The Wright Stuff

Manufacturers, configurations, Shovels, Axe, Wrenches, Oiler, F/E etc.
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rjbeamer
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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by rjbeamer » Fri Apr 14, 2017 4:08 pm

Nice collection of 3/4" drive sockets. The 1 3/16" is a real odd ball to find in any brand. Good luck on your hunt.

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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by mrbill » Wed Jul 26, 2017 4:43 pm

Picked up another N-60 ratchet with a 1945 date code and AC stamping. In lieu of an actual catalog or evidence to the contrary I'm beginning to believe that the N-62 was made post war. All of the N-62s that I've seen are stamped 45+ as the earliest date. Anybody seen an N-62 with a -45 or earlier stamping?
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1945 Ford GPW 268739 from the Dallas, TX plant.

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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by mrbill » Wed Jul 26, 2017 4:54 pm

Many thanks to mudbox, too, for helping me move the needle up the scale with the addition of a 25/32" socket and a spare U-11 universal.
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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by mrbill » Sat Aug 12, 2017 7:28 pm

I picked up this socket at a garage sale today. I almost dismissed it as post-war because it was chromed/shiny. On closer inspection it turned out to be a 41+ 1-1/4" 41-W-3029-10 socket. First Wright tool I've found with a marking prior to 1942.
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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by Wingnutt » Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:51 am

I have something interesting to report to you (and all), Mr. Bill!

Someone doing a Google search for information on his old Wright ratchets ran into a few of my old posts talking about the "AC 43" markings. He contacted me and told me there is a book out there called "Remembering the Boys: A Collection of Letters, a Gathering of Memories", all written by alumni from Western Reserve Academy (now Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland, Ohio, during WWII, to each other and to their former headmaster. Here is a link to the book on Amazon.

He also told me that there are references inside the book to the school's machine shop classroom being used by the students during the war to make tools under subcontract to Wright Tool & Forge! :shock: :lol:

So I did a search on Google Books and searched inside the book on "Wright Tool" and look what turned up!

Image

We all know about Mfgrs subcontracting production out to other Mfgrs due to insufficient capacity to keep up with production schedules, and with the help of the Defense Plant Corporation, a quasi-private quasi-government agency set up to convert other plants into defense production plants, we know that many factories and mills making civilian goods before the war were transformed into defense production plants during the war, but this is the first time I have ever heard of a school being used by a tool maker to make tools.

An amazing story!!
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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by Mark Tombleson » Sat Sep 09, 2017 8:57 am

Did it say how old these boys were? Wow, you wonder if that school was the only one making items during the war? I bet more!
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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by Wingnutt » Sat Sep 09, 2017 10:33 am

The book has not been unlocked for full read by Google, Mark, only limited excerpts, which I have shown. I already have it on order from my local library via interlibrary loan. I'll report more when I have it in hand. But I can tell you that the boys were high school age. CWA is a prep school associated and co-located with Case Western Reserve University.
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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by mrbill » Sat Sep 09, 2017 11:19 am

Excellent work Mr. Stefko! I picked up a couple items recently that don't add much to the narrative, just my inventory. eBay provided Wright catalog #57 (from 1957 - the same one cited as a reference on Alloy Artifacts). I also picked up a -42 dated X78 stud puller.
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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by Tin Medic » Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:15 pm

Bill, here's a couple of pieces if you need them. 3/8 speeder, 5/8 uni socket and B-40. I have 2 of the B-40's, a 39 and a 41.
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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by Joe Gopan » Sat Sep 09, 2017 9:37 pm

I have a number of NOS GI Issue Wright 3/4" Drive Sockets that range from 1-4" with a few Snap-On mixed in. Some are still preservative wrapped. They are part of a Tank Farm Tool Set.
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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by mrbill » Sun Sep 10, 2017 7:44 am

Ben Dover wrote:
Sat Sep 09, 2017 9:37 pm
I have a number of NOS GI Issue Wright 3/4" Drive Sockets that range from 1-4" with a few Snap-On mixed in. Some are still preservative wrapped. They are part of a Tank Farm Tool Set.
Joel,

It's amazing how well the tools hold up when they've been preserved in cosmoline. You can see the extensions upthread that I picked up. I cleaned one of them up for daily use and it looks brand new once it was cleaned up. If you are able to and get the chance, post some pictures of the 3/4" socket set that you have.

