Where's the Hinsdale thread? Show em!

[Private Lugnutz]

As you guys know, I picked up a Nickel-Chrome socket set made for Sears, Roebuck & Co in a black rad trapezoidal hip-roof box from Todd last month. Scroll up to posts #246 through #248 for a re-fresh on the decals and contents etc. You may recall it was missing the handle. Well, 3/4 of the handle, anyway, which left enough for me to know what the original looked like, which was the simple leather strap with the arrowhead-like ends through the brackets.




I was a little surprised by that, honestly, because I don't consider those handles very substantial. Especially not for a set this size. And I had seen the more substantial swivel type leather handles on other Hinsdale boxes of the same type, namely UNAIU's and Ed's. But a catalog check confirmed that it was indeed original, and the brackets on my box wouldn't accept a swivel handle anyway.



Despite the originality, I'm just going to say it: I hated it! There was no way I was putting one of those things on that box. Besides, I really didn't want to have to pop the rivets just to put a little commuter briefcase strap like that on it.

In fact, I thought what would really look good was something even more robust than a swivel handle. Something like a fat old double buckle. The box already had two clasps and a big center clasp. Why not go large and give it an industrial black biker boot look. Which would work in those brackets.

I tried my hand at making one out of some old belts, which was a disaster.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Today, I finally found a different solution - and I love it!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, guys. I really appreciate it. You were a great audience and test case.

Now, you're about to be Paul Harveyed with "the rest of the story"...

Dovetailing off a conversation about replacement handles, RTM kindly sent me a PM with a link to a store called Brettun Village, linked here, which makes and sells many different styles of vintage handles for vintage chests, trunks, and musical instrument cases, among other things.

I fell immediately in love with this black double buckle.



I was a little worried about the dimensions, which are just a tad off, and the gauge of that steel, which looked a little stiff. But my calculations and cardboard mock-ups were showing that I might could bend them straight to insert through the brackets, and then bend them back. That didn't work. But the steel reinforcement is a little overkill, in my opinion, so I opened the bends and lopped them off short with a hacksaw, then blunted the edges with a file, so they don't gnaw at the leather, and I am just using the double tongues through the brackets.



And of course the coups de grace was distressing the hell out of the handle with flat and rat tail files and the teeth of pliers to take the new leather shine off and give it some matching wear, age, and charm.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Looks good!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Looks good!

Thanks. Right now it's my favorite box in the entire Lugzsonian. (I won't tell the paying customers I used some liberal license on that rendition..)

 

[four.cycle]

hey, that's legitimate "artistic license".
who can argue with that?

 

[Oldtuleguy]

A 9/32 ratchet

 

[four.cycle]

Oldtuleguy - I am going to assume you've already seen the #119 refrigeration set and all the onesie-twosies listed on Ebay by the guy who bought out the hardware store, right? Crazy prices on all of it.

 

[bmwrd0]

OK, OTG, that ratchet is the Biz.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I think I may have got some stuff from that guy bk. Thanks bmw I thought it was an interesting one. Added it to my 17m set

 

[four.cycle]

^

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I have to admit I had a huge WTF? moment at the flea market when I ran into this tray. I had NO IDEA that Hinsdale was still making tools this deep into the later vintage (hot-forged, hot-broached, straight wall, chrome-plated) era! The last thing I expected to see was that marking on those shiny relatively "modern" sockets. It just seems so anachronistic to me. When do you think these were made? Late 40's? When did they actually call it quits?

 

[four.cycle]

that's definitely something you don't see every day.

the only Hinsdale documentation I've been able to dig up was in that 1931 Montgomery Ward catalog, and those most certainly are nowhere near that old!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Right?! I wanted to buy them just for artifactual reasons, but the guy wanted $80 then $60 for the whole tray. Only the five largest sockets, the six smallest sockets, and the five spark plus sockets were HINS(H)DALE. And he wouldn't split it up or come off $60.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Hmmmm. A bit pricey. Definately more modern looking than I am used to seeing.

