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St Louis Wrench Co

Started by jimwrench, June 19, 2014, 10:07:02 PM

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jimwrench

They only had three wrenchs at auction tonight. Two were Ford wrenchs which I had no interest in,but the third was a St Louis Wrench Co (C) wrench which I thought would enhance my basement décor. Finally asked the ring girl to sell the stupid wrench so I could go home (asked her to sell it alone but auctioneer insisted all three should be sold together) Anyway it now is mine. Rathbone shows (A) and (B) versions of this wrench selling at auction but not the (C).Anyhow I,m happy,happy,happy with my new buggy wrench.
Jim
Mr. Dollarwrench

bear_man

Nice!  I was just looking at a similar wrench downstairs today, thinking I should clean it.  It's got what I think is a capital "E" in a circle, and some numbers — but like I hinted at, it needs some cleaning.  I've moved this wrench out of the way for just about exactly long enough and only now learn it's a buggy wrench.  Thanks, Jim.

Bus

Jim,
I got the "A" version at the York Spring Auction. It's 6.5" long.

Patent was issue to John A. Miller of St. Louis. Patent feature was the eight point openings. Similar wrenches are marked Miller Vehicle Wrench.

http://www.datamp.org/patents/advance.php?pn=445451&id=13959&set=171


Plyerman

So it looks like that 8-point opening is designed to fit two different size square nuts, is that correct? Were the sizes of square nuts fairly standard back then? (because I had the impression that nothing was standardized back then)
My friends call me Bob. My wife calls me a lot worse.

leg17

"E" in a circle could be manufactured by Eberhard.

jimwrench

 Looks like their (A)(B)(C) designation might have just been a length change but maybe the patented end changed size also. The (C) has a 1.25 square on the patented end and I don,t have the other two to compare. THe length of (A) (per Bus) is 6.50 and the (B) per Saak sale was 8.25 and the (C) measures 8.75.
Looks like Binghampton wagon used Millers patent also. Looks like St Louis wrench co and Binghampton Wagon co were both in business a short while in the 1890,s
Jim
Mr. Dollarwrench

rusty

#6
Stray random bit...

John A. Miller of St. Louis and Eberhard were both exhibitors in the same building in the 1894 exhibition....(Columbian)

Just a weathered light rust/WD40 mix patina.

Bus

Quote from: bear_man on June 20, 2014, 02:02:03 AM
Nice!  I was just looking at a similar wrench downstairs today, thinking I should clean it.  It's got what I think is a capital "E" in a circle, and some numbers — but like I hinted at, it needs some cleaning.  I've moved this wrench out of the way for just about exactly long enough and only now learn it's a buggy wrench.  Thanks, Jim.

Does your "E" in a circle (Eberhard) wrench have the eight point opening? I have never seen one that did.

rustcollector

The correct spelling is Binghamton, no P in it. Well, at least in the word, Binghamton itself smells like P most of the time. Rathbone goofed in the header for the company. I've also found evidence Binghamton Wagon was around a few years before the date Rathbone listed, and know for sure they were done by 1900, as the building was sold and making chairs at that point. The thing I can't seem to find is if they just went under or were bought by another outfit.

bear_man

Thanks, leg17 and rusty!  Bus, no, it doesn't.  Square-four on the big box end and three open-ends on the other end (middle of which is cut out more like for 6-point bolts/nuts, while the others are square/90° bottomed).  9-1/8" overall.

Carl Wagner

I have the A B and O versions of the St. Louis buggy wrench. In my opinion the C is far far more rare than the others. I've looked for a few years for the C version with no luck. And I'm in MO so I thought maybe one would pop up someday. Great find. I hope to get that one someday.
Life is hard. Its harder if your stupid.- John Wayne

Charles Garrett

As I recall E could stand for Emerson.   Chuck Garrett

bear_man

Chuck, I'll make note of that on it's string-tag too, and thanks.  I've owned this wrench for close to 15 years and didn't know what it was till here recently.  Color me slow.

Bus

Quote from: Charles Garrett on August 12, 2014, 11:46:42 AM
As I recall E could stand for Emerson.   Chuck Garrett

The "E" in a circle logo wrench belongs to Eberhard. I have Eberhard catalogs that show it.

I was at the home of John Miller's Great Grandson yesterday. He has a picture of his Great Grandfather on the
wall of his office and quite a few of his wrenches.


four.cycle

RE: John A. Miller / St. Louis Wrench Co. / "Miller's Patent Vehicle Wrench" / "Miller's Reducing Wrench"

This one was confusing me because the advertisements and patent documents show two different addresses for Mr. Miller in St. Louis, and then another address in St. Charles, MO. Fortunately DataMP was already way ahead of me on this one.

Miller / John A. Miller, St. Charles, MO / patent 239972 April 12, 1881 / patent 243942 July 5, 1881 /

Miller / John A. Miller, 303 Lucas Ave., St. Louis, MO / "Miller's Patent Vehicle Wrench / patent 445451 Jan. 27, 1891 / (see St. Louis Wrench Co.) /

Miller / John A. Miller, 212 Morgan St., St. Louis, MO / "Miller's Reducing Wrench" 1891 / patent 239972 April 12, 1881 /patent 253549 Feb. 14, 1882 /