Tools from the old world

[Monte]

Car wash sponges

 

[upgrading]

Is their a German word for microfiber ?
Or is it just referred to as microfiber ?

 

[zeug]

Is their a German word for microfiber ?
Or is it just referred to as microfiber ?

Mikrofaser (Tuch)

 

[Reed Prince]

Well, to give some examples, one of the prominent Taiwanese manufacturers is Rotar. They make tools under their own “Toptul” brand name, as well as for others.

Here’s their own bit ratchet set

And here is essentially the same tool, but Facom branded.


I say “essentially” the same tool as the Taiwanese tool companies are more than happy to offer differences in markings, finish, or even styling, provided you can pay for them.

Harbor Freight is selling a version now.

 

[F-22]

To me, if Toptul stamped "proudly made in Taiwan" on their tools, it would make them a thousand times more interesting than hiding the fact. Though I guess currently that could anger China a bit.

But the quality of Toptul tools is something plenty of western brands do not achieve or afford. For example even Wera sockets aren't stamped with sizes (and they're possibly even made by Rotar, who knows).

 

[Etchase]

My first and only Gordon Tools. GJ came to the rescue and told me AF stood for across flats. As opposed to Whitworth I assume. Never came across that before. It’s clearer than fractional, or imperial, or SAE I think.

 

[bpwoodworking]

I can’t seem to find a collet style (or other solution) to pulling dowel pins from blind holes by any of these brands. SO stopped making their good one a few years ago it seems and also none of the Japanese brands seem to make one.

If not a collet style puller, then what?

 

[acer66]

One of my trusted Wisent screw drivers took a joyride in the washer.

Guess which one!

Despite spending over an hour in a tumbling and wet environment the tip has not the slightest showing of surface rust.

 

[acer66]

Not a tool tool but still from the old world and sold by Milwaukee here.

 

[garfieldzzz]

I can’t seem to find a collet style (or other solution) to pulling dowel pins from blind holes by any of these brands. SO stopped making their good one a few years ago it seems and also none of the Japanese brands seem to make one.

If not a collet style puller, then what?

Fyi the Snapon one is back in the catalogue for ridiculous prices but at least available. Probably some machine collets could be made working too if necessary.

In-Line Dowel Pin Puller Master Set - Cal-Van Tools

No longer will there be a need for a slide hammer when extracting dowel pins. Simply fit the appropriately sized collet over the dowel, tighten the sleeve, and use the outer sleeve and nut to extract the dowel. Master Set includes both SAE and Metric collets. A simple and effective method for...

cal-vantools.com

Dunno if any good.

 

[HannibalLecter]

Great info in your post. Would you care to elaborate what manufacturers do you recognise? I was always curious who makes what for Wurth, but there's limited information online.

I believe that the ratchet in the wurth set is Facom and made in Italy. The screwdriver may be Felo, may be wera, I'd say Felo. All the rest is probably Taiwan. I'd be surprised if wurth actually makes anything at all

 

[Dave455]

I believe that the ratchet in the wurth set is Facom and made in Italy. The screwdriver may be Felo, may be wera, I'd say Felo. All the rest is probably Taiwan. I'd be surprised if wurth actually makes anything at all

The Wurth ratchet isn’t Facom, or made in Italy.

I have seen some older Wurth ratchet’s, and I think they may well have been made by USAG in Italy, but not these.

The socket driver is not Felo. It is styled a bit like a Felo, but when you compare side by side they are different. I actually prefer the Wurth, as it’s a harder material than the Felo Ergonic, which are a bit too soft in my opinion.

No, Wurth don’t make tools. Everything is made for them. This whole set is made in Taiwan, as can be seen on the packaging. They are decent tools however, and good value.

 

[HannibalLecter]

The Wurth ratchet isn’t Facom, or made in Italy.

I have seen some older Wurth ratchet’s, and I think they may well have been made by USAG in Italy, but not these.

The socket driver is not Felo. It is styled a bit like a Felo, but when you compare side by side they are different. I actually prefer the Wurth, as it’s a harder material than the Felo Ergonic, which are a bit too soft in my opinion.

No, Wurth don’t make tools. Everything is made for them. This whole set is made in Taiwan, as can be seen on the packaging. They are decent tools however, and good value.

