Alloy Artifacts |
The Armstrong Bros. Tool Company began in 1890 as a maker of bicycle parts and service tools, founded in Chicago, Illinois by four brothers. Their first manufacturing operations were conducted literally from a backyard wooden shed, and the brothers also operated a retail store for their bicycle parts.
In 1895 Armstrong introduced what would become their first major product, a tool holder for lathe cutting bits. Developed from their own manufacturing operations, the Armstrong tool holder was a forged handle that accepted small interchangeable cutting bits, thereby replacing the individually forged cutting tools previously required. This dramatically reduced the time and expense involved in making lathe cutting tools, and it's fair to say that these tool holders revolutionized the industry.
With the success of the tool holder, in 1900 Armstrong built their first real factory at 617 Austin Avenue in Chicago. This was replaced a few years later in 1905 by a 100,000 square foot brick factory at 317 North Francisco Avenue, a site they would occupy for many years.
Up until 1909 Armstrong concentrated primarily on tool holders and related products, but in 1909 they started producing a line of drop-forged wrenches. This line of tools continued to expand over the years.
The advertisement in Fig. 0A was published on page 52 of the April, 1915 issue of Mill Supplies. The illustration shows a number of the company's drop-forged wrenches, incuding tool-post, textile, and S-shaped designs, as well as a range of standard double-open wrenches.
By 1918 Armstrong had become one of the "Big Nine" of the forging industry: nine companies who together accounted for nearly all of the drop-forged wrench production. These companies jointly signed a Conservation Agreement to reduce manpower and materials, as requested by the War Industries Board.
By 1920 Armstrong was offering three sizes of "Aero" tappet wrenches made of chrome-nickel steel, an early example of alloy steel usage for tools.
The notice in Fig. 0B, published on page 748 of the November, 1920 issue of Railway Mechanical Engineer, announces Armstrong catalog B-20 and notes the inclusion of "Aero" tappets among the new products.
By 1927 Armstrong was offering the Armstrong-Vanadium line of alloy steel open-end and tappet wrenches, and around the same time began a highly successful collaboration with Blackhawk Manufacturing for the Blackhawk-Armstrong line of wrenches. The arrangement with Blackhawk was somewhat unusual in that Armstrong provided contract manufacturing, but also received name recognition from the joint company marking.
In 1948 the company moved from the Francisco Avenue site to 5200 West Armstrong Avenue, where they remain today. A second manufacturing facility in Fayetteville, Arkansas was added in 1974.
In 1994 Armstrong was acquired by the Danaher Group, a conglomerate with other tool company holdings including Allen, K-D, Matco, and Moore Drop Forging. Armstrong operates now as the Industrial Hand Tools division of Danaher.
More information on the history and development of Armstrong is available from the company's www.armstrongtools.com [External Link] web site.
Armstrong was a highly innovative organization from its beginning, and received (or licensed) many patents over the years. Their early catalogs even include a list of patent dates in the front, a thoughtful addition that would have been more useful if the patent numbers had been included as well.
