Show Your Vlchek Tools

[four.cycle]

very cool... assuming the intent is to keep the lower (swinging) jaw parallel?

causes me to wonder if anybody trademarked "fitzall" ? :

Fitzall / Fitzall Wrench Co, 9353 St. Paul Ave., Detroit, MI /

Fitzall / (see Standard Wrench & Tool Co.) (see Rogers Printz & Co.) /

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Fitzall wrench set, vlchek tool company, pat applied for.

 

[four.cycle]

^ that is referring to the patent on the HOLDER, not a trademark on the NAME.

I can't tell from the photos, but the applicable patent on that holder should be either 1875815 or 1877466, if I'm not mistaken.

Looks like Vlchek did have a trademark on "FITZ ALL" (http://alloy-artifacts.org/vlchek-story.html#trademarks)

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Yup. Bought this for the holder. Wrenches are odd mix, including a Bonner?

 

[four.cycle]

->> Bonner / C.E. Bonner Mfg. Co., Chrisman, IL / "Victor" pipe wrench / patent 716515 Dec 23 1902 & 737199 Aug 25 1903 Clarence E. Bonner / http://alloy-artifacts.org/other-makers.html#ce-bonner / http://toolarchives.com/index.php/node/67 / https://wrenchwiki.com/c-e-bonner-tool-company/ /

LIST of brands and manufacturers of mechanics hand tools

 

[3baygarage]

I'm betting a lot of guys here would have a hard time keeping their hands off that Bonner!

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Does not look like there is much info on them. Spotted a few wrenches on ebay.

 

[d42jeep]

I briefly checked through this thread and didn’t see any Vlchek S wrenches but spotted them in the ‘55 catalog. I found this pair at a Saturday estate sale.
-Don

 

[ejot]

Vlchek WBE is in my box as primary user inch combo wrenches. My favorite combination wrench without a doubt. Pieced this together. Still need to find an earlier version of the '18'.

And I have an irrational love for Vlchek ball-peens. This 48oz is my go-to for all kinds of precision work.

The other two are earlier, particularly the crested one, one hammer I really prize.
I think they are about 10oz and 12oz. Still need to get around to re-handling them, but they are probably not users. Interesting that the early hammers are very hard and the later ones quite soft.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Some 3/8 drive stuff I have been collecting for a few years.

 

[d42jeep]

I found this DBE wrench marked Chrome Molybdenum so likely prewar.
Here is a combo I recently found that was probably made after Vlchek was sold to the Plombpire.
-Don

 

[Lesserstore]

I was looking through the issues of Hardware Age that were recently uploaded to the International Tool Catalog Library, and in the August 8, 1940 issue I saw an ad for Vlchek tools. What struck me as odd though was that they listed aluminum plate as a finish option for wrenches. I looked on AA and nothing I saw mentioned aluminum plated wrenches, but maybe I missed it. Does anyone have any info on them?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Interesting. That's only the second time I have seen it. Note, though, that it doesn't technically say "aluminum plating", whereas the "bright plate" option is more explicitly a plating, and usually a reference in Vlchek publications lingo to chrome. The reference to "aluminum finish" could be some other kind of coating.

In the 1936 and 1941 catalogs, the available finish options for various Vlchek end wrenches were "Bright plated" (for their high end, again, ostensibly chrome), "Velco" (for their "cheaper, but equally serviceable" economy lines, and while I have never been able to find a TM or compositional description, almost certainly a reference to cadmium), sometimes more elaborately called "Velco Rust Proof" and "Velco White Rust Proof", "Natural" (self-explanatory), "Japanned", and "Black enamel."

Except for the 4-way rim wrench. That was available in "Velco Rust Proof Finish", "Aluminum Finish", "Black Japanned Finish", and "Natural Black Finish", and, note, in descending order of cost. Whatever the "aluminum" finish was, I don't think it was plating.

Lastly, whatever it was, it would've been banned during WWII. And it does not re-appear in 1949.

 

[MisterEd]

Vlchek Short Stack, DOE "F"

 

[mritchie77]

3/8 punch and 11/16x5/8 DBE I got cleaned up this weekend. Wife helped a little, and with her maiden name being "Vilcek", she got excited to see these. Not the same, but similar enough for her LOL.

 

[humber2]

This 3/8 x 7/16 DOE is a curiosity to me.

Round head, Forged in U.S.A. , V symbol, 39 code and nothing on the reverse.

I’m wondering what era and set it may be from? TIA

 

[d42jeep]

Hi Humber,
AA has some information on the early Vlchek carbon steel wrenches here.

