Spreading the Bonney affliction!

[Private Lugnutz]

Bumping this for @tpm2.

 

[tpm2]

Bumping this for @tpm2.

Thank you. For any Bonney roundhead ratchet experts, I revived an old thread as my first post. https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/bonney-ratchet-question.288043/#post-10997153

 

[jc4635]

Just wanted to hijack this so I could share something I learned about Bonney fine tooth ratchets with a tiny selector spring inside that people often break taking apart the ratchet. I go these from a disposable Bic lighter with a short stick on the lighter. The tiny springs are basically the same diameter. I measure around 1mm OD on my broken one for a Bonney T708!

 

[LesserSon]

Well now I’ll have to see what the street sweepers have left behind… Today, just two $35 parking tickets, because I lost track of the day of the week, repainting my bedroom while on “vacation,” with a blend of “oops” markdowns from Home Depot - so I’m still ahead compared to retail.
There’s a guy in my neighborhood that collects cigarette butts up and down the block, so I’ll have to be cautious not to trigger him into thinking he’s got competition. (See - I’m not the most thrifty guy in my neighborhood!)

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I don't know if this photoalbum has been posted before - just stumbled on it inadvertently, but I wish it was a little more affordable!



The trucks are gorgeous! There's a white one, too, with Pennsylvania plates, in Allentown, I think, and photos of the interior, lined with toolboards, loaded with gleaming Bonney tools. Those are all watermarked.

Collection of nine original photographs of Bonney Tools sales vans, circa late 1940s by [Transportation] [Philadelphia]: (1940) | Royal Books, Inc., ABAA

Soft cover - Bonney Forge and Tool Works, Allentown, PA - 1940 - Collection of nine vintage photographs of Bonney Tools sales vans, bound with a plastic comb binding, circa late 1940s. Pencil annotation on the front wrapper of "Master Set / Bonney Forge and Tool Photos / M-9 - M-11." The nine...

www.abebooks.com

This link, same spiralbound photoalbum, has additional, even better interior photos.

Collection of nine original photographs of Bonney Tools sales vans, circa late 1940s by Transportation, Philadelphia on Royal Books

Allentown, PA: Bonney Forge and Tool Works, circa late 1940s. Collection of nine vintage photographs of Bonney Tools sales vans, bound with a plastic comb binding, circa late 1940s. Pencil annotation on the front wrapper of Master Set / Bonney Forge and Tool Photos / M-9 - M-11. The nine...

www.royalbooks.com

 

[Shelbylex]

... Why do I feel that I missed some of the best times in USA, Private Lugnutz???
Great discovery
... trying to memorize it - may be one random day I will find during estate sale : )

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Why do I feel that I missed some of the best times in USA, Private Lugnutz???

Right? When even a Chevrolet Dubl-Duti Step-Van was cool! Granted, it's cooler that it's toting immediate postwar Bonney tools, but I'd've been happy donning a uniform and driving that if it was a milk truck!

 

[RTM]

Jumping over here from the Vise Info thread, where Bonney is the subject du jour. while poking into Armstead O. Bills, I might be able to dive in here.

Great work, nothing about Bonney? I estimate his ownership to about 1888-1905/6. Very very little on Bonney during that time. Some ads, but that's about it.

The records I checked are all Census, which don't record business titles. In 1910, he's still recorded as a Hardware Manufacture Employer. So he's doing something past your 1905/6 date (is that Durham buyout, maybe?). Maybe he continued to run Philadelphia Bonney while the Durhams got Allentown up and running.

These few links list him as the sole proprietor of Bonney
1892, for the Duplex saw set, from The Iron Age

The Iron Age

books.google.com

1894 set up of selling structure

Iron Age and Hardware, Iron and Industrial Reporter

books.google.com

Interesting, Strelinger’s 1895 catalog lists Bonney and Bills as two diferent makers

A Book of Tools

books.google.com

Another entry in 1896

Hardware Dealers' Magazine

books.google.com

1898 Boyd’s had another reference, but it’s just a snippet view.

There must be a record of sale somewhere.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Jumping over here from the Vise Info thread, where Bonney is the subject du jour.

What thread are you referring to?

 

[RTM]

What thread are you referring to?

