Show Your Offset Screwdrivers, Right Angle, Plain and Ratcheting

[Provincial]

Here's my cosmic contribution. A Meteor.

Has a flat screwdriver on one side and a 1/4" male square drive on the other.

Instead of a flip handle to change direction, it has a rotatable knob. The more common flip handle is easier to use than this tiny knob.

I have some Meteor ignition wrenches. They do not have any markings other than the name.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

As first reported in the GS thread, I found this Cornwell SDS-43 last week at Kent's, a used tool store in Tucson, but I've been on the road and haven't had a chance to post it. It's a unique, interesting approach.

The only other examples I have seen posted here on GJ were in older whatzit threads linked here and here.

Catalog excerpt is from 1941.

I sure wish it was the whole set, but 'beggars (and in-the-wild pickers) can't be choosers'!

 

[Username already in use]

@Private Lugnutz that thing is COOL!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Some bmc phillips drivers

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Picked up this teenie tiny cutie at the flea this morning. #020. The date stamp is really deep, obscuring the outline, but given the branding and the style, I'd have to say this is either 1938 or 1948.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I was happy to find this machinist's double-end double-offset at the flea this morning. It's OAL, offset configuration, and octagonal shank are perfect for the wartime GMTK specs, and it's only a little thick at 1/2" (3/8" was specified) for the diameter of the shank, but it will do just fine.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

That's a heavy duty one

 

[d42jeep]

Here is a nice General ratcheting screwdriver I found at an estate sale last weekend. The good thing about it is that it is a slotted screwdriver on one side and a Phillips #2 on the other.
-Don

 

[Stubby1743]

A bit of a mix of old and newish.

From the top no name; CK 3&4 Pozi; two English Footprints; Vitrex No.1356 and lastly the oldest.

The oldest is the same pattern as the one in post#33. Mine is marked 'BHP' together with the UK Govt. property broad arrow and dated 1945.

 

[d42jeep]

I spotted this on eBay and couldn’t resist it. The ratchet isn’t functioning properly but may just need some lube. Another ratchet of another brand was included.
-Don

 

[RTM]

Been a while since I've added anything here, this is a find from a toolbox of goodies, slowly working my way to the bottom, lower stuff from other hauls was getting tossed in the box, since it was a fixture near the tool desk.

Nothing two exciting, a GlobeMaster Japan #1 Phillips screwdriver, both bits are rotated 45° from the other to give you more swing in less space. Overall length is 3-1/2" so just an average tool.

Hmm, apparently there were two more from that haul that should go here, a Vaco and A Stanley Yankee Ratcheting. We'll see if they turn up anytime soon, or if I just tossed them in the toolbox.

 

[Pexto]

I spotted this on eBay and couldn’t resist it. The ratchet isn’t functioning properly but may just need some lube. Another ratchet of another brand was included.

That's a really nice find! The bits look very similar to Xcelite bits like the ones that come with the XL-75. Do you know if they are interchangeable?

 

[d42jeep]

That's a really nice find! The bits look very similar to Xcelite bits like the ones that come with the XL-75. Do you know if they are interchangeable?

I’ll find out because I ordered an Xcelite ratchet to use with it. Immediately after ordering the Xcelite ratchet I found a North Bros ratchet listed and ordered that.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

The Xcelite ratchet arrived today and is a perfect fit to the North Bros bits.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

An odd snapon

 

[d42jeep]

I found a General Made In USA right angle ratcheting screwdriver still in the package at a local garage sale yesterday. It’s a little newer than I would have preferred but being still in the package seemed to make up for that.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Happy to have plucked this Mossberg No. 101 out of an old toolbox at the flea on Friday. It's an unusual configuration.

 

[d42jeep]

Normally I wouldn’t have bought this pre Stanley Yankee 3400 screwdriver but I am a sucker for tools that come with a sleeve. I have no idea if the sleeve is original but I like it.
-Don

 

[esben57]

 

[d42jeep]

This eBay lot of North Bros Yankee offsets added significantly to my growing collection. I prefer the ones that were made before Stanley’s ownership.
-Don

 

[Mintgrun]

I brought home the largest one I've seen so far. Here it is beside the smallest one I've found.



