Vintage Gray Canada “eh”
- Thread starter Tylermorris
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Downwindtracker 2
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Tyler do you have any idea of the age of your flex ratchet and J-bar ? The hand holds are different from one on the ratchet. I love the one on the ratchet. Or when they changed ? As I have a 3/8 speeder with that same three double bands of knurling.
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Tylermorris
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Private Lugnutz
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Downwindtracker 2
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I looked at my flex heads and ratchets ,they do have # that corresponds to when I purchased them.
Besides Gray and Proto being my work tools, Gray- Bonney is part of family lore. My parents were living up the road from you in Edgewood after the war. My dad sent away for a set of Gray-Bonnet open end wrenches. Any consumer goods then were very difficult to come by, and a expensive wrench set was an occasion to be remembered. This was about the time I was born.'49. So I don't remember the occasion. Dad always referred to them as Gray-Bonney. I always thought Bonney as in Scottish for good. Just recently I found out Gray licensed the use of Bonney in the name until '62 . My brother ended up with them, but sadly they were stolen in a B&E .
Besides Gray and Proto being my work tools, Gray- Bonney is part of family lore. My parents were living up the road from you in Edgewood after the war. My dad sent away for a set of Gray-Bonnet open end wrenches. Any consumer goods then were very difficult to come by, and a expensive wrench set was an occasion to be remembered. This was about the time I was born.'49. So I don't remember the occasion. Dad always referred to them as Gray-Bonney. I always thought Bonney as in Scottish for good. Just recently I found out Gray licensed the use of Bonney in the name until '62 . My brother ended up with them, but sadly they were stolen in a B&E .
Private Lugnutz
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It was much more than just licensing the name in the beginning. Bonney bailed them out after the Great Depression nearly broke the company. And the Gray-Bonney tools were nearly identical to Bonney tools through at least the late 1940's, using the same dies and tooling. For some reason, up until a few years ago, Bonney-Gray catalogs were more available to collectors on-line than Bonney catalogs, so they were invaluable for many of us, especially among WWII collectors, in helping to identify Bonney tools.
Lookin4'67Galaxieconv
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Very nice. I have a few Gray tools here and there but not much.
jask
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That is an early flex head - the front and back plates have the double swell along the sides and the end of the handle has the socket for the extension bar... and that is the reason so many of these old girls had a bunch of the 24 teeth knocked off!!
A while back I spent time trying to track down rebuild parts for that flex head and had no luck, I spoke with a rep at Gray and he literally went and grabbed a mic and a new style head and read me dimensions over the phone to confirm the new style head could be mounted on the old handle ( it was my Dads ) that I was not going to return for a straight across exchange for a new model. After determining it would "probably" work I was told the entire new pattern head was going to be shipped no charge!!! I would have happily paid and the parts of the old head are in a bag in my desk drawer right here... I keep thinking of mounting a little clock in the old head as a desk clock next to my computer. I even found a little deesk clock that is the correct diameter..just need to move them to the shop and get to work ...
A while back I spent time trying to track down rebuild parts for that flex head and had no luck, I spoke with a rep at Gray and he literally went and grabbed a mic and a new style head and read me dimensions over the phone to confirm the new style head could be mounted on the old handle ( it was my Dads ) that I was not going to return for a straight across exchange for a new model. After determining it would "probably" work I was told the entire new pattern head was going to be shipped no charge!!! I would have happily paid and the parts of the old head are in a bag in my desk drawer right here... I keep thinking of mounting a little clock in the old head as a desk clock next to my computer. I even found a little deesk clock that is the correct diameter..just need to move them to the shop and get to work ...
jask
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funny story... that 803 in the bottom of the picture above... I bought and old walker turner 165" bansaw years ago that had been damaged in the past, it had been dropped the neck broken and whoever brazed it back together used a tension rod that was anchored to one of those wrenches that had been drilled and bolted deep in the base casting!
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Tylermorris
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That is an early flex head - the front and back plates have the double swell along the sides and the end of the handle has the socket for the extension bar... and that is the reason so many of these old girls had a bunch of the 24 teeth knocked off!!
A while back I spent time trying to track down rebuild parts for that flex head and had no luck, I spoke with a rep at Gray and he literally went and grabbed a mic and a new style head and read me dimensions over the phone to confirm the new style head could be mounted on the old handle ( it was my Dads ) that I was not going to return for a straight across exchange for a new model. After determining it would "probably" work I was told the entire new pattern head was going to be shipped no charge!!! I would have happily paid and the parts of the old head are in a bag in my desk drawer right here... I keep thinking of mounting a little clock in the old head as a desk clock next to my computer. I even found a little deesk clock that is the correct diameter..just need to move them to the shop and get to work ...
That flex head is missing teeth as well and gray sent me a rebuild kit that dousnt fit. I was wondering if the parts are exchangeable with the non flex heads of a similar vintage?
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Tylermorris
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Tylermorris
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Tylermorris
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Downwindtracker 2
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On the way home in that cowboy town of Clinton, in amongst the wagons and blacksmithing tools, I picked up a very rusty open ended combination,5/8x23/32, and two Maple Leafs combinations, 3/8 and 5/8, I've never seem to find the elusive full polish.