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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by mrbill » Sun Sep 10, 2017 7:50 am

Tin Medic wrote:
Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:15 pm
Bill, here's a couple of pieces if you need them. 3/8 speeder, 5/8 uni socket and B-40. I have 2 of the B-40's, a 39 and a 41.
Tin,

I'll definitely take you up on your offer! Shoot me a PM or email and we'll work out the details. I have no idea what a B-40 is, though. It's not in the 57 catalog that I just picked up and I've never seen one before.

Bill
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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by twertsy » Tue Sep 12, 2017 2:34 am

I recently picked up '56 and '58 Wright catalogs. They'll be going up on my site in the coming months.

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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by mrbill » Sun Sep 17, 2017 8:09 am

Mark Tombleson wrote:
Sat Sep 09, 2017 8:57 am
Did it say how old these boys were?
Mark,
I just got a copy of the book. Western Reserve Academy was a college prep school so the boys would have been high school age. Many were drafted or enlisted at the age of 18. They lost 46 alumni during the war. For their work in the machine shop they received 50 cents an hour.

Bill
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Re: The Wright Stuff

Post by mrbill » Sun Sep 17, 2017 8:20 am

Wingnutt wrote:
Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:51 am
I have something interesting to report to you (and all), Mr. Bill!

...

He also told me that there are references inside the book to the school's machine shop classroom being used by the students during the war to make tools under subcontract to Wright Tool & Forge! :shock: :lol:

...
Always appreciate your hard work, Wingnutt. I got a copy of the book yesterday and did a quick scan of the contents. Here are the salient bits I picked up:
  • On page xx of the introduction it mentions that The machine shop, under the direction of Louis Tepper, went on a “war-time basis” and filled war contracts from nearby production companies.
  • The next mention is on page 24 where In April (1942) Louis Tepper’s duties changed drastically. The boys in the machine shop, under his guidance, began the monumental effort to fulfill a war contract from the Bardons and Oliver Automatic Screw Machine Company of Cleveland. The April 9 Record (school paper) carried the news of the machine shop gearing up for production. The shop was redesigned to meet wartime demands of fulfilling a 2,300-part order received by the company from the government. The order included a request for eight hundred gear shafts and fifteen hundred steady-rest slides for box turning tools. Tepper arranged the specifications for the work, which was to be done by the boys who were taking machine shop as one of the new “war activities”.
  • Page 60 again mentions Bardons and Oliver: In December (1942) the machine shop had once again geared up for production of war-related materials for Bardons and Oliver, setting a goal of 12,000 man-hours for the school year.
  • Again on p. 77: Throughout the school year, the machine shop continued producing materials for Bardons and Oliver, determined to meet its goal of twelve thousand man-hours.
  • On page 102 is the excerpt Wingnutt posted that Earlier in the term (this would be in 1943) , the machine shop contracted with the Wright Tool and Forge Company to produce ratchet wrenches. … The interesting bit - to me - comes in the next paragraph. A general order was issued last year that all combat planes carry a kit of tools each mission so that if they were forced down and needed such tools for emergency repairs, it would enable them to save the ship and, in some instances, the lives of the crew. I would definitely like to see one of THOSE!
  • The other Wright excerpt Wingnutt shared is on p.126 and mentions the boys getting paid 50 cents an hour for their work on the ratchet wrenches.
  • The last mention I can find of the machine shop is on pp. 136-137 but no mention of manufacturers, just commentary about Louis Tepper.
I'm hoping a more thorough read might turn up some additional tidbits of information.

Bill
1945 Ford GPW 268739 from the Dallas, TX plant.


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