Patent No. | Inventor | Filed | Issued | Notes and Examples |
---|---|---|---|---|
492,381 | G. Armstrong | 02/28/1893 | Tool Holder | |
535,440 | J. Armstrong | 03/12/1895 | Tool Holder | |
04/19/1898 | Date Noted in Catalog | |||
613,950 | H.D. Williams et al | 05/28/1890 | 11/08/1898 | Levered Ratchet Drill |
658,478 | H.D. Williams et al | 02/15/1897 | 09/25/1900 | Mechanical Movement for Ratchet Drill |
08/28/1900 | Date Noted in Catalog | |||
09/25/1900 | Date Noted in Catalog | |||
01/29/1901 | Date Noted in Catalog | |||
675,184 | J. Armstrong | 1/20/1900 | 05/28/1901 | Tool Holder |
725,019 | J. Armstrong | 05/29/1902 | 04/14/1903 | Tool Holder |
779,516 | J. Armstrong | 03/21/1904 | 01/10/1905 | Process of Cutting Steel |
914,012 | P. Armstrong | 11/15/1906 | 03/02/1909 | Ratchet Drill |
960,769 | J. Armstrong | 09/18/1908 | 06/07/1910 | Knurling Tool |
1,214,498 | J. Armstrong | 01/14/1916 | 02/06/1917 | Tool Holder |
07/10/1917 | Date Noted in Catalog | |||
10/09/1917 | Date Noted in Catalog | |||
1,252,031 | W.S. Robinson | 12/26/1916 | 01/01/1918 | Planer-Tool Holder |
1,277,481 | W.S. Robinson | 08/11/1917 | 09/03/1918 | Tool Holder |
1,343,257 | J.C. Fletcher | 07/17/1919 | 06/15/1920 | Tool Holder |
1,495,751 | J.V. Larson | 11/10/1922 | 05/27/1924 | Adjustable Wrench |
1,584,347 | L.F. Armstrong | 04/23/1925 | 05/11/1926 | Tool Holder |
01/04/1927 | Date Noted in Catalog | |||
1,621,226 | S.J. Welter | 09/19/1923 | 03/15/1927 | Milling Cutter |
1,653,326 | S.J. Welter | 04/23/1925 | 12/20/1927 | Chain Pipe Vise |
1,676,210 | P. Armstrong | 11/29/1926 | 07/03/1928 | Pipe Wrench |
1,732,549 | L.F. Armstrong | 02/17/1928 | 10/22/1929 | Wrench for Tool Holder |
2,008,367 | H.A. Rhinevault | 10/26/1934 | 07/16/1935 | Locking Detent for Sockets
Armstrong S-110 1/2-Drive Locking Extension |
2,078,475 | S.J. Welter | 12/07/1934 | 04/27/1937 | Tool Holder |
2,162,359 | H.A. Rhinevault | 08/22/1936 | 06/13/1939 | Socket Locking Device |
2,190,585 | H.A. Rhinevault | 08/22/1936 | 02/13/1940 | C Clamp |
2,193,984 | H.A. Rhinevault | 04/16/1937 | 03/19/1940 | Reversible Ratchet Wrench |
Armstrong registered a number of trademarks, including the well-known Strong-Arm logo, the Armstrong name, and "Armaloy", their trademark for alloy-steel tools.
Armstrong tools are generally clearly marked with the Armstrong name or trademarked logo, and so are easy to identify. Early tools may be marked with symbol consisting of an "A" within a triangle, referred to here as the A-Triangle logo.
Armstrong is not known to have used any kind of a date code marking for its tools. Without such markings, any estimation of manufacturing dates will have to be based on other information, such as the design or style, patents, trademarks, finish, and so on.
Probably the most important date marker for Armstrong tools is the "Armaloy" trademark, registered with its first use in late 1946 and (presumably) marked on alloy-steel tools shortly after that. In this article we'll assume a manufacturing date of 1947 or later for Armaloy-marked tools.
Another useful indication of the manufacturing date follows from the 1978 introduction of a new product numbering system. The new system assigned a five digit model number to all tools, with part of the number indicating a category for the tool and the final digits typically encoding the size. The new model numbers were first used in Armstrong catalog 880 of 1978, and that catalog includes a cross-reference table of old and new numbers.
The following observations and events may be helpful in estimating the manufacturing date for some tools.
Photographs and observations of particular tools are based on items in the Alloy Artifacts collection.
Catalog | Date | Format | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
B-20 | 1920 | Booklet | Lists three sizes of "Aero" tappet wrenches in chrome-nickel steel.
Notice for catalog in November, 1920 issue of Railway Mechanical Engineer. |
B-23 | 1923 | Booklet | Lists "Aero" tappet wrenches in chrome-nickel steel. |
B-27 | 1927 | Booklet | Armstrong-Vanadium open-end and tappet wrenches available.
