Mikeske
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Oh man someone offer him $122.00
Spreading the Bonney affliction!
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Oldtuleguy
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I offered him I little more, he countered with 200
twertsy
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Thanks Lugz, I was just about to offer $120. Even though I'm flush, I can't justify anything over that. Now, were it an old wrench shipping crate, I'd empty my wallet........been searching for YEARS with no luck anywhere.
Private Lugnutz
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Now see, where I come from, that's not OBO. I realize $120 is a lowball, technically, but $20 off of $220, which is like 9%, is not OBO. He was just spitballin' with the $220 anyway, because I don't think he knows all that much about Bonney. Note that he doesn't know about date codes, and he didn't even guess a production date. His description is based purely on the branding on the pouch and wrenches, and the price is based purely on them being old, generically, and in really fine condition. EDIT: I was THIS close to countering with $150 but showed some willpower and restraint. 
The No. 25 and No Z-25 sets are desirable beyond wartime collectors, of course, but they are a perfect GMTK set and very popular with GMTK collectors. And there was a time when just the 723 in a Jeep (5-wrench) or GMTK set (with the 1033-C) would go for $125 by itself in certain brands (Fairmount, Barcalo), and $75-100 by itself in other brands (Vlchek, Bonney, Williams), and the whole sets upwards of $225-$300. But that time has passed as supply increased.
Even if they were wartime, I don't think I would pay $200. I paid $50 for my complete 6-wrench 1944 No. 25 set in pouch. Alloy. Not Zenel. And used, not NOS with stickers etc. So I was willing to double that and then some for Zenel and near-mint and I was hoping it would go down like, 'dang, I was just throwing a big number out there, with not much research on sales history of these, and maybe I should take the $120.'
If he gets $200, I'd be surprised, but you never know. (EDIT: Seems like they can be had for somewhere between Otg's 'a little more than me' offer and $200.
) We've all paid 'stupid' money for things we just had to have, knowing we were grossly overpaying, but this just isn't one of them for me. And I will admit, part of it is just not wanting to give that guy that kind of price for them.
The No. 25 and No Z-25 sets are desirable beyond wartime collectors, of course, but they are a perfect GMTK set and very popular with GMTK collectors. And there was a time when just the 723 in a Jeep (5-wrench) or GMTK set (with the 1033-C) would go for $125 by itself in certain brands (Fairmount, Barcalo), and $75-100 by itself in other brands (Vlchek, Bonney, Williams), and the whole sets upwards of $225-$300. But that time has passed as supply increased.
Even if they were wartime, I don't think I would pay $200. I paid $50 for my complete 6-wrench 1944 No. 25 set in pouch. Alloy. Not Zenel. And used, not NOS with stickers etc. So I was willing to double that and then some for Zenel and near-mint and I was hoping it would go down like, 'dang, I was just throwing a big number out there, with not much research on sales history of these, and maybe I should take the $120.'
If he gets $200, I'd be surprised, but you never know. (EDIT: Seems like they can be had for somewhere between Otg's 'a little more than me' offer and $200.
) We've all paid 'stupid' money for things we just had to have, knowing we were grossly overpaying, but this just isn't one of them for me. And I will admit, part of it is just not wanting to give that guy that kind of price for them.
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Mikeske
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Mikeske
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It was in a junk drawer and I saw it first.Only two bucks for a 1/2" drive? The police should be knocking at your door!
I can't complain at all and I got her cheap. Funny thing was the pawn shop had a bunch of Craftsman ratchets in the same drawer marked at $8.00 a piece and the the Bonney was not marked. I grabbed the Bonney and did not even bother with the Craftsman stuff.twertsy
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It was in a junk drawer and I saw it first.
I find Bonney in Pawn shops like that ALL THE TIME. They want $50 (being facetious) for a crappy foreign made Cman rat and practically give me Bonney stuff.
Magnum440d100
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Gasgt1
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I picked up a really nice set of Bonney deep impact sockets at an auction yesterday.
Very nice set 3/8-1”
Very nice set 3/8-1”
Catfishdan
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I picked up a really nice set of Bonney deep impact sockets at an auction yesterday.
Very nice set 3/8-1”
I have heard that the steel Bonney used in their impact sockets was really tough. No first hand experience, though.