Although they are not the same, the socket driver is definitely Felo. Regarding the ratchet, it may be facom-usag because it has many of the characteristics of the palm control ratchet but also maybe it is outsourced in taiwan. Wurth e shop even sells some screwdrivers under the felo brand. Felo has a private label sector

 

[bpwoodworking]

Fyi the Snapon one is back in the catalogue for ridiculous prices but at least available. Probably some machine collets could be made working too if necessary.

In-Line Dowel Pin Puller Master Set - Cal-Van Tools

No longer will there be a need for a slide hammer when extracting dowel pins. Simply fit the appropriately sized collet over the dowel, tighten the sleeve, and use the outer sleeve and nut to extract the dowel. Master Set includes both SAE and Metric collets. A simple and effective method for...

cal-vantools.com

Dunno if any good.

Interesting looking setup, might be better than the slide hammer.

 

[beefcake]

Car wash sponges

Ive had a microfiber madness washpad for like 6-7 years and used it soooo many times, its still in great condition.

 

[beefcake]

New bluetooth ear defenders, swedish brand but made in china.

 

[Ratchet.]

My first and only Gordon Tools. GJ came to the rescue and told me AF stood for across flats. As opposed to Whitworth I assume. Never came across that before. It’s clearer than fractional, or imperial, or SAE I think.

Interesting that they made it to the USA, Gordon is a bit lesser known even in the uk, made nice quality stuff, though could see the dies were wearing out on their later production, got a couple of gordon spanners where the text is so spread out that its almost illegible.

Not sure what happened to the company, bought out i presume.

AF/across flats was pretty common to see on UK market tools, even long after whitworth and its derivitives had become obsolete, they both use the same inch fraction, but in reality its hard to mix them up as Whitworth wrenches are considerably bigger.

 

[Dave455]

Interesting that they made it to the USA, Gordon is a bit lesser known even in the uk, made nice quality stuff, though could see the dies were wearing out on their later production, got a couple of gordon spanners where the spanners where the text is so spread out that its almost illegible.

Not sure what happened to the company, bought out i presume.

AF/across flats was pretty common to see on UK market tools, even long after whitworth and its derivitives had become obsolete, they both use the same inch fraction, but in reality its hard to mix them up as Whitworth wrenches are considerably bigger.

Gordon tools were bought out in the 1980’s, I think by the same people who had bought Wilkinsons Pliers, but they obviously hadn’t got a clue what they were doing and I believe were losing money at fearsome rate.

I think it all ended up as part of Record, but by then the original premises had long gone.

You’re right, on the later production you could see the tooling was pretty tired - something an astute purchaser would have noticed.

The screwdrivers were good till the end though. I can remember the last new ones being sold off as surplus in the early 80’s. All the popular sizes sold out first, so by the end all that was left were things like No. 4 Pozidriv’s and No. 4 Phillips, but some fools bought ‘em. I’ve still got one of each…

 

[dutchgray]

Gordon tools were bought out in the 1980’s, I think by the same people who had bought Wilkinsons Pliers, but they obviously hadn’t got a clue what they were doing and I believe were losing money at fearsome rate.

I think it all ended up as part of Record, but by then the original premises had long gone.

You’re right, on the later production you could see the tooling was pretty tired - something an astute purchaser would have noticed.

The screwdrivers were good till the end though. I can remember the last new ones being sold off as surplus in the early 80’s. All the popular sizes sold out first, so by the end all that was left were things like No. 4 Pozidriv’s and No. 4 Phillips, but some fools bought ‘em. I’ve still got one of each…

Gordon is one of the makers I will always pick up if I see some in decent condition at a boot sale, it was decent stuff, I use Whitworth and imperial all the time on machine tools and there is really no point in buying most of that new in the UK.

I do use a No4 Phillips or Pozidrive screwdriver from time to time, at least often enough I keep one of each on the van.

 

[Dave455]

Gordon is one of the makers I will always pick up if I see some in decent condition at a boot sale, it was decent stuff, I use Whitworth and imperial all the time on machine tools and there is really no point in buying most of that new in the UK.

I do use a No4 Phillips or Pozidrive screwdriver from time to time, at least often enough I keep one of each on the van.

No.4 Pozidriv does turn up surprisingly regularly. On some BMW’s the blue radiator drain plug has actually got a recess that fits the No.4 Pozi - but I’ve seen other sizes.

 

[Ratchet.]

