Below, Armstrong Bros. tools in my shop. First, a 1/2" tool holder:
Below, a thread-cutting tool and a boring bar holder:
My lovely No. 2 planer jack:
My 3/8" drive ratchet:
Socket:
Lathe wrenches:
A spud wrench:
With first names evocative of the Beatles roughly a century later, four Armstrong brothers, Hugh, John, James & George, founded the Armstrong Brothers Tool Company in Chicago in 1890. Starting off with parts and tools for bicycles, in 1895 they came up with a tool holder for lathe cutting bits, a remarkable innovation that we still use today.
Profits from that invention funded the construction of a factory at the corner of Francisco Avenue and Carroll Avenue in 1900:
 |
| Iron & Machinery World, July 1905 |
 |
| 317N Francisco Avenue, Chicago |
In the 1930's, the Armstrong catalogue carried the following quote from Thomas Carlisle:
In 1948, the company moved to new headquarters at, appropriately enough, 5200 West Armstrong Avenue. In 1974, the company opened a second plant in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It wasn't until 1983 that Armstrong offered a ratchet for its sockets. In 1994, the company was absorbed the the Danaher Corporation, which is now part of the ginormous Apex Tool Group. Armstrong became its Industrial Hand Tools division.
In 2015, the Armstrong company celebrated 125 years of production. This year, Apex has announced that it will be ceasing production of both the Armstrong and Allen brands by March 31st, 2017 and laying off 170 workers at their Sumter, South Carolina plant. (Ironically, earlier the APEX Tool Group was named the Manufacturer of the Year by the Greater Sumter Chamber of Commerce.) The company intends to rationalize its product line and focus on their GearWrench brand. The original West Armstrong Avenue headquarters was demolished, and from Google Earth is now just a large truck trailer parking lot. As near as I can determine, the building that replaced the former headquarters on N. Francisco Avenue is unoccupied and for sale, in the middle of a run-down neighbourhood. Below, from Google Streetview:
http://www.armstrongtools.com/brands-timeline but there is discussion of the end of the company here. Sad.
Below, ads from over the years:
 |
| 1921 |
 |
| 1922. Source: Antique Machinery |
 |
| 1932 |
 |
| Popular Mechanics, October 1943 |
 |
| 1951 |
 |
| Popular Mechanics, January 1952 |
 |
| 1959. Source: Factory Whistle |
 |
| 2014 |
Goodbye, Armstrong.
Armstrong made ratchets long before 1983, using a mechanism having two pawls (one to drive the "ratchet wheel" and attached socket clockwise, another to drive the wheel and socket counter-clockwise. In the early 1980s, Armstrong designed a new-to-them ratchet mechanism similar to those used by Snap-On, J H Williams, Duro-Chrome, Indestro, and Easco (the manufacturer of Craftsman-branded ratchets for Sears) which used a single pawl. The new-design Armstrong ratchets were introduced to the market in 1983, in 1/4 inch, 3/8 inch, and 1/2 inch drive sizes . . . the old two-pawl design ratchet remained in production in 3/4 inch and 1 inch drive sizes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on the ratchets, would you know when production of the tools might have started? I see that both timeline links in the post are dead. Hard to keep up.
ReplyDeleteYour input is appreciated. Gerald
I enjoyed looking through your site. My great grandfather was John Armstrong, one of the original founders, and my grandfather John O. Armstrong was president of the company in the 1960s and early 70s. It was fun to see some of the old catalog pages that I had not seen before. Thanks for preserving some of our family history.
ReplyDeleteDonald Armstrong, Jr.
Thank you! I enjoy the history and welcome any info I can find to add to the story.
ReplyDeleteI worked for Armstrong Tools and it was such a pleasure to work for them. I truly believe they had the best quality tools. I remember meeting some of the Armstrong brothers and they were the nicest people.
ReplyDelete