Downwindtracker 2
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I found a Dreadnaught 19/32x1/2 DOE !!!here is a write up on them with better pictures than I'll ever be able to post http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2013/01/vanished-tool-brands-dreadnaught.html
Also found today a 5/8x23/32 DOE , this one has good chrome,it's on my list to complete my Dad's set that I mentioned in an earlier post.
There were other wrenches, three combinations that were on the "complete a working set" list A Canadian made Snap-On , Canadian made Proto 1/2 and a full polish Gray 11/16. Still no 5/8"
Also found today a 5/8x23/32 DOE , this one has good chrome,it's on my list to complete my Dad's set that I mentioned in an earlier post.
There were other wrenches, three combinations that were on the "complete a working set" list A Canadian made Snap-On , Canadian made Proto 1/2 and a full polish Gray 11/16. Still no 5/8"
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Tylermorris
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I found a pretty good one just need 1 1/4
Downwindtracker 2
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On my quest to build that Gray DOE set that was stolen from my brother, I found at the fleamarket a 7/16x3/8 and a 1 1/8x 1 1/4 . A great day.
Also found were a couple of Dreadnaughts DOEs, 7/8 x 25/32, and when cleaned, a 1/4BSW x 3/16BSW . oh well. Restoring old English sports cars is well beyond my fixed income and my given time on this earth. I still would love a 'Healy. I picked up a late '50s S-K 1/2 socket set a while back, today I found a 12 pt 1/2". The sets came with 6pts in the smaller sizes. These were only made from '57 to '62 or so. I thought that was rare. Newer stuff, a 1 3/16 Gray deep, in metric that's 30mm, a common size I didn't have,and a Craftsman -V- 7/16 x 3/8 DBE
Also found were a couple of Dreadnaughts DOEs, 7/8 x 25/32, and when cleaned, a 1/4BSW x 3/16BSW . oh well. Restoring old English sports cars is well beyond my fixed income and my given time on this earth. I still would love a 'Healy. I picked up a late '50s S-K 1/2 socket set a while back, today I found a 12 pt 1/2". The sets came with 6pts in the smaller sizes. These were only made from '57 to '62 or so. I thought that was rare. Newer stuff, a 1 3/16 Gray deep, in metric that's 30mm, a common size I didn't have,and a Craftsman -V- 7/16 x 3/8 DBE
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Tylermorris
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There’s a few gray double opens in the drawer. And some more gray sockets
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Downwindtracker 2
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We're heading north to 'Tuk, they 've just opened a highway up to there in'17.We have to get some sand from the Arctic Ocean . At a stopover in Whitehorse, I checked a pawnshop out. I'm glad I did, I found a full polish Gray 1/2" combination in great shape,as well as a Proto 1/2" and a Proto Challenger 1/2". All Canadian made. A good day for 1/2". Also a DBE Tecomaster Professional . These were made by Snap-On Canada in the early '60s. All for $4
Checked out the wrenches they had at the S.S. Klondike museum
Checked out the wrenches they had at the S.S. Klondike museum
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Tylermorris
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Looking around at the (small) amount of Gray Tool presence on GJ, this looks like the better of two threads to post this S-handle wrench. (if there are others more appropriate, let me know.)
Don't know the age, and the online tool catalogues for Gray start at 1941 as Gray-Bonney. This guy looks older and pre-Bonney.
Very smooth in action despite the pockmarks etching the wrench surfaces, and the jaws close with almost no wedging. I'd have bought it anyway — my wife is Canadian — but the splash of brass with the stamped tool-shed number was icing on the cupcake.
Don't know the age, and the online tool catalogues for Gray start at 1941 as Gray-Bonney. This guy looks older and pre-Bonney.
Very smooth in action despite the pockmarks etching the wrench surfaces, and the jaws close with almost no wedging. I'd have bought it anyway — my wife is Canadian — but the splash of brass with the stamped tool-shed number was icing on the cupcake.
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Ton ton
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There is a nice pawnshop in anchorage, Alaska too. I want to go back there someday if the Lord blesses with life and health.
PeterSpencer
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Mike'smeatshop
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Sorry to get off subject. But I fished above Sudbury Canada for more than ten years. Every fish is too tree pounders eh. Here in Ky it is eatch yet? naw dyou? ont too? awyite. And I lived the Appalachians mountains of Pa yoos guys.
Farmer J.
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I have briefly been to those places passing through years ago, and got on great with the good kind folks I met there.
shaune
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I have been a Gray fan since 1985 when I was awarded $1200 worth of Gray tools for a high school shop award. Amusingly that was the highest dollar value award over all the academic awards for the brainiacs : )
I still have all of that set and of course after 38 years of aircraft maintenance I have added to it but it sure was good start.
I still have all of that set and of course after 38 years of aircraft maintenance I have added to it but it sure was good start.
I expect that would have been an impressive haul, being in 1985 dollars
Almost thought your avatar was an Electra. Them other 501 powered kites are cool too…
