Lectrolite, Lectrolite Tru Fit

Lectrolite company in Defiance, Ohio operated somewhere between 1930s and 1940s. They subsequently joined with Sherman Klove (in 1952) to form SK-Lectrolite.

I want to start a dedicated thread to Lectrolite and Lectrolite Tru Fit prior to their transfer to SK-Lectrolite (though there is a suggestion that Lectrolite was producing wrenches for SK in the 1940s via a contract). Lets keep SK-Lectrolite for separate post.

I was going through some of the tools I did not have time to clean yet and discovered the following (top to bottom left side, there were couple of other wrenches Hazet, long C Craftsman, Crescent amd couple of Indestros in the picture)
So, concentrating on Lectrolite:
Lectrolite 3/4-25/32 (Made in Tru Fity 3004 USA sign on the other side)
Lectrolite 3/8-7/16 (Made in Tru Fit 3001 USA sign on the other side)
Lectrolite 9/16-1/2 (Made in USA the other side)
Lectrolite 7/16-3/8 (Made in USA on the other side)
Lectrolite 1/2-9/16 (Forged Tru Fit in USA on the other side)
Lectrolite 3/8-7/16 (Forged Tru Fit USA on the other side)

My guess that first two were produced in 1941-45
Second two - ? early 50s
Third two - late 40s

I need the advise on cleaning them: the last two cleaned up easy and well. The first 4 have some rust. I was thinking about putting them in Evaporust, but I am not sure if theywere originally as light in color as the last two, or they were darkened and Evaporust will get rid of the oxide (or other chemical used to cover them).

Please post your Lectrolite and Tru Fit, include the age if known (please correct me on my estimates if I am wrong so I could update/correct this post) and tell me how you cleaned yours if originally they were covered by a darkening material

Sorry, small crash with time expiration, reloading the original text and picture...

Also please tell me your opinion - how are those tools compared to later products by SK

I do have some Lectrolite and TruFit but the GJ’s expert on Lectrolite is DadsTools, and he really knows a lot about the brand. Lectrolite was the contract supplier to Sears for many Dunlap wrenches. Note the LC code on these wrenches.
-Don

I collect em when I can, mostly because lectrolite just sounds cool.

Six DEFIANCE shorties.
Note also that, so far, I have only found the largest one with the "ALLOY" blanked out, presumably during the war.
Anyone ever see any of the other sizes marked DEFIANCE with the "ALLOY" blanked out like this?

Hmm. That's very interesting, leg17.

All the alloys used to make tools before the war were used to make tools during the war, but in smaller amounts, and in so-called "New Emergency" formula combinations (except vanadium, which was eliminated completely), so, technically, there would have been nothing untoward or non-compliant about the word "alloy" itself in Lectrolite's branding during the war. In fact, most mfgrs who had been incorporating the actual names of the precious metals/alloys into their branding before the war (e.g., Chrome-Vanadium, Chrome-Molybdenum) removed them, switching to more generic branding (e.g., Vlchek's wartime "ALLOY STEEL" line, which replaced their Chrome-Molybdenum line) or they just left shanks blank (e.g., Bonney's wartime line, which replaced their Circle-CV line).

If your presumption (that Lectrolite dropped the "ALLOY" from their die because of the restrictions) is correct, it would seem to indicate that they wanted to ensure a visual unmistaken distinction between their pre-war and wartime compositions, despite the fact that the term "ALLOY" isn't implicitly incorrect.

Unless they made some wrenches with Manganese or lesser metals that they didn't feel merited the ALLOY branding.

Something to nut over, for sure.

Been away from GJ for a few months. Sometimes I just have to take a break from it for reasons you're all familiar with. Get more stuff done too.

Well, it's about time Lectrolite got its own thread. The Rodney Dangerfield of major tool mfrs. That's ok, because all the flea market, yard and estate sales guys think they're just junk and sell them for next to nothing.

LC can be frustrating because of the almost complete lack of catalogs out there. I have surmised the reason for this is that LC was not formed with tool making in mind, but toward auto parts and commercial electrical appliances, hence the weird Lectrolite name--clearly, no one in their right mind would have called a tool company that. I believe the Milwaukee Tool and Forge operation, one of the original entities that formed LC, was important for its forging capabilities in making the company's main product lines. Of course, MTF was already in the tool business, so it seems like the LC boys thought, "Hey, why not?" My point is that I believe the early LC tools were mostly sold to retailers and jobbers through its existing channel distribution for its main line products, so it didn't need its own dedicated catalogs. LC did an awful lot of contract tool work also, both then, and and to a lesser degree after the 1962 Wayne takeover. Funny how the tools ultimately became its claim to fame.

