Screw starters...

[jagwinn]

First up: 262 - SUREGRIP; BRIDGEPORT U.S.A.
This is the only Philips screw starter I have...

 

[jagwinn]

And: CHICK - WEDGE; FORT WAYNE USA
A small flat blade...

 

[jagwinn]

Another small flat blade: CRAFTSMAN; NO 2292657
Crazy looking C in Craftsman, factory hole in handle....

 

[jagwinn]

And finally for today, Craftsman purchased in 1983 at start of my machine repairman career:
And the group together:

 

[jagwinn]

This one: GREAT NECK
Regular flat blade...

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Great idea for a thread, jagwinn.

I've got a few that are a bit older, so I hope you don't mind me mucking up your thread with relics. I've posted them before on various OEM/brand threads, but might as well consolidate them here on subject.

The smallest with the amber composite handle is the "youngest", if you can call it that, an Upson Brothers HOLD-E-ZEE patented in 1927. See Pics 1, 2, & 3. We have a decent HOLD-E-ZEE thread, linked here if you want to see more of them. That's the brand I grew up with.

I haven't had any luck finding any information on the one in the middle, which is a Grasp-It with a nifty logo. See Pics 1, 4, & 5. Only other marking is PAT APLD FOR. I have an older thread with additional photos of it here.

The oldest and largest, eponymously called "THE CAMPBELL DRIVER", was patented (703,638) on July 1, 1902, by J.D. Campbell and a partner, in NJ. It is more or less permanently attached to a fin-de-siecle North Brothers "YANKEE" No. 10, made just across the river in Philly, so I have surmised that they had some kind of business relationship. See Pics 1, 6, & 7. I have posted additional photos of it on a thread devoted to spiral-ratcheting screwdrivers linked here.

 

[nutjob]

Ullman Devices Corp D-2

5 1/2" long with a magnet on the end.

Kevin

 

[jagwinn]

Thanks for posting private_Lugnutz! Great looking wood handled tools.
and Nutjob, I forgot about that one! It's in the box for the regular used tools...

 

[bonneyman]

Here's some of my starters. Standard, phillips, nut-runners.

 

[bonneyman]

Here's a pair of micro screw starters I snagged 2 years ago for electronics work. I used some hollow rubber plugs as tip protectors when not in use.

Buy them here: https://www.micromark.com/Micro-Screw-Starter-for-Phillips-Screws

 

[d42jeep]

Here are the ones I posted on the previous thread, including some Craftsman ones that I sold off.
-Don

 

[jagwinn]

Really nice selection of starters; Thanks!...

 

[d42jeep]

Here are a few more small ones I found today in my spares. Two HOLD-E-ZEE and a Stanley.
-Don

 

[bonneyman]

I have this old standard screw holder for 3/8" extensions that's kinda cool.

 

[RTM]

Here is my accumulation, mostly generically stamped versions of the same "twist the center, press to release" variety. Some are stamped Vaco, Proto, Pearson, Ullman, MAC, Snap on, nothing really outstanding. Give them away to neighbors who get stuck with a project. Most have never seen anything like these.


These four are a bit different, the top two are split blades (Craftsman & Quick-Wedge), making a wedge, the 2nd from bottom (Ebonite by Millen Mfg) raises a wedge from the center of the blade, and the bottom (Hold E-Zee R2) simply grips the screw by the edge.



There are Proto and Bonney in the generic shapes, alike except for the part number; red is Proto.



Two different types of Phillips, double wedge and turn the center inside a Vee.

