Vintage S-K Tools

[four.cycle]

Rather than rivet or trying to re-weld it back on, I went with JB Weld which will probably hold it just fine.

We had a custom R&R come into the shop. 1965 Ford F100 352 V8. One year only with that starter mounting pad. Starter mounting pad was cracked - just ready to fall off when the guys in tear-down spotted it.
Tried to source a new block core - no go. None to be had for love or money.
JB Weld to the rescue. Ran the block (and the broken-off flange) through the Bake-O oven overnight, then through the washer. Owner's little brother did the glue job and we let the block set for a few days to make sure it was "cured". Filed it off nice and pretty and gave it to the assemblers. Shipped it out.
Did NOT come back.

YMMV

 

[d42jeep]

Don, next time you have something like that that needs spot-welded -since we are reasonably local to each other, part of the year, Ping me and we can use my spot welder to fix it factory.

Thanks! So far it’s hanging in there but I may take you up on that.
The sockets came out of the evaporust today and between them and my spares I was able to put a matching set together. I decided to go with the sockets with the detent dimples since they were in the majority that came with the box. It’s not the nicest box but set No. 4012 is complete.


-Don

 

[d42jeep]

I‘ve gradually been gathering 3/8” drive Chrome Alloy (Brazil) tools. I got a kind of abused 9/16“ from Roy Olson recently and added it to my others. These live in the Brazil carry box. I could use a 1/2” and 7/16” socket.
More 3/8 drive tools.
-Don

 

[Squirrel!]

I finished cleaning up and rebuilding an SK 3/8’s ratchet and metric socket set that was my Dad’s. I’m giving it to my oldest son. There is no rust on the box, but I’m considering adding a clear coat enamel so it won’t rust. I believe this set is from 1968 or so.


I used grease when rebuilding the ratchet.

 

[Squirrel!]

This was the internals of the ratchet

 

[d42jeep]

I finished cleaning up and rebuilding an SK 3/8’s ratchet and metric socket set that was my Dad’s. I’m giving it to my oldest son. There is no rust on the box, but I’m considering adding a clear coat enamel so it won’t rust. I believe this set is from 1968 or so.


I used grease when rebuilding the ratchet.

Nice cleanup. S-K doesn’t recommend using grease for lubrication.
Although they include a tube of very light oil in some ratchet repair kits. I would suggest never using any lubricant heavier than light oil such as WD40 or 3 in 1 oil.
-Don

 

[Outlawmws]

Sorry, but I don't class WD-40 as a lubricant; the WD stands for "Water Displacement", and that's what it was designed to do for NASA's early space program.

3 in 1 will work, but most here use a light coat of Super lube. I've also used Mobile 1 red bearing grease, and MMO as well. Depending on the conditions you work in, powdered graphite may be an even better choice. The key is a light coat - don't pack it in, too much of any lube will impede the workings.

I'm also not buying "no lube necessary"...

 

[d42jeep]

Most of the time when I get an S-K ratchet that doesn’t work as well as it should, spraying it thoroughly with brake cleaner, allowing that to dry, then following with a good spraydown of WD40 precludes the need for disassembly. The minimal amount of lubrication that WD40 provides is pretty close to S-K’s recommendation of no lubrication being necessary. Any heavy grease usually ends up having the opposite of the desired result. Just my opinion.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

Although I really didn’t need another of these circa 1946 to 1953 1/4 “ drive #4098 sets, the condition of the original paint on this box was the deciding factor in my buying it. All the extra sockets didn’t hurt either. I decided to use the 6 and 8 point sockets as well as the small crossbar flex handle that would have been included in a 1953 set. I robbed the missing pieces from a set missing most of its paint. It will replace a more worn looking set in the basement S-K display.
-Don

 

[Squirrel!]

Sorry, but I don't class WD-40 as a lubricant; the WD stands for "Water Displacement", and that's what it was designed to do for NASA's early space program.

3 in 1 will work, but most here use a light coat of Super lube. I've also used Mobile 1 red bearing grease, and MMO as well. Depending on the conditions you work in, powdered graphite may be an even better choice. The key is a light coat - don't pack it in, too much of any lube will impede the workings.

I'm also not buying "no lube necessary"...

I don’t agree with the no lubrication either.

