Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

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d42jeep
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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by d42jeep » Sat Sep 26, 2020 6:07 pm

I’m making some progress in the green wrinkle finish repaint of the formerly red Plomb box.
-Don
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A163E658-2FD2-473F-99EF-7A7898BFA670.jpeg
Box interior
B7DA82C5-F592-4B8B-87BB-CCFEF1D31289.jpeg
Box bottom
Ford GPW 76344 DOD 11/42 Built in Richmond, CA


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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by d42jeep » Wed Sep 30, 2020 4:15 am

After a repaint of the lid, I’ve finished the Plomb 5295 box I’ve been repainting with wrinkle finish. The paint didn’t come out perfectly but the finishes were far from perfect from the factory. I did a small S-K box at the same time.
-Don
Attachments
B8E4220B-584A-46F6-B65F-B296462EA0AD.jpeg
Finished Plomb 5295 and S-K boxes
7B36B676-335E-46A5-A05B-15E9838BE751.jpeg
Plomb lid base coat
F7BAD430-7234-4D77-971B-76C92A046383.jpeg
Plomb box stripped and sanded
D0A6E54A-EEF5-471F-8F68-FC5663FD2F7F.jpeg
Partial Plomb 4700R 1/4” drive set
C7F32066-8321-4C4A-B5C3-B878E24A61A6.jpeg
Plomb 5295 boxes. Upper box is shown before repaint.
366A3E43-DD95-4106-9FFD-52D97F3D018E.jpeg
Original 5295 box interior
8FB22557-6934-4C15-AA90-56B3C7DEC481.jpeg
Early original Plomb 5295 box
Last edited by d42jeep on Wed Sep 30, 2020 4:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ford GPW 76344 DOD 11/42 Built in Richmond, CA

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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by mrbill » Wed Sep 30, 2020 4:19 am

That looks great, Don. I tried a similar exercise (unsuccessfully) using Rustoleum hammered paint. What brand did you use for the texturing?

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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by Gordon_M » Wed Sep 30, 2020 4:22 am

Looks good to me Don.

I've tried black wrinkle finish on some radio stuff but the results weren't great. More down to my lack of skill I expect.
Gordon

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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by d42jeep » Wed Sep 30, 2020 4:32 am

Thanks, guys. I used the VHT valve cover paint shown below as a base coat. After letting it dry for over 24 hours I used the Midwest Military Signal Corps #1 green as a top coat. The warmer the ambient temperature the better it wrinkles.
-Don
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8385314C-7344-4A64-93B7-B5C4B8453966.jpeg
Ford GPW 76344 DOD 11/42 Built in Richmond, CA

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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by Gordon_M » Wed Sep 30, 2020 12:18 pm

I have an odd Craftsman 1/4" observation to report. The 1942 catalogue shows the usual nine sockets in both versions of the 1/4" BE sets, and in that catalogue there are four 12-point, two 8-point, and three 6-point sockets, 4-2-3

When I was comparing my latest set to the others I have I noticed that instead of 4-2-3 one set was 3-2-4, with the 5/16" socket being six-point and not twelve. I scrolled through here and noticed that Don's set was 4-2-3 and Len's 3-2-4, and I'm assuming it is all BE branded as mine certainly is.

So, Craftsman BE 1/4" drive 5/16" socket with six points - earlier than the twelve point or later? I'd guess both variations were wartime as I have both and Len may have too.
Gordon

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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by d42jeep » Wed Sep 30, 2020 2:15 pm

As a rule of thumb, I believe that the 12 point are earlier and the 6 point are later. I saw a set that was towards the end of the BE period and all of the sockets were either 6 point or 8 point.
-Don
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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by Gordon_M » Wed Sep 30, 2020 7:39 pm

Thanks Don
Gordon

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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by d42jeep » Sun Oct 04, 2020 7:23 pm