 

[Modern Garage]

Here's one I found at a garage sale last year. I didn't know what it was at first, thinking it must be a really tiny "pick-up" tool, or maybe a nib holder for painting or calligraphy but there was no apparent internal spring action to it. Finally I remembered that I had picked it up off of a workbench along with a KD screw starter (I already owned one so knew what that was) and the light bulb went on.
Function is pretty simple: the spring steel jaws or petals are spread apart by a barely visible internal crosswise rivet as they're pressed into the body, thus as you push a screw onto the jaws they spread and grip the inside of the screw slot. After starting the screw in it's home you push the button on the tail end which extends the jaws to ready for another screw.
The H.J.J. Co. now in Nevada, apparently still makes this same screw starter in brass as this one or with a plastic hexagonal body. This one I have here is fairly old as the abbreviation for California is written "Cal." instead of "CA" as would be current practice.
Joe

 

[Oldtuleguy]

A little bluepoint and a proto

 

[Mintgrun]

I've drug home quite a few of the UPSON and HOLD-E-ZEE screwdrivers.


These two were recent finds. I think the Hunter is going to come in handy.

 

[dubdoc]

I bought these when going to trade school in the late 60s. When you need them, nothing else will do.

 

[bonneyman]

Here's one I found at a garage sale last year. I didn't know what it was at first, thinking it must be a really tiny "pick-up" tool, or maybe a nib holder for painting or calligraphy but there was no apparent internal spring action to it. Finally I remembered that I had picked it up off of a workbench along with a KD screw starter (I already owned one so knew what that was) and the light bulb went on.
Function is pretty simple: the spring steel jaws or petals are spread apart by a barely visible internal crosswise rivet as they're pressed into the body, thus as you push a screw onto the jaws they spread and grip the inside of the screw slot. After starting the screw in it's home you push the button on the tail end which extends the jaws to ready for another screw.
The H.J.J. Co. now in Nevada, apparently still makes this same screw starter in brass as this one or with a plastic hexagonal body. This one I have here is fairly old as the abbreviation for California is written "Cal." instead of "CA" as would be current practice.
Joe

Nice design! Might have to try and get one of those.

Here's another starter I grabbed in the recent past. Two spring steel strips for holding a standard screw, with a nice phillips starter on the other end.

 

[tym]

Ullman Devices Corp D-2

5 1/2" long with a magnet on the end.

Kevin

I have a nearly identical version marked Craftsman.

 

[2oolhound]

Here's my meager collection. I generally hold little esteem for these when I see them in my screwdriver drawer. I think I've even gotten rid of a few over the years, selling them at swap meets with a sneer. Just yesterday they came to mind when I was in a real tight spot and I frantically went on a search for them. When I found them I was in such a panic I only saw 2 and was thinking "why didn't I keep more of these". Turned out it was just what was needed and performed perfectly for the task at hand.


I'm also including some pics of a nut holder which I hope isn't too far off topic. I just never see these around and am wondering if there are more variations out there. I'm sure I had some labeled snap-on but I can't find them. Perhaps I'm mistaken.

 

[d42jeep]

I like the nut holder. I haven’t run across one of those. Here are a few more from my mountain toolbox.
-Don

 

[HalfTonTom]

Huh. I thought a screw starter was a pickup line at a nightclub.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I don't typically collect Heritage era =CRAFTSMAN= items, unless they're something special, unique or interesting, which is what I was thinking this morning standing over a table at the flea market about this 2-1/2" screwdriver with a screw holder I had never seen before. It has a volute spring. Which is not anything like the HOLD-E-ZEE or the older antique (Campbell, Grasp-It) approaches I have (see post #6). It may be far more common than I assumed. Turns out jagwinn showed one from the Long C era in post #3 and 2oolhound has a few later models in post #22. Interestingly, I think my example (probably late 1940's or early 1950's) falls somewhere in between. The patent (2,292,657, Dwight E. Priest) was granted in 1942 and assigned to Parker Wire Goods Co. I don't know how Sears, Roebuck & Co picked it up, but I am guessing they paid a licensing fee.

 

[d42jeep]

Yeah, I posted a few Craftsman ones upthread as well.
Your post reminded me that I picked up this cool Stiletto screw starter at an estate sale Saturday.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

^ that Craftsman and that Stiletto are both way cool.

 

[mcmlvif100]

Some ReStore buys -- 3 Craftsman and 3 VACO. K-38 looks like it was never used. K-44 on the other hand ... ... ...

