Show your Indestro and Duro-Chrome tools

[four.cycle]

^ It is indeed a "Rim Wrench" - the "0" preceding the part number indicating it is the model with the free-spinning handle. Yours is the second one I've seen a photo of during the last 6 years, if that gives you any indication of scarcity. (And that doesn't include the one on AA.)

 

[Mintgrun]

Thank you for posting that page. The image of those wrenches show a slightly different socket end, with mine being forged out of the same stock as the rest of the tool. (minus the revolving handle). I wonder which style would be older. It seems odd that they number/list them starting with the 3/4" size, then drop to 5/8" and go up from there. Maybe the 3/4" was the first size they offered.

Tom

 

[four.cycle]

"The image..."

The "image" is an artists rendition - something we've discussed here at length - and the consensus on old catalog illustrations is "trust, but verify". Don't interpret a drawing as gospel - often they're embellished, or details are left out.

 

[Mintgrun]

Yeah, sorry. I have read those discussions. I just wondered if they made two different styles.

 

[Ricky Joe]

Like you should do with any source of information, read AA with a critical mind, as the site frequently has misinformation.

 

[four.cycle]

"...two different styles..."

hmmm.... not that I know of...
Those are kind of a strange item. they were really popular, and then they suddenly fell out of favor.
A young man came on here months ago with a Walden-Worcester model, the patent on which was the manner in which the socket "head" was affixed to the shaft of the "handle". (Definitely a two-piece design.)(The unit had a four-way "head" on it for different size lug nuts.)
They appear in early catalogs prior to WWII, and then they disappear, causing me to believe they were just phased out by pretty much everybody.

.... and catalog illustrations: I've come to view them with a huge amount of skepticism.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The image of those wrenches show a slightly different socket end, with mine being forged out of the same stock as the rest of the tool. (minus the revolving handle). I wonder which style would be older. It seems odd that they number/list them starting with the 3/4" size, then drop to 5/8" and go up from there. Maybe the 3/4" was the first size they offered.

It's an interesting question, Tom. Generally speaking (not confined to Duro), I have and have seen press-fit, welded, and forged, and that goes for Tee, Ell/Offset, and Speed type handles, and I just think of all of the Fixed Era socket wrenches as "Pre-Detachable", never having given any thought to a sequence for the means by which they were affixed, if there was one.

I could've sworn I had a Duro, and just spent the better part of an hour dragging them out of various places, but the two early Duro brace type speed wrenches I have are very early detachable.

The short brace type speeders with the rotating grips, all caked in black cosmo, all Blackhawk, (Pic 1) are all forged. But the long speeders, also Blackhawk, with identical doorknob handles, two different socket sizes, as if from a set (Pic 2), are different. One is forged, the other is press-fit or welded. All the Walden (Pic 3) are press-fit or welded.

 

[Mintgrun]

Thanks for sharing those photos Lugz. It's fun to see your collection. I passed on this one the first time I saw it at the third-hand store, but kind of regretted that, so I bought it the next time I was there. There was also a 1/2" drive detatchable spinner that looked like Duro, but it wasn't marked. It wasn't there when I went back. That style seems much more practical.

Those are kind of a strange item. they were really popular, and then they suddenly fell out of favor.

Did pneumatic impact guns/compressors become more affordable around that time?

catalog illustrations: I've come to view them with a huge amount of skepticism.

The catalog page posted above refers to the socket end as hardened which makes me think that the illustration might be accurate and may imply that it was an add-on socket, as opposed to being forged from the handle stock; but I suppose it is also possible to heat treat the socket end of a forged tool.


While this 3/4" rim wrench does fit my lug nuts, I doubt that I will actually reach for it. I usually spin them off and on with an impact gun and finish them with a torque wrench. It was just an excuse to buy another neat old tool for a couple of bucks.

Do you collect Duro/Indestro tools, four.cycle? If so, do you want this 0626 for your collection?

Just for fun, here is the lug wrench that came with my car. It gets a lot more leverage than this style. That one was made by Heyco.



(The hole at the bend was for a pin that held a hub cap removal feature. My car is later in the run and does not have those hub caps, so when that piece fell off I just left it off).

Tom

 

[four.cycle]

^ We were Indestro warehouse distributors. I bought most of my sockets, wrenches, screwdrivers, and pliers when I was in high school - all Indestro. So yes, I do have quite a collection.

