Show your Indestro and Duro-Chrome tools

[four.cycle]

@saukit - if you look at the patent drawing, you'll see that there's not a lot going on under the hood there.
I don't believe we've ever seen one here that's been disassembled - they were pressed together at the factory and not engineered to be repairable.
ME: I would try (after having soaked the thing in Knock-er-Loose for about a week) would put a socket on it, connected to a drill motor, and try to spin the thing.
I wouldn't try to open it up - there's no way to put it back to right.

 

[saukit]

@saukit - if you look at the patent drawing, you'll see that there's not a lot going on under the hood there.
I don't believe we've ever seen one here that's been disassembled - they were pressed together at the factory and not engineered to be repairable.
ME: I would try (after having soaked the thing in Knock-er-Loose for about a week) would put a socket on it, connected to a drill motor, and try to spin the thing.
I wouldn't try to open it up - there's no way to put it back to right.

Thanks @four.cycle I’ll soak it some more and see what happens. Definitely not going to pry it apart given the info you and others have shared!

 

[four.cycle]

^ and other than the Duro-Chrome 3/8" drive models, those things are as common as rocks. The little 1/4" drive models are perhaps more "collectible" than the others, but there's no shortage of them.

 

[four.cycle]

not mine.
this piece showed up the other day on ebay. was sold in less than 24 hours. I never imagined Indestro made such a thing:


Indestro 485 3/4" square drive female x 3/4" hex drive male adapter (ebay 365036652419 01)
(sold 07/29/24 @ $12.99 + $10.10 shipping)

 

[d42jeep]

^ and other than the Duro-Chrome 3/8" drive models, those things are as common as rocks. The little 1/4" drive models are perhaps more "collectible" than the others, but there's no shortage of them.

Not exactly a shortage but gradually getting harder to find a nice 1/4” drive one. Here is a recent arrival.
-Don

 

[burnin53]

I was blessed to be able to buy this set that was in merry old England,and it showed up today.
Has most of the sockets still.
Has some chromium vanadium internal square sockets with it as well.
I need to ad a ratchet,etc, to the box.

I don't think I've seen the Select Steel sockets with the colon marks on each side of the size stamp like the alloy sockets had.

Also came with some British made pieces,which is nice.

Does anybody here have a box like this?
I haven't looked to see if it's in any of the catalogs yet.

 

[burnin53]

not mine.
this piece showed up the other day on ebay. was sold in less than 24 hours. I never imagined Indestro made such a thing:


Indestro 485 3/4" square drive female x 3/4" hex drive male adapter (ebay 365036652419 01)
(sold 07/29/24 @ $12.99 + $10.10 shipping)

I bought that one.
Seems like quite an oddity.
Now I can finally use my Indestro 3/8 hex-drive sockets with a robust 1/2 drive ratchet.

 

[four.cycle]

^ it's 3/4" hex drive male.

@burnin53

^ I have yet to see that set or that box. You found a model 6662 Indestro 62-piece "Special Manganese Steel" socket set

Indestro 6662 62-piece Special Manganese Steel socket set 1937 Indestro catalog pp 32

The ratchet appears to be the standard 655 ratchet found in most of those sets. They are fairly common.

1937 Indestro catalog at International Tool Catalog Library

 

[burnin53]

Four,cycle,it is 1/2 square drive to 3/8 hex.
It wasn't described right in the ad.

Thank you very much for digging up that catalog picture,although my box and tray are a little different.
It will be fun to add the missing pieces.
I have most of them,even the 1/4" hex drive socket set.

 

[burnin53]

Here's my set in the Duro 1947 catalog.
Haven't found it in the Indestro cat yet.

 

[burnin53]

Or this set in the same Duro catalog.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Four,cycle,it is 1/2 square drive to 3/8 hex.
It wasn't described right in the ad.

Thank you very much for digging up that catalog picture,although my box and tray are a little different.
It will be fun to add the missing pieces.
I have most of them,even the 1/4" hex drive socket set.

That makes more sense!

 

[four.cycle]

Four,cycle,it is 1/2 square drive to 3/8 hex.
It wasn't described right in the ad.

