R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
- Wingnutt
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
They do like rather Bonney-ish. (The band of knurling is a little wider and shallower, and the broaching inside kind of wispy in the RTECs.) That's the third set I have seen with "RTEC" (no period marks) sockets now, Mud. One of the other two had the same four (4) "R.T.E.C." ignition wrenches in it as mine and a no-name Plomb ratchet. The second one had a no-name driver, but no R.T.E.C. ignition wrenches. None of the three (including yours) have had the R.T.E.C. pliers. The mystery is why they all seem to have the same set number (7016)! My hunch is that the 7016 set should have all the tools (sockets, ratchet, driver, sliding tee, and the four ignition wrenches and pliers), but I'm not sure all of them would fit in the box. (If you send me the sockets, ratchet and sliding tee, I'll do a test. )
Edit: All joking aside, I just did a little test with orphan components (Cornwell ratchet, Walden driver, unmarked sliding tee). There's no way to get all those and the ignition wrenches and pliers into this box. I managed the ratchet and sliding tee, or driver and sliding tee. The ratchet and driver will not fit. The box is 6-3/4" W x 2-1/4" deep x 1" H. So the question remains, which handles are original to the 7016 set? The sockets are implicit. The R.T.E.C. marked ignition wrenches and pliers seem implicit. It requires at least one handle to turn the sockets.
The other two sets can be seen on this Garage Gazette thread, page 53, keep scrolling down: http://www.thegaragegazette.com/index.p ... =10626.780
As for the little L-wrench, that sure looks like a Torx end to me, not a fluted socket head (or Bristol) end.
Edit: All joking aside, I just did a little test with orphan components (Cornwell ratchet, Walden driver, unmarked sliding tee). There's no way to get all those and the ignition wrenches and pliers into this box. I managed the ratchet and sliding tee, or driver and sliding tee. The ratchet and driver will not fit. The box is 6-3/4" W x 2-1/4" deep x 1" H. So the question remains, which handles are original to the 7016 set? The sockets are implicit. The R.T.E.C. marked ignition wrenches and pliers seem implicit. It requires at least one handle to turn the sockets.
The other two sets can be seen on this Garage Gazette thread, page 53, keep scrolling down: http://www.thegaragegazette.com/index.p ... =10626.780
As for the little L-wrench, that sure looks like a Torx end to me, not a fluted socket head (or Bristol) end.
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- mudbox
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
Thanks Fred. OAL is about 2-1/2" long. The working end measure about 5/32".Fred Coldwell wrote:What size is that beauty? Screwy friends set in their ways want to know. Great find!
Well, I was thinking Bonney, but side to side, they're really nothing alike. Perhaps old style Duro?Wingnutt wrote:They do like rather Bonney-ish. (The band of knurling is a little wider and shallower, and the broaching inside kind of wispy in the RTECs.)
Sure thing. I'll get them right over!Wingnutt wrote:...I'm not sure all of them would fit in the box. (If you send me the sockets, ratchet and sliding tee, I'll do a test. )
I always thought that 7016 was the post code for Camden NJ at the time.Wingnutt wrote:The mystery is why they all seem to have the same set number (7016)!
Wingnutt wrote:As for the little L-wrench, that sure looks like a Torx end to me, not a fluted socket head (or Bristol) end.
Dang-it! In my haste to post some images (I was at work), I didn't have my other wrench handy to compare with. I think you're right, though the sizes are remarkably similar. The working end on the 41-W-2459 marked wrench is maybe 64th larger than the one that came with the RTEC kit? Do you think the torx was spec for something Signal Corps related? Man... what a bummer.
-Jason
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
Doh, I didn't even think of that! I thought they were two-digit numbers. I'll have to research that. EDIT: Looked it up. Postal zones, instituted in 1943, were 1- and 2-digit numbers.mudbox wrote: I always thought that 7016 was the post code for Camden NJ at the time.
That's definitely a Torx. Not invented until late 60's I believe.
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- d42jeep
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
Here are the photos of Bill's RTEC marked set from the Garage Journal and the unmarked spinner that I'm sending to Wingnutt. It looks like we meet to be on the lookout for another one for Jason's new set.
-Don
-Don
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- Bill's RTEC set
- IMG_4277.JPG (148.85 KiB) Viewed 1339 times
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- Bill's RTEC set
- IMG_4276.JPG (148.57 KiB) Viewed 1339 times
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- Unmarked RTEC spinner
- IMG_4279.JPG (165.85 KiB) Viewed 1339 times
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- Unmarked RTEC spinner
- IMG_4280.JPG (139.55 KiB) Viewed 1339 times
Ford GPW 76344 DOD 11/42 Built in Richmond, CA
- Wingnutt
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
He doesn't need one - it won't fit in the box anyway!
Todd posted an update on his R.T.E.C. research, by the way. He's got the company confirmed back to 1943 now!
http://www.thegaragegazette.com/index.p ... =10626.795
Todd posted an update on his R.T.E.C. research, by the way. He's got the company confirmed back to 1943 now!
http://www.thegaragegazette.com/index.p ... =10626.795
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
It would fit if he got rid of that Bonney ratchet!Wingnutt wrote:He doesn't need one - it won't fit in the box anyway! :lol
-Don
Ford GPW 76344 DOD 11/42 Built in Richmond, CA
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
Looking much better with a recent addition from California!