The Story of Vlchek

An article on the Vlchek Tool Company.

alloy-artifacts.org

These early wrenches were in our garage when we moved in. Sorry for the poor quality picture.
-Don

 

[genog]

Found a few punches and a chisel

 

[four.cycle]

1946 Vlchek advertisement

 

[Mark Stansbury]

Vlchek S-1327 Phillips screwdriver, found at an East TN junk shop across the highway from Kingsport Speedway.

 

[Leviton]

Vlchek 1031. I bought it because it had two dimples in each of the 4 faces. I'm assuming they must be an owner's mark but I have never seen owner's marks like this before.

7.9" overall length. "Chrome Molybdenum Vlcheck Made In U.S.A. 1031" - "7/8 Drop Forged 25/32"
Also has a bunch of "3"s and "E"s randomly stamped on the shank like someone was playing around. Alloy Artifacts says mid 1920s to early 1930s.

 

[mritchie77]

This WBH2428 cleaned up nicely.

 

[Leviton]

I found this guy. I haven't seen any textile pattern Vlcheks in this thread, and haven't been able to find any in catalogs, so I thought I'd post it.
It's a 761-Z (unless the "Z" is an owner's mark).
Also has the quotation marks around VLCHEK. Anyone come up with dates for when they stopped using the quotation marks?
The marked openings are the nut sizes (not the actual opening sizes) so I'm guessing this is no newer than around 1927-ish.




6.0 inch overall length.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Some little wrenches

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I nearly fainted at the flea market this morning when I dug these three (3) "Little Giant" 3/8-inch drive sockets out of a toolbox. Hen's teeth for me. I NEVER see Vlchek socket drive stuff. Plenty of wrenches and other things, littering this thread. But not socket drive stuff.

Oh, and yes, gun to my head, I would swear they were made by New Britain.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice. They are rare and I think new britain. I posted some back at post 290

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Looks like you might need at least one. I'll make a future trade pile.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Thanks I think I'm short maybe a 1/2 and a 3/8. I've been picking them up here and there for about 4 years. Not common at all.

 

[d42jeep]

I found this 3/4” cold chisel about a week ago and this center punch today. I’m not sure that it started life as a center punch.

-Don

 

[d42jeep]

These came from an eBay seller yesterday. I didn’t have a #1 Phillips with the Flying V logo.

 

[d42jeep]

I don’t know what this poor little wrench did to deserve this kind of treatment. Estate sale find today.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Found another valve lifter. (One day I need to farm a couple of these out to some flathead fans.) But I never get tired of seeing that marking, especially the abbreviated "CLEV'D, O."

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Super happy to find this ball-pein hammer with the early Vlchek Tool Co monograph inside the shield logo!

 

[d42jeep]

I found a 14” auto wrench at a Nevada garage sale this morning. It matches AA’s example.
-Don

 

[Provincial]

I was looking through the issues of Hardware Age that were recently uploaded to the International Tool Catalog Library, and in the August 8, 1940 issue I saw an ad for Vlchek tools. What struck me as odd though was that they listed aluminum plate as a finish option for wrenches. I looked on AA and nothing I saw mentioned aluminum plated wrenches, but maybe I missed it. Does anyone have any info on them?

Here is a link to "Aluminized Steel" that explains how it was applied. It looks like an option for corrosion resistance that wasn't as expensive or as durable as chrome plating.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminized_steel

 

[genog]

Found another punch

 

[d42jeep]

Here are a couple of Vlchek wrenches I found last Saturday. The DOE is a “panel bar” wrench. Some are shown in AA.

 

[JetLagger]

I'm as new as it gets. This is my first post and I'm posting in a message box that says, "Write your Reply" ... hope that correct, but it's not a reply but a post. Feel free to school me folks.
I'm 68 and was going through some of my dad's tool. He's gone now, he was in the Army in Korea. He was a mechanic all his life. He loved Chrislers. He has quite a few old tools. This one caught my eye. It's a curved 5" VLCHEK 1/2 x 9/16 open end wrench. I wouldn't think this wrench was curved to begin with. I was wondering why it would have been bent in the first place, how hard it was to bend it, and for what reason.
BTW ... Hello to all, I was a corpsman and hoping to hear from any Korea era Vets ... My dad said it was real cold and wouldn't talk much more about it.

 

[Provincial]

I see two possible reasons for the twist. One would be to access a difficult spot, but I have doubts that this was the reason. The other is to make the wrench easier to pick up off a flat surface if the hands were greasy or wearing heavy gloves. I find the second reason the most likely.