German Twist Wrench

[Papaw]

I bought this nice twist wrench from Benjy recently. Surprised to find D R G M on it along with a number I haven't deciphered yet. D R G M is  Deutsches Reich Gebrauchsmuster , which means German Reich Registered Design.
D.R.G.M. registration offered a basic copyright protection for the duration of three years and included the right to indicate the item status by marking the registered items with the D.R.G.M. acronym. It was left to the registration owner to include the registration number as the D.R.G.M. marking alone was the element with legal character. The actual result of such a registration (the form of protection) was called Gebrauchsmusterschutz.
D.R.G.M. registration was introduced 1891 and  used during Allied occupation up until 1949, registration procedures remained untouched and still used the D.R.G.M. registration documents, which of course explains why D.R.G.M. marks can be found on products actually manufactured up until 1952 as the registration itself was valid for three years. As from the end of October 1952, all registrations were definately marked with 'Deutsches Bundesgebrauchsmuster' (D.B.G.M.) or simply with 'Gebrauchsmuster' or 'Gebrauchsmusterschutz'.


Production date of this wrench MAY be 1933-1945. Could be earlier, since twist handle wrenches had gone out of style by then.

[amertrac]

looks like a dead parrot. how long is it ? bob w.

[Papaw]

Guess I left that out. It is 8 inches long.

[Branson]

looks like a dead parrot. bob w.

"It's not dead, only sleeping."  Monty Python

[rusty]

Why not earlier than 1933?

http://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=447,665&type=

[Papaw]

I saw that one, but mine doesn't have the articulated, toothed jaw in that example.
Acme was the most known maker of these in the US, but i'm not sure they had the parrot jaw on any of theirs.
The mark on mine was used from 1891 to about 1952 in Germany, so it could be as old as 1891. If I can decipher the number, perhaps I can get closer to maker and date of manufacturer.

[rusty]

The number won't help if it was prewar, the records are gone. But, the number of digits in the number might help a little for age...

[Bus]

Acme was a model name not a manufacturer. Four companies made the Acme and Hercules wrenches first patented on 2-27-1883:
Owsley Brothers & Marble (1886-1887
George W. Marble (1887-1888)
Capitol Mfg. Co. (1888-1893)
Whitman & Barnes (1893-?)

See the listings for these companies in Cope's book for more information and pictures including some with the reversible lower jaw covered by the March 03, 1891 patent and manufactured by the Capitol Mfg. Co.

http://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=273,170&type= 

The German and British ones are usually refereed to as "coach wrenches" in old catalogs. Papaw's example and one I have with the offset jaws are different than any others I have seen. I can't make out the markings on mine.

[Papaw]

A co-worker with sharper eyes than mine says the numbers are - 599741 .

[rusty]

>599741

From known dated serial numbers, After 1910, before 1924
Interpolating a bit, Perhaps 1915-1916

Later than I expected...

[Papaw]

After 1910, before 1924
Interpolating a bit, Perhaps 1915-1916

Works for me.

[bonneyman]

What an interesting design! The handle almost looks like a LONG bolt that was heated and twisted in such a way as to leave the threaded end right where the adjustment knob would be. That's foresight in your manufacturing.
Cool!

[rusty]

>Interpolating a bit, Perhaps 1915-1916

NB: I missed a bit, from better data, before April 1914....

> a LONG bolt that was heated and twisted

Given how hard it would be to thread after being bent, I suspect it was rod stock threaded in advance, then bent. So, almost a long bolt, but then, that's alsohow they make bolts, cept with a bolt they smash the other end into a blob and form a head on it instead of bending the rod into a pretzel....

As a side comment, the Germans were into the international export business bigtime for a while, they made and exported almost anything that could be sold in some other country at a profit, often custom designing common articles so they would be at the ideal price point for the country they were intended to be sold in.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if this wrench was an obsolete design (at the time) that nevertheless seemed like it could be sold in some country where it would still be a few steps ahead of the technological curve..(And the primary reason for the twisted handle design is it's cheap to make, it's just a bent piece of steel rod..)