As for dates, there's two major eras to think about, what I think of as Pre-Reformation and Post-Refomation LC stuff. The transition between these two--the Reformation itself--begins at sometime just after the war, circa 1947 and ends around 1951 or so, shortly before the circa 1953 LC/SK collaboration (not an actual merger as sometimes thought--Wayne bought both companies in 1962 but I recall the records showing the acquisitions were for two distinct companies on two different dates in that year).

Pre-Reformation tools are really the Wild West of LC. They made all kinds of styles and configurations and marked in different ways. Sometimes you'll find the same wrench design with different markings and model numbers, sometimes marked Letrolite only, sometimes Lectrolite Tru-Fit. It's almost as if they tried different designs for each production run, and/or that when a contract came in house, they'd run some of them off with their own name brand on them. It's really crazy. The Pre-R era makes a fascinating avenue for collecting.

Apparently, sometime after the war LC decided to get its tool act together and standardize its entire tool line. This is the Reformation era, roughly about 1947 to 1951 (again, lack of available catalogs make these dates educated guesses--love to get my hands on the 1951 cat AA mentions). Both Pre-R and Post-R designs and model numbers were being offered during that time. Itr also appears that during this time, LC dropped all its parts/appliance mfg and became strictly a tool mfr.

Once the transition was completed, the end wrenches are as follows:

--> Tools no longer bear both names. They are marked either Tru-Fit or Lectrolite. This goes for the entire line including its pliers and adjustables.
--> Designs were no longer switched willy-nilly between the two brands: all Lectrolite end wrenches were raised panel; all Tru-Fit were recessed panel.
--> The recessed panel Tru-Fit end wrenches became the defacto standard for its contract tools. They made millions of them. The 1950s-58 Dunlap wrenches and the later SEARS brand 1958 to 62-64 are all LC Tru-Fit. There's ton out there with no mfr name at all, some having the "LC" code, others no code at all. Another characteristic of these is that they will have a rougher finish as the blanks were not as extensively polished before plating. Ironically, the contract Tru-Fit design made for others often have a better blank polishing than the Tru-Fit branded ones. Once you get familiar with this recessed panel design, it's like a fingerprint--you can spot them a mile away on a sales table or buried in a box. Warning--buying them is addictive. There's no end to it.
--> Starting with the LC/SK collaboration circa 1953, all LC raised panel wrenches are dual-marked S-K Lectrolite. This became LC's own main line end wrench. If you have an end wrench that looks just like a classic SK raised panel but is marked with Lectrolite only, it was made during that brief Post-R period just before the LC/SK era.
--> By about 1964, Wayne killed off the Lectrolite and Tru-Fit brand names. It also did away with the Tru-Fit recessed panel design altogether. At this time, the SEARS brand wrenches begin appearing with the famous BF JAPAN mark, which were essentially exact counterfeits of the Tru-Fit design that Wayne abandoned. I suspect Wayne gave Sears its blessing to have its old Tru-Fit wrenches made by anyone Sears wanted.

A note about the short DBE wrenches like pictured by some in this thread (BTW, leg17, nice collection!). This design with the oversized recess and marked LECTROLITE were made during the Pre-R and the R period. By the Post-R period the DBEs follow the design revamp: LECTROLITE branded are all raised panel, TRU-FIT marked are all recessed panel but with a smaller recess characteristic of the rest of the Tru-Fit line.

As for Pre-R dates, the general rules for pre-war or wartime holds true with regards to plating, dropping of the 'vanadium' designation, etc.

Alloy Artifacts has an excellent write up on LC, including great examples of all the period tools and some pretty good dating for them too. I guess AA caught a little LC-fever too when working on its LC section.

Viva Lectrolite!

Just got this tappet recently.

Here are my pre S-K Lectrolite combos. Really nice wrenches.
-Don

Hey Don -

You need a pouch for those lovely lectrolites!

