Utica TL-19-A Pliers

[Provincial]

I found a pair of Utica 6 inch linesman pliers Saturday. They are marked "TL-19-A" on one side, and UTICA 1950-6 on the other. They have a hole in one handle for a lanyard, and two notches in the cutting blade for stripping wire. I know that the Signal Corps had TL-13-A pliers, but haven't yet found a reference to the -19's.

Saturday I also found an Imperial electrician's knife that would pair up nicely with these pliers. Photos of the knife are posted in the Vintage Knives thread https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=460999&page=7. I would have to find one of the Signal Corps scabbards to hold the pair!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Are you sure it's not a deeply stamped TL-13-A where the depth makes the "3" look like a "9"? I've seen that before.

The Signal Corps did have TL-19 pliers in the Interwar years. If you use Google Books you will see them turn up in all kinds of technical and training manuals. Listed as 6-inch combination side cutters.

And I see some references to a TL-19 in a toolset RE-17 used for servicing an SCR-94 tube tester, but it doesn't show up in any major Signal Corps references.

 

[Provincial]

Lugz, you were right. After more cleaning, and with the proper lighting, the 3 shows well. See the attached photo.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Nice. A CS-34 case will show up eventually. If not in Oregon, then NJ for sure.

 

[d42jeep]

These are often on eBay with a wide range of prices.
-Don

 

[cchamelin]

I found a pair of Utica 6 inch linesman pliers Saturday. They are marked "TL-19-A" on one side, and UTICA 1950-6 on the other. They have a hole in one handle for a lanyard, and two notches in the cutting blade for stripping wire. I know that the Signal Corps had TL-13-A pliers, but haven't yet found a reference to the -19's.

Saturday I also found an Imperial electrician's knife that would pair up nicely with these pliers. Photos of the knife are posted in the Vintage Knives thread https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=460999&page=7. I would have to find one of the Signal Corps scabbards to hold the pair!

You might want to consider a Kutmaster electrician knife to pair up with your Utica Linesman pliers, since both would have been made in Utica NY. The Kutmaster knife looks very similar to the Imperial. A quick search on eBay will turn up the Kutmaster or “Utica” knife.

 

[d42jeep]

I would suggest an Electrician’s knife marked TL-29 in keeping with the Signal Corps markings. I look for the ones with four pins showing. There are a few brands out there to pick from including Camillus and Pal.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

I found a pair of Utica TL-13-A lineman’s pliers at an estate sale this morning. They will replace the rust pitted pair in the set on the far right.
-Don

 

[oldpliers1]

Hi please pardon my ignorance, they are a nice find , the Utica 1950-6 and crescent 1950 -6 not only use the same number but are almost identical. And seeing these are made a long time before the acquisition of Utica to cooper tools, is their a reason or is it coincidence? Great item thanks for your post

 

[oldpliers1]

The crescent version , who stole from who ( great design)

 

[d42jeep]

My tool collecting buddy in Wales pointed that out to me last year. It can’t be a coincidence with the exact numbers. Here is another pair that arrived today. I haven’t yet seen a Crescent brand pair marked with the Signal Corps number.
-Don

 

[oldpliers1]

Pardon I was referring to the design, the signal corps numbers must be a bonus to a Jeep or military collector, whereas I’m the crescent collector, I only own 1 or two Utica items ,very nice ,we never had them here nor that lovely Diamalloy Diamond horse shoe brand , I admire them and think a lot of the modern tools are copies of theirs .
nice talking cheers

 

[d42jeep]

Pardon I was referring to the design, the signal corps numbers must be a bonus to a Jeep or military collector, whereas I’m the crescent collector, I only own 1 or two Utica items ,very nice ,we never had them here nor that lovely Diamalloy Diamond horse shoe brand , I admire them and think a lot of the modern tools are copies of theirs .
nice talking cheers

If you are a fan of Crescent tools, you may enjoy this thread.

More than just adjustable wrenches, post up your vintage Crescent tools

I was surprised to find that the vintage forum didn’t have a thread dedicated to Crescent tools so I took a subtle hint from Lugz to start this one. In the early days of collecting tools for my WW2 sets, I ran across plenty of early Crescent tools and will be posting some of them here. I...

www.garagejournal.com

-Don

 

[oldpliers1]

Thanks Don I do have a few and scour the world looking for them here is a sample of some of the stuff ( I bought these 40 years ago here in Australia $9 each at the time close to a days pay on 3rd year apprentice wages) these are North Carolina made , prior to Assembly and finishing here in Australia.
regards A

 

[Private Lugnutz]

It can’t be a coincidence with the exact numbers.

Note that it's not confined to linesman pliers, either. See 654 and 1033 series needle nose pliers, for example. I remember there was a time when I attributed it to some sort of universal parts numbering scheme for pliers, akin to the Industry Standard Numbers for wrenches, but the overlap only exists across Utica and Crescent, as far as I was able to determine. If Klein and Kraueter were using the same numbers there might be something to it. As it is, I believe one was supplying the other, and my gun to the head answer would be Utica making them for Crescent. Because Utica was such a massive third party maker (supplying Plomb, Bonney, and others), but also, I'm not sure if Crescent ever had an early signature fixed-joint plier. I am confident they made their own slip-joints, and they bought out Smith & Hemenway to expand. Just seems like they would turn to their upstate neighbors, and Utica had less reason for seeking third party help. But that's all just my speculation. Feel free to share my thoughts with Len if it comes up again.

I haven’t yet seen a Crescent brand pair marked with the Signal Corps number.

Note TL-13. No "-A," which, if you didn't already know it, designates the tiny mated notches (or "holes") in the jaws for a insulated wire-stripping capability.

the signal corps numbers must be a bonus to a Jeep or military collector

Jeep on-board toolkits were not provisioned with linesman pliers. They had 6-inch combination slip-joint pliers. The US Army Ordnance Dept, Air Corps and other technical branches did have several kits with linesman type pliers, but they would not have US Army Signal Corps part numbers.

 

[oldpliers1]

Brilliant! That’s such intelligent information, I thought they were a blow hole in the blade . Marvel did a plier which launched them on the market with the notch and crimper,
based on a hybrid version of the 50-8 and 1950 . It was a nice item

 

[oldpliers1]

Hi Don and Utica enthusiasts just something I found on eBay
on the 50 series pliers we have been talking about ,

 

[d42jeep]

There are quite a few Utica catalogs available online here.

Internet Archive Search: Utica tools

Below is a pair of Utica 5” dikes with Signal Corps markings.
-Don

 

[oldpliers1]

Utica 50-8 crescent 50-8 , these are late editions of both brands and do differ , whereas the earlier versions were almost identical.

 

[oldpliers1]

thanks Don for the link to the Utica catalogues , they were brilliant, I never knew or heard of Utica until 4 years ago , they were a massive operation . Due to politics and tariffs we never saw the stuff here. thanks A

 

[oldpliers1]

Hi Don is viewed today a guy on eBay who has military Utica tools linesman pliers mint never used for a reasonable price
$55 I’m not sure what you consider reasonable in the states .
regards A