Vanadium USA Angle Wrench mfr. ????
- Thread starter earthmover1980
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Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
The photo is very difficult to see the markings, but based on the profile, and your thread title, probably the Vanadium Tool Company, which operated out of Athens, Ohio in the late 40's through the 70's or so. They bear a striking resemblance to Cornwell, MAC, and Wright angle wrenches, other mfgrs also based in Ohio who made nearly identical angle wrenches with very thin shanks and hex throat openings in common. I have a set of angle wrenches made a few decades before with the same exact profile, un-plated, made by Cornwell. Many of us have speculated on one or more formal relationships among these particular Ohio-based mfgrs, but no proof has been found. They may have been making wrenches for each other, sharing dies, etc, or it could just be a regional trend or tendency that they all picked up on. Either way, Vanadium Tool Co was sort of the latecomer of the group.
r_olson_06
Well-known member
Yes they are very similar to the satin Mac wrenches as stated above. Not sure on the manufacture.
Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrenches 3061, 3070,
Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrenches 3061, 3070,
OP
earthmover1980
Well-known member
Thank you for clarifying, private lug nutz, and r Olson!!!!
d42jeep
Well-known member
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bobcatdan
Well-known member
Angle wrenches are a bit of an odd duck in saying who made them. Many brands look identical while being different manufacturers. Martain makes a number of them for people. I would bet money they make both Wright and Williams based on design and they happen to all skip 1 5/16". Cornwell look the same, but cornwell is pretty open on what they actually make list the angle wrenches as something they make. Also they offer the missing 1 5/16", but stop at 1 1/2" while the martain bunch goes to 2". Mac angles and as far as I know Proto as well look the same as the rest, but I feel those are made by mac/proto. The big difference you see between all these brands is finish. The martain ones are always satin. Cornwell was satin, but switched to full chrome a year or so ago. Mac are chrome and have been for some time. So what I'm getting at, I can't say if somebody else made them for Vanadium as there are at least three companies I know that make pretty much identical wrenches so why can't there be one more.
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
I've never heard of Martain, bobcatdan, but you're talking about contemporary production. Are you saying you think the wrenches in question (shown in post #1) are modern (made in the last few years) not vintage? If so, then they can't be Vanadium Tool Company wrenches, which operated from 1946 through the 1970's.
My bet is still on them being Vanadium Tool Company wrenches (note the way the letters on the shank are outlined, echoing the outlining of the V on the logo Don posted) and vintage.
My bet is still on them being Vanadium Tool Company wrenches (note the way the letters on the shank are outlined, echoing the outlining of the V on the logo Don posted) and vintage.
bobcatdan
Well-known member
I spelled it slightly wrong, Martin. They are primarily a gear and sprocket manufacturer who have tool line as well. I can't say how old Martin is off the top of my head, but I'm fairly certain they have been around a long time. While they offer a pretty full line of tools, they are mainly known for their body tools like hammers and dollies. After that, their angle wrenches and service wrenches are fairly well known. From there yes one has to do some looking to find the rest of their tools. The point of my post is a number of manufacturers made or make basically the same wrench so it makes pointing out who made these angle wrenches difficult. I'm not saying Vadaiumn didn't make them in house, but I can't say they did. This style of angle wrench is simply hard to pin point who made it we are willing to think it was source from a supplier.
four.cycle
Well-known member
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Thanks for clarifying, bobcatdan. On the style being similar across a few mfgrs, on that we can agree, as I explained in post #2, in reference to the striking similarities among Cornwell, MAC, Wright, and later, VTC. Which all happen to be located in Ohio. I don't know anything about Martin or where it's located.
bobcatdan
Well-known member
I just wonder if there is any connection with cornwell. Maybe worked together or cornwell maybe bought them out. Looking at the catalog above, match up with cornwell very well. Just for comparison, my cornwell angle wrenches that match size offering and lengths on several I measured.
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Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
You're not the only one!
And there is a very tight connection.
I just discovered a reference that indicates that Cornwell bought an 85% interest in VTC in 1974!
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
But let's start from the beginning...