Gordon tools were bought out in the 1980’s, I think by the same people who had bought Wilkinsons Pliers, but they obviously hadn’t got a clue what they were doing and I believe were losing money at fearsome rate.

I think it all ended up as part of Record, but by then the original premises had long gone.

You’re right, on the later production you could see the tooling was pretty tired - something an astute purchaser would have noticed.

The screwdrivers were good till the end though. I can remember the last new ones being sold off as surplus in the early 80’s. All the popular sizes sold out first, so by the end all that was left were things like No. 4 Pozidriv’s and No. 4 Phillips, but some fools bought ‘em. I’ve still got one of each

Quite possibly, seems zero investment was done towards the end, a good portion of the Gordon tools i've seen are spanners, and 1/2 drive sockets, and generally in AF or whitworth , and dont recall seeing any ratchets or socket accesories, i assume they are out there just uncommon,

Have never seen their screwdrivers either, may keep an eye out for them.




Finally picked up a Stahlwille 512, to go along with the 435 i bought a number of years ago... only reason it took that long was that i'm not a huge fan of ruberised handles, as they get tatty looking quickly, (or spontainiously turn into a sticky mess a few years down the line.. like soft touch surfaces on cars and electronic devices) but i spotted this one selling for £20 and couldnt pass it up

Nicely made ratchet though, seems close to an Snap on 936 but with less back drag, interestingly seems it has some kind of red resin on the screws, anti tamper for warrenty, or FOD maybe?

 

[neophyte]

Quite possibly, seems zero investment was done towards the end, a good portion of the Gordon tools i've seen are spanners, and 1/2 drive sockets, and generally in AF or whitworth , and dont recall seeing any ratchets or socket accesories, i assume they are out there just uncommon,

Have never seen their screwdrivers either, may keep an eye out for them.




Finally picked up a Stahlwille 512, to go along with the 435 i bought a number of years ago... only reason it took that long was that i'm not a huge fan of ruberised handles, as they get tatty looking quickly, (or spontainiously turn into a sticky mess a few years down the line.. like soft touch surfaces on cars and electronic devices) but i spotted this one selling for £20 and couldnt pass it up

Nicely made ratchet though, seems close to an Snap on 936 but with less back drag, interestingly seems it has some kind of red resin on the screws, anti tamper for warrenty, or FOD maybe?

Or maybe just thread locker to prevent list screws ?

 

[garfieldzzz]

The FOD one has rivets instead of bolts so maybe treadlocker as mentioned or lock paint.

 

[esben57]

Quite possibly, seems zero investment was done towards the end, a good portion of the Gordon tools i've seen are spanners, and 1/2 drive sockets, and generally in AF or whitworth , and dont recall seeing any ratchets or socket accesories, i assume they are out there just uncommon,

Have never seen their screwdrivers either, may keep an eye out for them.

Gordon were decent tools. Bought out by SSP - Sheffield Steel Products. You may have seen old Jag toolkit spanners and pliers marked SSP.
Heard somewhere SSP moved the Gordon Forging press to their factory but it wasn't a success.
I have a few 1/2" Gordon ratchets and some sockets plus FIL's socket set. Some sockets were often marked Chrome Vanadium, Sheffield England. Drive tools such as extensions often not marked at all, sometimes a sticker was applied.
Gordon made spanners for Unipart and Halfords
I have a couple of flat blade screwdrivers with amber handles. These may have been made by Steadfast perhaps.

 

[Vicks]

My newest Metabo addition. I love the build quality, the electric cable, the dust filter, low vibration during usage.. well, pretty much everything about it and i got it for a great price too !

 

[Jack_K]

Telwin AutoTronic 25. This should be the right balance between being a dumb charger and one with regulation. Something that will charge any battery I want it to and not cook them unlike "smart" chargers. It has switchable "Tronic" charging.

I quickly found an issue though which is the type of thing I would expect if it was made in China. The battery terminals don't fit on standard car battery posts. They just fit if I remove the covers from the handles.

 

[acer66]

 

[honcho]

Rondy drill, made in Spain and seen at a flea market in Rouen, France. The drill has two "speeds" selected by placing crank on either side of the unit.

 

[Ratchet.]

Gordon tools were bought out in the 1980’s, I think by the same people who had bought Wilkinsons Pliers, but they obviously hadn’t got a clue what they were doing and I believe were losing money at fearsome rate.

