Vintage tool find

[billybudge]

Hi, Im a real tool fanatic, complete hoarder,
anyway,on auction the other day, was the tool box and spanners as in the picture, not taking much notice of the contents I just went ahead bought it, won it for £4.70p what a steal, and it was also only about 5 miles away,
collected it, got it home and stuck in the very large pile of tools that all need restoring etc,
anyway, I restored the tool box, looks mint now, always handy to have a small metal cantilever tool box, really good quality and extra nice was the made in England stamps,
started cleaning up the spanners etc, and wow, there all from around the 1940s era, apart from some crappy cycle spanners,
I have cleaned them all up, and most now look brand new again,
I will post some before and after pics later,
can you guys recognize any of the spanners ,

 

[tedsters]

cool old tools post some pics of them cleaned up hard to tell what anything is in the tool box

 

[billybudge]

Here is a few pics of the box, I do regret painting it in this blue as I do have the correct vintage light metallic blue, but at the time I did not know how old the box actually was,

 

[billybudge]

Here is some of the finished spanners, makes include SUPERSLIM,EAGLE BRAND,SHELLY, BENDIX, B S A TOOLS, some unbranded, A couple of nice sets one SNAIL Brand spanners, and SUPERSLIM set, ALSO a couple of FAIRMOUNT CLEVE USA spanners,
all these have turned out very nice,
I have de rusted them, and re coated them in the very same vintage black enamel paint that they would have been in when they were brand new,
Also not shown are a few odd spanners and a set of BRITOOL Spanners that are being re polished at the moment, chrome vanadium,

and I have not touched the box socket spanners, there still soaking in a tank of oil,

 

[Carves]

This link might help with the american Fairmount stuff.

https://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/fairmount-tool-forging.html

Theres pics of the hub spanner and a bunch of other stuff.

 

[billybudge]

This link might help with the american Fairmount stuff.

https://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/fairmount-tool-forging.html

Theres pics of the hub spanner and a bunch of other stuff.

Thanks for that @ Carves,
Its always great to try and find out about the older stuff,
So far I have found out that this spanner and a few of the other ones are part of a tool kit, ww2 for either a jeep, or tank, not sure yet,

 

[bonneyman]

Cool finds!

 

[Dave455]

Those boxes of stuff you sometimes find are often well worth it if you don't mind cleaning up the contents!

The box looks like an old Talco to me! Made from the 70's till fairly recently. May even still be available! Quality was o.k. (In fact much better than the Chinese stuff around now) but they don't have big collector value, so paint it whatever colour you like and enjoy...!

Those spanners all look o.k. to me! Suspect the majority would never have been painted, but just left as plain steel! If they are made of decent steel they are not too prone to rust. I have some 50's vintage Britool combination wrenches that are unplated and they are superbly durable! Some of the cheaper makes were painted as their steel wasn't so good!

Snail brand are still made I think. They are a bit 'Industrial' but o.k. The 'Superslims' were good tools. Made up till the 70's I think!

 

[John in OH]

I'm liking the tool box!! Nice job. Always have liked the cantilever style tool boxes ... don't know why they don't seem to be very popular any longer.

 

[David Jackson]

Here is some of the finished spanners, makes include SUPERSLIM,EAGLE BRAND,SHELLY, BENDIX, B S A TOOLS, some unbranded, A couple of nice sets one SNAIL Brand spanners, and SUPERSLIM set, ALSO a couple of FAIRMOUNT CLEVE USA spanners,
all these have turned out very nice,
I have de rusted them, and re coated them in the very same vintage black enamel paint that they would have been in when they were brand new,
Also not shown are a few odd spanners and a set of BRITOOL Spanners that are being re polished at the moment, chrome vanadium,

and I have not touched the box socket spanners, there still soaking in a tank of oil,

What derusting method do you like best?

 

[billybudge]

What derusting method do you like best?

Hi David,
I like to make things to look as best or new as possible ,
Wire brush in a drill is my quick ways of removing the rust and one of my preferred methods,
However, I have tried everything over the years, superfine nylon media blast works very well but you do us a lot of it, chemically I use anticorit liquid trade, works more or less instantly really well if you soak the rusty parts in it for a day or two rust comes off real easy with a rag, but the downside its very smelly and stains steel black.
The wire wheel and some pare time works for me,
Thanks

 

[Fretters]

You definitely did well there getting those for that price.

Those spanners all look o.k. to me! Suspect the majority would never have been painted, but just left as plain steel! If they are made of decent steel they are not too prone to rust. I have some 50's vintage Britool combination wrenches that are unplated and they are superbly durable! Some of the cheaper makes were painted as their steel wasn't so good!

Snail brand are still made I think. They are a bit 'Industrial' but o.k. The 'Superslims' were good tools. Made up till the 70's I think!

Superslims are one of my favourite spanners. They tended to be a Japanned finish, judging from mine. The Snail's, I've always found those a bit too chunky for my tastes. Have some older ones of theirs here, but I've just never really taken to using those.

 

[zkling]

I like the box and really like the color choice.

 

[Jyzze]

2 old hammer, 2,50€... not bad? From logal flea market..