Ahhh! That makes WAY more sense.

Indestro's TRADEMARK on "Select Steel" (733592) claims first use Mar 21 1961, although there are all kinds of "Select Steel" sets shown in the 1948 catalog.

I do not know Duro-Chrome, so I'm not familiar with the various monikers they were assigning to their product.

That type of socket was Indestro's low-end carbon-steel line of sockets - I have no idea how or if Duro Chrome marketed the same.
You didn't find it in any Indestro catalog because that set only shows up in the 1937 catalog - it's not in the 1935 or 1948 catalogs, and those are all we have currently.

 

[Outlawmws]

3/8" hex? I've seen 1/4 and 1/2" hex, not 3/8 (or 3/4...)


four.C Correct me if I'm wrong, but Duro/Indestro didn't make many (edit) square 3/8 drive metric sets, did they? Not seeing them on Eprey much at all. Not even many individual sockets.

 

[burnin53]

Here's a 3/8 hex drive set next to a 1/4 for comparison,Outlaw.

 

[Outlawmws]

Thanks, burn, but I'm looking for the square drive metric in chrome specifically. I may have the hex drives.

 

[Cruzan80]

I know they made a set in the black blow molded cases. I have a set in 3/8dr (not sure how vintage you are looking). It was pre-double label (mine is Triangle Indestro on the label, not "Duro-Indestro"). Think there are some pics back in this thread.

 

[Outlawmws]

I know they made them in Indestro -Super- and chrome with the knurled band - I have an 8mm. they just seem super uncommon.

 

[Cruzan80]

Agreed. I think it was just a function of the times.

Same way that SK-Wayne and CM =V= metric is also rarer, the US wasnt making as much of it back then, and people didn't buy it as often.

 

[four.cycle]

@Outlawmws -

Indestro didn't offer any metric tools until their 1959 catalog No. 22

1959 Indestro catalog No 22 pp 85

The 1961 catalog No. 22A offers pretty much the same paltry selection.

Not until the 1971 catalog No. 55 did Indestro offer a broader assortment of metric tools, and it was limited to 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" drive shallow sockets, metric open-end wrenches from 6 mm - 26 mm, and metric combination wrenches from 7 mm to 22 mm.
In the 1971 catalog they added a 47036 1/2" drive 36mm 12-point socket. It fit the flywheel nut on a Volkswagen.

Several years went by before we saw the 46007HD - 46019HD (hex deep) 6-point deep-wells in metric sizes, and they were all on backorder forever. I believe I have 12, 13, 15, and 17mm deep-wells from that era. (The other sizes I acquired after I joined here in 2015.)

Part of what made the 3/8" drive stuff more "rare" was Indestro's failure to market the boards properly. IF they had sent men out into the field to up-sell their accounts and get the boards updated, there might be more metric Indestro in the second-hand market.

When they published the 1982 catalog No. 60, they offered 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" drive metric sockets. The catalog shows 1/4" drive metric deep-wells, but I have never seen any in real life.


1982 catalog No. 60 pp 24

They added some metric hex bits to the line-up. (Again, a product I've never seen in real life - only in the catalog.)

They added 3/8" and 1/2" drive metric impact sockets, but as with the above, I've never seen any in real life.

They also added 3/8" square drive metric universal joint sockets, and again, as above, I have never seen any in real life.

There were a lot of items published in the catalog that were never shipped. When the fill rate on orders dropped below 35%, my brother-in-law dropped the line and switched it over to Thorsen.

 

[Etchase]

@Outlawmws -

Indestro didn't offer any metric tools until their 1959 catalog No. 22

1959 Indestro catalog No 22 pp 85

The 1961 catalog No. 22A offers pretty much the same paltry selection.

Not until the 1971 catalog No. 55 did Indestro offer a broader assortment of metric tools, and it was limited to 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" drive shallow sockets, metric open-end wrenches from 6 mm - 26 mm, and metric combination wrenches from 7 mm to 22 mm.
In the 1971 catalog they added a 47036 1/2" drive 36mm 12-point socket. It fit the flywheel nut on a Volkswagen.

