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The Flex Head Speeder

3baygarage

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Something I was inspired to collect.

I have been meaning to post them for a while. I collected a number of these tools, and wanted to do little comparison/discussion.

After years of tool collecting and tons of sales, I have never seen a single one locally. :shocking: Maybe that helped to kick off my collection. :dunno:

I used several for a while too. Basically just on lug nuts, but they are handy and a fun tool to use.

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3baygarage

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I'll start with my favorite. Perhaps because it's a bit unusual in that it's smaller than the rest.

It is also unidentified. No makers mark. It does have half legible Patent Pending stamp on the neck that reads PAT PNDG

Shown between a Plomb and Snap On for reference.

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3baygarage

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Here is another unidentified. No markings whatsoever.

It bears a resemblance to some of the others, yet it still has its differences.

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LXCam

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Damn 3bay, that's a serious collection ya got going on there. I'm impressed! All the years of wrenching these just never did anything for me even though I own a half dozen or so.
 
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3baygarage

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Blackhawk

I picked this up from a member.

This is different in that the head is built more like a ball in socket joint.

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3baygarage

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Walden Worcester & Walden

Note the orientation change of the head.

The later Walden has a roll pinned head like their ratchets and breaker bars of the era. (the other is solid pin)

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3baygarage

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Damn 3bay, that's a serious collection ya got going on there. I'm impressed! All the years of wrenching these just never did anything for me even though I own a half dozen or so.

Thanks.

Maybe we can talk, there are a few I know of that I don't have. Post yours up if you like.
 
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3baygarage

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Plomb and Proto

Neat to see the evolution over the years. Plomb Los Angeles on the handle, Plomb on the handle, Plomb on the neck, Proto Los Angeles, Proto

I'm missing the PLOMB stamped WAR FINISH. Not sure what else.

Note the change from plated pin and drive stud to black pin and drive stud, like most breaker bars.

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3baygarage

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Snap On

These have seen many little changes over the years. Handle style, changes to the head, drive stud travel direction and angle, the pin. The part number has changed numerous times as well.

Old to new:

NS-4
4-SA
NS-4C
NS-4C (different head)
NS-4-L
SN4L
SN4A (may have the last two out of order have to check)

There are some gaps here in this lineup. I should put a date to each one. Also, don't have any of the more recent models.

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woody 73

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Very nice collection you got there.:beer::thumbup::thumbup:

I thought I had seen it all till the day that snap mom showed her collection and I just about fell out of my chair. I have maybe a dozen at most nothing to write home about.
 

Sam'sAutoParts

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Great collection, thanks for sharing. I'm surprised they are not more common. I see so many regular speed handles I usually don't buy them anymore.
 

Rileysan

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Wow ... that's quite a collection! I think I have one or two flex head speeder wrenches among the 50 or so in my collection. You have cornered the market!

Brian
 

snapmom

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I like speeders too. Nice collection. There is a Snap on 4S . Two different versions, with completely different heads.
 

Jim C.

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That's a great collection! I always enjoy seeing what others have collected, particularly when it's something a little different. Everyone has a ratchet collection, hard handle screwdrivers, etc. so it's interesting to see different tools once in awhile, like flex head speeders for instance. Not a tool that I've ever given much thought to, but I certainly appreciate your collection as well as the time and effort it took to assemble it. Thanks for adding the photos. Nice post!

Jim C.
 

twertsy

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Great collection 3bay. Your first patent pending example sure looks like MTF to me. I'd scour that sucker for the tiny MTF stamp.
 

joel63

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I have to say you have a most awesome collection there. :beer:

For myself, I have one that I just recently bought. I was inspired to get it when I
saw one being used in an old 1930's movie.
 

Private Lugnutz

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Terrific and unusual "guilty pleasure" collection, 3bay, and thanks for sharing it!

It's neat to see these kinds of quirky, esoteric, multiples collections where brand and timeframe are secondary and tertiary to the type of tool, and especially when it's not a common tool.

It also has the added benefit of mystifying and/or infuriating the types of guys I have run into on the General Tools Discussion board, and occasionally on this board (counter-intuitively!), who think that tools only have a utilitarian value, and I never get tired of seeing those kinds of guys mystified or infuriated. :evil:

Are you interested in seeing a different Blackhawk? I believe I have one with a rotating doorknob handle. I don't want to muck up your thread with other photos if you wanted to keep it organized to your stuff.
 

d42jeep

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I have only found one Flex Head Speeder and that one came from an estate sale in the beginning of April. Here it is with some other Plomb items.
-DonIMG_4481.jpg
 
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3baygarage

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All-thanks for the comments. Post up your flex head/hinge speeders if you like.

I must say I wish I had cleaned up a few of these, but cleaning tools can be a whole hobby in itself. :)

Very nice collection you got there.:beer::thumbup::thumbup:

I thought I had seen it all till the day that snap mom showed her collection and I just about fell out of my chair. I have maybe a dozen at most nothing to write home about.

Thanks Woody. I think I fell too, but landed in a puddle of drool.
Snapmom has an amazing collection.


Great collection, thanks for sharing. I'm surprised they are not more common. I see so many regular speed handles I usually don't buy them anymore.