Above and below here

Vise Info Thread

Ok, somewhere today I swore I saw the next step after this one, posted by @CRSINMICH above https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/attachments/1892-newkirk-and-bills-out-of-business-jpg.2255890/ So in that link, Bills is the sole proprietor, 1892 Then in 1899, still sole proprietor , from...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Aha. No wonder I didn't know what you were talking about. It's on the General Discussion Forum. You dredging up old history timeline discussions was confusing enough! Thanks.

 

[twistedstang]

I recently picked up a handful of really nice 40s and 50s Craftsman catalogs and this 1947 Bonney catalog was in the pile. Pretty nice condition and interesting to thumb through.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Catalog No. C-1 was an important catalog for collectors. Catalog No. 46-J (1946) was only 25 pages long, filling a void from No. 41 (1941). No. C-1 was the first major postwar catalog they published, ushering in some new styles, and a logo change. It's available on Internet Archive, but original paper copies are always nice to own. Nice find!

 

[twistedstang]

Catalog No. C-1 was an important catalog for collectors. Catalog No. 46-J (1946) was only 25 pages long, filling a void from No. 41 (1941). No. C-1 was the first major postwar catalog they published, ushering in some new styles, and a logo change. It's available on Internet Archive, but original paper copies are always nice to own. Nice find!

The first thing I did was check IA. I also collect mission furniture from around 1910 and the old catalogs are a huge resource. Its always exciting when a new one unearths itself.

 

[genog]

To my disappointment, I rarely encounter Bonney stuff around these parts....
But this weekend, I found two deep sockets at the Flea Market

 

[GarageHobbyist]

I don’t think I ever posted these here. I found this set of B5 pliers back in November for $1.

 

[LesserSon]

I don’t think I ever posted these here. I found this set of B5 pliers back in November for $1.

Nice Crescent-manufactured 5” slipjoints.
I have two similar 6” pairs - a B6 and a B36.
Few of the catalogs show the 5” B5 as available, and none of them make it clear to me what the difference is between the B6/B8/B10 and the B36/B38/B310 models (listed in the 1957 catalog). The only difference I see in my examples is the chrome plating on the B36.

 

[ararat]

Bonney TWB 3/8" hex sockets from the late 1960's I believe. It's got all the pieces. The catalog calls it a 9 pc set, I guess the box is the 9th piece and the hex key is the 8th.

 

[bonneyman]

Bonney TWB 3/8" hex sockets from the late 1960's I believe. It's got all the pieces. The catalog calls it a 9 pc set, I guess the box is the 9th piece and the hex key is the 8th.

Sweeeet!

 

[genog]

I wasn't planning to go anywhere today, but the Sis In Law came over
So my dog Dixie and I Bailed Out....Got out of Dodge...Skeedaddled and went to the Flea Market

Found a couple of things..... my friend Fazi sold me this nice set of polished Bonney Open Enders
Missing four
Grrrr.....

 

[d42jeep]

I passed along this one for angle wrenches in 2017. It was empty when I found it.
-Don

 

[jc4635]

Bumping this for @tpm2

Does anyone have a picture of a Bon-E-Con ZT-707 knurled handle ratchet taken apart or know the tooth count? This is a different version than the B shield type.

 

[username2]

I'm now officially a Bonney tool owner.

I bought an open end wrench at the thrift store with 13/32 on one end and 15/32 on the other. H-something.

For some reason, it looks new.

 

[genog]

Hey!
How about a Big Ole Bonney pipe wrench?
Spied it at the Flea Market....
Left it for the Next Guy


I can't quite remember, so I am guessing.......I believe it's a three footer?

Edit:
I'm calling BS on myself......If I hold my hands apart, I believe that Big Ole Bonney is more like a two footer
..........sorry

 

[LesserSon]

My two largest are 18” I would have brought a 36” home. They also made 24” and 48”.

 

[bonneyman]

I'm now officially a Bonney tool owner.

I bought an open end wrench at the thrift store with 13/32 on one end and 15/32 on the other. H-something.

For some reason, it looks new.

Welcome to the rabbit hole! Hopefully you will find it as fun as I have.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I snagged this old (c. 1919) malleable iron machinery wrench at the flea this morning. It's an "I". They came in a set of six (6) from "F" to "K". I was thinking I had a few, but I was mistakenly conflating it with the later hot-forged steel Ford set wrenches they made with similar reinforced jaws.

 

[LesserSon]

Just wanted to hijack this so I could share something I learned about Bonney fine tooth ratchets with a tiny selector spring inside that people often break taking apart the ratchet. I go these from a disposable Bic lighter with a short stick on the lighter. The tiny springs are basically the same diameter. I measure around 1mm OD on my broken one for a Bonney T708!