 

[d42jeep]

These have been showing up lately. I found this one at an estate sale today.
-Don

 

[RTM]

Here is a patent for a screw starter, called a Duplex, one of two with that name. Still looking for the second patent.


https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/3b/51/a9/511aca0ddb7d89/US1695949.pdf

Here are two more patents by the same guy

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/cd/9d/b0/8526b598de6a0a/US518472.pdf

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/d6/13/ed/fc08c404839c7b/US532830.pdf

 

[JjKk40]

In no particular order; Quickwedge, Klein Tools, 2 Mac's, 2 Vaco's, 2 Bridgeport Suregrips, 1 NOS Stanley, Hunter 10m, and 1 from Japan!

 

[Ralf11]

no pics of masking tape??

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It's usually the antique and more obscure screw-holders that tickle my fancy, but I was happy to find this Quick-Wedge, my first, this morning at the flea market. These original versions aren't as rare as hen's teeth, but they aren't too common, either, in my experience. I don't know if the Kedman Company, which owned the patent (3,224,479/1965), made them for others (I know there are Craftsman versions out there...), licensed the design to others, or if all the others were made after the patent expired. I don't think of Salt Lake City as a hot bed of tool manufacturing, but the company is still in business, under the brand name now, and still making them in Utah as far as I can tell. If anybody knows more, please chime in.

RTM and JjKk posted examples upthread, but I will add pics of the patent marking (see Pic 4) and the patent itself (see Pic 5).

 

[d42jeep]

I found one in the wild a couple weeks ago. I didn’t think much about it and threw it in my user screwdriver drawer. I took it out today for a picture and found that I had it’s big brother in the drawer too.
-Don

 

[humber2]

The Quick-wedge #23514 takes screw starting to great lengths.

 

[Provincial]

If the threaded hole was that far away, I can see where a screw starter was indispensable!

 

[RTM]

Following up on starting things far away, this one splits the difference between normal and humber2's. This one extends like an old radio antenna, and goes from 6" closed to 15" fully open. The main body is flattened into a more or less triangle, so the sections don't rotate while your turn. This has the "twist the center, press to release" holder that I showed in post #15 above. No markings anywhere, trying to decipher if it used to have a handle on the right hand end.

Not sure which of my GS stops from Saturday I picked it up at, but I think it was my first, local stop.

 

[Modern Garage]

I found this one yesterday at an estate sale. A different take on the common "twisted center" starter, it has an aluminum handle attached to telescoping steel workings. Instead of grasping the tip and twisting you press the end and the telescope action of the steel sections twists internally against spring pressure to grip a slotted screw. It measures 7.5 in overall length with 1/2 in telescope action and has a pretty small capacity as the center section only twists about fifteen degrees off center as visible in the (blurry) photo. No maker's mark anywhere, it probably had a stick-on label when new.
Joe

 

[Mr. Tool]

What an awesome thread!

Thanks to everyone who has posted and shared pictures, info, etc.

Here is the link on where I posted about my screw starters though not vintage.

Show us your screw starters

What have you got? I have a few different designs, but all function fine.

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I was excited to find this vintage screw-holder at the flea market this morning with a square tube shank concealing an internal mechanism, a brass ferrule, and a handsome cherry handle. Marketed (though not marked) as the HOLD-FAST.



I had never seen one like this before, and it was in the TBD category until I got it home and cleaned it up, when I discovered the marking on the brass ferrule: "S.J. COX / FRANKLIN, PA / PATENTED".



According to DATAMP, which has a decent page on them linked HERE, Seth Cox, of Franklin, PA, bought an earlier patent (1,412,550, granted April 11, 1922) from a guy named Ben Bentley, also of Franklin, PA, and he improved it twice. I have the first model, patented (1,562,543) Nov 24, 1925. The second one didn't come until 1940 and it had a slide adjuster in the ferrule to move the holdfast in and out of the square tube.



I was able to find several trade mag references. Here are a couple...



...and the patent.