Vintage S-K Tools

[Private Lugnutz]

Well, Twertsy spotted a set on eBay, snagged it, immediately notified me, and after some horse tradin', I am excited to say it's now mine - and, more importantly, that we weren't seeing things! Or better said, we were seeing things - predicting almost exactly what the original decal actually looked like!

It is near-complete, missing only a couple of 6-pt sockets (7/32" and 1/4"), the 6" extension, and a Sliding Tee. The spinner handle is wood. Note in the ad that the Sliding Tee has a female drive opening. I am postulating that's what the chewed-up little Adaptor/male extension/drive plug is for. It is shown in the ad and listed in the contents, and I can't really see any other reason for it. One of the sockets (3/8"-12 pt) is an S-K. I don't know if a prior owner put it in there, or if its original, but I wouldn't doubt it being original. The other sockets all have crude machine marks and are finished in cadmium.

 

[Username already in use]

Very nice Lugz! You’ve probably got the only 2 in existence!

 

[Catfishdan]

Awesome Lugz! Are the sockets in the new set all marked SK?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

No. Except for the 3/8"-12 point, they are marked just like the first set, and like all the Brazil set sockets. Just the size and that dimple or period mark.

 

[r_olson_06]

Well, Twertsy spotted a set on eBay, snagged it, immediately notified me, and after some horse tradin', I am excited to say it's now mine - and, more importantly, that we weren't seeing things! Or better said, we were seeing things - predicting almost exactly what the original decal actually looked like!

It is near-complete, missing only a couple of 6-pt sockets (7/32" and 1/4"), the 6" extension, and a Sliding Tee. The spinner handle is wood. Note in the ad that the Sliding Tee has a female drive opening. I am postulating that's what the chewed-up little Adaptor/male extension/drive plug is for. It is shown in the ad and listed in the contents, and I can't really see any other reason for it. One of the sockets (3/8"-12 pt) is an S-K. I don't know if a prior owner put it in there, or if its original, but I wouldn't doubt it being original. The other sockets all have crude machine marks and are finished in cadmium.

Hey I seen some of those .size. sockets are a pawn shop. They look identical.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrenches 3061, 3070,

 

[d42jeep]

It seems like I’ve had a couple of obviously S-K but unmarked 1/4” drive sockets. I’ll look for them but they may be at the lake.
I found this amber handle spinner with the cad plated shaft I’ve been looking for at an estate sale today.
-Don
Edit.
Lugz, check out the upper sockets in this picture. Now to try to find them.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice set!

 

[3baygarage]

Nice set!

Nice snag by Twertsy.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Indeed it was. And very fortuitous! I typically only prefer to hunt in the wild, unless someone else tips me off to something, so if he hadn't seen it, we'd never know we had the puzzle solved!

 

[txlonghorn1989]

This was my late Dad's. 60s I'm guessing....

That's a real nice looking set 7hills! Made all the better it having been your dad's.

 

[txlonghorn1989]

Was that Kraeuter set in the blue box made by S-K? I passed up on a like new Kraueter 3/8" socket set a couple of weeks ago in a blue plastic case. One of those instances where you gotta grab when the grabbing is good. I will kick myself if you guys tell me that was an S-K made set. They wanted $10 for it. Dang it!

 

[RubiconJK]

Well, Twertsy spotted a set on eBay, snagged it, immediately notified me, and after some horse tradin', I am excited to say it's now mine - and, more importantly, that we weren't seeing things! Or better said, we were seeing things - predicting almost exactly what the original decal actually looked like!

It is near-complete, missing only a couple of 6-pt sockets (7/32" and 1/4"), the 6" extension, and a Sliding Tee. The spinner handle is wood. Note in the ad that the Sliding Tee has a female drive opening. I am postulating that's what the chewed-up little Adaptor/male extension/drive plug is for. It is shown in the ad and listed in the contents, and I can't really see any other reason for it. One of the sockets (3/8"-12 pt) is an S-K. I don't know if a prior owner put it in there, or if its original, but I wouldn't doubt it being original. The other sockets all have crude machine marks and are finished in cadmium.

Very cool! Congrats.

 

[Username already in use]

Was that Kraeuter set in the blue box made by S-K? I passed up on a like new Kraueter 3/8" socket set a couple of weeks ago in a blue plastic case. One of those instances where you gotta grab when the grabbing is good. I will kick myself if you guys tell me that was an S-K made set. They wanted $10 for it. Dang it!

I’m the blue blowmold case...
Yep... SK/Dresser

 

[CRTDI]

Well, Twertsy spotted a set on eBay, snagged it, immediately notified me, and after some horse tradin', I am excited to say it's now mine - and, more importantly, that we weren't seeing things! Or better said, we were seeing things - predicting almost exactly what the original decal actually looked like!

Wow! I would say that's a quite a rare find. These sockets are definitely identical to the sockets in my Brazil sets. Congrats...

Do you think that the Carb-O-Mang sets were manufactured in the same approximate era as the Brazil tools?

 

[bmwrd0]

I found one of those spinners years ago and always wondered who made it. Now I know.