Several years went by before we saw the 46007HD - 46019HD (hex deep) 6-point deep-wells in metric sizes, and they were all on backorder forever. I believe I have 12, 13, 15, and 17mm deep-wells from that era. (The other sizes I acquired after I joined here in 2015.)

Part of what made the 3/8" drive stuff more "rare" was Indestro's failure to market the boards properly. IF they had sent men out into the field to up-sell their accounts and get the boards updated, there might be more metric Indestro in the second-hand market.

When they published the 1982 catalog No. 60, they offered 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" drive metric sockets. The catalog shows 1/4" drive metric deep-wells, but I have never seen any in real life.


1982 catalog No. 60 pp 24

They added some metric hex bits to the line-up. (Again, a product I've never seen in real life - only in the catalog.)

They added 3/8" and 1/2" drive metric impact sockets, but as with the above, I've never seen any in real life.

They also added 3/8" square drive metric universal joint sockets, and again, as above, I have never seen any in real life.

There were a lot of items published in the catalog that were never shipped. When the fill rate on orders dropped below 35%, my brother-in-law dropped the line and switched it over to Thorsen.

Nice timeline. Thank you. It will be interesting if imperial ever dies. Probably the worlds inventory of fractional tools is more than adequate to meet societies needs forever, and yet I rush out to buy new SAE stuff frequently. Old habits.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Indestro didn't offer any metric tools until their 1959 Indestro catalog No 22 pp 85

The 1961 catalog No. 22A offers pretty much the same paltry selection.

Not until the 1971 catalog No. 55 did Indestro offer a broader assortment of metric tools, and...

You sound mildly disappointed in your favorite mfgr, but that timeline tracks very consistently with the majority of US mfgrs and the somewhat haphazard 'Metrification' of the US, as well as the demand (the growing influx of imported cars). In fact, 1959 was pretty early and could even be called prescient.

We've talked about this before in scattered threads whenever it comes up. NIST (then NBS) going metric was the writing on the wall in 1964, then the Congressional study in 1968, and finally the Metric Conversion Act of 1975. Notably, BHM and Snap-on were producing a limited variety of metric tools in the late 1930s, but those were explicitly aimed at export markets. Snap-on's US market metric production little steps were 1960 and 1968, or thereabouts, and then in a big way in 1973.

As an aside, I can't ever let this topic go without mentioning @Username already in use 's 'Yankee Doodle Special' bicentennial Thorsen socket set, one of the coolest things on GJ, ever. It's metric and the flip side of the extensive label insert in the lid has the 'The Metric Revolution' story ("Blame it on the French" ) printed on it. Linked here.

 

[d42jeep]

The “Yankee Doodle Special“ metric Thorsen set is currently enjoying a life of retirement in the beautiful Lake Tahoe area.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

They also added 3/8" square drive metric universal joint sockets, and again, as above, I have never seen any in real life.

^ Oversight on my part, sorry. These 3/8" drive METRIC universal joint sockets show up on ebay now and then. I should have noted that above. I still have never seen an Indestro 1/4" drive metric deep-well anywhere, or the 3/8" drive metric hex bits.

You sound mildly disappointed in your favorite mfgr, but that timeline tracks very consistently with the majority of US mfgrs and the somewhat haphazard 'Metrification' of the US,

I am disappointed in the entire U.S. tool manufacturing industry for not coming to the party sooner. It's like they were all in a state of denial about the inevitable "metricification" (to use your term) of the entire planet. Did they honestly believe the world was going to stick with feet and inches forever?
If you want to talk about hubris... there you go.
Coming out of that world - in the 1950s - it's perfectly understandable: we won the war, we were launching devices that orbited the planet, and we were cranking out great big cars that burned lots of cheap gasoline. When you're on top of the heap, it's hard to see the bottom.
In the larger picture, it's one of the greatest blunders in this country's history. Consequently, we are forcing manufacturers to keep cranking out 9/16" combination wrenches - it's just nutty when you start thinking about all that's involved in making a widget.