The tiny one's marked VACO VO-1 U.S.A. I don't see any branding on the big one. It looks like there's chrome underneath the red paint, so I may wash that off. I'm guessing it's a drag link tool.

 

[kwigly]

Mystery offset screwdriver I've had for a while.
Knurled metal shaft for gripping while you turn the nice boxwood "London pattern" handle. The driver blade is quite slim, so likely for an adjustment screw ? carburetor ? or ?

 

[RTM]

The driver blade is quite slim, so likely for an adjustment screw ? carburetor ? or ?

I would guess adjustment as well, and that the handle is a sweet addition. Mine like that have an arrow or line on the handle end so you can see how far you’ve turned. Mine drive 1/4” socket type tools tho, so not on here

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Okay, first of all, that is a gorgeous tool, kwigs! Wood, steel, brass - what's not to love?

If I am understanding correctly, it's for close-quarter work, where there is no space to swing a shank left or right about the head of the unit being turned. Like close-quarter ratchets where you twist the shank or a knob on the end. That is, twisting the knurled shaft doesn't turn the whole head in the same axis as the shaft, it turns the screwdriver blade in a different axis. That means some kind of knuckle joint or beveled gears to actuate.

While I can understand why you might not want to take it apart, I would love to see the innards if you're up for it. I see a couple screws.

 

[Beerhippie]

A couple I picked up today:



P&C 164 and Snappy 040.

Is the odd mark to the right of the Snappy a date code?

 

[four.cycle]

it is, but I am not going to even try to guess. I get it wrong 9 times out of 10.

 

[Beerhippie]

'87 looks closest to me.

 

[four.cycle]

I would have guessed 2001, which is why I just posted the image of their chart.

 

[Beerhippie]

Since it isn't obviously any of them, and it exists, we'll say it was made at some point.

 

[d42jeep]

Here is another General with a larger blade on one side and a smaller blade on the other.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I am not terribly fond of this style of offset screwdriver (rectangular bar of steel with the ends twisted and flattened into 45* blades), so I was hoping this would at least be something interesting (such as a "Pop" Walker), when I spotted it at the flea yesterday. No such luck. I had no idea when Herbrand was selling this type. Postwar for sure. And the composition is strange. Using @RTM's Indestro set (same style, post #1 page #1) as a guide, I started in the '66 cat (nope - hex shank, opposing blades, one parallel, one perpendicular, GMTK style) went back to '48 (nope - same configuration as the '66). Finally found it in the '61, which is a little odd. I guess they tried it out and then abandoned it. And the description (Chrome Tungsten Steel!) confirms it.

 

[bonneyman]

A couple I picked up today:



P&C 164 and Snappy 040.

Is the odd mark to the right of the Snappy a date code?

Nice profile on the Snappy!

 

[d42jeep]

These unmarked drivers came in a Craftsman set I found at a moving sale on Saturday.
-Don

 

[Leviton]

This is the first S-shaped offset screwdriver I've seen. Based on appearance, my guess is that it was home forged.

It has a 3/8" wide flat head at each end. 5.7" overall length.

 

[d42jeep]

I found three offset ratchet sets at an estate sale yesterday. Two of the same Chapman sets (No. 1316)
and a larger 8072 General set.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

I have been on a bit of a Chapman run recently. I found these at a Marin County yard sale yesterday. Hard to resist the yellow.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

Here are two General ratcheting drivers found yesterday.
-Don

 

[MisterEd]

Plomb 36 5/16

 

[Mintgrun]

This one appears to have been made out of an old screwdriver and a stainless steel swage eye, with a Phillips bit pressed into the hole. I believe they whittled down the handle, which crumbled and finally broke. It's the kind of nasty plastic that causes rust, so I was happy to remove it. The part that hadn't broken was surprisingly resistant to hammering and required a chisel to cut it off.



I have a spare handle with the right size hole, but I'm not sure I want something that bulky. My little offset screwdriver box is pretty full already.

 

[MisterEd]

Bridgeport Off Set