Show Your Vlchek Tools

[d42jeep]

I seem to be seeing these “panel bar” Vlchek DOE wrenches quite often recently. This is my second in as many weeks.
-Don

 

[Stubby1743]

I picked up a few USA made tools at my small local car boot sale this week end. It includes a DOE Vlchek spanner. I don't see these in the UK often.

 

[Stubby1743]

Posted in error.

 

[Stubby1743]

I was looking through my cold chisels recently and noticed this 1/2" Vlchek.

 

[d42jeep]

I found quite a few Vlchek wrenches over the summer and added them to my other Vlchek tools today.
-Don
Panel Bar wrenches
Chisels and punches
Keepers
The bulk of the Vlchek tools

 

[d42jeep]

Although I detest the style of hose clamps that these Vlchek pliers were designed for, this was the first pair of these in this brand that I’ve run across.
-Don

 

[honza.vosalik]

I've been reading this book about F. Vlček....

 

[LesserSon]

Turned up this Vlchek-forged Cadillac 13593 DOE at the flea this morning.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

A trifecta!

 

[outofbounds]

Picked on a day when it was the only tool I was able to buy. Old 30s? Vlchek 1/2 Drive Ratchet w/ Slide-Switch Selector I have seen similar ratchets marked Ville check that have the more conventional New Britain short throw selector a kin to the old Craftsman Circle H.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Nice find! Any Vlchek drive tools are rare birds. They only made them for a few years. That is the style that is shown in the 1934 and 1936 catalogs. By 1938, all drive tools were dropped.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

They made them with two different selectors, ran some ads, even sold a craftsman bt version, then ****, they were gone. There's a 3/8 set as well.

 

[d42jeep]

I rarely see Vlchek drive tools so thanks for posting yours. I found this punch a while back at an estate sale. I never got around to posting it.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

Today’s estate sale combo wrench cleaned up okay.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Found this Vlchek-branded Clik-Stop 10-incher at the flea market yesterday made for Pendleton Tool Industries, Inc. with former J.P. Danielson dies in the former J.P. Danielson factory in 1962.

 

[d42jeep]

I found a nice Vlchek brake spoon at an estate sale today.
-Don

 

[Debcrow]

I ran across this Vlchek ratchet at a garage sale. First Vlchek ratchet I have ever found. Looking at it I suspect it was made by someone else under contract.
Made me decide to go through some of my older wrenches and separate out the Vlchek ones.

2800+ 3/8 ratchet. Anyone know what the + means other than a possible change in design?
WBE12 3/8 combination wrench.
WBE22 11/16 combination wrench.
W1820 9/16 x 5/8 DOE.

And finally two WBE20 5/8 combination wrenches.
Interestingly, both are identical with the same offset. However both are plated differently (does not look like CAD on either one). The stampings on the wrenches are identical, but one is flipped over on the opposite side from the other wrench.

 

[d42jeep]

I found a nice black oxide Vlchek 1/2” x 9/16” panel bar wrench at a garage sale this morning. -Don

 

[Stubby1743]

I found this DBE spanner a week ago at my local small car boot sale.





The other side has "ALLOY STEEL" and "MADE IN U.S.A.", which I think means that it was war time production.

At some point in its life the 11/16" end has been ground to remove the forging marks and slightly thin the wall.

 

[d42jeep]

Here are a couple of 5/8” cold chisels I found yesterday. They came out of the evaporust today and I dressed up the striking ends and sharpened them up.
-Don
As found
Cleaned and sharpened

 

[d42jeep]

Here is a Vlchek Chrome Molybdenum Tappet wrench I cleaned up with the help of Evaporust and the 3M 220 rotary wheel.
Before
After
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

A couple of Vlchek wrenches found at local sales recently.
WBC 2022 short DBE wrench 11/16” x 5/8”



WBH2528 flat panel DBE wrench 7/8” x 13/16”


-Don

 

[Stubby1743]

I found this yesterday 7/16x3/8 Whitworth.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Added a speeder to my 30s vlchek 3/8 stuff

 

[four.cycle]

1963 Popular Mechanics Duplex Vlchek ad pp

* Cleveland 4, Ohio - date on file changed to 1963 *

thanks OTG!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Found these 6" 'Flying V' logo pliers with a nice dark finish at the flea this morning. Quite a few of them on the board and in the hands of collectors these days, but still not common, and still a treat to run into one in the wild. Popular with wartime collectors because of their provenance in a complete NOS Dodge toolkit.

 

[d42jeep]

Nice. I like that style better than the swallow tail ones.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

I was going through my early Phillips screwdrivers this morning checking license numbers so I decided to check my Vlchek examples. I have two no.4 drivers, a no.2 driver and a no.1 which I didn’t get a picture of. They all had license number 6, as expected.
I checked an unmarked driver I had and found that it also had license no.6. I don’t know if it’s a Vlchek driver or if the mystery manufacturer had just purchased the shank.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

Here are a couple of Vlchek finds at recent sales The first is a Vlchek version of early Visegrips. The adjusting screw could stand to be a little longer




Yesterday I found this 11” auto wrench with a straight handle, unlike many Vlchek auto wrenches which typically have curved handles. I tested the wrench handle to see if it fit into my Jeep’s hub socket, which it did.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

I rarely see Vlchek drive tools so when I saw this lightly used 1/4” drive set listed I thought that it would be a nice addition to the basement display.
-Don

 

[bonneyman]

Nice set, Don. The inside looks especially minty!

 

[Mintgrun]

The beam of this 6490 is the widest I've seen on a Vlchek wrench, shown alongside a W2024 for comparison. I carried the fat one around the store on a few different visits, but put it back in the wrench bin again and again, before finally bringing it home.





I've got a pretty good stack of wrenches similar to the top one, but highly doubt I'll be finding (m)any more fatties.

Tom

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Based on the logo, I'm thinking that set is from the late 1950's, Don, probably just before the acquisition by Pendleton Tool Industries, Inc. There's a 1902 set (no "-T") with those exact specs in the 1959 catalog, which was published just before they got bought. I'm not a collector of tools in the plastic injection-molded case insert era or later, but yours has a unique back story. Vlchek was actually involved in the industry, separate from their hand tools business, making all kinds of things for all kinds of customers out of a plant in Middlefield, Ohio, which means they were probably the only hand tools maker making the injection-molded inserts for their own socket set cases!

That reference to "Mirbrite" (seemingly a portmanteau of "mirror" and "brite") finish is also interesting. As @bbbarracuda noted here, the only references to it seem to be related to Midway Tool Co., also located in Ohio, also from the late 50's.

 

[Leviton]

Found a round shank bearing scraper. 10.8-inch overall length. Only marking is VLCHEK.

 

[d42jeep]

I spotted this 1939 Vlchek ad on eBay.
-Don

 

[woodscaper]

Anybody know of any replacement soft faces for the Vlchek HM16? Looks to be similar to the Vaughn design, but not sure if the socket would fit. Lug is around 5/8 across flats at the fat end. 1-3/8 dia face. Been digging around the interwebs and have only found it in the 1949 catalog. Would like to get the old fella back in service. Thanks!

 

[Jay__Dub]

Found in a recent lot. First one in my collection.

 

[four.cycle]

Now you just need an old British car to work on!

 

[d42jeep]

I found this large Vlchek auto wrench at a Tahoe Keys moving sale on Saturday.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I haven't found a Vlchek tool in quite some time, so I was please to pluck this out of a box and see the Flying V banner logo! Cad-plated.