Tool Talk
Farm and Implement Wrenches and Tools => Farm Implement Wrenches and Tools => Topic started by: jimwrench on August 13, 2011, 02:15:15 PM
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Went to a farm auction that advertised 100 antique farm wrenchs and they had some . Many were beyond salvaging but some were worthwhile. Heres what I considered to be the top three out of one box I bought.
St. louis wrench is marked (St. Louis Type Foundry) Bradley is (B238) and the Avery is a (C63) I guess it was worth getting up with the dawn (not my usual hours). I dreamed that I went to this sale and someone had painted all the wrenchs. What a relief when I saw them (I'll take rust over paint any day) I'd go to a sale like this every day but they are getting scarse.
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Those are some purdy wrenches. I just do not see many implement wrenches here in cal-if-orn-i-a...
I will put them on my watch for list...
Jim
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Nice wrenches. Amen to rust insteading of over cleaning and painting.
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Is the St Louis Tyoe Foundy Wrench for sale?
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The generation that saved these type tools from their old equipment are fading away. Nice to hang onto them. What is really amazing is these survived intact. Granted a lot of those old machines weren't bolted together at 120ft. lbs. but I would say half of them I've found have at least one ear broken off.
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The St Louis type foundy traces back to 1846 or 1841 or 1838*, depending on which version of history is correct.(And the 3 versions vary quite a lot , involving a dozen players, several of those players founded other notable type foundries)
Initially a Newspaper type casting foundry it was claimed the second such foundry in the country. Sold to** the Cincinatti Type foundry in 1860, and then incorporated as the St Louis Type foundry in 1861.
They expanded from casting type to making molds for casting type, hand presses, frames, and other machines usefull to printers.
One of the more interesting and notable things, a device that allowed roll paper to be printed on with a plate press for printing newspapers...., predecessor to modern newspaper presses...
*The 1838 date is when A. P. Ladew finished his apprenticeship and began making type in St. Louis as George Charles & Co.
**Precicely who/what was sold depends on the version of history...