The Rex Wrench Co.

[Ray Smi7th]

Bought this set of sockets at a flea market a couple years ago with one cracked socket and missing the handle for $15. A friend of mine came by recently and I was showing it to him and mentioned I would like to make a new handle for it.
He is a machinist and offered to make one for me if I could supply the dimensions. I had already made a drawing from a picture on the Alloy Artifacts website and gave it to him.
A couple days later he presented me with the tool! Even laser engraved the patent date onto the shaft! It functions well but he advised against putting undue pressure on it as the weld(it is made from 3 pieces of metal)is somewhat small and might crack.He also "aged" the metal a bit by dipping it in a chemical bath(I think Naval Jelly) and placing some nicks in the surface at various points.
The company was only in business for a short time(1906-1916 according to AA)and was a most unique setup. The sockets;instead of being sized fractionally,are stamped with numbers 1-8. On the lid of the box is a chart showing what number to use with which size bolt.
They hook into a pin on the handle and then the socket is rotated into position.There is a dmall detent ball in the handle that drops into a depression in the socket hook allowing it to stay in one of 4 positions(straight;30;60;and 90 degrees).
In addition to the sockets;there is also a screwdriver bit and an open end. There is a catalog picture on AA that shows a set of open end wrenches with this setup as well.

[Yadda]

Nice to have friends with skills.

[Northwoods]

Wow!  Most cool!
I am sure Rex avoided patent suits, though.

[mvwcnews]

Sets of both the "socket" and "crowfoot" type REX wrenches have gone thru auctions at York, NE over the years.  A number of years back, the "corporate seal" embossing stamp for the REX WRENCH CO. went thru eBay. I "sniped" a photo.