 

[four.cycle]

"...the guy wanted $80 then $60 for the whole tray..."

No way.
If it was all Hinsdale, and the correct ratchet and drive accessories were in the set, it might be worth that to an Ebay buyer, but if it's a mish-mash (including what appears to be a Taiwan-made ratchet) he's in the Craigslist "$25 OBO" bracket.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Here's an old set

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I love how big the center clasp is on these boxes. On yours the XL effect is even more exaggerated by the short box. Looks really cool. And very fortunate you have the key! I'm afraid to close mine.

 

[bmwrd0]

Here's an old set

Nice. I have a similar set, not in as nice of condition though.

 

[four.cycle]

No. 10 socket set Lid Only

 

[Mintgrun]

That lid is tempting, since I pulled the lower piece of one of those boxes out of a scrap bin. Hinsdale isn't the only company that used that style of box though, so I am not sure it would fit. It seems sort of silly, to put a $15 lid on a $.27 box... but it is still tempting to buy it and see if it fits! I think it was SK that also had the tapered box with a sliding lid. The first one I saw was a photo that Don posted. I did not know what the box was when I grabbed it.

Tom

 

[bmwrd0]

Ask for the width at the widest and narrowest points, along with the length. It wouldn't hurt to ask, and you never know.

 

[Oldtuleguy]

Those sets usually are inexpensive. I would probably hold off on that one

 

[Mintgrun]

Ask for the width at the widest and narrowest points, along with the length. It wouldn't hurt to ask, and you never know.

Done. Here's what I wrote,

"Hello,
I found a tapered box that takes this style lid in a scrap bin a couple years ago and took it home, not knowing what it was. It might be the filthiest thing I have ever brought home, with some thick black hard crud stuck to the bottom of it. I questioned my sanity, taking the time to clean it up... but now I own it. The first box I saw online was S-K brand and then I also saw images of one made by Hinsdale. I don't know which brand box I have here, or whether they were the same size; so I am not sure whether your lid will fit my box. I see that yours is 12" long and that matches my box length. If it is not too much trouble, would you mind measuring the width at the widest and narrowest points? It'd be fun to find a lid to fit it and I like the old Hinsdale logo. Thank you for your time. Tom"

Mine is 3-1/8" at the wide end and 2-5/8" at the other.

It feels a bit indulgent spending $15 on a $.27 box, but I might just do it if the "shoe fits." I think it looks like the same color green.

 

[Mintgrun]

Those sets usually are inexpensive. I would probably hold off on that one

Everything I buy is inexpensive. I appreciate the insight. It's not like I'll try to fill it with the original set. It'd just be another neat old box... which I really don't need. That lid would be a buck or two in the stores I shop in, although they'd probably drop it in the scrap bin. We'll see. Tom

 

[Oldtuleguy]

I would for sure keep the lid!

 

[RTM]

Just to bring this thread to the top, I was hanging out in a vintage building being reused as a winery, and saw a reference to "The Hinsdale Patent". Being a vintage tool nut, I had to see if it was any relation to this thread. No one has posted it, so thought I'd offer it up.

I suspect this was the patent I was observing

US974145A - Urinal-stall. - Google Patents

But this guy was fairly prolific

Google Patents

Search and read the full text of patents from around the world with Google Patents, and find prior art in our index of non-patent literature.

patents.google.com

DATAMP has nothing by Hinsdale, so I guess the company was built on other people's patents.

Pictures available if you're having trouble visualizing the item from the patent

Ducking and Running

 

[saukit]

Picked up a few really rusty wrenches off the auction site the other day and a few of them turned out to be Hinsdale, some others were not marked but looked somewhat similar. Anyone know if the unmarked wrenches here might be Hinsdale also? The box ends look a little thicker on the unmarked stuff to me...