This 1962 article is about the formation of Mecto Corp by two men who had been "the directors of Vanadium Tool Co for 17 years". 1962 minus 17 years is 1945. Hold that thought!
The Vanadium Tool Company was advertising for salesmen in Illinois in Dec 1946. The Sales Manager, Harmon, is identified as the founder and president of VTC in other documents, so, not surprisingly, he was doing it all at this early juncture.
They were still advertising for salesmen in Tennessee in July 1947.
In 1948 they expanded, buying the former Valley Forge Tool Co mfg plant in Greenfield, Ohio. Note that they are called a “war-born” company. It wouldn’t surprise me if they weren’t making tools for military contracts owned by others (e.g., Cornwell, Wright, etc).
According to this Google Books snippet-only view, linked here, A.T. Topping, formerly of S-K Wayne, bought VTC in 1969.
According to this Google Books snippet only view, linked here, Cornwell bought an 85% interest in VTC in 1974.
This 1986 Zanesville Ohio newspaper identifies Alexander Topping as the Pres. of VTC, and a VP of Cornwell. At this point, I doubt that Vanadium Tool Company had any brand identity of its own, since there are no catalogs or ads, and AA doesn't even know they still existed. I figure they were operating purely as a manufacturing subsidiary of Cornwell.
This 1962 article is about the formation of Mecto Corp by two men who had been "the directors of Vanadium Tool Co for 17 years". 1962 minus 17 years is 1945. Hold that thought!
The Vanadium Tool Company was advertising for salesmen in Illinois in Dec 1946. The Sales Manager, Harmon, is identified as the founder and president of VTC in other documents, so, not surprisingly, he was doing it all at this early juncture.
They were still advertising for salesmen in Tennessee in July 1947.
In 1948 they expanded, buying the former Valley Forge Tool Co mfg plant in Greenfield, Ohio. Note that they are called a “war-born” company. It wouldn’t surprise me if they weren’t making tools for military contracts owned by others (e.g., Cornwell, Wright, etc).
According to this Google Books snippet-only view, linked here, A.T. Topping, formerly of S-K Wayne, bought VTC in 1969.
According to this Google Books snippet only view, linked here, Cornwell bought an 85% interest in VTC in 1974.
This 1986 Zanesville Ohio newspaper identifies Alexander Topping as the Pres. of VTC, and a VP of Cornwell. At this point, I doubt that Vanadium Tool Company had any brand identity of its own, since there are no catalogs or ads, and AA doesn't even know they still existed. I figure they were operating purely as a manufacturing subsidiary of Cornwell.
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Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Note that this may be redundant to what we had on VTC on Tools Archive, but I don't recall what that blurb said. Todd may recall.
davethorik
Well-known member
Martin gear and sprocket was founded in 1951, and has corporate HQ in Arlington, Texas and has 16 other manufacturing facilities here in the states. One is in Montpelier, Ohio although I have no idea what they produce at that location. From what I can tell, hand tools are only a small part of their product line.
From a brief search, Martin acquired Fairmount Tool & Forge of Cleveland, OH in 1984 and this provided them with hand tool capabilities. I'm not sure if Fairmount and Martin service wrenches are identical, or if any of Fairmount's offering matched up with the other 'Ahia' wrenches, as alluded to by Lugz.
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Neither Fairmount, Herbrand, or Vlchek wrenches show any signs of being part of the 'Ahia' Skinny Shank and Hex Throat club/consortium. I went so far as to map all this out, quite literally, to see if I could detect any kind of natural geographical reason for the design similarities, but it defies that.
d42jeep
Well-known member
Here is a Vanadium Tool Company cape chisel.
-Don
-Don
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Nubtastik
Member
Martin's Ohio location makes bulk material handling equipment (screw conveyors & bucket elevators) and also some of the power transmission line (sprockets & gears). The tools are only made in Ft. Worth.
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Gadzooks that's a nice set of wrenches!
IIRC, AA made the statement that Cornwell was the originator of the angle wrench style that has become the standard today, with the 15 x 60 degree offsets.