Probably the worlds inventory of fractional tools is more than adequate to meet societies needs forever, and yet I rush out to buy new SAE stuff frequently.

^ THIS is what I refer to when I say "it's nutty". It's not just the 9/16" wrench they need to continue manufacturing - it's also that 3/8-16 hex nut that needs to be made.
Consequently, every hardware store carries DOUBLE the inventory they did in the past, because they have to have SAE and METRIC.
Start adding up the DOLLARS that are collecting dust on store shelves.
A dollar here, a dollar there - pretty soon you're talkin' about real money.

(bonus points if you know who I'm paraphrasing there.)

 

[Etchase]

^Everett Dirksen. And I’m pretty sure there are billions in fractional inventory. At least a couple. I’m anxiously awaiting the next warehouse of 50 year old inventory to be “discovered”. They stopped making Eagle Grip almost 2 years ago and there are still thousands available.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

(bonus points if you know who I'm paraphrasing there.)

Thomas Jefferson? Seriously, efforts to convert started that far back.

"metricification" (to use your term)

Not my term. You're about 10 years older than me, so probably out of school, but I was in HS and the 'Metrification campaign' was palpable. Objectively, it felt like our first taste of propaganda, not unlike later anti-tobacco efforts, the EPA, etc. Non-judgmentally. Judgmentally, I am not a Metric Refusenik. I am largely with you, though much more sympathetic and open to imperial measurements, application dependent. Obviously metric is the superior unit of measure system in much of science and engineering, but even there not exclusively, and decimals can be harder to work with than fractions for many people. And many people still find imperial weights and measures more practical in common everyday use.

Did they honestly believe the world was going to stick with feet and inches forever?

There are still niches of industry and commerce that use imperial.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

^ Granted, some of that is also twinged with nostalgia.

 

[Beerhippie]

Well, I'm pretty pissed that I can no longer find wrenches in corn sizes (and when was the last time I saw a measuring device in cubits?)!

Get off my lawn you lazy GenZ commie metrificators (yes, I recall Metrification, too.)!

 

[four.cycle]

@Etchase -

^ Exactly my point. I worked inventory management/purchasing for years. Inventory is a liability - not an asset. The bean-counters will disagree with me, but it's money that's ******* that you cannot work, cannot spend, cannot invest in something else that will sell faster.
May as well take your money and throw it into the street as have it ******* in something like 7/16-20 bolts that sit and collect dust.

Consider:
ACE Hardware: 5,700 retail locations
Lowes: 2,181
Home Depot: 2,335

Boggles the mind when you start thinking about how much money you're talking about ******* in SAE fasteners and hardware.

Not my term. You're about 10 years older than me, so probably out of school, but I was in HS and the 'Metrification campaign' was palpable.

Half that, actually, and I only vaguely recall that because I was dumped into running a business right out of high school - between trying to figure out the business and chasing girls, I didn't have time for "current events".

 

[Provincial]

@Etchase -

^ Exactly my point. I worked inventory management/purchasing for years. Inventory is a liability - not an asset. The bean-counters will disagree with me, but it's money that's ******* that you cannot work, cannot spend, cannot invest in something else that will sell faster.
May as well take your money and throw it into the street as have it ******* in something like 7/16-20 bolts that sit and collect dust.

Consider:
ACE Hardware: 5,700 retail locations
Lowes: 2,181
Home Depot: 2,335

Boggles the mind when you start thinking about how much money you're talking about ******* in SAE fasteners and hardware.


Half that, actually, and I only vaguely recall that because I was dumped into running a business right out of high school - between trying to figure out the business and chasing girls, I didn't have time for "current events".

To you, inventory of SAE fasteners is wasteful. To me, who has lots of equipment that uses SAE fasteners, that inventory is essential.

The real issue is changeover. Continental Europe adopted the metric system early, thus avoiding having to change over an industrialized society. Great Britain had adopted inches and Whitworth when it industrialized, and thus had to change on the fly, with the added complication of having British Association, British Standard Whitworth, British Standard Fine, and British Standard Cycle. Oh, and British Standard Pipe and British Parallel Pipe! During WWII, the British realized that they had to get standardized with their allies, and started to phase in the use of the American threads, called the Unified Thread System. Soon after this was completed, the European Common Market demanded that they convert to the Metric system!