There just may be one tucked into the "No Barcalo Left Behind" care package.

d42jeep said:

Here are my pre S-K Lectrolite combos. Really nice wrenches.
-Don

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Sweet. Beautiful condition too. And they're really, really good wrenches too. They ARE the same wrench as the raised panel SK. I was fortunate enough to find a complete set of these 3/8 to 1 circa 1951. Also an almost complete set of SK/Lectrolite long DBE (the largest size fill-in at the bottom is an earlier Lectrolite deep offset). Got some DOEs laying around too. I know the one is a bad photo, but it's what I shot at the time and don't have the time to re-shoot it. BTW, the two wrenches stacked on top of each other above the 1" wrench (1-1/16 + 1-1/8) are Upland Forge, a favored brand of my Dad's.

Why are they in a drawer in my main tool box? Because they ARE my main SAE combo, DBE and DOE sets. What else would you expect to see in my box?

DadsTools:
--> Starting with the LC/SK collaboration circa 1953, all LC raised panel wrenches are dual-marked S-K Lectrolite. This became LC's own main line end wrench. If you have an end wrench that looks just like a classic SK raised panel but is marked with Lectrolite only, it was made during that brief Post-R period just before the LC/SK era.

I posted these in the SK thread but you guys should like these.
It's a SK Wayne set with Lectrolite fill ins. And a roll to boot !

Brian

d42jeep said:

Here are my pre S-K Lectrolite combos. Really nice wrenches.
-Don

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They are indeed. I originally posted these on the S-K Lectrolite thread



Bill

That's a great looking set Bill. The 1705R set isn't in the 58 catalog, but there's a 1706R.

Username already in use said:

That's a great looking set Bill. The 1705R set isn't in the 58 catalog, but there's a 1706R.

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Don has a 1706R set

Bill

Here it is with Lectrolite wrenches. The roll was generously gifted to me by GJ member Notlob!
-Don

RedVise said:

DadsTools:
--> Starting with the LC/SK collaboration circa 1953, all LC raised panel wrenches are dual-marked S-K Lectrolite. This became LC's own main line end wrench. If you have an end wrench that looks just like a classic SK raised panel but is marked with Lectrolite only, it was made during that brief Post-R period just before the LC/SK era.

I posted these in the SK thread but you guys should like these.
It's a SK Wayne set with Lectrolite fill ins. And a roll to boot !

Brian

Click to expand...

Nice set. I'm sure you know those Lectrolite wrenches did not originally come new with that Wayne pouch.

I’ve done a search of my pictures and found these shots of Lectrolite tools. Most of these images have been posted on the GJ in various previous threads.
-Don

DadsTools said:

Nice set. I'm sure you know those Lectrolite wrenches did not originally come new with that Wayne pouch.

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I get that it isnt likely it was sold as it is now.
But, the last owner was lucky enough to find the exact Lectrolite he needed to fill in for what he was missing..


Brian

Here are some Lectrolite wrenches I found yesterday. The lowest wrench is a little unusual in that it is actually marked Lectrolite and not Tru Fit.
-Don

Here are a couple of wrenches that must have been made during the wartime metal restrictions. Check out the markings on the wrenches in the first picture. The rest of the pictures are other wrenches from the Lectrolite bag. Picture two and three are DBE wrenches. Four and five are tappet wrenches.
-Don

Found this, looks to have slight bends and surface rust. But it was ok enough to buy.

I found this pre S-K 1/2” combo at the flea last Saturday.
-Don

Nice find. I don't think these were made for more than a few years before the SK collaboration.

d42jeep said:

....Lectrolite was the contract supplier to Sears for many Dunlap wrenches...
-Don

Click to expand...

DadsTools said:

....LC did an awful lot of contract tool work also, both then, and and to a lesser degree after the 1962 Wayne takeover...

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Did not know that, Don. Guess that's why I like Dunlap wrenches!

DadsTools, IIRC, Dunlap tools ceased supplying tools to Sears around 1961-1964. Do you think that LC reducing their contract work had something to do with that?

bonneyman said:

Did not know that, Don. Guess that's why I like Dunlap wrenches!

DadsTools, IIRC, Dunlap tools ceased supplying tools to Sears around 1961-1964. Do you think that LC reducing their contract work had something to do with that?

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The Dunlap brand was a price point brand to be sold alongside Craftsman. The brand was named after a Sears employee and all of the tools branded Dunlap were sourced from outside manufacturers such as Lectrolite and many others. The outside suppliers were often the same ones supplying the Craftsman branded tools. Many of the suppliers codes are identical to Craftsman codes. They quit using Dunlap as a brand name around 1960 and the price point tools were simply branded Sears or Companion and were often identical to the earlier Dunlap offerings. The small LC on the wrenches was often used on both Dunlap branded and very similar Lectrolite/Tru-Fit wrenches.
-Don

bonneyman said:

Did not know that, Don. Guess that's why I like Dunlap wrenches!

