Proto Tools Picture Thread - Post Yours!

[d42jeep]

And non reversing as well. I’ll bet those weren’t too popular.
-Don

 

[RubiconJK]

Sharing a few tools from my late Dad's collection today. Here is a mostly unused set of 3/4" drive Proto sockets (along with a Williams hinge handle). Sizes run from 7/8" up to 2" with about half being Proto Los Angeles. There is also a Fairmount standing in the 1 7/16 place. His primary 3/4" set he carried on his service truck was Williams, but this was a standby set that obviously never was put into circulation.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Sharing a few tools from my late Dad's collection today. Here is a mostly unused set of 3/4" drive Proto sockets (along with a Williams hinge handle). Sizes run from 7/8" up to 2" with about half being Proto Los Angeles. There is also a Fairmount standing in the 1 7/16 place. His primary 3/4" set he carried on his service truck was Williams, but this was a standby set that obviously never was put into circulation.

Not really common to find unused 3/4 drive. They were expensive so if you bought them, you made sure you really needed them and put them to use.

 

[RubiconJK]

Not really common to find unused 3/4 drive. They were expensive so if you bought them, you made sure you really needed them and put them to use.

For many years, Dad was on 24 hour call and if something in the oilfield broke down he was one of the guys that was called out to get things running again. I remember him owning duplicates of tools that were either easily broken or damn important in the middle of the night to have available if something did break. He was working on large, industrial engines, pumps, compressors etc and 3/4 drive was a daily user for him.

 

[JjKk40]

I found this military ignition set. Proto wrenches, Alemite screwdriver, CTC plug gapper and pliers, in a S. Harrison and Co roll-up. The stock # is 41-w-903-30 as far as I could make out. It also has a date on the roll of possibly 1953/58/63 or 68. Hard to read. That stock # is similar to my 1/4 ww2 Walden sets with the #.

 

[d42jeep]

Nice find. Based on my understanding of FSNs, 1953 or older. The early flex stones are hard to find intact. It’s not much changed from the 1945 WW2 set. Just a few additional tools.
-Don

 

[JjKk40]

Nice find. Based on my understanding of FSNs, 1953 or older. The early flex stones are hard to find intact. It’s not much changed from the 1945 WW2 set. Just a few additional tools.
-Don

Thanks Don! I think the year is marked 1953 on the canvas. When did Proto LA change into Proto MFD?

 

[d42jeep]

AA says 1957 but maybe one of our Proto experts will disagree. I’ve never really looked into it myself. Check out the section on Government stock numbers Lugz provides in the sticky. I may have misunderstood the dating of your set and it’s actually slightly newer.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

JjKk40:
are there any other markings on the "Century Tool Co." feeler gauge?
the small pliers are stamped only with what appears to be "CTCO" ?

Century was a tough one to pin down:
Century / Century Tool Co. Inc., Route One and Hulmelville Ave., Penndel, PA 19047 / owned by Triangle Corp. (1973) / contract supplier for military/government /

Penndel is 25 miles from Philadelphia on I-95, according to Google. No idea when the change took place, but I have to assume the Penndel address is the later or the two.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Thanks Don! I think the year is marked 1953 on the canvas. When did Proto LA change into Proto MFD?

The date on your canvas tool roll is 1953 but that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the date of the wrenches or the kit being assembled. But in my limited research into the mfd date, I believe D42/ AA is in the ballpark! Nice kit by the way! Those black oxide wrenches are super cool!

 

[JjKk40]

4c yes thats all that is marked on the feeler guage, nothing on the other side and same with the pliars, CTCO.

Smokeshow thats true, some tools might have been swapped out or It might have been assembled after the date on the canvas roll. The wrenches in this set don't show too much use but the other tools were definitely put to good use!


On AA they show CTCO is a trademark logo of Crescent? And the Alenite driver is a TM of Daido and was established 1954. Not sure how correct all this is.???

 

[RTM]

Cincinnati Tool Company also used some variant of that on some of their offerings. Think I have clamps marked that way, but with periods after the C and T.

Vanished Tool Makers: Cincinnati Tool Company

progress-is-fine.blogspot.com

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Century socket set

 

[jabberwoki]

How Bout Plvmb/Proto body file?

 

[four.cycle]

can we get a bit farther off topic here?

