Who, or What, is a V.B.I. Tool ?

[toolman]

Here is a new one on me. Does anyone know of this Company, Distributor, or Cheap China Junk Cover Up? Looks identical to a Millers Falls, 17 inch, No. 2, Auger Handle, but marked V.B.I.,No. 2,  as show below. What ever it is, i purchased one today at my favorite second hand store. I spent hours at all the usual tool sites and found nothing. Thanks for any help.

P.S. Photo and logo are borrowed from one that sold on ebay, but looks identical to mine.

[wvtools]

That looks more like an owner's mark to me.  You might try googling something like Vocational Boy's Institute to see if anything comes up.

[toolman]

Thanks  for your reply wvtools. If it is an owners mark, he or she has at least 3 that i have seen so far. I will try the institute theory, and keep looking.



Update: I'm starting to believe this auger handle was in fact made by Millers Falls, and is in fact the same No.2 that they made, and sold with their name on it. I'm now working on the theory that this V.B.I. was most likely an old hardware store, or distributor, that had a contract with Millers Falls to put their V.B.I. name on it, much like Belcamp and other chains did.?????

[p_toad]

Interesting...from Picclick site:

"V.B.I. NO.2 ADJUSTABLE AUGER HANDLE. MINT. If you are a timber framer or just like to drill with auger bits, this is the handle for you. It can take very large bits. It has the factory number 41458 stamped on it along with V.B.I. PHILA. PA / No. 2. "

Did see an ebay listing for a Vaughn and Bushnell brace.   Wonder if they're related? 

[toolman]

Thanks p_toad, i did see that in my searches. Oh what a tangled web the USA tool manufactures weaved  when china came to town in the 1980's. I spent most of the day researching Millers falls, and in short, it goes like this: In 1982, Ingersoll-Rand buys M-F. Then they sold the name to china in the late 1990's-2000, like most all the old USA tool companies did. Ingersoll-rand was in bed with a whose who of past great tool makers, and wheeling and dealing, whist doing their best to never ever mention the china name. I now think my auger handle was born and raised in china, and this V.B.I. mark was a product of it, (imo).

[Bill Houghton]

Digressing...that Ingersoll-Rand bought Millers-Falls explains the M-F Langdon Acme miter box I bought at the local Habitat ReStore last month, badged as an Ingersoll-Rand tool.  I'd assumed that I-R contracted M-F to make them.

[toolman]

Digressing...that Ingersoll-Rand bought Millers-Falls explains the M-F Langdon Acme miter box I bought at the local Habitat ReStore last month, badged as an Ingersoll-Rand tool.  I'd assumed that I-R contracted M-F to make them.

I thought the same thing about my auger handle Bill, but no cigar. We all know, that we will never turn back the clock to the good ole days, of the vast selection of great USA tools that we grew up with, BUT, could they at least not make the china mark so deep, so we can grind it off first thing? LOL!!! Their tool designs are great, as they copied them all from us, it is the "junk yard steel" that they use, that allows them to break early, (imo). Maybe this is by design, to make more money, in return customers? In my 20 or so years of collecting, i have been fooled very few times, and sometimes if i'm unsure if it is USA, or china, and the price is a buck or two, i will bring it home anyway, hence the china brand grinding joke.

[Bill Houghton]

Back when Ingersoll-Rand bought Millers Falls, it was an American company.  I haven't looked at the Ingersoll-Rand-badged miter box closely yet, but I've got no particular reason to think it was made in China - likely made years before China even got involved in contract manufacturing to any degree.

China's our latest out-sourced-production monster, but it's always been true that someone, somewhere, will build it for cheaper.  Indeed, when I was young, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the 99-cent box in the auto parts store often stocked junk made in the U.S.A.

[toolman]

Indeed, when I was young, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, the 99-cent box in the auto parts store often stocked junk made in the U.S.A.

I Never saw that Bill, and I spent allot of time at the auto parts stores. You must have worked with Fred Flintstone?

[p_toad]

Toolman,

When i was searching for VBI, i found several sources of those handles that all looked to be NOS with basically the exact same look as yours.   Since they appeared to be shipped 10-12 to a carton, I'm guessing if someone found a stash of these somewhere we're now seeming them "come out of the woodwork".      

[Bill Houghton]

You must have worked with Fred Flintstone?

He used to come into my gas station, although I never understood why, since his car didn't run on gasoline.

[Yadda]

You must have worked with Fred Flintstone?

He used to come into my gas station, although I never understood why, since his car didn't run on gasoline.

:grin:Well played!

[Northwoods]

You sure?

https://blog.retroplanet.com/character-of-the-week-dino-of-sinclair-oil-corporation/

[Bill Houghton]

You sure?

https://blog.retroplanet.com/character-of-the-week-dino-of-sinclair-oil-corporation/

Nice article; I'll have to forward it to my dinosaur-loving son, who's always thrilled if I bring home some Sinclair-related thing from our travels (he's 46, but his inner child's still alive and well).  What's left out of the article is that, back in my day, we used to get our oil by milking the dinosaur herds out behind the station.