 

[driftpin]

I'm not sure these offset box-end wrenches are Indestro, as they don't say that anywhere except on the wrench stack clip. I cleaned-out a storage unit for a friend who wasn't able to do it on his own, and he told me, "anything you want in-there, it's yours." This set was one of the tools.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I'm not sure these offset box-end wrenches are Indestro,

They are! That's a sweet pick up, Drifty.

 

[d42jeep]

Here are a couple of Indestro tools my neighbor dropped off on Monday. He found them at an estate sale while visiting Portland, OR. The 1/2” drive breaker bar is an Indestro Super and the open gear ratchet is an Indestro Select. It’s the first Indestro open gear ratchet I’ve seen in person.
-Don

 

[Debcrow]

I have been doing some digging through some of my older ratchets...and the internet. Is this Indestro plug ratchet the "Heavy" model? The teeth are completely enclosed. It is 9 1/4 inches long. How many years did they use this model? Thanks.

 

[Ricky Joe]

Here are a couple of Indestro tools my neighbor dropped off on Monday. He found them at an estate sale while visiting Portland, OR. The 1/2” drive breaker bar is an Indestro Super and the open gear ratchet is an Indestro Select. It’s the first Indestro open gear ratchet I’ve seen in person.
-Don

That ratchet, like most, is missing the cover. In use they would slip and at best be a nuisance, at worst cut your hand or interfere with the job. Great ratchets, though. Here is mine. I removed the cover for the previously mentioned reasons.

 

[four.cycle]

I have been doing some digging through some of my older ratchets...and the internet. Is this Indestro plug ratchet the "Heavy" model? The teeth are completely enclosed. It is 9 1/4 inches long. How many years did they use this model? Thanks.

Yes, it is the "heavy" ratchet, which is shown only in catalog listings of the model 1536 "Master" series socket wrench set. I have never seen it listed in any catalog as a separate item, which may explain why there is never a part number stamped on any of them.
Yours is stamped "Indestro", which is somewhat uncommon.
The unit appears in catalog listings (of the model 1536 set) from 1930, 1935, 1937, and 1938. Outside of that date range I can only speculate.

 

[d42jeep]

So I guess that my set has the “light” ratchet.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

no... yours has the model 655 ratchet - they gave that one a part number.

(* and I think (but wouldn't bet my life on it) that yours is the model 1530, although I think some of them over the years have had pieces added/removed, which makes it somewhat difficult to tell one from the other. I have two or three of those sets here somewhere and I'm honestly not sure which ones they are.)

 

[d42jeep]

Due to the Caldor fire, my mail delivery has been interrupted somewhat but my daughter brought me several packages delivered to the Bay Area. One item I was very happy to see was this NOS wartime Duro Chrome 2016 circle DC DBE wrench. These wrenches are rare to start with and I was really surprised to see this NOS cad plated one listed by an eBay seller. It comes close to matching the specification for a GMTK 41-W-608 Long DBE Wrench 15/16" x 1".
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

^ I have been trying to put together complete sets of both the (full-length) 15° offset and 45° offset double-end box wrenches in Indestro for several years, and only recently figured out that there were no fewer than six iterations made between the 1930s and 1980s (exclusive of product stamped "Duro/Indestro".)
So congratulations on the acquisition and I wish you the best of luck in trying to complete a "matched set", as I'm not sure anymore that they even existed directly from the factory!

 

[d42jeep]

The only ones I’ve been actively collecting are the three used in the GMTK. I haven’t found a circle DC 2014A yet but I’m looking. I’ve found some random extras as well.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

Among the recent arrivals was this G65 ignition wrench (41-W-1468-370) and a 1/4” drive sliding tee (41-H-1509-50) to fill out wartime sets.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

Don-
Here are the two sets I was trying to complete when I finally realized how many variants of these Indestro made:

Indestro Super 10° offset double-end SAE box wrench - raised panel, smooth shank

Indestro Super 45° offset double-end SAE box wrench - raised panel, hex shank

There is also an earlier "Chrome Vanadium" (raised panel, hex shank), an earlier "Super Quality" (dart-shaped raised panel, hex shank), another "Super Quality" (raised panel, smooth shank) an even earlier "Polygon" (stamped "Chromium Vanadium" on the other side)(oval shank), and of course the later (1960s-1980s) "Indestro Super" (smooth shank). That's exclusive of the latter-day "Duro-Indestro" branding.
I'll pull photos of all of them and get them posted later.
BK

 

[d42jeep]

Beautiful wrenches, BK.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

"Polygon" / "Chromium Vanadium" top left
note no part number. smooth oval-shaped shank.

