Tools

[Junk Yard Dog]

I collect cool old shit, and that can take many forms, my major collections are milsurps and 1900-1940 spring powered phonographs, but I have many sub collections. Coe's pipe wrenches and Eifel geared Plierench's would be among these. Scored a baby Coes from around 1905, and another Eifel from roughly 1925-1934. Baby Coes are rare and expensive, I got it on the cheap from an ebay seller who made it look huge in the pictures, I thought I was buying a 10-12" model. Coes invented and patented the first pipe wrench that could be opened and closed using the thumb while holding the wrench on one hand. 1861-1940's. The Eifel was the original multitool, it has interchangeable jaws, and uses compound leverage , these are excellent tools that work very well. There are around ten different jaw combinations, and the wrench would come with four, or five depending on how you ordered it. Very well made tools, the Eifel never went out of production, the rights just changed hands and at least four different company's have made then since the 20's. Eifel until the 60's, Vaco until the early 80's and then I forget who took it over. None of the later ones are as nice as a vintage Eifel made tool.

[SA1911a1]

Those are cool, Jim. Do you ever come across a ratchet crescent wrench?

Back in the day, when my career was young, when steel pipe still ruled, the only wrench a plumber would use would be a variation of Mr. Stillson's wonderful invention made by Ridgid, anything else we referred to as knuckle busters. There were other people making pipe wrenches but none held up to daily use. As a journeyman I lugged around a pile of the things, including 45 and 90 degree offset wrenches for tight spots.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Those are cool, Jim. Do you ever come across a ratchet crescent wrench?

Back in the day, when my career was young, when steel pipe still ruled, the only wrench a plumber would use would be a variation of Mr. Stillson's wonderful invention made by Ridgid, anything else we referred to as knuckle busters. There were other people making pipe wrenches but none held up to daily use. As a journeyman I lugged around a pile of the things, including 45 and 90 degree offset wrenches for tight spots.

I am familiar with the Crescent ratcheting wrench, they are still in production and can be had at the usual suspects for around 20-30 bucks. Ridgid is well known to me, I must have 20 of them in many sizes and configurations down in the barn. The Coes is not a pipe wrench as we know it in modern times, while it could be used for removing plumbing fittings it was not intended as a plumbing specific tool, it's use when well beyond that. With no teeth they would be useless at the task of gripping pipe, the Eifel on the other hand is good at it on smaller pipes so long as you use the correct jaw attachment. The Coes wrench dates from a time when square nuts were common on wagons and pretty much any device. Nickle plated brass fittings of all sorts would have been destroyed by a modern pipe wrench, today we would use an adjustable wrench, back in the day that was the Coes and it's imitators. The RailRoad also made heavy use of Coes type wrenches, and the early oil industry, gas works, large manufacturing plants, on the farm, ship, anyplace machinery was in use.

Ridgid made hammers also, as well as other tools, pipe vices, cutters, and so on. They are still USA made and they also produce the Craftsman line of pipe wrenches. Genuine Stillson wrenches are collectable today, once his patents expired everybody started producing some version of it.

[ffuries]

It never ceases to amaze me what I learn of this forum, it's like being in school. Cool tools, I guess I should learn to keep my eyes open and expand my knowledge.

[Junk Yard Dog]

It never ceases to amaze me what I learn of this forum, it's like being in school. Cool tools, I guess I should learn to keep my eyes open and expand my knowledge.

Your in a good place to find Proto industrial stuff. NASA has facilities down there and retiring NASA engineers seem to have sticky fingers. A friend of mine has several times scored me Proto industrial stuff at tag sales and estate sales. This stuff costs Uncle a serious amount of money, and Proto has to pass a very vigorous inspection process well above what even Snap-On and other commercial quality tools undergo. Hardness and measurement's have to be exactly to spec.

[SA1911a1]

I found me a tool on my "junk-et" today. From the day when we still knew how to make our own stuff. A couple of the taps are broken.

$12.00.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Blackhawk set from the 70's, nice, now get some Evaporust and soak the bits in it to remove the rust. I just did that with a similar set a couple of days ago. Great stuff Evaporust, just takes the rust, leaves everything else alone, got a bunch of bolts soaking in it now. Swapped in the M37's new winch today, heavy bastard, shit hurts all over. I did score another Eifel wrench set, more on that when it gets here. Blackhawk made good stuff, and they were almost local. Stanley owns the name now, I believe they use it on commercial tools sold under the Proto banner, power equipment I think, not hand tools.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Another Eifel, this one dated 1942 and is the deluxe package with the tool, six jaws, and the extended case. The OD green case has me thinking it's from the military contract so it's going in my M37. I have around an even dozen of these plier sets now from the 1920's -1955 being the latest date so far. The tool normally came with a tool sized canvas case, ( early ones are rubber coated canvas) the tool itself, and three jaws. Around 1931-32 they started dating the tools with a year stamp, and sometimes the month as well as the price. Eifel's sold using a dealer network, mostly hardware stores, different name, and lower level of fit and finish, but they are still in production today.