Christmas of '64 photo. Except this is the Blue Box Special

 

[bonneyman]

Oh yeah, nice set of Thorsen!

 

[d42jeep]

Interestingly, since I started collecting Thorsen again in 2016, I’ve put a lot of sets together but I’ve never run across the exact box that held my first set. I do have a few of the original tools. Maybe I should try to find one and duplicate that set.
-Don

 

[Mintgrun]

It looks like we have the same two silver boxes, Don. I use the smaller one to house the rest of my Thorsen tools. Although I do have one more set of the 1/4" sockets.







I've done some searching, but have not seen very many of this style ratchet.





The largest wrench is marked Bluegrass.



The large box is currently empty.

 

[d42jeep]

The box originally housed a military deep socket set. Mine came from Tin Medic. Here is the complete set showing the label. I made a guess on the missing part of the larger boxes label and completed that set.
-Don
Your Duro should arrive today.

 

[Macduf]

one set I may have posted before but these are my most resent thorsen sets. the 1/2 set is all usa except for the ratchet.

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks for showing your sets. Your Red Box Special is quite similar to my first set from Christmas 1964.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Interestingly, since I started collecting Thorsen again in 2016, I’ve put a lot of sets together but I’ve never run across the exact box that held my first set. I do have a few of the original tools. Maybe I should try to find one and duplicate that set.

one set I may have posted before but these are my most resent thorsen sets.

Thanks for showing your sets. Your Red Box Special is quite similar to my first set from Christmas 1964.

Um, yeah it is, and I've seen that full photo! If you get that box from Macduf, fill it up with the correct tools, find a plaid shirt that looks like that plaid shirt you're wearing in 1964, and recreate that photo now, with you and the box and the tray and everything in the exact same position (Mrs. Herbrand can help!), it would make a neat time-lapse 1964-2020 photography trick, and one of the coolest photos on GJ! Just sayin'.

 

[d42jeep]

I could get my sister in law who just turned 88 three days ago to participate and break into my childhood home to make it more authentic. The possibilities are endless.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The possibilities are endless.

You mean like Rogaine, a diet, and a shave?

 

[d42jeep]

Maybe we’ll just make do with a Barcalo selfie and one taken by Ms. Herbrand.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

I added some extras to my little military set. I need to find a couple of extensions with matching markings.
-Don

 

[Mintgrun]

Has a ratchet like this been shared in this thread? I did not scan all 42 pages, but did search the thread for 77JC and didn't see another one like it.





I found a photo online showing a very similar GILLER wrench and read that there was a FLEET version as well.

Tom

 

[d42jeep]

That’s a cool one. I don’t have one like it.
-Don

 

[bonneyman]

The B-man likes it as well!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Couple of OLD thorsen sockets I got in a box of estate stuff.

 

[MR.X]

Couple of OLD thorsen sockets I got in a box of estate stuff.

Nice.