Vintage Craftsman metric sockets question

[busch308]

Here's something stumping me since I started getting into vintage Craftsman (aka the gateway drug of tools). The earliest metric sockets I've been able to find are -VV- and some -V-. No =V= at all. Are they just super rare and hard to find or do they exist at all? Looking at the code list, the -VV- codes started in the early 70's. Are the -V-'s the earliest metrics? Please avail me of your knowledge O' wise ones.

 

[jakemac]

Craftman offered metric sockets in the =V= series in the 60's from 9mm-24mm (with the usual skips), in both 3/8dr and 1/2dr. I'm not sure about 1/4dr, I haven't found any. Since the US was actively balking at converting, they didn't sell too many. They can be as hard to find as the Whitworth sockets sometimes.

 

[drink]

I remember purchasing my first Craftsman metric hand tool set back in the mid 1970's when I was a kid. If I remember, it had metric sockets that were stamped with either a v or vv on them.

After that I bought a small metric socket set at Sears about a year later. It had metric sockets stamped with a v, vv, or a g on them. You should try going through some of the old Sears Craftsman tool catalogs to get an idea of what year the metric tools began to be available.

Some of the main things I have noticed so far is you need to study the height, the roll stampings, Craftsman lettering (look for stuff like pointed letter A), code stampings, and knurling (if any). A guy pointed out how some catalogs began advertising the knurling on top of metric sockets sometime around the mid to late 1970's.

 

[LB-1911]

Page 9 of the 1964 Hand Tools Catalog
http://www.blackburntools.com/artic...ives/sears/pdfs/sears-craftsman-1964-hand.pdf

Rose Tools Scanned Catalog Archives (Sears)
http://www.blackburntools.com/articles/rose-tools-catalog-archives/sears/index.html

 

[drink]

The catalog clip shown was taken from the 1977-1978 Craftsman Tool Catalog. It shows a metric socket with a knurled top next to an SAE socket. Sometimes you could find products at Sears a year or so earlier than when they were advertised in the catalogs or the big book might have had them sooner. It seems like I bought the metric set in the plastic case at Christmas time in 1976.

 

[DFB]

That's are quite different with the knurling on top edge. I can't recall seeing any like that before.

 

[wvrailroader]

That's are quite different with the knurling on top edge. I can't recall seeing any like that before.

I have an old -V- 13mm socket like that. It's the only one I have ever seen and I have no idea how I ended up with it.



Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk

 

[drink]

I took a few pictures of a small set of Craftsman double line =v= sockets to show what they look like. This set is and SAE set but it shows what type of sockets are in question. Take note of the pointed top on the letter A. Some Craftsman sockets have flat top letter A's on them.

 

[drink]

Some metric Craftsman sockets have little m's and some have capital M's. They are either like 19mm or 19MM.

 

[Spdfreak91]

I went into the lair where craftsman goes to die here and this is what I found.

 

[930dreamer]

I'll have to look at my new metric arrivals.

 

[drink]

I think some of the old Craftsman sockets that have a knurled band at the bottom were sold back during the 1940's. The 1950's sockets looked different in the catalog and they did not list any metrics to my knowledge. If that is true then the double line metric =v= sockets must have been sold sometime during the 1960's if they did in fact exist. Maybe somebody will come along and post some pics of a double line metric set.

 

[Mopar-Scooby-Doo]

Not sure if this is what they would look like or not but these are what I have. Two of them have the pointy A and the other has the flat top A.

 

[Bill Ramsey]

Had this one bouncing around the spares box. 3/8 drive.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk