The vintage Blackhawk Thread

[MR.X]

Today’s flea set me back $2.00. T-12136 Needle Valve Adjusting Wrench (socket). From a 1939 Stromberg manual online. I think misidentified as a 29.

 

[Blackhawkfan]

I was a tad late to this one last fall… Think it sold for $20 and was shipped out west… Would have loved to own it!

Steve

This one found its way into my vault...

 

[INSP380]

This one found its way into my vault...

Outstanding!!! I was really hoping someone here got it… I have been buying a lot from him as he brings it back to his house. Some outstanding pieces that I’m happy to preserve.

Steve

 

[Fred Knox]

An early Blackhawk No. 2 socket set, ca. 1919-1921, courtesy of a GJ member trade. The sockets are each stamped with the fractional size plus the Arrowhead logo with "U.S.A." below. They have the flat machined top, characteristic of the earlier production. There are pinched tabs at each end to retain the slider. I love its hexagonal bar stock too. I plan on getting a replica of the inside label and keep it in the box free-floating, but will keep the original one attached.

 

[d42jeep]

Great logo on those sockets.
-Don

 

[toolnutz19]

Hi Everyone, My friend Oldjacks has opened my eyes to the Black Hawk brand. I see some folks around here are partial to it too, so lets see your vintage Black hawk tools. jacks, Tool Boxes, nugget sets. I will start with a SJ-18 jack gifted to me by Oldjacks. I will post my ratchets soon.

I have this vintage jack that I was trying to identify. It's similar to all the images I find with the rectangular lift pad and the light. Where it seems to differ is instead of the embossed lines on the side, it has "Blackhawk " embossed. Any ideas?
Thanks

 

[four.cycle]

@toolnutz19 - I've answered this question concerning your Blackhawk jack in another thread.

 

[930dreamer]

I spotted this on MP, anyone needing it?

 

[930dreamer]

Feb 23 1926 patent

 

[four.cycle]

looks like it's 1574136

 

[nz44tool]

Interesting day at the flea market...
A Blackhawk 49996 1/2" drive ratchet in working condition!
A Mayhew 30200 mason's chisel
A mystery screwdriver (which I thought might be a Mayhew at first), stamped with a "5" and "Beta-Garantie"
- upon further review (after a little clean-up) - the screwdriver stamp says "Geta-Garantie". Still inscrutable. Anyone?

 

[four.cycle]

BLACKHAWK 1/2" square drive x 5/8" square drain plug socket
CLAIMED @Fred Knox 06/24/26 13:15 PDT

 

[Mintgrun]

I posted two of these jack stands in this thread five years ago and yesterday I purchased two more at the same Habitat store. They wanted twice as much money this time around, but I'm happy to have a set of four. I'll make plywood bases for the new two too, since I use them on gravel, or soft plywood on dirt (carport floor).



I think the first pair are newer, based on the labels, but haven't looked at catalogs to compare part numbers. I'm guessing the AX-2 turned into AX-20 and then 67368. I find it interesting that the first pair are rated for 2 tons each, whereas the other two say 2 tons (pair). Yet, they're basically identical in terms of construction. Regardless, they're plenty stout to suit my needs.



Tom

 

[hydromanx25]

Hi Everyone, My friend Oldjacks has opened my eyes to the Black Hawk brand. I see some folks around here are partial to it too, so lets see your vintage Black hawk tools. jacks, Tool Boxes, nugget sets. I will start with a SJ-18 jack gifted to me by Oldjacks. I will post my ratchets soon.

I just found this site. I have 50 years in the jack repair business and have a lot of old parts. I am retired now but dug out my vintage jacks to rebuild them. Here is a couple of pictures

 

[thehorse13]

I just found this site. I have 50 years in the jack repair business and have a lot of old parts. I am retired now but dug out my vintage jacks to rebuild them. Here is a couple of pictures

Welcome. You have a few nice Blackhawk jacks there.

 

[y'sguy]

Welcome. There are plenty of folks here who need advice on all the hydraulic equipment. You will be a good asset to the group.

 

[Shelbylex]

Welcome to GJ, Hydromsnx25!

