Tool Talk
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Northwoods on November 23, 2015, 03:38:18 PM
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I was fortunate enough on Saturday to score a fine example of a Plvmb 1218 9/16" pebble combination wrench and--after a few minutes with light oil and a toothbrush--admired its classic beauty. Then I compared it with my plain finish wartime 1218.
Wow. What a difference. Though they are virtually identical in shape, length, and even thickness, each speaks of its time. The older one is unfinished with a patina only time can give it. The lettering is tiny, the only ornamentation is the v in the brand name and the two plumb bobs. Ornamentation had to take a back seat to function for the duration. The other is bold, the mark of a nation that had won the largest war in human history. The chrome that was unavailable during the war is back and in-your-face showy. The lettering is strong and proud, making it recognizable as a Plvmb tool from ten feet away.
Those two wrenches told of a nation that went through a terrible wartime and came out stronger than ever.
Compare these two from AA.
(http://alloy-artifacts.org/Photos/tools/plomb_c26_1226_wrench_combo_usa_cropped.jpg)
(http://alloy-artifacts.org/Photos/tools/plomb_c26_1226_wrench_combo_pebble_f_cropped_inset.jpg)
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If you want to walk that road, consider that it wasn't so much a matter of pride and availability of chrome, but rather a matter of manpower available along with energy and tooling.
The war production wrench was redesigned to serve it's purpose, being a wrench. It was forged in one or two hits of the forging press, moved down the line where it was ground to size and excess material removed, to the next station where it was stamped with size and name before it was inspected by a person with a quick eye, and a Go/NoGO gauge who tossed the good wrenches into a wood box for shipping, possibly wrapped quickly in a sheet of oil paper, or newspaper.
The post war wrench was struck 6 or more times in forging, cleaned up, excess material removed, ground to size, inspected, polished, copper plated, polished, Nickel plated, polished, inspected and chrome plated, inspected, wrappped, boxed and cartoned for shipping. The manpower was available and the energy was available too.
The wrench made during the war required 3 or 4 people to make, 1 forging hammer.
The post war wrench required probably 12 people, 2 forging presses, 3 buffing lathes + inspectors.
In terms of units delivered, probably 6 to 8 war wrenches were made to every 1 post war wrench.
Lean and mean manufacturing came into being for the war and it worked.
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well said,I'll remember this every time i look at a plumb wrench...thanks!
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Phil, nice write up, Thanks !
Kinda what separates this site from the others.
Brian