Thanks. I'm surprised there aren't more of there. Maybe because so many regular speeders commonly came in sets. And those, there are so many in every brand possible. Unfortunately, at some point I started buying even the ugly examples when I see them cheap enough.

I think maybe there was a smaller market for this type in engine building and such. I saw a video on here where a student used his Snap On to really bring the speed in an engine building contest. I'll have to find that.

Wow ... that's quite a collection! I think I have one or two flex head speeder wrenches among the 50 or so in my collection. You have cornered the market!

Brian

Thanks,lol. My goal is to find every version. Post yours up if you like.

I like speeders too. Nice collection. There is a Snap on 4S . Two different versions, with completely different heads.

Thanks Snapmom. Your collection is great, and properly displayed as well. I thought I had seen an early version of these that I missed.

That's a great collection! I always enjoy seeing what others have collected, particularly when it's something a little different. Everyone has a ratchet collection, hard handle screwdrivers, etc. so it's interesting to see different tools once in awhile, like flex head speeders for instance. Not a tool that I've ever given much thought to, but I certainly appreciate your collection as well as the time and effort it took to assemble it. Thanks for adding the photos. Nice post!

Jim C.

Glad you like it, thanks. I enjoy when people get their collections together for us too.

Great collection 3bay. Your first patent pending example sure looks like MTF to me. I'd scour that sucker for the tiny MTF stamp.

Twertsy, thanks. Have looked that ****** over many times hoping to find something, and definitely no other markings. I doubt it wore off, just poorly stamped and barely stamped to begin with. Not much to go on with just the PAT PNDG mark.
MTF is quite possible. I had not considered them. I compared it to many old breaker bars online too, with no definitive answer. At first I thought pre-Plomb L.A., or other brand from out West, but they never had a head like that. That and the handle could be the key. Do you have an old MTF cat.?

The other unmarked one too, hard to pin it as one brand or another.

I have to say you have a most awesome collection there. :beer:

For myself, I have one that I just recently bought. I was inspired to get it when I
saw one being used in an old 1930's movie.

Thanks. Feel free to post it up. What movie? I'd love to see that.

Terrific and unusual "guilty pleasure" collection, 3bay, and thanks for sharing it!

It's neat to see these kinds of quirky, esoteric, multiples collections where brand and timeframe are secondary and tertiary to the type of tool, and especially when it's not a common tool.

It also has the added benefit of mystifying and/or infuriating the types of guys I have run into on the General Tools Discussion board, and occasionally on this board (counter-intuitively!), who think that tools only have a utilitarian value, and I never get tired of seeing those kinds of guys mystified or infuriated. :evil:

Are you interested in seeing a different Blackhawk? I believe I have one with a rotating doorknob handle. I don't want to muck up your thread with other photos if you wanted to keep it organized to your stuff.

Thanks Lugz, part of that made me laugh. Some would categorize me as a hoarder. At least these I can say are a collection.

Is your speeder the kind with a built in flex socket? If it's another one like these, I have not seen it. Feel free to post it up.

I have only found one Flex Head Speeder and that one came from an estate sale in the beginning of April. Here it is with some other Plomb items.
-Don

Nice, thanks for sharing Don. :thumbup: I noticed that in the Plomb thread. Plomb and Snap On are the brands of these most often seen, and probably the best made. I'm sure some of the other brands added to their lineup to compete.
 
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3baygarage

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I wanted to add that there is definitely a vintage Cornwell version out there, and also a War Finish Plomb as I mentioned.

Someone claimed to have an old Husky once, but I have never seen any evidence of these in any form of New Britain whatsoever. Nor any Williams.
 

Private Lugnutz

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Thanks Lugz, part of that made me laugh. Some would categorize me as a hoarder.
Haha. You're familiar with Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" no doubt. d42jeep, User Name Already In Use, and I and a few other off-board guys throw the (H) symbol at each other every once in awhile in jest when someone goes a little crazy even among avid collectors!

3baygarage said:
Is your speeder the kind with a built in flex socket?
You may be right. I may be thinking of one from the non-detachable socket era, not a drive tool. I'll have to go check.
 

joel63

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Thanks. Feel free to post it up. What movie? I'd love to see that.

I just found it on youtube: Topper (1937) Full Movie around 35:00
 
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3baygarage

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I think there's a reason for that.....

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

;)

These appear to all be 1/2 drive. Were these made in 3/8 or 1/4 drive or are you avoiding those as an exercise in self control?
Joe

:lol_hitti

As you see I haven't run into one yet that I didn't like. I've seen one or two 3/8" but these are all 1/2".

Thanks. Feel free to post it up. What movie? I'd love to see that.

I just found it on youtube: Topper (1937) Full Movie around 35:00

:thumbup: Funny scene. I cant i.d. that as a flex head or otherwise though. It could even be a fixed lug wrench from back in that era.
 

Private Lugnutz

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3bay,

Your hunch was correct. I was misremembering. My Blackhawk speeder with the rotating doorknob is not a hinged-drive rim wrench. It's a model 6428 rim wrench, probably from the 1920's or 30's, with a hinged socket (5/8") on the end of it.
 

Plombob

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I'm amazed that you found so many of those. In 30+ years I've hunted tools, I've only found four of the Plombs and two of those were last year. And this is where Plomb was made. Great collection 3bay!
 
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3baygarage

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