 

[four.cycle]

I just found this site. I have 50 years in the jack repair business and have a lot of old parts. I am retired now but dug out my vintage jacks to rebuild them. Here is a couple of pictures

Hello there @hydromanx25 and welcome to the site!

Keep this link handy

and this one too

You've found the main "Blackhawk" thread here

There is also a thread dedicated solely to Blackhawk JACKS and Porta-Power only HERE

 

[MR.X]

Stopped near Cleveland and ran into that seller that’s at every flea who wants to tell you that Williams is Snap-On. I’m almost afraid to say it here afraid that some one will say Williams IS Snap On. I had to ask if anyone has EVER paid Snap On prices for his common Williams non Snap on affiliated mid century tools. Anyway, picked up these 7/16 drive sockets and moved on.

 

[thehorse13]

Stopped near Cleveland and ran into that seller that’s at every flea who wants to tell you that Williams is Snap-On. I’m almost afraid to say it here afraid that some one will say Williams IS Snap On. I had to ask if anyone has EVER paid Snap On prices for his common Williams non Snap on affiliated mid century tools. Anyway, picked up these 7/16 drive sockets and moved on.

One of the best things you can ever find is someone who has brand blinders on. They will overprice the object of their affection and give away things that are worth twice as much. Case in point, you have a few nice Blackhawk sockets in your palm. Well done.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I speared the first of these wartime button-release three-groovers out of a big miscellaneous mess of rust, woe, and dismemberment that someone dumped on a $1 table at the flea yesterday. You guys know what happens next. Spent the next ten or fifteen minutes going through it more surgically and methodically with the same screwdriver, and then doing it again just in case I missed one, and came up with the others. Disappointed there weren't more, but a decent grouping, including a deep, which surprised me. Not in the greatest condition, but three of them (40125 - 25/32", 40116 - 1/2", and 40112 - 3/8") are dated coded 1942, the deep (40318 - 9/16") is date coded 1943 and the 40126 - 13/16" is dated code 1944. The odds that they arrived in someone's grandfather's garage box separately? Low, sez I.

 

[thehorse13]

This 1920s QD box has been laying around my garage for many years. Because I'm not looking to start another large project, I figured that this little box would be fun to clean up. The decal is in nice shape so my plan was to cleanup everything around the entire box, remove and pop the spring back into place on the one spring loaded latch, then give it a lick of black satin paint. Easy right?

Well you know what they say about plans and this is no different.

I first tried feeling around inside of the latch looking for any obvious groove that the flat spring may have simply popped out from. No dice on that avenue, so I decided it was time to open the latch up and see what's really going on inside. The worst case scenario was apparent the second I opened the 3 tabs holding the latch together. You can see that the spring is broken in half. For a second, I thought about just making another one but before I do that, I figured that I would see if anyone has one of these spring loaded Blackhawk latches laying around that they would be willing to sell.

 

[MR.X]

Reading some posts on the vintage SnapOn thread about whether a handle on a driver was outsourced from another Milwaukee company reminded me of this old Walker (Racine about 25 miles from Milwaukee)jack crank handle utilizing the Blackhawk / American Grinder Mfg Co. sheet metal handle / grip patent. On the speeder shown the grip has a crimped metal cap that was also in the patent. As most of you know these grips are found on 20’s era Blackhawk braces, crank speeders, T-handles and extensions and even socket case handles. Interesting that the American Grinder patent was coauthored by the guy who founded Frickin Delta Machinery as Delta Specialty Co. “in his one car garage in 1919.

 

[y'sguy]

This 1920s QD box has been laying around my garage for many years. Because I'm not looking to start another large project, I figured that this little box would be fun to clean up. The decal is in nice shape so my plan was to cleanup everything around the entire box, remove and pop the spring back into place on the one spring loaded latch, then give it a lick of black satin paint. Easy right?

Well you know what they say about plans and this is no different.

I first tried feeling around inside of the latch looking for any obvious groove that the flat spring may have simply popped out from. No dice on that avenue, so I decided it was time to open the latch up and see what's really going on inside. The worst case scenario was apparent the second I opened the 3 tabs holding the latch together. You can see that the spring is broken in half. For a second, I thought about just making another one but before I do that, I figured that I would see if anyone has one of these spring loaded Blackhawk latches laying around that they would be willing to sell.

