Good hunting today!

Shown below are 4 wrench beauties found today at a favorite semi-annual flea market. The details:



The first wrench is a 4-inch RIDGID adjustable.

The second wrench is an 8-inch wood-handled monkey wrench made by A. G. Coes in Worcester, MA, and patented December 20, 1871.

The third wrench is an adjustable brace wrench, PATD 1873. There is one like it in the Schulz's book, with an 1876 patent date.  The wingscrew used to lock the jaws in place is missing. I have to locate one.

The last wrench is an 8-inch DOE auto wrench.  The gasoline end has an 11/16" opening, and the transmission band end has a 3/4" opening.  Can anybody explain how old this wrench is and who may have made it; was it intended for generic use or just on specific cars?

The CTF logo is documented on AA, It appears to be a Herbrand 'off brand' mark.

http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/herbrand-van-chrome.html#cft

(This was a mystery mark untill very recently...it would be interesting if you can match that tool to a Herbrand tool...)

Thanks, Rusty. I gather CTF tools are uncommon but not rare.

Bob

nice rigid    bob w.

looks great.... congratulations!
cheers, bird

Quote from: Wrenchmensch on September 30, 2011, 04:48:26 PM
Thanks, Rusty. I gather these tools are uncommon but not rare.

Bob

tough to say

4 inch crescents are hot and we  dont know yet which ones are easy to find and which are toughies. It may take some to time to determine.

the Coe's isn't rare but a nice tool , I like them, they clean up to be quite handsome.

The brace wrench will need a more educated collector to asses, but dont see them at all around here. I suspect they are difficult to find outside the big tool sales.

the auto wrench  was prolly an aftermarket tool for Fords.  again they may have made quite a few, but it's the first one I have seen.

Just my $.02  and you may need to discount that too  :)

Skip

To add to our collective knowledge, the brace wrench I found today was patented by Sylvester Wright of Elllsworth, NY. The patent's (145710) grant date was December 16, 1873.

Ellsworth NY??

I cant find that at all..

more of a puzzle

Skip

Probably the town now part of Sharon,CT (On the NY border, named after the Ellsworth farm that originally covered the border..)

One of the fun things with early patents, towns that were, aren't.
If you go back to the 1700's, large chunks of Vermont and New Hampshire were in New York....

Never seen or heard of a brace wrench. Did they have a specific purpose, any info will be appreciated. Thanks. Jim

Lowentraut from NJ is probably the most common brace wrench maker, as to their main purpose I assume they were primarly made as buggy wrenches. I have one Lowentraut in my collection but there are several others out there. This is one that I don't recall seeing before. Maybe Buss will jump in on this thread.

Bill Baxter has one in his Oct 13th auction.

http://www.baxterauction.com/OCT%2013/oct13.asp

Thanks for the info lewill2.I didn't realize that it was a lowentraut, I do have one in my coolection also, mine appears the same as the one shown on the bottom right corner of the sixth picture down on the left side of the auction pictures you reffered to. The one shown here on this site is totally new to me,it looks very  interesting. I like it up here in northern British Columbia until I see somthing like the upcoming auction you pointed out and then I realize what I missing, but,you can't have everything. Best regards.Jim

I don't want to mislead you I don't believe Wrenchmensch's wrench brace is a Lowentraut, I was just commenting that I believe Lowentraut wrench braces were more common.

I also have a Sylvester Wright patent brace/wrench and have sold a couple others. There is an attachment adapter for drill bits shown in the patent but I have only seen one complete.

See the DATAMP entry for a picture of a complete one from MJD auction.

http://www.datamp.org/patents/advance.php?pn=145710&id=5766&set=76


I have always wondered the purpose of the little tab below the head.