Nice grab!
txlonghorn1989
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I've had these 3/8" drive Bonney sockets for a couple of years. I REALLY like the look. Two are the same 3/8" deep ones marked LT12. The shallow 5/16" is marked LT10. First, the finish looks slightly different and I'm not sure if these were part of a set. Anyone know? I'm wondering if anyone can provide any details like when these were made and point me to a catalog where I can see what would have made up a set. I'd like to see if I can put a set together.
Thanks!
Thanks!
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I started a type-study conversation here. Your LT12s look like they fall between my number 5 and number 6, and your T10 looks like my number 6. My guess is late 1950s for the LT12s and early 1960s for the T10. Because catalog illustrations aren’t usually updated to reflect minor changes, I doubt they can be absolutely dated that way. Unless sets are found with dated receipts, we may never know the exact begin and end dates for some things. I don’t think two LT12s are part of any single “set,” but you can certainly build a number of sets around you finds.
Occasionally, genuine original catalogs come up for sale, and there are several pdfs from scans available here and there on the net. A Google search can help with that. Twertsy’s site was a good resource, and the pdfs can still be searched and downloaded with some perseverence.
Here’s the 1967 catalog pdf from Internet Archive. The sockets are shown smooth with no knurl, so after your target period, but you can see what went into specific sets.
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txlonghorn1989
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LS Thanks for the info and the links. So would I be correct in thinking these 3 sockets are 3 different types per your type-study? I guess clearly they are all in the type 5-7 groups. The two LT12s don't look exactly the same in height and other minor differences and the LT10 is definitely different than the other two. It's not quite straight forward for me to grasp the details of the type-study without someone pointing these details out with the sockets at the same time.
The catalog was useful to see what other pieces Bonney sold and to see the sets that were available around 1967.
The catalog was useful to see what other pieces Bonney sold and to see the sets that were available around 1967.
I don’t have enough examples to do a real type-study, so there’s nothing definitive about my numbering, and the scan resolution of many catalog pdfs is too low to be sure of subtle changes.
I looked in my pdfs, and I do think my earlier “late 1950s” estimate should be “early 1950s.” i see your LT12s are slightly different, but I don’t think they’re different enough to suggest different eras of production, unless one says “MADE IN U.S.A.” and the other “U.S.A.”
I looked in my pdfs, and I do think my earlier “late 1950s” estimate should be “early 1950s.” i see your LT12s are slightly different, but I don’t think they’re different enough to suggest different eras of production, unless one says “MADE IN U.S.A.” and the other “U.S.A.”
I saw some Bonney stuff today. Only bought the pair of pliers, however. The TuHex was in a plastic box with a Stanley claw hammer and fifteen pounds of Taiwanium. The vendor wanted “to keep it together” for $20, so I wished him luck. I was on foot, and I already have a ThHex 167 without grindmarks on the shank, so I just took some pics. This is the first I’ve seen that may not be 1941.
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rickhigginshtbr
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I've run across two types of those sockets. With and Without a Satin-Chrome bottom half. From what I've seen across most brands, not just Bonney, but S-K, Williams, Snap On, etc, Satin Chrome looked to be big starting around 1948ish and went til 1954-ish. Some brands had a longer run (S-K) than others with this. But most major brands of the time did it.
The sockets in question, IIRC, Boney ran with the knurling and full chrome through the rest of the 50's, then killed the knurling in the early-60's. But if it cleans up and shows a satin chrome bottom, then early-50's.
Machineman84
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Hey guys I’m late getting into this, here are my bonney ratchets. I already posted these to the ratchet collection thread. I feel like they belong here also. 
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Machineman84
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Machineman84
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Lesserson I like that slip joint plier, I am pretty sure I have a similar bonney plier, I’ll see if I can dig it out and post it. I have not seen many of them.
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Those rats are gorgeous, and would go great with the sockets we’ve been talking about!
Weird thing about those pliers, I thought I had another pair...the grip pattern looks CeeTee. Ah, we were talking about grip patterns on the longC Craftsman thread, I’ll have to look around some.
Weird thing about those pliers, I thought I had another pair...the grip pattern looks CeeTee. Ah, we were talking about grip patterns on the longC Craftsman thread, I’ll have to look around some.
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Private Lugnutz
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Nice find, LS! Wartime. Or not later than 1946.
Nope. Especially not early ones. I've been looking. I have a 1946 or later pair with the san serif logo, the model number ("B6") and "U.S.A." behind the pivot.
EDIT: Added thumbnails.
