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Show Your Vintage Utica Tools!

d42jeep

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I recently found a pair of Utica pliers at a garage sale and was surprised to find out that there wasn’t a thread dedicated to vintage Utica tools. I thought that I would get this thread started before Lugz updates the sticky at the beginning of the vintage discussion. I’ll get started with my recent plier find and some random pictures of Utica tools I have had.
-Don1E4699AD-2C7A-49BA-9BD6-60DDE87BCAEF.jpeg79B292B7-B6C4-4453-89CB-EB536ACABF9D.png5600BC14-A827-4BEB-ACC0-2EF6C0DB4CD0.jpegCC2FD992-9263-4333-8418-6A0173CCCC57.jpegF47B9A01-ECA8-4E96-8244-41331D11AFD4.jpeg13A35616-0D41-4A37-8842-C462DC769204.jpeg15F00007-07A0-4AA1-B1E4-DA6D905582B9.jpeg7E047E3C-A52E-4C08-AFFC-CD858F9EB4BD.jpeg
 
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Private Lugnutz

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Good idea. It's one of those vintage brands, like Crescent, your other recent starter, that is so common that it attracted multiple threads here in the past. Unfortunately, they were all too many, too short, too specific, or both.

It's early, I'm on cup of coffee #1, so I'll start my participation with a funny story that goes to show one aspect of why the inaudible internet isn't all its cracked up to be.

Although it's a fairly common tool, the name is kind of odd, and regional, obviously, derived from its original home city in New York state, which was of course derived from the ancient Phoenician city in northern Africa.

Several years ago at a big swap meet (Eastern Rally at Aberdeen) I met an online friend from G503.com. I was working at APG, but I also had some extra tools and stuff to sell, so he let me set up in his area during "long lunches" and then all day Friday and Saturday. Anyway, we were talking shop all week, trading stories, and examining each others tools.

To get go the point, though, he kept saying Utica like you-TEAK-a. This was the first time we had met, and it was a little awkward. I didn't want to be the pedant. Finally, I told him it was pronounced YOU-ta-ka, and he said everyone he knows says it his way. And he was from South Carolina! Made me wonder if half the country is saying it that way and half the other way. :lol:
 

Raineman

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I've got a few. I'll take some pics when I get home today and post. When I get Utica stuff, it goes in my main box, replacing whatever non-Utica piece it matches.
 
OP
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d42jeep

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NJ Marty's Utica display case thread has been the de facto spot to post Utica tools for some time now.

Here
I have posted on that thread as well, but finding that thread to post Utica tools isn’t all that easy and hopefully this one makes a little more sense based on the title. I’m hopeful that when added to the sticky this thread will be easy to find.
-Don
 
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Provincial

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I agree. I made the post to make sure people would find Marty's thread. There is a lot of good information on there.

Just to help link things, here is one to a thread I started on a pair of Utica lineman's pliers. I thought that they were TL-19-A's, but they were really TL-13-A pliers that were stamped quite deeply. These were used by the US Army Signal Corps in WWII and later.

Utica TL-19-A thread

I didn't change the thread title because many people have posted on it and I don't want to make it hard to find.
 
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d42jeep

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A few more Utica tool pictures. The first two are of some Bell System dykes. The second two are of some Signal Corps longnoses. The three Diamond markings on the insides of the handles on the last pair of pliers is really hard to spot.0A32A765-CC27-4DFE-8BE0-E56AE2270521.jpeg605D9002-1C98-4004-9122-E3FD10DCB894.jpegD08BC970-39AB-4D34-ADCD-C661058BE2C8.jpegB4A5E7C4-C586-42E1-B5B4-BF5D87E1E165.jpeg8F6A8D09-B05B-4D65-84A9-39EB5AF3A05C.jpeg01717532-4EBD-4EA7-AC1D-FA87157B6555.jpegB34BB193-0502-4667-B77B-A3F63D97FDDA.jpeg41DC2B22-4BDD-4E1F-86FD-319B8919D19A.jpegB508BFA6-46AD-4BC7-8017-11D6F7F5EAE3.jpeg388C0E47-5D3E-4162-9299-20353DD81E70.jpeg
-Don
 
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Lesserstore

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Mar 18, 2020
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Texas
I've got these two: 60-6 end nippers from the mid 1940s and 50-6 lineman's pliers from around the late 1950s if I had to guess.
 

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Mintgrun

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Is that one pair of pliers modified to use with Cleco clamps?
(I have a pair that was. Not UTICA though, I don't think).
Tom
 

Raineman

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No idea why the guy did that to them. I got 'em that way (estate sale). It looks like he just cut a big washer in half and welded it on. It appears I can get them off without too much damage to the jaws, but I think I am going to leave them that way to use when I weld my sheet metal on my Chevelle.
 

cchamelin

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Apr 11, 2021
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Newport News VA
Born and raised in Utica NY and didn’t think much about these tools growing up, as there were tons of them that could be had cheap at garage sales…everyone had them. But when I left Utica, I took all the Utica tools that my dad had. Now that I’m heading towards retirement, I’m glad I still have them….they remind me of home.
 

American Iron

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Nov 24, 2015
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NY Upstate
Found this a few weeks ago. Utica R-2291 Linesman Narrow Nose Pliers.. Marked W.E. CO. for Western Electric. Still solid and ready for more work.
 