I think it all ended up as part of Record, but by then the original premises had long gone.

You’re right, on the later production you could see the tooling was pretty tired - something an astute purchaser would have noticed.

The screwdrivers were good till the end though. I can remember the last new ones being sold off as surplus in the early 80’s. All the popular sizes sold out first, so by the end all that was left were things like No. 4 Pozidriv’s and No. 4 Phillips, but some fools bought ‘em. I’ve still got one of each…

Found the Gordon wrenches with the 'worn' stamping, interestingly i also have some T williams 'superslim' brake adjuster spanners showing the same issue so they werent the only british company neglecting to replace forging dies

Or maybe just thread locker to prevent list screws ?

i presume so, whoever did it did a neat job of applying the compound though

Gordon were decent tools. Bought out by SSP - Sheffield Steel Products. You may have seen old Jag toolkit spanners and pliers marked SSP.
Heard somewhere SSP moved the Gordon Forging press to their factory but it wasn't a success.
I have a few 1/2" Gordon ratchets and some sockets plus FIL's socket set. Some sockets were often marked Chrome Vanadium, Sheffield England. Drive tools such as extensions often not marked at all, sometimes a sticker was applied.
Gordon made spanners for Unipart and Halfords
I have a couple of flat blade screwdrivers with amber handles. These may have been made by Steadfast perhaps.

i have some of the older spanners, with remains of waterslide decals on them, so i presume maybe they had similar on drive tools, makes sense if they made tools under contract too, could just stick somethign else on. its a shame said decals dont last as they look neat, Malco tyre levers, and older Hazet tools also had similar, i have some

now you posted it, i have see a gordon ratchet, almost bought one at a car boot, but seller had an unreasonable ide of value haha,
also looking yesterday, spotted one on ebay, a far more modern one, of dubious quality as had a plastic selector lever, and looked very much like some early 80s no brand taiwanese tools

talking of jaguar toolkits, finally got a Wryneck wrench from Garrington tools (they also made toolkit parts for jaguar)

so now got at least one of all of their avian named wrenches, or all the ones i know of, Wrynecks being obstruction wrenches, and far more uncommon than the others, and its a 3/4-7/8" (19/22mm) so actually fairly useful to me, most of their output being whitworth sizes, no date code on this one however, most have a year and month of manufacture stamped into them somewhere

 

[Pixel_Rage]

From Amazon Germany

Aptex insert for Bosch GSR 12V-15FC system. Made in Germany. Very good quality and workmanship. Unfortunately, they do not have more products for other Bosch 12V power tools.



Uvex - Made in Germany



Fiskars - Made in China

 

[esben57]

Found the Gordon wrenches with the 'worn' stamping, interestingly i also have some T williams 'superslim' brake adjuster spanners showing the same issue so they werent the only british company neglecting to replace forging dies






i presume so, whoever did it did a neat job of applying the compound though

i have some of the older spanners, with remains of waterslide decals on them, so i presume maybe they had similar on drive tools, makes sense if they made tools under contract too, could just stick somethign else on. its a shame said decals dont last as they look neat, Malco tyre levers, and older Hazet tools also had similar, i have some

now you posted it, i have see a gordon ratchet, almost bought one at a car boot, but seller had an unreasonable ide of value haha,
also looking yesterday, spotted one on ebay, a far more modern one, of dubious quality as had a plastic selector lever, and looked very much like some early 80s no brand taiwanese tools

talking of jaguar toolkits, finally got a Wryneck wrench from Garrington tools (they also made toolkit parts for jaguar)

so now got at least one of all of their avian named wrenches, or all the ones i know of, Wrynecks being obstruction wrenches, and far more uncommon than the others, and its a 3/4-7/8" (19/22mm) so actually fairly useful to me, most of their output being whitworth sizes, no date code on this one however, most have a year and month of manufacture stamped into them somewh