 

[bmwrd0]

Now that I look a little closer, I may have one of those sets. I forgot I even had it until this. I had posted it in the 1/4" thread, thinking that with the two extensions it was vintage Duro. And I think Lugz disagreed, due to the sockets. Now I am sure he is right, and the extensions don't belong.


I found it just as you see it in the junk tool bins at Urban Ore.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Do you think that the Carb-O-Mang sets were manufactured in the same approximate era as the Brazil tools?

The Carb-O-Mang excerpt I posted is from the 1943 SK catalog. It is marked with a big "DISCONTINUED" banner due to War Production Board (WPB) Limitation Order L-216 disallowing more than one style of the same kind of tool. For steel conservation. And these would've been redundant to the 409XX alloy sets. We would need an earlier SK catalog and a later SK catalog to know if it was also made in the late 30's and late 40's.

I found one of those spinners years ago and always wondered who made it. Now I know.

Dead. Ringer.

Now that I look a little closer, I may have one of those sets. I forgot I even had it until this. I had posted it in the 1/4" thread, thinking that with the two extensions it was vintage Duro. And I think Lugz disagreed, due to the sockets. Now I am sure he is right, and the extensions don't belong.

I was right, it's not Duro; but the extensions DO BELONG! That is definitely a Carb-O-Mang set. My set has the short extension (adaptor) but it is missing the long one. If you go back to the Carb-O-Mang catalog excerpt, you will see that it has two drive ends, just like the extension in your set. Put the black wood handles spinner in there and you are only missing the weird female sliding tee (that's what the extensions are for!!) and the dang decal (and those can be made)!

This is exciting, Beemer!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Very nice Lugz! You’ve probably got the only 2 in existence!

Plus Beemer's! Perhaps they'll be coming out of the woodwork now, probably without decals, now that collectors know what they are.

 

[bmwrd0]

What! You want me to read?

(noticed the advert. later...)

 

[Outlawmws]

BMW, you need to reunite the driver with the box set for a class pic...

 

[CRTDI]

Interesting comparison with a Brazil set. With a different drive tool and a decal, you can make whatever you want...lol

 

[d42jeep]

I thought that the 1/4” drive Brazil tools are marked like these. Maybe there are different markings for different time periods. The box is just for storage until I find one with Brazil markings.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Interesting comparison with a Brazil set. With a different drive tool and a decal, you can make whatever you want...lol

I am so glad you noticed the identical sockets and that you re-posted your set. In fact, it prompted me to go back and find your older postings and I see that both of your Brazil sets have the female Sliding Tee with the removable short extension or drive plug (called an "Adaptor" in the 1943 catalog for the Carb-O-Mang line) and the long Extension. I missed that the first time around. Note that all of these drive tools are supposed to be included in my Carb-O-Mang set. In fact, they offered a Carb-O-Mang set without the black wood handled spinner. No. 1212 had only the female Sliding Tee and three extensions: short, medium, and long. No. 1211 had only the female Sliding Tee and one extension: short. My set, No. 1208, was the deluxe set, with the female Sliding Tee, two extensions, and the spinner. I will be looking for the Sliding Tee and the long Extension to complete it. I would bet that it was similar with the Brazil line.

I thought that the 1/4” drive Brazil tools are marked like these. Maybe there are different markings for different time periods.

Me too, Don. When I said the sockets were similar, I was referring to them not being marked SK, and to that dimple. It's not just the Chrome-Alloy marking that is different. The knurling on these sockets is on the bottom. It's in the middle on CRTDI's Brazil sockets and on my Carb-O-Mang sockets. Also, note that the drive tools are different. I'm not only referring to the beavertail ratchet. The other drive tools are not the same either. Yours resemble tools from a standard 409XX set. The drive tools in CRTDI's Brazil sets resemble Carb-O-Mang drive tools.

EDIT: We really need Brazil catalogs!!!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I don’t remember what we had on the Brazil timeline on TA so I am winging this just to get the ball rolling…

AA says that, “By 1928 Sherman-Klove had established a Brazil Stamping Company subsidiary,” and I can confirm that much with this link, here, to a 1928 Annual Report of Chicago area businesses.

AA has a “Brazil Tools Mechanics' Tools and Tool Chests” foldout brochure they are dating to 1936, questionably, that shows the sockets marked "Chrome Alloy“ and lists the address for the Brazil Stamping Division as 4715 South Central Park Avenue.

What they don’t say is that the entire Brazil operation was moved from the Clearing industrial district area into an expansion of the S-K main plant in 1938. See The Economist, Vol 98, pg 284, here, and this clip about the big move from an August 1937 Chicago Tribune story…

Several Brazil sets in Brazil decal boxes have been posted on this thread. (I remember Otg posting at least one set, but he probably didn’t use the word “Brazil” in his post, so it’s not coming up in the thread search.) Here are links to sets owned by beltdrive, CRTDI, and bbrins.

As CRTDI aptly illustrated, the style of Brazil socket set that he has was made concurrent to my Carb-O-Mang sets. Everything is identical except the name and decal, including the little notch on either end of the lid, which are not present on other Brazil sets cases, suggesting they were made in the same plant. It’s possible that they were making the Carb-O-Mang prior to 1943, but it sure looks like CRTDI’s Brazil sets and my Carb-O-Mang sets were made in the centralized SK plant, no later than 40’s, and I suspect that the other Brazil sets in the brown boxes with a different decal owned by beltdrive and bbrins were earlier.