 

[four.cycle]

^ nice find there, saukit.

RE: RTM's find on the "Hinsdale" urinal patent:
Other than the patent holder's address being in New York, and Hinsdale's operations being in Chicago, I would not be the least bit surprised.
Indestro started out with a bottle capper. They also made egg beaters. I own a huge pipe wrench made by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.
Plumbing was big business in the last couple decades of the 19th and first few decades of the 20th centuries. Anybody who could get in, got in. There was a lot of money to be made.
The challenge is ascertaining the connection, if one exists.

 

[RTM]

Don’t know that we’ll find a link. Hinsdale Mfg was named for the Illinois town they were founded in in 1919, by a Larry Miller (per AA). The town was founded by Robbins, incorporated in 1873.

The urinal was patented in 1910, but has patents ran 1893 -1930. And as noted, he lived in Manhattan. Prior he was in New Haven, CT, and post in Trenton, NJ. Those were first and last locations.

Woody may need to dig further into this one, I need to run to a meeting soon.

 

[isb cornbinder]

My G-20 set.

I have this socket set. It was my Dad's first set. My set was made in CANADA and it is called DURABLE. I think Dad bought this set in the early 1940s.

 

[four.cycle]

^ There have been a couple other "Durable" sets posted here over the last year. It's pretty clear they were manufactured by Duro/Indestro.
Nobody's yet come up with how they got across the border and got renamed, though. Still a bit of a mystery there.
Durable / Durable / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/new-to-me-socket-set.364658/ / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/threads/snap-on-engraver-and-durable-socket-set.487579/ /

 

[Mintgrun]

No. 10 socket set Lid Only

I watched it not sell the first time around and decided to bid when it came up again. I had competition that time, which raised the price by $5, but I won the bidding war.

Here is a photo from that ad



I'm not sure why the box looks so green in the ad's photos. Most of the paint is gone. I guess it went away when I washed the dirt off.



The shiny edge on the right side of the lid is from a repair that I made yesterday. The lid required some hammering to flatten it. The little flap at the narrow end had been bent down flat and it cracked when I opened it back up.



In hindsight, I should have heated it up before bending it. Welding it was challenging, due to it being so thin (.018") and close to an edge, but backing it up with aluminum helped dissipate the heat. I welded on the top side and then ground down the weld. This was the beginning of the process....



The following photo shows that there was plenty of penetration.





So, what do you do when you overpay for something? Put a silly amount of time into fixing it! Ironically, I feel better about my purchase now. Paying too much and then breaking it was quite disappointing; but having struggled through the tedious repair feels like a victory.

 

[four.cycle]

1938 Hinsdale Tool catalog now available at International Tool Catalog Library!

 

[Larr991]

One I have,

 

[leg17]

One I have,

Sweet.
That is the elusive number "0" size.

 

[Fred Knox]

My budding Hinsdale collection:
Vintage Hinsdale No. 12 B-R Socket Set in Original Metal Box with Hex ratchet S-15, with marked plug, 1/2" ell handle, 13 sockets (7/8", 25/32", 3/4", 11/16", 5/8", 19/32", 9/16", 1/2", 7/16", 3/8" (square drive), 11/32", 5/16", 5/16" (square drive)), three Hinsdale DOE wrenches, and one Hinsdale 7/16" 1/2"-drive socket.

 

[TexTJ209]

Found a couple big double box end wrenches this week.

The "smaller" guy is 1-5/8" x 1-7/16".

Big guy is 2-3/8" by 2-3/16". Pretty hefty!

 

[bbbarracuda]

Saw this on a local online auction as “ old tools in a metal box”. I couldn’t tell what it was from pictures, but figured for $7.00 how could I go wrong?
Everything is pretty rusty, but cleaned some of up enough to see it’s Hinsdale
I think it’s most of a set, but there is at least one piece of SK in there.

 

[Ricky Joe]

Hinsdale, no offset