Includes price update dated January 1, 1928. |
B-27A | 1928 | Booklet | No sockets tools listed. |
B-35 | 1935 | Booklet | Includes sockets and drive tools.
Largest socket tools in 1 inch hex drive X-Series. |
C-39 | 1939 | Half | Combination ("Multitype") wrenches offered.
Socket tools in 9/32-drive available. "Drivelock" locking system for 1/2, 3/4, and 1 inch drive tools. Sockets and tools for 1 inch square drive in XX-series. |
C-39a | 1942? | Half | Insert mentions War Production Board.
Notes Army-Navy "E" production award. All socket tools specify "Chrome-Vanadium Steel". Socket tools in 9/32-drive available. X-series model numbers for 1 inch drive, no cross-bar hole for sockets. |
C-39b | 1944? | Half | Notes Army-Navy "E" production award.
All socket tools specify "Alloy Steel". Socket tools in 1/4-drive NM-series available. |
S-48 | 1948 | Half | Armaloy trademark in use |
57 | 1956 | Full | |
700 | 1961 | Full | S-91 ratchet available with round knurled handle |
700-A | 1966 | Full | Sockets still with wide-groove design. |
820A | 1973 | Full | S-91 ratchet with flat-sided knurled handle.
Sockets with narrow-groove design. |
880 | 1978 | Full | Introduction of new 5-digit product numbering system.
Sockets still with narrow-groove design. |
Armstrong tools were distributed by many industrial supply companies, and the catalogs from these suppliers may contain helpful information on Armstrong products. We'll add references to some of these as time permits.
Carbon steel was the dominant material for toolmaking until around the mid 1920s, when various alloy steels came into general use.
Fig. 1A shows an early Armstrong No. 2 7/16 toolpost wrench, marked with "Armstrong" forged into the shank, with "No. 2" forged into the reverse.
The overall length is 5.0 inches, and the finish is plain steel.
Fig. 1B shows an early Armstrong No. 5 7/8 toolpost wrench, stamped with "Armstrong Bros. Tool Co." and "Chicago, U.S.A." plus the model number on the face, with "1/2 NUT" on the reverse. The shank is also marked with the Strong-Arm logo forged into the front, with "5" forged into the reverse.
The overall length is 8.1 inches, and the finish is plain steel.
The reverse face marking is a reference to the older U.S.S. size convention for the 7/8 opening.
Fig. 2A shows an early Armstrong 23A 3/8x7/16 open-end wrench, stamped "Armstrong" and "Chicago, U.S.A." on the face, with the A-Triangle logo forged into the shank. The reverse faces are stamped with the opening sizes as "1/4 CAP" and "3/16 CAP", references to the older Hex Capscrew size convention.
The overall length is 4.0 inches, and the finish is plain steel.
Fig. 2 shows an early Armstrong 1623-C 7/16x1/2 check-nut wrench, stamped "Armstrong Bros. Tool Co." and "Chicago, U.S.A." on the face, with the A-Triangle logo forged into the shank. The reverse faces are stamped with the opening sizes as "5/16 S.A.E." and "1/4 S.A.E.", references to the older S.A.E. size convention.
The overall length is 4.4 inches, and the finish is plain steel.
The wrench is listed in the automotive section of the 1921 Armstrong catalog.
Fig. 3 shows an Armstrong 629C 3/4x7/8 open-end check-nut (thin) wrench, marked "Armstrong Chicago U.S.A." on the face, with a forged-in A-Triangle logo on the shank. The overall length is 6.5 inches.
The inset shows the reverse side markings, with the model number "629" in raised letters and "C" stamped into the shank.
The mix of forged-in and stamped markings probably indicates that one forged blank could be used to make several wrench models.
Fig. 4 shows an Armstrong 661D 5/16x3/8 S-shaped open-end wrench, marked with the A-Triangle logo forged into the shank, with the model number forged into the reverse.