Well now I’ll have to see what the street sweepers have left behind… Today, just two $35 parking tickets, because I lost track of the day of the week, repainting my bedroom while on “vacation,” with a blend of “oops” markdowns from Home Depot - so I’m still ahead compared to retail.
There’s a guy in my neighborhood that collects cigarette butts up and down the block, so I’ll have to be cautious not to trigger him into thinking he’s got competition. (See - I’m not the most thrifty guy in my neighborhood!)

HAH! Walking the dogs this afternoon, I spotted this little treasure and easily field-stripped the spring. I’ll properly dispose of the plastic trash and toss the spring in a drawer for someday.

 

[KnurledNut]

A really nice pair of Bonney B29 slip joint pliers.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Some of us were talking about the scarcity of obstruction wrenches in the wild on the Williams thread and I was looking for a photo of mine on this thread and could not find them. I posted the first one (a 2028-S) I ever found, back in 2019, but apparently never posted any updates when I found the second (2725-B), third (2027-C), and a dupe of the 2027-B since then. (For reference, OTG snuck a photo of a splendiferous 5-wrench set in a pouch, which I am going to assume came from eBay, into a group photo here.) Posting so I can link them as needed.

 

[genog]

We have a thread called "Pliers; How Many is too Many?" in which I admitted that I have too many....
...way too many pliers
but for some reason I still managed to pick up these Utica Lineman pliers

Oh, and a Bonney 7/16 combo wrench
.....I really like Bonney wrenches

 

[bonneyman]

.....I really like Bonney wrenches

The gentleman has good taste!

 

[genog]

Thank you my good man

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I was thrilled to find another jellybean logo (pre-1913) "S" wrench this morning at the flea market. It's only the second one I have found, the first way back in 2020, linked here. Unfortunately, it's a dupe! I didn't know that at the time, but there was no way I would leave it behind anyway. Just bitterly ironic.

 

[LesserSon]

Pretty stoked to receive these from eBay today: Bonney Catalog No15 & Supplement.

I’m not aware of digital copies of these on IA yet - just a void between 1886 and 1914 (No18) with a partial catalog in 1899. No publication date, but seller’s estimate of 1910-1913 seems a good starting place.

 

[LesserSon]

It looks to me that the illustrations are pirated from Whitman & Barnes of Akron OH, a decade before that company sold its wrench manufactuing assets to J.H. Williams. Many of the illustrations appear to have had the W&B logo obscured, but these four look clear to me. I have seen W&B wrenches occasionally, and not collected any. Now I want to compare the actual wrenches to early Allentown production…

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Fantastic acquisition, @LesserSon ! Those look to be in exquisite condition. I hope your reference to IA/ITCL means you will be uploading a PDF when you get the opportunity. It will be very beneficial to have a reference between the partial 1899 and the No. 18 (1914) and I am very curious to get a gander inside (their apparent appropriation of the W&B prints is remarkable!). I am also curious what the supplement was for. But for now, enjoy! And congrats. Those are a wonderful addition of ephemera to your Bonney collection.

 

[LesserSon]

Yeah, I’m reading IA’s upload instructions while wrestling with my scanner controls (apparently two different apps are trying to control the autosaved version). Also they want “the highest resolution possible” (I’m scanning at 1200ppi), but the few catalog scans I checked are 300ppi and 600ppi.
I always download the pdf versions from AI, so that’s the format I am scanning into, but IA seems to want bmp, jpg or other image formats in a compressed zip file…I’ll figure it out.
The main catalog is 24pp of wrenches. The supplement is 8pp of additional wrenches and wrench sets.
I’m thinking these early numbered catalogs may have been planned to be specialized. This No15 “Drop Forged Wrenches” with no vises, despite the company name “Bonney Vises and Tool Works”. No18 “Vises and Wrenches”, No19 “Cement Tools”, etc. Would like to see contents of No16, No17…

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I did not scan high res. Some catalogs with delicate bindings I did not use a scanner at all. I took a series of photos and combined them with Adobe. The most convenient option is to mail them to Mark, who scans them and mails them back. But I wouldn't blame you for not taking that risk of them getting lost in the mail. Don't sweat it. The community can wait.

 

[four.cycle]

I have a smattering of "Bonney" material dated between 1886 and 1914, but it's mostly vises.

1898 Bonney Vise & Tool Works catalog