Metric supporters brag about standardization, but don't want to admit that a metric threaded fastener may have a different size head, depending on being made in France, Germany, or Japan. Nor will they admit that there are various thread pitches for a given diameter fastener, beyond standard and fine pitch (I was recently sold fine pitch 12MM bolts, despite providing a sample with standard pitch), so "Metric Standardization" is an oxymoron.

I recently tried to buy some metric bolts at a large chain hardware store, and they only stocked inch size fasteners!

 

[four.cycle]

Metric supporters brag about standardization, but don't want to admit t

You're preachin' to the choir on that one, buddy.
Only AFTER running a nice sharp 4mm cutting tap down every hole on both of the 28mm Solex one-barrels on my Opel was I informed that they used a different pitch thread on the French-manufactured carburetors. The solution, of course, was almost an entire tube of red Loctite, generously applied, to every screw that held them together.
Fortunately I rolled that Opel a few times before I ever had to work on it again.

I can more than appreciate your appreciation for all the hardware stores carrying SAE fasteners. Both Briggs & Stratton and Tecumseh flatheads are ALL SAE - top to bottom - so ACE Hardware comes in real handy.

 

[RTM]

Well, I'm pretty pissed that I can no longer find wrenches in corn sizes (and when was the last time I saw a measuring device in cubits?)!

When they stop sizing things in barrels and brews, you know we are screwed. 31 gal per barrel, 1100 barrels per brew, a 6 brew fermenter or aging tank held a lot of beer. 775k fermenter is so inelegant compared to 6 brew.

 

[Beerhippie]

When they stop sizing things in barrels and brews, you know we are screwed. 31 gal per barrel, 1100 barrels per brew, a 6 brew fermenter or aging tank held a lot of beer. 775k fermenter is so inelegant compared to 6 brew.

That's one hell of a lot larger brewhouse and ferm hall than ours!

Our brewhouse batch size is about 20 barrels. Largest ferm we have is 110 barrels--a five-batch--we have two that size (and one of them is named for me).

We still use a lot of archaic measures in the brewery... not just bbl (brewer's barrel, not the same as oil barrels) but Brix for density, etc. Many of these go back to the days of the brewer's guilds in Europe--particularly the Germanic republics and kingdoms--that wanted to be able to write down recipes, but not have to worry about industrial espionage. They wrote recipes, but the measures were guild secrets, under penalty of death.

Now, where did I put that seven corn end-wrench?

 

[RTM]

That's one hell of a lot larger brewhouse and ferm hall than ours

Yeah, it was a good old fashioned macro brew. Started there at 21.16, left at 37.7 y.o. Lots of changes since then, but the current industry is mostly metric, that hurts the most. They are rightly proud of their 20k. ferms.

 

[Beerhippie]

Yeah, it was a good old fashioned macro brew. Started there at 21.16, left at 37.7 y.o. Lots of changes since then, but the current industry is mostly metric hurts the most. They are rightly proud of their 20k. Ferms

Hectaliters... like that resonates.

 

[Patrick Eubanks]

I operate a construction business and every single fastener we use is standard. My HVAC business still is predominantly standard. Only when we move to Asian stuff does the metric stuff show itself. IE…..USA made stuff is still mostly standard. The automotive and electronics industry moved to metric mainly because that’s where the parts are manufactured. The SAE (society of automotive engineers) has been around a long time.

 

[GaryM909]

I picked up this 3/8" ratchet today. I cleaned it up a bit but it wasn't very dirty and it was rust free.

 

[Outlawmws]

Nice find Gary!

 

[GaryM909]

Nice find Gary!

Thanks. I found it at a garage sale and after saying to myself to quit buying tools I don’t need I broke down and paid $1 for it. It does have user marks though but not very deep.

 

[d42jeep]

I found these two wrenches yesterday. I may send them along to the Pacific Northwest if there are no objections.
-Don