Rossford Repacks: 9/32in Flex-head Handles

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Hartofoak
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Rossford Repacks: 9/32in Flex-head Handles

Post by Hartofoak » Sat Apr 15, 2017 3:21 am

It's surprising what turns up on a UK auction site. I acquired no less than 211, 9/32in. drive, flex-head handles & tommy bars in Rossford Ordnance Depot repacks. I believe all the examples are 1940's vintage, but were packaged in July/August 1951. Most of them were in thirteen boxes of either ten or fifteen handles & bars. I've had to repair some of the boxes which had been in the seller's garage for over 40 years. Some of the handles/bars were unboxed. From these unboxed examples, I found a single Armstrong version, three Williams M42's (with a thicker bar) and ten Plomb WF7's. The rest were Snap-on, M-10-D's, one of which was marked "Midget" and with a "G" code. All the others that I've cleaned up, are by Snap-on in a number of versions. Again, most of the examples are the "twisted plug" style and are marked M-10-DG together with a couple of patent numbers familiar to Snap-on collectors. Now I know something of what it must be like for "Workdawg", "pjones" and the "Workpuppies" to tackle those vast stores of tools! Let me know if you are interested in having a few non-GMTK flex-heads at a price that will only have to cover P&P from the UK.
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Last edited by Hartofoak on Sat Apr 15, 2017 2:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Rossford Repacks: 9/32in Flex-head Handles

Post by Wingnutt » Sat Apr 15, 2017 7:32 am

Hartofoak wrote:I acquired no less than 211, 9/32in. drive, flex-head handles & tommy bars
Amazing, Cliff! That's quite a haul!
Hartofoak wrote:I believe all the examples are 1940's vintage, but were packaged in July/August 1951.
I definitely agree with your logic, especially since it was an obsolete drive size by 1951.

One question, so I understand what you have and what you're doing. Are the handful of handles that appear to be natural steel the ones you have cleaned up? And all the black ones with the tags on them are coated in cosmoline?
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Re: Rossford Repacks: 9/32in Flex-head Handles

Post by Hartofoak » Sat Apr 15, 2017 11:01 am

Yes Greg, they're the examples I solvent cleaned, all the others are cosmolene coated and are wrapped together with their tommy bars. It was worth the £5 bid just to read up about them all in AA and the SO websites! As I'm sure you are aware, Rossford Ordnance Depot was a vast place near Toledo that stored thousands of vehicles including jeeps and spares (note the reference to "tool storage"):
Rossford Ordnance Depot info.jpg
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1946 Rossford Ordnance Depot Jeeps 2.jpg
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Re: Rossford Repacks: 9/32in Flex-head Handles

Post by pjones » Sat Apr 15, 2017 11:29 am

If there were that many jeeps in Toledo in 1946 someone needs to be looking in every barn and warehouse across the state!!

Great find Cliff. Lots of fun to go through this stuff but then your left with one thought "Now what do I do with all this stuff?!"

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Re: Rossford Repacks: 9/32in Flex-head Handles

Post by Wingnutt » Sat Apr 15, 2017 1:06 pm

Hartofoak wrote:Yes Greg, they're the examples I solvent cleaned...[ ]...As I'm sure you are aware, Rossford Ordnance Depot was a vast place near Toledo that stored thousands of vehicles including jeeps and spares (note the reference to "tool storage")
Thanks for confirming, Cliff. Yes, I was aware, and some of the NOS "Workpuppies" stuff came out of Rossford.
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Re: Rossford Repacks: 9/32in Flex-head Handles

Post by Hartofoak » Sat Apr 15, 2017 2:20 pm

How right you are Phil!
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Re: Rossford Repacks: 9/32in Flex-head Handles

Post by frenchman » Sat Jan 13, 2018 7:36 am

hello
that is just mind blowing
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Re: Rossford Repacks: 9/32in Flex-head Handles

Post by Gordon_M » Sat Jan 13, 2018 7:48 am

I've seen a bunch of WF-7 on the UK site, often in multiples for not many pennies at all. I bought a couple to get the tommy bars rather than the breakers themselves. I suspect these were originally supplied to the RAF, who seem to have adopted 9/32" drive during WW2, but by the time they got here they were pretty much already obsolete.

You may be in a position to answer a question for me if you have the time. My 9/32" drive set has a WF-7, with tommy bar, and an Armstrong M110 straight driver which has a much smaller tommy bar hole through it. Could you please measure the tommy bar with the Armstrong breaker and let me know the diameter and the length? I'd be happy to buy an Armstrong breaker - assuming it had the matching tommy bar.
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Re: Rossford Repacks: 9/32in Flex-head Handles

Post by Hartofoak » Sun Jan 14, 2018 7:06 am

Gordon, the tommy bar size to fit my only Armstrong 9/32" flex-head handle is 1/4" diameter. These bars are either 4" or 4 1/2" in length.
Pm me if you would like one.
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Re: Rossford Repacks: 9/32in Flex-head Handles

Post by frenchman » Wed Jan 17, 2018 12:57 pm

hello
talking about the rossford ordonance depot several years ago
i found a cross saw in the cosmoline that came out of that place
frenchman
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