Crescent. CeeTeeCo was a brand name. They made slip-joints in three disctinct lines in this era: Crescent (92X), MoToR KiT (G2X) and CeeTeeCo (H2X). I don't know about the Crescent house-brand, but the MoToR KiT and CeeTeeCo pliers have their model number forged-in under the handles near the pivot. All of them had the Crescent checker-dot grip as far as I know. The differences were in weight and finish - and price.
I haven't studied it closely but I think Crescent probably made more than just the slip-joints for Bonney. They weren't really a pliers house.
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Craftsman C-series
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Hey guys I’m late getting into this, here are my bonney ratchets. I already posted these to the ratchet collection thread. I feel like they belong here also.
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Nice rats for sure!
The "cross-hairs" ratchets are pretty beefy inside, and the "sweetheart" ratchet is a smooth operator (given the era they were made).
Here's some internal shots in case you want to disassemble/lube and want to know what to expect. SH on the left, CH on the right.
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Sweet snag!
Great looking condition, too! I'd place the age to the late 70's. Can't say exactly when Bonney went to plastic socket boxes but they are that way in the 1977 catalog. Probably trying to save money.
Mikeske
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When I bought my Bonney toolset in 1982 I also got and lost the plastic boxes. I promptly lost the plastic boxes as they slowed me down and the jobber gave me socket rails to hold my sockets. Flash forward to 2 years ago when I retired and I started to rebuild my Bonney tools and I got a couple of the plastic boxes on sets to fill in the lost tools. I never used the plastic boxes except when I go to pull apart yards or traveling and then reload them and put them in my toolbag. It is easy with the plastic boxes to see what is missing from my kit.
Machineman84
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Thanks bonneyman! Now I’m not afraid to disassemble them. That internal looks a lot like the standard SK internal, what do you think?
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The typical SK round head has a single "see-saw" pawl, and this Bonney has two (more like) sliding wedge pawls. Not the most friction free setup, but each pawl has got alot meat to it, so, really tough. And I don't recall disassembling it to it's smallest parts - it might not be possible. So a thorough soaking/cleaning then lube might be the best you can do.
Here's an SK and more modern Bonney gear assemblies.
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Virtually all my Bonney sockets were gotten individually - or a few at a time - and I always used rails, too.
Machineman84- I documented an A-702K teardown here. Internals look similar.
All- Picked up a couple Zenel combos today. I had hoped one would turn out to be the 3118A carburetor wrench with 1/2 box & 9/16(?) open ends. The only catalog I know it’s in is 1938. Still, for $1ea, I could not leave them behind.
I was flipping through a midcentury Popular Mechanics mag today and spotted this announcement. I should have noted the month/year but I didn’t.
All- Picked up a couple Zenel combos today. I had hoped one would turn out to be the 3118A carburetor wrench with 1/2 box & 9/16(?) open ends. The only catalog I know it’s in is 1938. Still, for $1ea, I could not leave them behind.
I was flipping through a midcentury Popular Mechanics mag today and spotted this announcement. I should have noted the month/year but I didn’t.
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Machineman84
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I found this one in my stuff here it’s in decent shape. 
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Machineman84
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Machineman84
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Sorry about the double pics I don’t know what happened there.
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That’s in nice condition. I like that big-Z Zenel decal, despite the scuffs. Looks to have been made the same year as the combos I just posted. (In fact, all the Zenel “TuType” combos I’ve seen were made that year.)
LY is likely December 1933.
LY is likely December 1933.
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Machineman84
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Found this old one, I don’t think I have any others like it. 
Machineman84
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I’ll have to restart my device see if I can rid this double pic issue
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Hmmm...this is getting interesting. I do believe I have a pair of Bonney slipjoints bearing the checkers and dots grip, but I CANNOT FIND THEM!!! I am near-distracted by their unwillingness to come to hand.
More to the discussion at hand, however...THESE B15 slipjoints do not have the checkers and dots, but rather an eagle feather pattern. The particular CeeTees I was thinking of have it too. In fact they are dead ringers, with side-cutters. I found the Bonneys in the 1936, 37, 38, 39, & 41 catalogs, but the illistration shows depressed diamonds grips.
And your hunch about other pliers must be right on: here’s a B-17 dikes with the same grip pattern. Also a JPDanielson parrot head sharing the grip pattern.
I am trying to find the model number. Do you have to take out the pivot to see it? I’m just seeing ghosty forged in character that might be dates or leg designations, on the sides of the handles (similar ghosty characters on the Danielson).
The Bonneys have a nickel finish, I think, so I don’t see anything like that, and te pivot has been peened over the nut. I’ll need real motivation to remove it.
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