GJ member northwoods made a reference to a 1932-34 SK catalog and I have PM’d him to see if he still has it.

 

[CRTDI]

This set has a different style and finish for the box and a decal with the Clearing address. Based on the different addresses, it looks like I'm pretty safe to say that this is the earlier of the two sets.

 

[d42jeep]

So it looks like either of these two sockets would be correct in a Brazil set, depending on the vintage. Interestingly, the 1/4” Chrome Alloy beaver tail ratchet has the newer patent number, but all of my regular 1/4” diamond marked S-K ratchets have the earlier patent.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

Here are most of the possible Brazil tools I’ve now accumulated. The first two shots are 3/4” drive.
-Don

 

[r_olson_06]

Here are most of the possible Brazil tools I’ve now accumulated. The first two shots are 3/4” drive.
-Don

Nice Don. Speaking of 3/4" drive I picked this up a year or 2 back. Ratchet is incorrect but all the sockets are SK Chrome. The extensions are just marked with part numbers.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrenches 3061, 3070,

 

[Private Lugnutz]

So it looks like either of these two sockets would be correct in a Brazil set, depending on the vintage. Interestingly, the 1/4” Chrome Alloy beaver tail ratchet has the newer patent number, but all of my regular 1/4” diamond marked S-K ratchets have the earlier patent.

Only a difference of 5 years (1934, 1939), but I see what you mean in the sense that the beavertails would've been after the move from Clearing to the SK main plant.

I have too many projects going right now, but we really have not done a very deliberate job of the empirical analysis. Probably needs a separate thread, just for Brazil sets, so we don't have to go poking around for them. Then once they're all in one place, we can inspect them better and see if any conclusions can be drawn based on physical features, markings, boxes, etc.

And we need catalogs.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

The many sk variants can be confusing. I am not sure it will ever get sorted. Here two sets with the same boxes, one red which has a vague outline of some decal, i think gambles. Sockets are generic chrome alloy. The other the typical black sk with sk chrome sockets.

 

[d42jeep]

I got my S-K Chrome set a couple of years ago. My box looks different than yours but the tools look the same. I assume your flex handle is unmarked?
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Unmarked. All the early ones I have seen seem to be.

 

[d42jeep]

That is my experience too. It looks like the flex handles and extensions were unmarked until the end of WW2. As soon as they started with the riveted on Logo tags they started marking those tools. S-K 1/4” drive spinners are interesting as well. The amber handle spinners are in the ‘43 catalog but aren’t in postwar catalogs that I could find until the S-K Wayne era. The green and white spinners are post Wayne.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

Right. Wayne made them although mine are solid green handles. Yours must be a bit newer. I just find it odd that none were offered between WW2 and the Wayne era. That's probably why the amber handle spinners are less common.
-Don

 

[r_olson_06]

I've got a green and white 1/4" spinner labeled SK Wayne.

I have never seen a green and white marked "SK Wayne" only " SK Tools". I know the SK Wayne screw drivers were blue and white.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrenches 3061, 3070,

 

[d42jeep]

I found a comparison shot of my Amber handle S-K, my green S-K Wayne and a newer S-K spinner.
-Don

 

[d42jeep]

The many sk variants can be confusing. I am not sure it will ever get sorted. Here two sets with the same boxes, one red which has a vague outline of some decal, i think gambles. Sockets are generic chrome alloy. The other the typical black sk with sk chrome sockets.

I thought you might like to see a 1939 listing for your S-K Chrome set.
-Don

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Nice! And only 3.30$

 

[bmwrd0]

So, I stopped by the Restore yesterday as I had some time to kill, and among all the dreck, I spot this

I don't think much of it, but when I opened it up I found this sticket:

So, of course, it came home with me at $4.50. I already had a most of a set of wartime SK, living in a newer case, so they all went in.

Also, a couple of weeks ago I found this SK-Wayne box.

Here is the inside

The pieces in it are some misc. SK I had sitting around, seeing what would fit. Now, I looked at the '65 Wayne catalog and saw nothing like this, nor in any of the random SK catalogs I have access to of other vintages. Also, a speeder doesn't fit in it. So, I am wondering what goes in here, is it a special? I have no idea.

 

[r_olson_06]

So, I stopped by the Restore yesterday as I had some time to kill, and among all the dreck, I spot this

I don't think much of it, but when I opened it up I found this sticket:

So, of course, it came home with me at $4.50. I already had a most of a set of wartime SK, living in a newer case, so they all went in.

Also, a couple of weeks ago I found this SK-Wayne box.

Here is the inside

The pieces in it are some misc. SK I had sitting around, seeing what would fit. Now, I looked at the '65 Wayne catalog and saw nothing like this, nor in any of the random SK catalogs I have access to of other vintages. Also, a speeder doesn't fit in it. So, I am wondering what goes in here, is it a special? I have no idea.

Nice find and an amazing price.

Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrenches 3061, 3070,