The overall length is 4.0 inches, and the finish is plain steel.
The Armstrong catalog lists this model for use with hex capscrew sizes 1/8 and 3/16, corresponding to the fractional opening sizes 5/16 and 3/8, as stamped on the wrench faces. The use of A-Triangle logo with fractional size markings suggests production in the late 1920s.
Fig. 5 shows an early Armstrong 807 1-1/16 hex single-box wrench, marked with the model number forged into the shank, and with the A-Triangle logo forged into the reverse.
The overall length is 9.3 inches, and the finish is plain steel.
Fig. 6 shows an early Armstrong 903 11/16 open-end structural wrench, marked with the model number and A-Triangle logo forged into the shank, and stamped "Hardened" on top.
The overall length is 8.9 inches, although part of the pointed handle appears to have been broken off. (The 1923 catalog specified a length of 9.5 inches.) The finish is plain steel.
The opening is stamped "3/8 NUT", a reference to the older U.S.S. size convention. The 1923 Armstrong catalog noted that this wrench was sized for "rough nuts", with the milled opening 1/32 oversize.
Armstrong continued to produce certain tools in carbon steel models even after the widespread adoption of alloy steels, for applications where the greater strength (but higher cost) of alloy steel was not needed.
Fig. 7 shows an Armstrong 31 25/32x7/8 open-end wrench, stamped on the face with "Armstrong" and "Made in U.S.A." with the Strong-Arm logo.
The overall length is 9.4 inches, and the finish is gray paint with polished faces.
Fig. 8 shows an Armstrong 5B782 9/16x5/8 open-end wrench, stamped "Made in U.S.A." with the Strong-Arm logo on the face.
The overall length is 6.6 inches, and the finish is plain steel with traces of black paint,
Several sources have suggested that open-end wrenches in the 5B78x model series were made for Caterpillar, so this wrench has been provisionally identified as production for Caterpillar.
Similar wrenches were also produced by Billings and can be seen as the Billings 5B784 Wrench and Billings 5B785 Wrench.
Fig. 9 shows an Armstrong 5B786 1-1/16x1-1/8 open-end wrench, stamped "Made in U.S.A." with the Strong-Arm logo on the face.
The overall length is 11.7 inches, and the finish is plain steel with traces of black paint,
Several sources have suggested that open-end wrenches in the 5B78x model series were made for Caterpillar, so this wrench has been provisionally identified as production for Caterpillar.
Fig. 11 shows a later checknut wrench, an Armstrong 637 1-1/16 by 1-1/4 thin open-end wrench, stamped on the face with "Armstrong" and "Made in U.S.A." with the Strong-Arm logo.
The overall length is 10.1 inches, and the finish is gray paint with polished faces.
Fig. 12 shows an Armstrong 607-A 1-1/8 single-open check-nut wrench, stamped "Armstrong" and "Made in U.S.A." with the Strong-Arm logo on the face. The shank is stamped with the model number and also has a forged-in Strong-Arm logo, visible at the left.
The overall length is 8.5 inches, and the finish is gray paint with polished faces.
Fig. 13 shows an Armstrong 661G 3/8x1/2 S-shaped open-end wrench, stamped on the face with "Armstrong" and "Made in U.S.A." with the Strong-Arm logo.
The overall length is 4.0 inches. The original finish was black paint, but most of the paint has been worn off.
This wrench is listed in the catalogs as a heavy-duty model for hex-head cap screws.
Fig. 13B shows an Armstrong 204-A 3/4 single-open construction wrench, stamped with the fractional size and model number followed by "Hardened" on the shank, and with the Strong-Arm logo forged into the shank. The reverse is marked with "Armstrong" and "U.S.A." forged into the shank.
The overall length is 11.4 inches, and the finish is plain steel.
This model was listed in the 1948 catalog as a "Hi-Ten" construction wrench.
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