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Private Lugnutz

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I posted these before somewhere, but probably on a wartime topic. I hate to be redundant, but they belong here too now. NOS Long Curved Nose Pliers still caked in cosmo and wax paper in a NOS box with the wartime decal showing the same contract number highlighted in the War Production Board's Cumulative Major War Supply Contracts books published in 1945. Came from a generous GJ member.
 

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JjKk40

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A few dykes here are Bell System, NY TelCo, and just regular Utica. These were my Dads/Grandfathers!

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RTM

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Great timing to bump this, Don. I just took a pic of some of my Utica pliers tools while shuffling some other tools around. These are all GS finds. The small linesman pliers are only 5”long, and there are circles around the letters, so pre-1911? I think these are the 1000 from the 1909 catalog. Seems to be some text on the inside of the legs, maybe RIOR, but the R at the end seems backward. Clues?


The nipper left is a 41-5, the long duck bill ones are 31-8, with diamonds around the Utica letters, the larger linesman are 50-8.

PXL_20211002_201005635-X3.jpg
 
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Ricky Joe

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Roanoke, Va.
Snap-On made some long small opening wrenches. I have a few. Certainly not for torque, I’m not sure of access.

Utica pliers are among the best out there. At one point they made box joints on them. I get every set of box joint pliers I see.
 

Mintgrun

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Kingston, Wa.
First one of these I have run into.
Utica Loc-Rite.
Awfully long handled wrench for 7/32 x 1/4.
No evidence of chrome, so I guess was industrial finish.
I appreciate how deep the stamping is.

This post is a funny coincidence, because I pulled this 66042 wrench out of the scrap bin a couple days ago.
IMG_0365.JPG

They must have tossed it in there because it was rusty. Rusty enough, that I thought the script said Blue-Point. This one is 10-1/4" long. After a swim in the electrolysis bucket I noticed a crack in the rim of the 1/2" side, which is a bummer.

IMG_0344.JPG

They ground that part quite thin on this one.

IMG_0341.JPG

The long thin bar isn't quite straight on this one and I tried bumping it back with a dead blow hammer, with the wrench spanning a gap between two pieces of wood. There is a chance I cracked it doing that, but I sort of doubt it. That possibility bummed me out enough that I decided not to post it... until you posted yours. (the straightening attempt failed and I decided it is fine the way it is).

IMG_0342.JPG

AA has a page with information about the patent and the Kelsey-Hayes connection.


Tom
 

bonneyman

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First one of these I have run into.
Utica Loc-Rite.
Awfully long handled wrench for 7/32 x 1/4.
No evidence of chrome, so I guess was industrial finish.
I appreciate how deep the stamping is.P1010001.JPGP1010006.JPGP1010005.JPGP1010004.JPG
Nice wrench!

It's what Utica called an "aerospace wrench", used for working on jet engines. Those engines had alot of recessed bolts, and that "extension" on the broach was so the wrench could get down into the recessed port and access the bolt face.

And it was black oxide. I have a set of three (but not that one).
I have the 1/4x1/4, 5/16x3/8, and the 7/16x1/2. Nice for high torque situations on restricted screws and bolts.
 

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bonneyman

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I have/had a 3/8" drive torque wrench of theirs. Very small head diameter for a 3/8" - just about the size of their 1/4" regular ratchet.
 

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LesserSon

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I started out trying to fill an empty display like NJ Marty’s, but found I cannot resist these beautiful pliers wherever I find them, especially the early ones.
Thanks to Don, for supplying several!

I’ll post some that don’t go in the display case.

B-180 & no-model# Button’s1638875895808.jpeg

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512-8
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S-896-6 Philco
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d42jeep

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I started out trying to fill an empty display like NJ Marty’s, but found I cannot resist these beautiful pliers, especially the early ones.
Thanks to Don, for supplying several!
I’ll post some that don’t go in the display case.
I’ve accumulated a few more extras that are up for grabs if you can use them.
-Don
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outofbounds

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Cross posting this Utica 41430 branded ratchet, as I originally parked it on the Bonney thread, given its source of manufacture and identical to Bonney A702-K, on the promise from Shelbylex that he'll post some pics of his companion sockets to match. First Utica branded socket tool I've come across to date.
 

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MisterEd

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Old and useful.
 

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MisterEd

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Utica Heavy Duty Lineman’s Pliers No. 1950-6, TL-13
 

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MisterEd

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Utica Tools 11-6 Thin Nose Combination Slip-Joint Pliers
 

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LesserSon

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Here are the pliers I placed in my Display Case A

21-6” round nose
IMG_1636.jpeg

22-5” short chain nose
IMG_2946.jpeg

22-6” short chain nose
IMG_2641.jpeg

39-7” heavy duty diagonal
IMG_1632.jpeg

40-7” high leverage diagonal
IMG_1153.jpeg

41-4” standard diagonal
IMG_9546.jpeg

41-5” standard diagonal
IMG_9799.jpeg

41-6” standard diagonal
IMG_9545.jpeg

50-6” electrician’s side cutting
IMG_1208.jpeg

50-7” electrician’s side cutting
IMG_9548.jpeg
 
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