Old Wooden handled driver, well made

[1930]

1930,

Do any of your Champion drivers have any writing (even partial) on the handle or shaft?

Went to work when its dark and come home in the dark ( almost ) will look and post in a little time

[lauver]

1930,

No rush, just check it when you can.  I understand the light thing very well.  The older I get the more light and magnification I need to see things, especially small things.

[1930]

I wanted to take some good pictures of the T design on the ferrule, they are both the same but my camera isnt as good as it could be.

These drivers look otherwise the same as what you guys are discussing but please correct me if Im wrong.

This is prob. the only place I can get away with sayin this without fear of being committed but the bottom one is my favorite of the two, imagine how long that chunk of the handles been missin and imagine how many years of repeated use it has taken to wear it smooth the way it is now.

When I bough it on a lot of screwdrivers on e-bay the seller did not disclose the break until after the sale, he said he would refund my money if I wanted, I felt a tug right away from that little guy knowing it needed a good home so of course I told him ship it.

Its a possability that these drivers were part of an original early Maxwell tool-kit but at this point thats all it is.

[john k]

I went thru my work bench and found these two.  I knew the big one would match, but was surprised when the small one did as well.  The large one has an eight inch blade, cannot find a makers mark on either.  Something about the wooden handles, they follow me home all the time!

[1930]

I went thru my work bench and found these two.  I knew the big one would match, but was surprised when the small one did as well.  The large one has an eight inch blade, cannot find a makers mark on either.  Something about the wooden handles, they follow me home all the time!

I have been looking for that 8 inch for some time, if it is avail than I would like to purchase it, Id purchase the set just to keep them together.

Maxwell tool kits describe a long and short and going from desc. that I have have collected comparing tool pouch creases basically 8 inch would be a good number.
If not maybe another will show up

[lauver]

Gang,

In the process of trying to track the Sears versions of these screwdrivers in the Sears catalogs, I found an interesting tidbit.  The 1905 Sears big book catalog listed "Genuine Champion" screwdrivers and indicated they were made by Tower & Lyon.  Later catalogs listed both "Genuine Champion" screwdrivers as well as "champion pattern" screwdrivers but made no further reference to OEMs.

I'm not familier with Tower & Lyon or their range of tools.  Does anyone know if T&L made screwdrivers?  Is T&L a plausible OEM for the Genuine Champion screwdrivers?

[Papaw]

Per Alloy Artifacts-

Tower & Lyon was a tool maker in New York city, active between 1884 and 1916. The company produced a wide variety of wrenches, including adjustable bicycle wrenches and pipe wrenches.

This dates them a little too early for those drivers, I think.

[john k]

Speaking of light and magnification.   I picked up the bigger of the two screwdrivers tonight, with the ceiling light on.    On the shank came to *light* the word, CHAMPION.   It is nearly 14 inches overall, nice heft to it.

[lauver]

john k,

Can you post a photo of your big Champion driver.  I'm interested in the handle details, including the patented 2-piece metal cap (or whatever that thing is called), and the"Champion" stamping on the shank. 

Glad you got the light right; it makes a world of difference.

By the way, one of the sears catalogs i was looking at showed an illustration of a genuine Champion driver with "Champion stamped on the shank.

Last but not least, what are your thoughts on Tower & Lyon as a plausible OEM?

[rusty]

>Tower & Lyon as a plausible OEM?

Definite, at least in 1899

From the magazine 'Hardware'

[lauver]

Gang,

A member on the GG reported that Irwin also sold drivers that matched "Champion Screwdrivers".  So here's my best guess on what happened:

Between 1879 and 1899, the owners of Patent 214,785, sold nonexclusive rights to their design to any manufacturer who was willing to pay their fee.

After 1899 when patent protection expired, all interested parties had free rights to this design and produced drivers of this design for decades, perhaps even for a century.

Starting sometime around the 1940's, when plastic handled drivers were growing in popularity, wood handled screwdrivers of all designs began their fade into the sunset.

[RedVise]

Here are a couple of pics of a Champion brand screwdriver.

Brian L.

[lauver]

RedVice,

Thanks for posting photo's of your Genuine Champion driver.  The handle profile and details match my driver handle nicely.  Plus the ferrule looks like a match too.  The only difference is on the shank where your says Champion and mine says MultiGrip (at least that is what I think mine says).