If I could interrupt the modern tool reviews for just a moment to sneak in this quick vintage posting..., I picked up this Tona socket set at a flea market this morning.
It’s 1/2-inch square drive with eleven (11) metric sockets (32, 30, 23, 21, 20, 19, 18, 16, 15, 14, and 13), and what appears to be a spark plug socket with an imperial sizing (7/16”) also marked “BSW” (British Standard Whitworth). It had two HEYCO sockets and one Hazet socket in it, which I have removed.
From this photo of a more or less complete set I grabbed on-line...
...I believe I am missing the speeder, the short extension, a universal joint, and seven (7) sockets. I’m not much of a metric user, but apparently 31, 22, 17, 12, 11, 10 and 9. All the sockets are 6-point.
The tools are marked “TONA”, flanked by “CHROM” and “VANADIUM”, and “MADE IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA”. I don't believe the finish is chrome-plating. It appears to be cadmium or some other form of economy finish.
I love the pebbled composite handles and I am having some fun inspecting the strange construction, including the deep broaches and some of the odd marks the process and machine has left behind on the inside, which you just don’t see in US products of similar vintage.
I am not normally a European tools collector, let alone Eastern Europe, and Eastern Bloc, no less. But there is a bit of a personal connection for me with this set. Tona was founded in 1892, originally as an iron foundry, in what then the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Czechoslovakia was formed in 1918, at the end of WWI, a few years after my maternal and paternal grandparents escaped to America. In 1948 it became part o the Warsaw Pact. I am guessing it’s late 1950’s or early 1960’s production. If anyone knows more specifically, or knows a lot more about Tona, please chime in.
I will be creating a WANTED ad for the missing pieces. If anyone has any, please let me know. I understand that it's not a rare or terribly important set, but I am impressed with the quality, which is very good, in my opinion, and I would like to complete it. I may even re-finish the box.