In another example of 6 point sockets being later than 12 point, I received a notification of a Walden set being available on eBay. I took a look and noticed that all of the sockets appeared to be either 6 or 8 point. I requested a side view from the seller but it was difficult to tell if the 7/16” socket was the extremely rare knurled style. I took a chance and overpaid slightly and was relieved when the set arrived with a nice example of the 6 point knurled 7/16” socket. The socket will replace the slightly more worn one in my GMTK. If the 3/16” socket had been included it would have been a 1945 specification matching 41-W-2615 set.
-Don
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ACAF2E89-18F7-49BC-8D80-3FB814CCC755.jpeg
C1DD0C28-866E-4EC2-88D4-CD1EC3A780C0.jpeg
18072E5E-C874-4B49-A4EB-116B6D81F5E7.jpeg
03EE5B04-DE6D-4E2D-BF1D-1B707EE1B1BC.jpeg
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Ford GPW 76344 DOD 11/42 Built in Richmond, CA

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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by pjones » Wed May 12, 2021 12:17 pm

Nice find Don. Somehow I had missed that.

Here is a really nice ww2 era SK set I found on the auction site. It has a great dark finish and may go in one of my keeper sets.

Image

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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by d42jeep » Wed May 12, 2021 2:47 pm

Nice grab. That’s a really nice dark finish complete set. Those are hard to find.
-Don
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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by d42jeep » Thu Jun 03, 2021 8:17 am

I picked up a New Britain 1/4” drive ratchet with plug off of eBay to fill out this set. I’m not sure if the spinner is correct because there are no New Britain catalogs available between 1940 and 1955.
-Don
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9A109238-798B-4D0F-98F6-B0F498CEED45.jpeg
902A2204-0F94-4221-8E25-CA92B982783D.jpeg
87192197-E531-477F-B90D-B8D04150354A.jpeg
Ford GPW 76344 DOD 11/42 Built in Richmond, CA

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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by Len Jones » Tue Jun 22, 2021 1:22 pm

Thanks for posting Don, as I too had the same thoughts regarding my NM62 amber handled spinner :?

My three are from the auction site here in UK, each with ' additions ' when compared to the actual catalogue listings for 1940 & 1955.

It would appear that in 1940 The New Britain Machine Tool Company listed the following sets -

#602 - 10 piece set which includes the NM63 6 inch wood handled adaptor.
#608 - 13 piece set.
#607 - 17 piece set.

By 1955 The New Britain Machine Tool Company listed the following sets -

#1610 - 10 piece set which now includes the NM64 6 inch amber handled adaptor.
#1617 - 17 piece set.
#1634 - 34 piece set which now includes the NM64 6 inch amber handled adaptor.

Perhaps the amber handled NM62 is an earlier version to the the wooden handled NM63 that appears in the 1940 catalogue :?:
Worthy of note is that my NM62 has that ' distinctive smell ', and a white residue that reappears.

I notice that yours has a full length socket divider, which is not shown in both the 1940 & 1955 catalogues.

Len
Attachments
1.JPG
New Britain Machine Company
2.JPG
Contents
3.JPG
607 set
4 - 607 - 1940.png
' Little giants I call 'em ' - 1940
5.JPG
602 set with NM62 amber handled spinner
6 - 608 & 602 - 1940.png
602 & 608 sets
7.JPG
602 set with NM63 wood handled spinner
8 - NM63 - 1940.png
NM63 - 1940
1955.png
1955
NM64 - 1955.png
NM64 amber handled spinner - 1950
Last edited by Len Jones on Tue Jun 22, 2021 11:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by Gordon_M » Tue Jun 22, 2021 8:35 pm

cbe4flex2.jpg
cbe4flex1.jpg
In the wartime catalogue, but apparently not included in the standard sets like my DeLuxe set, this 4" flexible BE extension. I have a couple of 1/4" Craftsman BE sets so I'll just sneak in in there.
Gordon

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Re: Wartime 1/4" drive socket sets

Post by mudbox » Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:19 am

I've never seen one of those outside of the catalog. Nice find! There can't be many of those floating around.

-Jason


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