Show your "Long C" Craftsman!

[JoCoSawdust]

This just in...a pretty nice, but definitely used, 1/2” wood socket chisel. Usually in this area, these things continue to beaten on long after the wood handle is in splinters, and then some more, until reforging would be the only way to get a new handle back onto it.
Does it say “BP” in front of “USA”? Wonder what that is, an OEM code?

Wow that thing is in great shape! No clue on the makers marks.

 

[JoCoSawdust]

Long C takes for the day. Bevel gauge, some nested diamond pliers that need a little love, tap and die set and a wood boring expansion bit in original container with directions.

 

[austin870]

Here is my restored Long C grinder. Vintage 1944. It actually came with a huge long C in large letters all along the entire length of the quench tank in the front. I am working on reproducing that.

 

[JoCoSawdust]

Damn. That is one beautiful grinder austin. Please update us when you finish up that logo!

 

[Outlawmws]

I'm surprised how many restored grinders are surfacing!

 

[Magnum440d100]

Picked these up today.

It doesn’t show in the picture, but they have a gold hue to them. And yes, they are 8 point...

What do I have here?!?

 

[Outlawmws]

That is a factory (Anti-rust) coating. I seem to recall we decided it was shellac?

 

[Magnum440d100]

That is a factory (Anti-rust) coating. I seem to recall we decided it was shellac?

Are these sockets hard to find? Google bring up very little. Alloy artifacts has some information, but I cannot find any others(?)

 

[Provincial]

Nickel plating has a yellowish tint that is very different than chrome. If there is no coating over a plated surface, a yellow tint may indicate that the plating is nickel.

 

[Outlawmws]

Seems like the 8 pt are fairly common from my experience. they always came is the sets.

The commonly used sizes seem to go missing more often, possibly due to Sears lifetime warranty as the common sizes get used more and get broken more, so in later years they would be replaced with =V= series...

1/2, 9/16, 3/4, etc. are IMO more likely to be gone.

 

[JoCoSawdust]

Are these sockets hard to find? Google bring up very little. Alloy artifacts has some information, but I cannot find any others(?)

Those sockets are actually pretty common as Sears sold a ton of them. They're either marked "BE" or an "H" inside a circle. Both made by New Briton. Most of the ones I've come across have the yellowish film on them. I agree that it's some kind of rust prevention. It will come off with lacquer thinner and some fine wire brushing but it's a PITA. I've cleaned up enough to have a bright shiny set in each drive size but the rest I leave alone.

EDIT: I think I misunderstood your question. If you're asking if the 8 points are uncommon, I'd say no as well. I seem to come across 8 points much more often than commonly used 12pt sockets.

 

[d42jeep]

The New Britain made tools used a yellowish coating on their polished steel sockets and drive tools during that time period.
-Don

 

[Magnum440d100]

Picked up these today. Paid APPX $0.25 each... Haven’t done the math wholly yet... But I just knew I had to have them!

 

[LesserSon]

I don’t know what was supposed to be in this small pouch, maybe ignition, carburetor wrenches? It had three made-in-Japan nut-driver heads without a handle. Yellow logo, spruce-green vinyl-faced cloth, black piping trim. Pretty brittle.
Edit- added the “as found” image. Actually, I had already given the logo a couple thumb-wipes, because the “n” at the end was really the only thing visible under the grime.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That's a nice find, LS! The 1941 catalog includes a few tiny leatherette pouches, for pin punches, ratcheting ignition box wrenches, and ignition pliers. The only one with five pockets is the pin punches. But someone with 30's catalogs might do better.

 

[JoCoSawdust]

Interesting find LS. The green color is interesting. I'd guess that it pre-dates the 40s but 41 is the earliest hand tool catalog I have access to.

 

[LesserSon]

I could be talked into believing the green was once blue. Oil, grime, sunlight, heat, freezing, oxygen, nitrogen could have altered it.
I see the pin punches pouch illustration in the 1942 mechanics tools catalog. Dimensions look wider in the illustration, but that may mean nothing. I’ll dredge the net for earlier pdfs, and see what I can find, but probably that’s what it is.

 

[bmwrd0]

LesserSon, reach out to Rileysan, he might know.

 

[Rileysan]

I could be talked into believing the green was once blue. Oil, grime, sunlight, heat, freezing, oxygen, nitrogen could have altered it.
I see the pin punches pouch illustration in the 1942 mechanics tools catalog. Dimensions look wider in the illustration, but that may mean nothing. I’ll dredge the net for earlier pdfs, and see what I can find, but probably that’s what it is.

I think this is my first post this year. I was without a PC until a couple weeks ago and my phone is cracked so bad I gave up on trying to use it for surfing GJ.

What better segue than for BMWRD0 to put me up to this task on THE Portland Swap Meet weekend (It really is EPIC).

I didn't know the exact answer to what was in your pouch. However, I have the entire catalog collection on DVD so I started with 1939, and stopped there.

A picture is worth a thousand words so I'll just post this capture and shut up.

Nice find, Lesserson!

