Archives

It’s well known that Craftsman/Sears never made a tool, but they knew where to get them. For the manufacturers who made tools for Craftsman it could be both good and not so good, especially when the contract expired or if it was canceled, a not uncommon event. To allow identifying the contracted company that made a failed tool to meet the terms of the Craftsman Guarantee (“Craftsman tools are unconditionally guaranteed to be free from any defects in materials and workmanship. Any tool that fails to give complete satisfaction will be replaced free of charge.”) codes were stamped or forged into tools. Part of the appeal to collecting Craftsman tools is to identity who made a specific tool. It’s not always an easy task. This Pipe Wrench, a heavy-duty Ridgid pattern, bears a letter “Y” inside a “Circle” (see images) and the identity of the manufacturer was unknown or unconfirmed until relatively recently. McKaig-Hatch “was a merchant drop-forger and tool maker” (according to Alloy Artifacts) that began business in 1913 and remained little known until the 1940s. Knowledgeable collectors eventually settled on the Company as the maker behind the mysterious “Circle-Y” or “Y-Circle” — depending on your personal preference. A Wrench closely resembling this 5567 appears in at least two catalogs; “Craftsman Tools: 1957 by Sears, Roebuck and Co.” (https://archive.org/details/SearsCraftsmanHandTools1957/page/n9/mode/2up) and “Craftsman Hand Tools: 1964 by Sears, Roebuck and Co.” (https://archive.org/details/SearsCraftsmanHandTools1964/page/n45/mode/2up). Subsequent Catalogs’ images are not clear enough to be certain whether the “Elongated Hanging Hole” (see images) remained, but our best guess is that McHaig-Hatch produced the Wrench for Sears in the 1950s and perhaps into early 1960s. In the 1960s advertisements appeared that promoted a new line of tools from the Company that does not seem to have gone into wide production, likely the result of losing the valuable Craftsman contract. In the mid-1960s their tools were being offered by a bargain tool seller (http://alloy-artifacts.org/mckaig-hatch.html). The Company’s name slowly disappeared thereafter. The Wrench is in fully-functional condition. The Dynamic Jaw moves smoothly and the Jaws meet properly. The Teeth are quite sharp (see images). The Handle is straight and the Wrench might never have been used as a hammer (see images). It’s pretty enough to add to a Show-and-Tell Accumulation and functional enough to be used as it was designed. We will ship the Wrench by USPS Ground Advantage on the next regular business day following payment.