I live in coastal New England, so we have salty air and humidity. I put a light coat of grease on as I’ve always been told metal moving on metal should have lubrication.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Little grease is ok

 

[Shelbylex]

I use SuperLube for SK ratchets (works well for my other ratchets as well, though I do not have any modern ratchets which might require something different...)

 

[d42jeep]

These ratchets were listed on eBay as Not working for parts only. The ugly 1/2” drive ratchet responded to the brake cleaner followed by WD-40 method. The 1/4” drive ratchet needed new internals. I polished the heck out of the big ratchet and touched up the little one with the 3M rotary discs followed by plenty of Fluid Film.

After.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

I found this 3/8“ drive ratchet at a bargain price on eBay. I would have ignored it if it didn’t have the knurled spin accessory drive, which I hadn’t noticed before. I found references to the drive in Kdaniel’s ‘77 catalog online.
-Don

 

[Catfishdan]

Inspired by the chrome alloy ratchet I bought this morning, I went digging through my stash for more unmarked sk stuff. I came up with a pretty decent start for a 1/4” set. Brazil box might be an impossible find…

 

[d42jeep]

Other than the paint color, the Brazil and S-K boxes are the same. Here is my current set in progress, missing the 9/32” socket and (of course) the crossbar.
-Don
I found these two sockets on eBay recently.
Dan, let me know what sockets you need for your set.

 

[d42jeep]

I found two wartime 1/2” drive sockets at yesterday’s garage sale.


I cleaned them up a little while keeping the black oxide finish intact. Here is the 7/16” socket
And the 11/16” socket
-Don

 

[garilla]

D42jeep throw those two sockets into boiling water for 5 or more minutes, it converts the feO2 into Fe2O4 aka gun rust bluing, many a vid out there for it

 

[d42jeep]

Thanks. I’ll give it a try.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

I saw this on eBay this morning. It was an expensive poster but I captured the ad’s picture. A Gambles ad from 1960.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

29.88! I'll take two!

 

[Beerhippie]

We had a custom R&R come into the shop. 1965 Ford F100 352 V8. One year only with that starter mounting pad. Starter mounting pad was cracked - just ready to fall off when the guys in tear-down spotted it.
Tried to source a new block core - no go. None to be had for love or money.
JB Weld to the rescue. Ran the block (and the broken-off flange) through the Bake-O oven overnight, then through the washer. Owner's little brother did the glue job and we let the block set for a few days to make sure it was "cured". Filed it off nice and pretty and gave it to the assemblers. Shipped it out.
Did NOT come back.

YMMV

Many years ago, a friend cracked the case of his 1600 DP VW Type 2 on a rock. Fortunately, he stopped immediately and had another friend tow it home. We took the engine out, stripped it down, gave it a good clean and put in a chamfer on the crack with a Dremel. I filled the crack with JB weld and used a heat gun to make sure there were no bubbles in the epoxy.

A few years--and much abuse (this was an Oregon Dunes buggy)--later, a small end gave out and the case was blown to pieces. On examination, the case had split across and adjacent to the JB Weld repair, but the epoxy held firm.

 

[tkamd73]

Hello all,
recently discovered Garage Forums, and as a longtime fan of SK tools gravitated to this thread. The first set of tools I ever purchased, back in January of 82, was SK brand from the Navy exchange outside camp Barrett, Quantico VA. I read thru this whole thread, all 123 pages, lots of knowledge and info here, but no reference to the set I bought, so I guess I’ll ask here.
There were a lot of these sets on the shelf, had never heard of SK, but needed some tools, had just purchased a british sports car, and the price was right. Guess I should have saved the labeling materials, but who knew it would start a bit of an SK addiction.
I’d be thankful for any info, and sorry for the long run-on.
Tim

 

[StillTooManyHobbies]

@tkamd73, I have been wondering about the history of that set for a while. I used one that was supplied by my boss when I worked for WVU in the early 80's fixing farm equipment. I have not seen one in any of the catalogs and thought it was a ghost or unicorn, so I am glad to see one surface. Do you have any idea what the set part number was? I had no experience with SK at the time and remember that this was a high quality set for me. My SK addiction came much later. Thanks for posting.