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- mudbox
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
Sure is! Congrats.Wingnutt wrote:Looking much better with a recent addition from California!
Do you think that RTEC was making their own sockets? I know your set has Walden sockets, but the RTEC sockets don't quite match anything else I've seen...
The broaching and the cross hatch knurling are most similar to the SK but the shape is off.
-Jason
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
I don't know. It would be a step up from stamped steel wrenches and plier halves, that's for sure. But not having a good OEM match is a strong implication, I agree.mudbox wrote:Do you think that RTEC was making their own sockets?
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
A very interesting development, courtesy of some Todd research, on the R.T.E.C. subject.
He just sent me this newspaper clip dated November 3, 1945.
I think this is R.T.E.C. working for the Signal Corps to manage the surplus tools sales being advertised under the two (2) Signal Corps contracts cited, much in the same capacity a SETA support contractor would handle that today. SETA stands for System Engineering and Technical Acquisition. Long story short, it's basically a government agency hiring contractors to handle things (usually the 'technical ash & trash', as we call it) almost like extended staff positions. There is no evidence that R.T.E.C. ever made any of the tools listed, many of which are clearly beyond them. At the very least I think this article - while dealing with the technical aspects of selling off the Signal Corps tools (inventorying, review of bids, facilitating pick-up, etc) in their facility, rather than buying, making (some), integrating, and assembling sets of them in their facility at the beginning of the war, clearly helps support my earlier postulation that R.T.E.C. was a Signal Corps contractor.
He just sent me this newspaper clip dated November 3, 1945.
I think this is R.T.E.C. working for the Signal Corps to manage the surplus tools sales being advertised under the two (2) Signal Corps contracts cited, much in the same capacity a SETA support contractor would handle that today. SETA stands for System Engineering and Technical Acquisition. Long story short, it's basically a government agency hiring contractors to handle things (usually the 'technical ash & trash', as we call it) almost like extended staff positions. There is no evidence that R.T.E.C. ever made any of the tools listed, many of which are clearly beyond them. At the very least I think this article - while dealing with the technical aspects of selling off the Signal Corps tools (inventorying, review of bids, facilitating pick-up, etc) in their facility, rather than buying, making (some), integrating, and assembling sets of them in their facility at the beginning of the war, clearly helps support my earlier postulation that R.T.E.C. was a Signal Corps contractor.
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- lt.luke
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
the extension argument would be that RTEC bid on contracts, subcontracted the work, then sold the sub-contract produced to order materials to the government and made a profit margin, having done little to no actual manufacturing?Wingnutt wrote:A very interesting development, courtesy of some Todd research, on the R.T.E.C. subject.
He just sent me this newspaper clip dated November 3, 1945.
I think this is R.T.E.C. working for the Signal Corps to manage the surplus tools sales being advertised under the two (2) Signal Corps contracts cited, much in the same capacity a SETA support contractor would handle that today. SETA stands for System Engineering and Technical Acquisition. Long story short, it's basically a government agency hiring contractors to handle things (usually the 'technical ash & trash', as we call it) almost like extended staff positions. There is no evidence that R.T.E.C. ever made any of the tools listed, many of which are clearly beyond them. At the very least I think this article - while dealing with the technical aspects of selling off the Signal Corps tools (inventorying, review of bids, facilitating pick-up, etc) in their facility, rather than buying, making (some), integrating, and assembling sets of them in their facility at the beginning of the war, clearly helps support my earlier postulation that R.T.E.C. was a Signal Corps contractor.
Luke Sparks
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
Totally agree. This absolutely suggests they operated like a prime/SETA during the war and had their name stamped on some of the tools being made for them, assembling other sets with other sockets and wrenches and drivers, slapping their label and ubiquitous set number on the lid of every box, regardless of the make of the contents.
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
I do not own any RTEC items, so really don't have a dog in the hunt, but I've become interested. One piece of evidence that would support this is a mix-match of RTEC marked items, showing signs of the "same" tool being made by different sub contractors.Wingnutt wrote:Totally agree. This absolutely suggests they operated like a prime/SETA during the war and had their name stamped on some of the tools being made for them, assembling other sets with other sockets and wrenches and drivers, slapping their label and ubiquitous set number on the lid of every box, regardless of the make of the contents.
There was a movie about a company who did something similar at the outset of the GWOT. Your earlier comment reminded me of that in reverse and got my interest.
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- Wingnutt
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
War Dogs, with Miles Teller and Jonah Hill. Great movie. But that is a very extreme example. They were two guys deep and had no semblance of integration or warehouse space whatsoever. That movie gave a bad name to hundreds of legitimate Prime and SETA contractors out there who provide legitimate technical acquisition services, essentially buying piece parts, fabricating other piece parts, and integrating, assembling and fielding entire systems or sets from the piece parts. And that practice does go back to WWII, which was the beginning of the Military-Industrial Economy. The Signal Corps had several of them, all located in the Philly area. The Fleck Brothers was another major contractor they used for acquisition and integration services, and their data plates can be seen on many Signal Corps toolkits.lt.luke wrote:There was a movie about a company who did something similar at the outset of the GWOT.
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Re: R.T.E.C. wrenches - mystery solved
These are the last 2 mentions of RTEC I can find anywhere. Dates are on the file names but the last mention is 1/46.
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