"Super Quality" / "Forged in U.S.A." with "DC" stamp - bottom left
note no part number. raised panel with dart-shaped ends.
hexagonal shaped shank

"Super Quality" / Forged in U.S.A." with "DC" stamp - top right
note no part number. raised panel with "pennant" end.
smooth, more flat shank (compared to "Polygon")

There is yet another iteration with "Chrome Vanadium" (or "Chromium Vanadium" ?) stamped on the reverse side in italicized text. (I can't find a sample image at the moment.) (raised panel, hex shank)

Then of course there's the later production (1960s - 1980s) smooth shank stamped with the part number and "Indestro Super".

The last version would have been product stamped "Duro-Indestro".

Did I leave any out?

 

[four.cycle]

Beautiful wrenches, BK.
-Don

That top set (the 10° offsets) are NOS. I cut a deal with the seller - he bought out a hardware store inventory. I thought they were going to be the hexagonal shank design - I guess I didn't look closely enough at the photos. (That was the catalyst for the post just above.)
I suppose I should mosey on over to AA and see if he makes note of the number of variants.
BK

 

[Mallen]

I found this in a couple of tool cabinets full of tools I picked up for 100bucks.

 

[Username already in use]

@Mallen nice metric set. Well found.

 

[four.cycle]

Vtg 27pc. Duro Indestro CROSS COUNTRY 1/2” Drive Socket Set & Case Mfd for SEARS | eBay

<p>Vtg 27pc. CROSS COUNTRY 1/2” Drive Socket Set & Case Mfd for SEARS possibly by Indestro </p><p>Duro. It’s in good noticeably used condition. I accept Paypal and I would expect payment within 7 days. Buyer pays for shipping and insurance when necessary. Photos part of the description, but...

www.ebay.com

I haven't yet gotten a reply from the seller as to any possible reduction on shipping costs. As they are, it's a deal-killer for me, but if they can get shipping down I might be interested.
Anybody else? I don't want to step on toes here.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

If you don't bid on it I will for sure. It's pretty cool.

 

[four.cycle]

okay... good luck...
just found out I'll be out on the coast for a week and probably won't be back by then.

 

[Username already in use]

I picked up this odd little Duro Chrome socket on Sunday. 1/2" drive 9/16" socket with a thin profile for tight spaces.
The model number is 1618V8XX

 

[Provincial]

Ford connecting rod nuts on flathead v-8's.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It's pretty cool.

Yeah it is. The seller is completely ignoring the midget set inside. I'm not usually too interested in hex drive, but that's a neat little spinner/extension. I am guessing that grip rotates and the piece on the back is for driving with the sliding tee?

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I think I have one at home. I'll check later

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Here it is

 

[Mallen]

@Mallen nice metric set. Well found.

There was a bunch of random stuff like router bits and stuff in plastic cases. I almost tossed it in the pile without looking. The rest of the plastic cases just held random uninteresting odds and ends. There are a few light scratches on a couple of sockets and the back of the wrench, and a little leaning on one socket where somone used it on an impact wrench, but for the most part it's perfect. What looks like flaked off chrome in the picture is actually black silicone sealer. The quality of the finish is striking. It feels silky smooth. And the neck is sort of flat and unusually thin, yes seems quite strong.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Here it is

Cool. Thanks. But I thought you were going to verify my conjecture. Is that a spinner/extension? And does it operate as I surmised? I can't see the back end of yours any more than I can the one on eBay. Does that socket like piece have a female hex opening for the male hex stud of the sliding tee? And does that knurled piece rotate?

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Yes a spinner extension, the knurled part rotates

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Awesome. Cool set up. I've never seen one before, not even an ad.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I have wondered about it for years. The spinner extension was a trendy item back in early 30s. Looks like that one matches the color scheme of the cross country set. Was cross country sold by sears as seller claims? I have a couple odd tools, just thought maybe a duro/indestro sub brand.