I don't have a latch like that, but I have found that I could make a flat steel spring from an older-style stainless steel radiator clamp. You can cut and trim and shape one to the desired fit. Your results may vary.

 

[Beerhippie]

the guy who founded Frickin Delta Machinery

Yeah, I had a frickin' Delta tool once....

 

[thehorse13]

I don't have a latch like that, but I have found that I could make a flat steel spring from an older-style stainless steel radiator clamp. You can cut and trim and shape one to the desired fit. Your results may vary.

One thing that I have laying around the garage is a healthy pile of worm gear clamps. lol. It can't hurt to give this a try. I will report back with the results, good or bad. Thanks!

 

[Snaparxon]

Found a T15 today, left the sockets, box and speeder behind. Having done a little research this evening I have since decided to go back tomorow and grab the pieces if still there, box was in ok shape but dirty.

 

[Snaparxon]

I was able to re-united the tools and cleaned them up. Appears to be set 18A from the mid 20's minus a few pieces. Funny that they had "Bottom" pressed into the box to avoid confusion.

 

[3baygarage]

Recent flea market find. One of those moments where I wasn’t expecting to see anything, and suddenly….”Woah! Blackhawk Lock-On!”

1/2” drive
# 49978 universal joint
# 49983 rotating grip extension

 

[thehorse13]

Recent flea market find. One of those moments where I wasn’t expecting to see anything, and suddenly….”Woah! Blackhawk Lock-On!”

1/2” drive
# 49978 universal joint
# 49983 rotating grip extension

Even this stuff is getting hard to find these days. I pick up anything that is in reasonably good shape and would have certainly taken these few items home as well. Nice find.

 

[3baygarage]

Well Horse, I can’t make this stuff up.

I went to a shop estate sale this morning. When I peered into a bin of extensions and adapters, another Blackhawk extension jumped out at me. Then I saw the universal next to it. A near identical pair, some different date codes. They were followed by a half dozen sockets!

No ratchets or other parts in sight.

 

[thehorse13]

Well Horse, I can’t make this stuff up.

I went to a shop estate sale this morning. When I peered into a bin of extensions and adapters, another Blackhawk extension jumped out at me. Then I saw the universal next to it. A near identical pair, some different date codes. They were followed by a half dozen sockets!

No ratchets or other parts in sight.

I believe it. I ran into similar luck one time with a 7/16th Nugget set. Well done.

 

[Five77359]

After a couple of years of collecting nuggets, I finally found my bullet box at a garage sale of all places. I won’t tell you the price… okay… $25!

The paint looks original to me. Very stoked to add to my collection!

 

[Shelbylex]

Five77359, CONGRATULATIONS! I think you earned your first "You ****" !

 

[Beerhippie]

After a couple of years of collecting nuggets, I finally found my bullet box at a garage sale of all places. I won’t tell you the price… okay… $25!

The paint looks original to me. Very stoked to add to my collection!

My mother had one of those vacuums back in the '60s.

Confirmed--you ****.

 

[Five77359]

Thanks guys!! Much appreciated!!

 

[thehorse13]

After a couple of years of collecting nuggets, I finally found my bullet box at a garage sale of all places. I won’t tell you the price… okay… $25!

The paint looks original to me. Very stoked to add to my collection!

Go to the nearest police station and turn yourself in. You STOLE it!

Also, congrats on this once in a lifetime find. It is an original paint/decal box and that alone is incredibly hard to find.

One last thing. You ****.

 

[930dreamer]

After a couple of years of collecting nuggets, I finally found my bullet box at a garage sale of all places. I won’t tell you the price… okay… $25!

The paint looks original to me. Very stoked to add to my collection!

WOW, what a great find!

 

[chargedmr2]

After a couple of years of collecting nuggets, I finally found my bullet box at a garage sale of all places. I won’t tell you the price… okay… $25!

The paint looks original to me. Very stoked to add to my collection!

Now THAT is a find!! WOW!!!!!!!

 

[Madjik Man]

After a couple of years of collecting nuggets, I finally found my bullet box at a garage sale of all places. I won’t tell you the price… okay… $25!

The paint looks original to me. Very stoked to add to my collection!

Don’t know you but I already think YOU ****!!