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Author Topic: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catharines, Ontario.  (Read 47787 times)

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Offline Papaw

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catherines, Ontario.
« Reply #15 on: December 27, 2011, 05:55:01 PM »
Welcome to Tool Talk, Chills! We are proud to have you join us!
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Offline lbgradwell

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catharines, Ontario.
« Reply #16 on: January 28, 2012, 09:43:10 PM »
Thanks to the efforts of Neals, the 1960 ETF Catalogue & 1962 Price List is now available for download!

http://www.mediafire.com/?f85bcfoof02gjg7

Thank you very much for the time & effort you've put into this Neal; it's a great resource for tool historians in general and Canadian tool fans in particular.
« Last Edit: April 09, 2012, 09:13:48 PM by lbgradwell »
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Kijiji King

Offline Neals

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catherines, Ontario.
« Reply #17 on: January 28, 2012, 10:02:02 PM »
Much of the credit belongs to LG who did the skilled parts that were beyond me. Many thanks!
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Offline Neals

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catherines, Ontario.
« Reply #18 on: January 29, 2012, 04:27:01 PM »
ETF sold socket sets. I have never seen any marked ETF.  Have any of you seen one? I wonder if they are some other brand.
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Offline lbgradwell

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catharines, Ontario.
« Reply #19 on: January 29, 2012, 05:35:37 PM »
Neal, I was looking at that very thing last night...

I'd say it's about a 99.99% certainty that Wright was the manufacturer of ETF-branded socketry; the model numbers (and descriptions - i.e. ratchet handles) match up exactly.
« Last Edit: April 09, 2012, 09:14:01 PM by lbgradwell »
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Kijiji King

Offline lbgradwell

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catharines, Ontario.
« Reply #20 on: February 02, 2012, 12:35:25 PM »
Bill Andrews has sent me two more photos of ETF-related items that he acquired from his former sister-in-law - who was the daughter of Vern Harper.

The first item is an envelope from the company. This envelope is from after 1985 (since that is when this logo first appeared):



The second item is more interesting. This is Vern's employee badge from when he worked at the plant!



How cool is that?!
« Last Edit: April 09, 2012, 09:14:12 PM by lbgradwell »
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Kijiji King

Offline Papaw

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catherines, Ontario.
« Reply #21 on: February 02, 2012, 03:59:21 PM »
Quote
How cool is that?!

More than just cool!
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Offline Ken W.

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catherines, Ontario.
« Reply #22 on: February 04, 2012, 01:27:34 AM »
These tool were made just over the river from me , yet I never see any around here.I'll have to start going to estate sales in Canada.Nice post.
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Offline kxxr

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catherines, Ontario.
« Reply #23 on: March 05, 2012, 06:18:09 PM »
I picked this up just so I could put it in this thread (and the price was right) I could have rubbed off that bit of 'patina' on the ends there, but I didn't want to ruin it. I haven't had a look in the '62 catalog to see if this one is in there but I do think it is a bit newer than the ones shown earlier. A nice hefty club of a wrench by any standard; just under 11 inches long.



I did take a quick look and it looks like they may be shown in the catalog in the 'open stock' section. I'm not sure though.
« Last Edit: March 05, 2012, 06:28:18 PM by kxxr »
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Offline kxxr

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catherines, Ontario.
« Reply #24 on: March 07, 2012, 05:59:07 PM »
Another ETF tool:

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Offline OilyRascal

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catherines, Ontario.
« Reply #25 on: March 07, 2012, 06:20:22 PM »
This is another of my favorite threads.  Thanks for sharing the information and showing this novice collector the classy way to research and document tools.

I will be sure to pickup any ETF tool I may come across in my travels - if for no other reason this thread and now knowing some of their history. 

Again, Thanks!
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Offline Neals

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catherines, Ontario.
« Reply #26 on: March 07, 2012, 08:17:24 PM »
kxxr- I think your open end is older than the 62 catalogue. The catalogue lists nickle, poly chrome, and satin finishes. Yours does not appear to have a finish on it. Some of the older ones don't. The markings in the catalogue are a bit clearer than in the pdf. They do not match what you have.
The double box end is in the catalogue. Listed as a 45 degree double box. Was available in poly chrome and satin finishes. Available as open stock or in several sets. Not a common wrench in this area. I've only seen a few while the open end is fairly common in at least 4 designs.
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Offline kxxr

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catherines, Ontario.
« Reply #27 on: March 13, 2012, 04:45:57 PM »
If I drive north just over an hour, I'd be in Alberta, if they let me through. I haven't tried it since the passport requirement was enacted. I wonder if my DBE was smuggled in from north of here or got here some other way.
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Offline Neals

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catherines, Ontario.
« Reply #28 on: March 14, 2012, 03:28:47 AM »
I don't know if ETF was ever sold in the US. Tools seem to migrate all by themselves. I have seen a few old corn corn huskers here and northern Alberta is a long way from the corn belt.
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Offline Flatintoone

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Re: The story of ETF Tools of St. Catherines, Ontario.
« Reply #29 on: March 28, 2012, 12:30:35 PM »
What a great forum! Just joined, and have already learned a lot about two of my puzzling recent acquisitions.

I picked up an ETF pipe wrench at an estate sale recently and wondered about the company's origins.

I suspect this one was sold in Canada and brought over. The same sale yielded a couple of Canadian-made Gray wrenches and I noticed other evidence of "Canadianness" in the house.
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