BARCALOS--POST YOURS HERE

[d42jeep]

I broke a Barcalo mini-drought at the flea on Saturday. The large DOE is a pad stamped 1” x 15/16”. The smaller DOE is a Jeep and GMTK correct 731A and the starter/manifold wrench is 3/4” x 5/8”. The pictures are as found and after a evaporust bath.
-Don

[pjones]

Don,
I’ve always used toilet bowl cleaner. Nasty stuff and no fun to work with. You had told me about the evaporust a long time ago. I really need to try it. Those look great.
Phil

[Len Jones]

Picked up this BB Whitworth set of five DBE's recently at a very reasonable price

Individually these do surface quite frequently here in the UK, presumably they were supplied for Commonwealth Forces

Interesting that the raised panel bar has an inverted ' V ' shape on both ends - Don has suggested that it could be to identify that they were Whitworth sizes Seems to make perfect sense

I have seen other BB Whitworth wrenches with forge markings ' 1 ' - ' 2 ' - ' 3 ' - ' 4 ' - ' 5 '. Perhaps it identifies the particular Whitworth size of each wrench I have two Duro Chrome circle ' X ' Whitworth DBE's which are stamped ' 1 ' and ' 2 ' .

However the number ' 2 ' wrench in this set has an ' E ' forge marking instead Perhaps denoting emergency

These have been through my electrolysis tank, burnished with steel wool, then coated with a little BLO with a splash of WD 40.

BTW Phil, I used to use evaporust with some good results. But found that after a while the dreaded rust returned I think rinsing pieces with water was the issue. Strange but the rust does not seem to return after electrolysis

[pjones]

Len, I think Mudbox has had good results with electrolysis as well but Phil + electrolysis sounds dangerous to me!

phil

[d42jeep]

I’ve been using a product called “Fluid Film” invented during WW2 on plain steel tools that I don’t want to rust. It’s lanolin based. I learned about it from Wingnutt. Some may not like the aroma but it doesn’t really bother me.
I found this unmarked but obviously Barcalo Double Grip wrench recently. The size markings are a little odd with a - on one size and a / on the other, something I’ve seen previously on some Fairmount wrenches.
-Don

[gpw_42]

I've been considering getting some 2" to 3" PVC, about 15" long to make an Evaporust "tank," as a means of minimizing solution used, while preventing evaporation loss of the solution...major problem when temps in the garage routinely run 88*F (31*C) or more.

Interesting to me that Len has issues with rust returning after Evaporust. My routine is to rinse the tool(s) in tap water, dry with a paper towel and immediately coat with WD-40 (because it's cheap and easily replaceable). So far, no issues with the cleaned tools re-rusting, except for the one big adjustable which I put through electrolysis. Surprising outcome, because I regularly use electrolysis to remove rust from cast iron skillets. The difference in this case is that the cast iron gets washed, dried and seasoned; the polymer formed by the seasoning prevents oxygen in the air reacting with the iron to form rust (iron oxide). The wrench wasn't seasoned, lol.

Phil, don't be scared of the e-tank...(just make sure your item (negative lead) and the sacrificial metal (positive) don't touch and there's nothing to worry about. However, the tank gives off hydrogen, so best not used in a confined space, unless you're trying to duplicate the Hindenburg ! When you hook it up, you'll see your item bubbling....that's the hydrogen.

Steve

[Hartofoak]

Is this None Better "Second" DBE wrench worth bidding for? Looks like a BB to me.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/133189220235 ... 3189220235

None better DBE for auction

Non-Better ring spanner.jpg (56.51 KiB) Viewed 4292 times

[d42jeep]

Cliff,
That definitely looks Barcalo made to me. I would bid on that just for the oddity factor if shipping from the UK wasn’t so expensive. I imagine that New Britain must have run into some manufacturing shortfall during the war so they contracted with Barcalo for that wrench. Barcalo made plenty of wrenches marked “second”, in fact I have one that they made in PowrKraft for Montgomery Wards marked “second”.
-Don

[d42jeep]

I found this apparently unused pair of diagonal cutters on eBay. They arrived yesterday.
-Don

[d42jeep]

The day after I saw the pair I posted above, I saw these new in box identical pair so I grabbed those too. The box just has the part number on the end. I was hoping for a fancy Barcalo logo.
-Don

[Hartofoak]

The "NONE BETTER 4944 SECOND" 5/8in x 11/16in DBE turned up yesterday which looks identical to an unmarked 5/8in x 11/16in Barcalo type that I have. The former has the familiar forged-in "O" and the latter a forged-in "E" that I believe are associated with wartime (1940's) production and seen on many Barcalo wrenches. Interestingly, Alloy Artifacts has this comment for its None Better 4950 5/8in x 11/16in long DBE:
http://alloy-artifacts.org/newbritain-n ... b-wrenches
"This style of wrench with raised panels is illustrated in the 1939 None Better catalog. The design and construction of this wrench are virtually identical to an example from Barcalo Manufacturing, shown as the Barcalo "Forged Vanadium" Offset Box Wrench in our article on Barcalo."
I've included the GMTK trio to compare:

NB & Barcalo DBE shorts.jpg (202.55 KiB) Viewed 4071 times

[mudbox]

Cliff, your recent acquisition reminded me of this long pattern DBE that I found at the flea some time back. Also NONE BETTER branded with the forged 'O' on the shank.



-Jason

[Hartofoak]

Thanks Jason. Interesting that it's a Vanadium steel wrench together with the forged-in "O". If this is a date code then does it mean its early 1940's because of later steel restrictions? Some believe (see up post) the "E" has similarities to the Snap-On/Blue Point date codes i.e. for 1944. Maybe the "O" relates to 1942/3?

This little wrench came my way and is similar to the one in Len's beautiful set mentioned above. It also sports the "O" forged-in mark. It is the same size as the 3rd/4th echelon 41-W-895 brake bleeder wrench that Derek Ecclestone found back in 2010.
viewtopic.php?f=48&t=170520&hilit=brake ... 5#p1109387

41-W-895 Barcalo Brake Bleeder.jpg (216.2 KiB) Viewed 4029 times

[d42jeep]

I found this wrench at a garage sale on Friday. It will be going into one of my sets.
-Don

[mudbox]

That's a nice find, Don.
I picked up this extra dark long pattern DBE from the flea this weekend. 13/16 and 7/8



-Jason