Found in Nottinghamshire Boot Sale

[Wrenchmensch]

Found this 8 1/4" wrench, marked "WARREN", at a Saturday boot sale (flea market) outside Nottingham, England.  Its  lower jaw configuration resembles the lower jaw of a late 19th c. Girard wrench. The bulbous wood handle and spiral knurling on the adjusting screw are not characteristics of Girard wrenches.

Is Warren a known British toolmaker of the 19th or early 20th century?

[lzenglish]

Nice Looking! That's a long way to travel for a boot sale Tho! Lol. I agree in that it does looks very similar to a Girard, as I have one hiding around here in my pile some place. I posted it on the old tool talk site, as I did many others, but lost my original picture when my computer died.

Sorry, I did not answer your question. maybe one of our british members can shed some light on it, or any member that knows, for that matter.

Wayne

[Papaw]

Is it possible that some lettering is missing?
WARRENT-- a misspelling of WARRANTED? 

[Wrenchmensch]

The lettering is clearly reading "WARREN". What doesn't make sense is the absence of more information  on the wrench.  This leads me think that maybe "Warren" was the name of this wrench's first owner. British stamped imprints of owner names generally appear to be neater than American imprints based on my limited observations.

[Wrenchmensch]

Has anyone located any other "Warren" tools in the UK?

[mvwcnews]

Is it possible it could have come from a U.S. maker that had a plant at WARREN, PA?   The thought is a very long stretch, I know.

[Billman49]

I'm not a collector of wrenches, but have a couple of dozen, including a handful of this type - very few show any maker's marks at all.

In Sheffield, and also in Birmingham, in the UK manufacturers often made tools for each other, so they did not always stamp the tools they made at all. Also it was common to stamp a retailer's, or even an ironmongery shop's, name stamp on tools - which makes it very confusing when trying to identify a maker..

Owners' stamps, except in the case of large companies (e.g. rail, Post Office, WD) are rarely of the type of long engraved stamp (except on wooden parts of wood working tools) - so it was most likely stamped at source. i.e. by the maker...

A quick search for Warren + Wrench - finds an Australian manufacture, Warren & Brown, makers of automotive tools - possibly a line worth following up... Their web site states they have been in existence for 90 years, so back in the 1920's these wrenches were probably still being made, especially in country that relied heavily on agriculture and agricultural machinery...

[tucker]

i have found many us made tools over here,so maybe not such a long shot.[warren pa]
can find nothing on warren.
brian

[harborrat]

Here's a link to a "Warren Tools" box wrench for sale on eBay.  They claim it was made in Oakland CA.    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Warren-Tools-1-2-Box-Open-Wrench-/271116291936?pt=US_Hand_Tools&hash=item3f1fca4f60   There was also a Warren Axe & Tool Co in Warren PA from the 1890s to the 1950s.   There was also a Warren Tool Corp. in Warren Ohio.  The company in PA specialized in axe heads and their production was limited to those as well as some lumberjack tools.  At one point they built a factory in Ontario Canada as well.  The Ohio company apparently made hand tools and vises. 

Nottinghamshire?  Please have a pint of mild for me!

[adamo]

"Warren Axe & Tool Co in Warren PA from the 1890s to the 1950s"

I was thinking about the warren tool company too but their wrenches didn't look at all like this one. 

HD Smith made a monkey wrench very similar to this but the handle was different.

Sorry no help from me.