 

[tkamd73]

@ StillTooManyHobbies, Once I took off the plastic wrap, I just tossed all the labeling materials, so no idea of set part no. I know it’s not a unicorn though, as there was a bunch of them on the shelves. Possibly something SK supplied to the government, or military exchanges? Nice to know somebody recognizes it, Thanks!
Tim

 

[RTM]

Possibly something SK supplied to the government, or military exchanges?

Or possibly a holiday special that didn't get into a catalog. Others have mentioned them ¿on other threads?, maybe SK did also.

Memory fading as I'm waiting for dinner pickup

 

[four.cycle]

^ That's a rather odd box for S-K, and I think maybe @RTM is onto something there - promo/seasonal item - one-shot deal - never to be seen again - never showed up in any catalogs.
Looks like a hell of a nice set if all that stuff came with it!

 

[tkamd73]

I did purchase the set right after the holidays, and I agree, an uncommon plastic box. Pretty sturdy box, as I have stuffed a lot of addition tools into it over the years, finally had to get a bigger box though.
Tim

 

[genog]

While at the Flea Market, I spied this SK case right after another buyer got the Drop on me and reached for another, bigger case.
He came up Snake Eyes, as the case he picked up had dirt and some Allen Keys inside....

The case that I picked up had this very nice and complete set of SK Swivel Sockets
....they cleaned up well.
Some of the sockets look lightly used, if they were used at all

Before:

 

[Outlawmws]

I have a set of those. Yery nice swivel sockets.

 

[d42jeep]

That is a nice set. I got mine from Roy Olsen four years ago. It was nice but I paid up for it.
-Don
Here is the set shown in the ‘53 catalog.

 

[genog]

Seems like it's an S-K Weekend
Found two deep sockets.....

I like this particular style of SK's, so I guess I'll be looking for more

 

[d42jeep]

I bought this partial set in an unusual red box because I saved a picture off of the Internet of a Brazil box that was a match to this one. I’ll be filling it with S-K made Chrome Alloy sockets plus an unmarked S-K 1/4” drive flex handle and crossbar.

Brazil marked boxes
The tools that came in the partial set allowed me to complete this small wartime 1/4” drive set.
#4097 set shown in the 1943 catalog.



-Don

This mixed 1/4” drive lot arrived yesterday. I was happy that it came with several Chrome Alloy sockets with unmarked flex handle and crossbar for an upcoming Brazil set that I’m working on.
Chrome Alloy sockets
S-K sockets
Upcoming Brazil set-Don

I went through my spare Chrome Alloy 1/4” drive sockets today in order to fill out this partial set. I seemed to just be missing the 5/16”. I ended up removing it from a set missing the crossbar. Hopefully I’ll be able to find those two pieces sometime. The box needs painting on the next hot day anyway.
Partial set
Added some sockets
Socket donor set
I was pleased to see that the color wasn’t too far off on the box I had painted previously with the VHT red wrinkle paint.


-Don

I printed off another label on paper from the one OTG sent me and added it to the complete red box set that had no signs of a label whatsoever.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

Here is a new arrival. i had to add a couple of sockets from my spares. It’s not marked S-K, just Spin-Kit.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Here is my western giant set. Don will recognize the logo!

 

[four.cycle]

@Oldtuleguy -
I got an inquiry earlier from GJ member @toolmutt asking about his "Western" socket set and in trying to answer his question was digging through my "Western Auto" folder. The images I have of a "Western GIANT" set do not look anything like those sockets of yours, suggesting that Western Auto was outsourcing "Western GIANT" from both Indestro and S-K.

He was looking to fill some holes in his set and I referred him to you, btw.

 

[d42jeep]

I believe that OTG’s beautiful set is 3/8” drive and is S-K sourced. The sockets in your pictures are 1/2” drive and also are S-K sourced.
-Don
1/2” drive Western Giant/Chrome Alloy sockets currently living in AZ.
My 3/8” drive Chrome Alloy sockets.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Those are sk made. Just sk chrome alloys stamped western giant. My set is 3/8 drive so the sockets look like chrome alloy version of sk 3/8 drive sockets. Here is a chromeX by duro and a western giant by sk

 

[d42jeep]

I spotted this empty box on eBay and recognized it as one that held the early 12 point universals. I had enough spares to make up the set.
-Don

 

[Outlawmws]

Wow, that tag looks spotless!