Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Hand Tools). This thread is read-only.
Finally snagged one of these…..
[External image (www.nordstar.org), not copied]
Conductor562 wrote:
Finally snagged one of these…..
[External image (www.nordstar.org), not copied]
Cool, how did you come across it? Isn’t that a weird 9/32-drive?
This is a stock pic I found online and may very well be a 9/32. However, the one I have is a 1/2 in. Found it on eBay for $5 and figured what the hell. It’s a conversation piece if nothing else.
Conductor562 wrote:
This is a stock pic I found online and may very well be a 9/32. However, the one I have is a 1/2 in. Found it on eBay for $5 and figured what the hell. It’s a conversation piece if nothing else.
Is yours a WF model?
I grew up not far from a Wright airport, Curtis Wright by then actually, one of the old mechanics there had these Plomb ratchets as parts of sets. I was always impressed with his tools. He had an impressive cart he used to drag around, wish I would have had a thought to document it with pictures.
Hope you’ll post some pictures of your ratchet. I love old tools.
I couldn’t help but think of that ratchet being reminiscent of an early style of Snap-ons ratchets, after digging around over on Alloy Artifacts it would appear they are from the same era.
Link to bigger picture @ Alloy artifacts
Yes it’s a WF-38 I always heard that the WF stood for “War Finish” but it doesn’t. As you were saying WF stood for Wright Field as it was a major contract destination during WWII. However, there are Plomb tools from that era that do say “War Finish”. These were apparently civilian models and while the did have the same dusty cadmium finish as the military models, it was intended to mean that due to the shortage of materials associated with the war effort they were not up to the typical quality standards of the company and therefor not covered by the Plomb lifetime warranty.
I did look for a catalog of the WF numbered tools but it is not believed that any survived from the military. They have found tools numbered up into the 170’s though.
Conductor562 wrote:
Yes it’s a WF-38 I always heard that the WF stood for “War Finish” but it doesn’t. As you were saying WF stood for Wright Field as it was a major contract destination during WWII. However, there are Plomb tools from that era that do say “War Finish”. These were apparently civilian models and while the did have the same dusty cadmium finish as the military models, it was intended to mean that due to the shortage of materials associated with the war effort they were not up to the typical quality standards of the company and therefor not covered by the Plomb lifetime warranty.
The Old mechanic that I used to be friends with told me they were company issued tools from his days when Wright was doing jet engine testing. I never really got to into the finer points of his tools because airplanes….
My understanding is that the non-wartime tools made for the Wright Aeronautical corp were stamped “Wright”. Plomb typically stamped contract tools with a specific code to signify the contract purchaser. The codes are available online.
Some include:
A-E
Possibly Allison Engines (A/C engines) now Rolls Royce
AN
U. S. Government Army Navy Specifications
B&G
Unknown
Douglas
Douglas Aircraft Co
GB
Unknown
Kinner
Kinner Airplane & Motor Corp. Los Angeles area 1919 – 1937
N
Unknown
PWA
Pratt & Whitney Aircraft (Aircraft Engines)
Ranger A. T.
Ranger Aircraft Engine Division of Fairchild
US
Plomb special tools designed for the Aviation Industry
USN/NAF 1110
U.S. Navy and Naval Aircraft Factory
Victor
Victor Equipment Co. (manufacturers of Welding equipment)
WF
Wright Field – WWII Government contracting location
Wright
Wright Aeronautical Corp (aircraft engines)
I only remember WF stamped tools, I don’t recall him having any tools stamped Wright or Wright Field. He also had some Prat and Whitney branded (not Plomb) tools but as I remember they were specialty one purpose wrenches, like crane necked cylinder wrenches. They also had a Prat & Whitney lathe in their machine shop.
I think the rich history is one of the reasons I love Proto so much.
Conductor562 wrote:
I think the rich history is one of the reasons I love Proto so much.
I feel the same way about some of my old tools. It is a sad fact that many of the old brands are no longer what they once were after being bought out by larger corporations who have a differing philosophy of what the end product should be.
It’s like they want to cash in on the reputation for awhile until everyone figures out all that remains of the once quality tool is the name.
Conductor562 wrote:
It’s like they want to cash in on the reputation for awhile until everyone figures out all that remains of the once quality tool is the name.
All to common these days. I don’t like it when they buy the competition to knock them out of business or scoop up their patent portfolio either or just stop production like what Gardner Denver did with Thomas Airpac compressors .Thomas was the company that pioneered oil less compressor technology and was the only company that offered really good quite oil less compressors.
My favorites are the Pebble Grain Plomb and Proto’s. Just don’t see that kind of art in a production tool any more.
The pebble finished Plomb’s were all over the place 10 years ago. Don’t see many anymore though.
The WF-38 still works. To be truly usable it would need to be rebuilt though. I like the design and the balance of the tool is great. The anvil is noticeably shorter than today’s ratchets though.
rickster wrote:
My favorites are the Pebble Grain Plomb and Proto’s. Just don’t see that kind of art in a production tool any more.
I had heard at one time, I don’t know if it was true or someone was trying to pull one over on me, that the pebble finish tools were cheap version that used shot peening as the method of case hardening the tool rather than the more traditional heat treatment. This was told to me by someone who was known as a fine BS artist, though it does have a slight ring of truth to it.
No idea on that one. I’d think I’d have ran across something like that though. I do know that most of the War Finish tools carry the lifetime warranty.
Conductor562 wrote:
No idea on that one. I’d think I’d have ran across something like that though. I do know that most of the War Finish tools carry the lifetime warranty.
I thought it was th opposite, the war finish tools were supposed to be a comodity item and as such were not warranted for life.
I don’t have the link handy, one of the plomb history pages spelled it out. It was not on alloy artifacts but some other site.
Yea, I meant to say they did not carry the lifetime warranty. Thats what I get for typing on a mobile phone.
Probably not, but may dad had some Craftsman ratchets that looked identical to the head on these, but with different handles. (marked Craftsman of course!)