DadsTools, IIRC, Dunlap tools ceased supplying tools to Sears around 1961-1964. Do you think that LC reducing their contract work had something to do with that?

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From what I could find out in my research, Sears went through a major branding and marketing change around 1958. From what I can tell, the decision to phase out the Dunlap name was made at this time. Since my research was focused only on hand tools like wrenches, I don't know much about this Dunlap phaseout on other products, but it appears that around this time the "Dunlap" on wrenches was replaced with "SEARS" only. The wrenches in question are the budget wrenches sold by Sears and others made by Lectrolite Corp in its TruFit design. Based on all of the many LC/Dunlap/Sears artifact wrenches I've seen, LC continued to make the end wrenches, some pliers and some adjustables for Sears with the new branding (the adjustables are kind of odd because it appears Sears was getting them from several sources during that era, LC being a "minority" player in these).

With regard to the 1961-64 period you mentioned, this is my best understanding of what went on based on scant documentation + study of the artifacts: Symington-Wayne purchased both S-K and Lectrolite Corp in 1962. Over the next couple of years, Wayne made some changes, including the killing of LC's Lectrolite and TruFit brand names, and discontinuing the recessed handle TruFit wrench design. I don't know how much contract work continued, but the TruFit model was no longer on the menu, and the companies that were buying them had to find another source for their budget wrenches. We know that Sears turned to an overseas company to make its now famous Japan wrenches with the "BF" mfr code. Soon, "BF JAPAN" began showing up in all kinds of non-CM Sears tools including vises. By about 1964, the SEARS brand budget wrenches were now marked BF Japan, with the interesting feature that they were virtually identical in every way to the former LC-made wrenches, so much so that you have to read the markings to distinguish the two. It's clear that Sears sent wrench samples to BF to have them duplicated precisely. We can only assume one of two things occurred: either Wayne, having stuck Sears by discontinuing the TruFit design, gave Sears its blessing to have that style wrench made by whomever it wished going forward, or that there was no intellectual property rights to the design which left Sears free to do whatever it wished. By 1964-65, all tools marked Lectrolite or LC and all TruFit USA type wrenches were gone.

Interresting thread, just picked up a bunch of wrenches in the mix was one Lectrolite true fit, one Lectrolite, 2 SK Lectrolite, one SK, one SK Wayne

Here are some Lectrolite wrenches made before the collaboration with S-K. They are slightly slimmer than their very similar looking S-K Lectrolite counterparts.
-Don

One more small addition to my collection: Tru Fit

Here are a couple of DBE Lectrolites I found. I think they were in an auction lot. I did not recognize their quality at the time but once cleaned up, they feel very nice.

One more addition: this one is Lectrolite Tru-Fit (different marks from different sides)

Here is my current batch of Lectrolite excluding the tappet wrenches shown upthread and any S-K Lectrolite.
-Don

Here are the Chrome Lectrolite and the S-K Lectrolite wrenches.
-Don

d42jeep said:

Here are the Chrome Lectrolite and the S-K Lectrolite wrenches.
-Don

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Nice collection, Don.

At the fleamarket, (it will be nice to go there again) I picked up a Tru-Fit DBE wrench, At another Sunday I picked up a Stahwille 13/16 combination. He didn't have clue what he had, which to me was the finest combination I have ever seen. The wrench had a I-beam shank, making it lighter with wider, easier on the hands edges. Like the Tru-Fit recessed panel wrenches.

Had a bit of luck at an antique mall today, of all places...found this Lectrolite 16" adjustable hanging on the wall for $10. It appears to be a factory black oxide version, has been lightly used. (GTD #6 tap handle for scale)

Alright Dave. That price in that condition deserves a solid “You ****”!

turbowoodworker said:

Alright Dave. That price in that condition deserves a solid “You ****”!

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Thanks tww! I live in Ohio and see a lot of Lectrolite onesies, never nice sets like the others have posted. I rarely see their adjustables, they are usually beat to death if i do see them. So this was a nice find.

I did find this TruFit DBE two weeks ago. Very clean, nice condition. Definitely a keeper.

No Lectrolite marking. Later production?