Cincinnati Tool Co. (primarily) made clamps. I own a few of their small ones. It looks like they moved a few times:

Cincinnati / Cincinnati Tool Co., 216-222 West Second St., Cincinnati, OH /

Cincinnati / Cincinnati Tool Co., 1955 Waverly Ave., Cincinnati OH / http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2013/03/vanished-tool-makers-cincinatti-tool.html / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=301065 /

Cincinnati / Cincinnati Tool Co., Main Ave., Norwood, OH / "Hargrave" /

"Century" is one of those tool names like "National" or "Universal" - used by a number of different outfits.

Oldtuleguy's Japan-made "Century" socket set is probably a product from our friends at Steelcraft Tools. A Century Tool Catalog is available for download at ITCL.

The "Century" in Pennsylvania is definitely the same "Century" that supplied the U.S. military with a plethora of different items. I finally cracked that one when I found some dollar numbers for contract awards. (photos below) (NO relation to Century Drill & Tool Co. of De Pere, Wisconsin, or Century Display Mfg. Co., of Chicago, who made the small parts bin cases cases for Dunlap and Montgomery Ward.)

I was not aware that Crescent used "CTCO". I'll have to follow up on that one.

 

[JjKk40]

can we get a bit farther off topic here?

Cincinnati Tool Co. (primarily) made clamps. I own a few of their small ones. It looks like they moved a few times:

Cincinnati / Cincinnati Tool Co., 216-222 West Second St., Cincinnati, OH /

Cincinnati / Cincinnati Tool Co., 1955 Waverly Ave., Cincinnati OH / http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2013/03/vanished-tool-makers-cincinatti-tool.html / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=301065 /

Cincinnati / Cincinnati Tool Co., Main Ave., Norwood, OH / "Hargrave" /

"Century" is one of those tool names like "National" or "Universal" - used by a number of different outfits.

Oldtuleguy's Japan-made "Century" socket set is probably a product from our friends at Steelcraft Tools. A Century Tool Catalog is available for download at ITCL.

The "Century" in Pennsylvania is definitely the same "Century" that supplied the U.S. military with a plethora of different items. I finally cracked that one when I found some dollar numbers for contract awards. (photos below) (NO relation to Century Drill & Tool Co. of De Pere, Wisconsin, or Century Display Mfg. Co., of Chicago, who made the small parts bin cases cases for Dunlap and Montgomery Ward.)

I was not aware that Crescent used "CTCO". I'll have to follow up on that one.

Wow they have a very confusing history! Your 4th pic, the fluted or spline drivers with the tin of extra bits, I have the same exact set except it is marked Giller.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

It feels like it may take a century to sort all this out!

 

[four.cycle]

^ I've been working on it for only a few years, Oldtuleguy. I have no expectation that this project will ever be "done".

JjKk - those are all images pulled from ebay. That hex driver set was also supplied by Giller as well. (Not sure who else.)

 

[Smokeshow69]

How Bout Plvmb/Proto body file?

That is a super cool dual marked file! Wish I had some cool p&c trade bait

 

[Private Lugnutz]

@JjKk40

What Smoke said. That rollup is older than the tools. By 1954 the military and federal agencies were transitioning to the 11-digit all numerical FSN. In fact, that 1953 on a 41-W- rollup might be the latest example of the older FSN (being used since the 30s) that I have ever seen. That's a nice find.

 

[jabberwoki]

Outa luck Smoky i collect the transition tools.
Got a bit of a stash going.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Outa luck Smoky i collect the transition tools.
Got a bit of a stash going.

You need a 1” combo? I have a pretty nice one as a spare!

 

[JjKk40]

^ I've been working on it for only a few years, Oldtuleguy. I have no expectation that this project will ever be "done".

JjKk - those are all images pulled from ebay. That hex driver set was also supplied by Giller as well. (Not sure who else.)

Unfortunately on mine the canvas holder/rollup has no markings at all, no fsn #'s, nothing...The tools are all marked Giller.

 

[JjKk40]

@JjKk40

What Smoke said. That rollup is older than the tools. By 1954 the military and federal agencies were transitioning to the 11-digit all numerical FSN. In fact, that 1953 on a 41-W- rollup might be the latest example of the older FSN (being used since the 30s) that I have ever seen. That's a nice find.

Thats good to know Lugz, thanks! Did Proto transition from Proto LA to MFD USA by 1953? Or by which year?

Edit.... AA has the "MFD USA" without Las Angelos as being 1957+. So yeah it was definitely put together a few years later with an old tool roll up!