Found the Gordon wrenches with the 'worn' stamping, interestingly i also have some T williams 'superslim' brake adjuster spanners showing the same issue so they werent the only british company neglecting to replace forging dies






i presume so, whoever did it did a neat job of applying the compound though

i have some of the older spanners, with remains of waterslide decals on them, so i presume maybe they had similar on drive tools, makes sense if they made tools under contract too, could just stick somethign else on. its a shame said decals dont last as they look neat, Malco tyre levers, and older Hazet tools also had similar, i have some

now you posted it, i have see a gordon ratchet, almost bought one at a car boot, but seller had an unreasonable ide of value haha,
also looking yesterday, spotted one on ebay, a far more modern one, of dubious quality as had a plastic selector lever, and looked very much like some early 80s no brand taiwanese tools

talking of jaguar toolkits, finally got a Wryneck wrench from Garrington tools (they also made toolkit parts for jaguar)

so now got at least one of all of their avian named wrenches, or all the ones i know of, Wrynecks being obstruction wrenches, and far more uncommon than the others, and its a 3/4-7/8" (19/22mm) so actually fairly useful to me, most of their output being whitworth sizes, no date code on this one however, most have a year and month of manufacture stamped into them somewhere

Around late 70's early 80's, Steel firm I worked at bought tons of Gordon stuff as scrap, quality stuff. Gordon must have been on their Knees.

Around late 70's early 80's, Steel firm I worked at bought tons of Gordon Cr-V tools as scrap, quality stuff. Gordon must have been on their Knees then. Word got round and workers were filling toolkits with spanners, sockets and such like.
Security chased everybody off and the scrap pile was very much diminished.
Sad end to yet another British company.

 

[Kasal]

Facom pressure clamps T5.LPB and 501A

 

[eas311]

$30 PB Swiss find on Amazon, which is about 50% off. Couldn't pass it up...still listed if you search 212LDH-10

 

[bpwoodworking]

I’m really impressed with PB Swiss, after having used Felo, Wera, Wiha and some other random brands. They seem to keep their shape for a very long time. Felo is very good also but PB Swiss just seems slightly better.

All of my shop bits are now PB Swiss, I use Felo/wera/Wiha in the field since it is common for bits to ‘get borrowed’ in the field.

 

[Ratchet.]

Old Dowidat 427-13 valve screw adjuster for aircooled Volkswagens and Porsches etc.

Been afterone of the Hazet version of this tool for years, but the combined scene tax between old Volkswagen and Hazet tools usually means they go for more than im willing to pay, found a guy selling these as NOS, for a fraction of the price.. I'm still after a hazet one though.

interestingly constructed, the broached 'socket' part of it is seperate and pressed in, presumably so they could make various sizes using the same handle. it doesnt see much torque so chances of it coming loose from the handle in use are slim to nil.

 

[Dave455]

I’m really impressed with PB Swiss, after having used Felo, Wera, Wiha and some other random brands. They seem to keep their shape for a very long time. Felo is very good also but PB Swiss just seems slightly better.

All of my shop bits are now PB Swiss, I use Felo/wera/Wiha in the field since it is common for bits to ‘get borrowed’ in the field.

This is not coincidence.

I once had a conversation with Max Baumann, the “big cheese” at PB Baumann (as they were then) about hex keys.

He said that they had done a lot of market research, and what their customers hated was hex keys that bent.

This is why PB Swiss hex keys generally deform elastically, then spring back to their original shape, or break if you push them beyond that. You seldom see a bent one.

This is also why PB Swiss sometimes don’t appear much better than others in comparative tests, which generally only test to breaking point. In the real world, at anything less than breaking point the tools are still useable, whereas many from other manufacturers are not!

 

[dukefx]

The only thing worse than a bent hex key is a twisted hex key, although that's usually a Torx issue. Most of the time the hex fasteners tend to strip out long before the key gets twisted. Having said that and being both a huge PB Swiss fan and a fan of elastic keys (I've worked with some Roto branded ones that were made of spring steel and I still don't know who makes them) I still prefer special profiles that prevent stripping.

 

[Reed Prince]

This is why PB Swiss hex keys generally deform elastically, then spring back to their original shape, or break if you push them beyond that. You seldom see a bent one.

I managed to bend the tiniest PB hex key in a knob set screw that probably hadn't been loosened in 50 years. It got the job done and DRPD sent me a new one.

 

[Dave455]

I managed to bend the tiniest PB hex key in a knob set screw that probably hadn't been loosened in 50 years. It got the job done and DRPD sent me a new one.

I used the words “generally” and “seldom”, rather than “always” and “never”!

It’s usually the small ones that cause problems.

To be honest, I consider these small hex keys to be consumables. Some years back I bought boxes of 100 of each size, (doesn’t cost a lot in small sizes) and I use these as my “go to”.

 

[Monte]