Brian

 

[Rileysan]

Since the previous post was my first post in many months, I naturally had to make a mistake. I now realize the size of your pouch doesn't match the pin punch set.

Fast forward to 1946. I found this depiction of a mixed punch/chisel set. There were no depictions of this set prior to 1946.

Brian

 

[LesserSon]

Thanks, Rileysan!
I like your 1946 answer better - I think I have a couple of those, and know they would be easier to find in the wild than the earlier pin punches. Time will tell.
Edit- so maybe they won’t be so easy. I was thinking of the ones in the 1948 catalog that came in a Heritage Logo pouch. Same set, looks like, but chrome-plated instead of zinc-plated like in 1946. Only a two-year production run, max!? Yikes.

 

[DD T/A]

Trying to find some new pry bars for various jobs and found this in nice condition.

 

[JoCoSawdust]

LS: I've got some loosies...I'll check them tomorrow to see if any of them need to rest in that pouch of yours.

Rileysan: Glad you're back. In regards to that DVD of all the catalogs...I recall reading something about it when I first started perusing GJ but don't recall which thread. If I remember correctly it's no longer available? If it is would you please pass along the source?

 

[JoCoSawdust]

Trying to find some new pry bars for various jobs and found this in nice condition.

Nice find!

 

[JoCoSawdust]

I noticed something interesting looking at chisels this AM. Looking at the catalog image Rileysan posted, the chisels in the small, 5 pc set are all marked =CRAFTSMAN= while the chisels in the larger 12 pc set are marked with the Long C logo.

Looking at my chisels and punches, I have a 5pc pin punch set in a vinyl pouch marked with =CRAFTSMAN= and a Circle G makers mark.

A 5 pc chisel/punch set in a metal case is marked with the Long C logo and a BC makers mark.

At any rate, it appears the chisels and punches were being supplied by at least two different makers during the same period.

LS: Pic three shows the loosies I have with what I believe to be the proper markings for your set. I don't have either of the chisels listed in the catalog and it doesn't list the sizes of the other punches but if you think any of these are a proper fit for your pouch shoot me a PM.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

The Craftsman products in that late 40's transition period between Long C and the =CRAFTSMAN= Heritage era are often a strange mix of markings, mfgrs' markings, and badges/decals. Not just chisels. Wrench sets. Pliers. Etc.

 

[Visey]

I just came across this beautiful long C 1/8 inch chisel with the logo intact. It looks like it has not been used in 50 years. The letters appear to say "US" instead of "BE" though.

 

[Outlawmws]

"BE" = New Briton, and they didn't make wood working tools that I know of.

I'd place that in he late 40's having both the Long C stamped in the steel and the heritage logo as a decal.

Nice find!

 

[LesserSon]

I just came across this beautiful long C 1/8 inch chisel with the logo intact. It looks like it has not been used in 50 years. The letters appear to say "US" instead of "BE" though.

Did you see post 841? The one I found seems later, marked maybe “BP U.S.A.” Just a remnant of a sticker that may have been oriented 90°.

 

[Visey]

Thanks Outlaw and LS! It is interesting that the long C and Heritage were both there. It makes me wonder what was originally on the handle on post 841.

 

[Rileysan]

The Craftsman products in that late 40's transition period between Long C and the =CRAFTSMAN= Heritage era are often a strange mix of markings, mfgrs' markings, and badges/decals. Not just chisels. Wrench sets. Pliers. Etc.

I agree - this happened often. It can also be explained by warranty replacement.

Brian

 

[d42jeep]

I went through my Craftsman punches and chisels recently and separated out the long C examples for a picture.
-Don

 

[Tylermorris]

Found a few, not sure about the left two punches

 

[tombell572]

Easter weekend is usually slow for tag sales but I did manage to find one last Saturday in Portland. On a food shopping errand I detoured in the direction of a hand lettered sign, ending up in a basement full of cheap offshore tools. Looking through a pile of picked-over wrenches I found these Craftsman Number 1,2, and 3 tappet wrenches for a buck apiece.

Tom B.

 

[d42jeep]

Hey, those look familiar. I took this picture yesterday.
-Don

 

[Username already in use]

Hey, those look familiar. I took this picture yesterday.

If I'm not mistaken, those should have come in pairs, right? 2x each no. 1-4?

These Craftsman Long Cs followed me home this weekend.

5/8" combo, 21/32" socket and 11/16" socket (both BE series)

 

[Outlawmws]

I can't say for back then, but the "new" ones I bought in the early 70's it was a set; one each.

Generally its not needed that you have to have two of them in use

 

[Username already in use]

I can't say for back then, but the "new" ones I bought in the early 70's it was a set; one each.

Generally its not needed that you have to have two of them in use

Well, just in case, I'm hedging my bets...

 

[JoCoSawdust]

40's set. Two each of #1, #2 and #3.

 

[JoCoSawdust]

I've noticed there's a variance of the Long C logo on these wrenches. Curved logo vs straight logo. Also a variance on the other end. Some say "Chrome Vanadium" some don't. I have a Long C tappet wrench that actually has a -V- stamped in the opposite end. Obviously not MDF but odd to see.