 

[Smokeshow69]

Picked up a couple of items from Lugz this week! The pliers are black oxide as is the Phillips #3 bit. Pliers are a 280 (10”) model but are not stamped so kinda interesting to say the least! Also got this 1136 dbe and #80 cape nose chisel. Pliers pictured next to my mfd era pliers

 

[Smokeshow69]

Got the pliers added onto my Proto la board and now the black oxide ones stick out like a sore thumb

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Got the pliers added onto my Proto la board and now the black oxide ones stick out like a̶ ̶s̶o̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶u̶m̶b̶ the coolest pliers on the board

Fixed it for you!

 

[Smokeshow69]

Fixed it for you!

Agreed . The more I look at them the more I like them. I was going through this thread again and found the discussion where you had found them and were discussing the lack of part numbers on this page

Proto Tools Picture Thread - Post Yours!

Nice grouping of ratchets! I found this Proto LA combination wrench on Monday. -Don

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Hoorn]

Almost all my Proto, besides the tool board tools, reside in this roll cab..

Extremely impressive, you are definitely "all in" on Proto. I can't imagine how many estate sales, swap meets, OfferUp, CL, garage sales it took to acquire all that.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Extremely impressive, you are definitely "all in" on Proto. I can't imagine how many estate sales, swap meets, OfferUp, CL, garage sales it took to acquire all that.

At one point that garage was known as "twertsy's tool temple" ...i belive twertsy is selling alot of the contents based on some comments I have seen in the past. If I was closer I would try to pick up some of the tools and proto boards but alas, we are on opposite coasts. The roto mat is currently on ebay for sale.

 

[bmwrd0]

I was starting to go through my puller drawer today, seeing what I have duplicates of and whatnot, and in the process realized I had a few extra Proto puller arms that I have picked up:

These are all MFD for a slide hammer, so I will keep them. But these are all extras:

as you can see, some are grind-offs, but the two sets of zip-tied ones are unmarked, and the ones in the upper right are all Plomb marked.
If anyone is interested, drop me a line, as I do love to trade.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

You guys may remember I found a 9200C nut driver set last September, posted in this thread here. That set only had two drivers in it, but the red vinyl pouch was early Flying Lady era. Welp, I found another one today. This one is complete, but the red vinyl pouch is later Ingersoll-Rand and Professional era.

 

[Smokeshow69]

Hey what’s going on here?

 

[Mintgrun]

Hey what’s going on here?

That looks like someone used blocks of wood to screw two tool boards together face to face. That is a clever way to make them easier to ship, or to store them. What is the story?

Tom

 

[Smokeshow69]

That looks like someone used blocks of wood to screw two tool boards together face to face. That is a clever way to make them easier to ship, or to store them. What is the story?

Tom

Yup you are on point Tom! I saw an old post from a member 2 years ago saying they were having some trouble selling some tool boards. I sent him a message inquiring if he still had the boards and he did. Super cool guy! He sent me a few photos and they are in good shape! We worked out a deal that was good for both of us! He faced the boards in on eachother as I recommended and then used the existing mounting holes to screw into with wood spacers in between so that the boards were protected but dont touch eachother or risk having the pins break! The are supposed to deliver on monday to my office and I will post more photos as I get them! I am super excited about them.

 

[saukit]

Here are a few Proto combos I just cleaned up, 6218 MFD, 1234 and 1230 LA pebbles.

 

[AK4570]

Has anyone ever figured out where the 61** wrenches fit in the Proto numbering system? I’ve got a bunch of Challenger wrenches all numbered thusly, but have 2 wrenches with prominent Proto branding and no Challenger marks both numbered within the 6100 system like the top wrench in Saukit’s photo above.

There was a discussion in the Classifieds section a while back with the some question but no conclusion… Thoughts?

 

[Oldtuleguy]

No info on 6100 wrenches. Picked up a little proto professional set. Usually ignore these as I am not a fan of the plastic inserts, but box was all metal so I grabbed it!

 

[Smokeshow69]

Got a care package in the mail today from ragtopta! We send swap meet finds to each other that we know we collect. He doesn’t really dabble in the Proto too much and I was really glad to help! So much good stuff including the pullers and boxes . Bunch of la marked things including the pliers which I needed!

 

[Smokeshow69]

Close ups of the box labels. The puller step box says Proto Los Angeles on the bottom of the logo and both say “a division of Pendleton tool industries inc” on the lids under the logos.