Vintage S-K Tools

With its roots going back to 1914, when Mason Sherman and Noah Klove founded the Sherman-Klove Company in Chicago, S-K Tools (also widely known as SK Tools) was formed in 1932 as a manufacturer of wrenches used primarily in the repair of automobiles. Like other wrench manufacturers, from Craftsman to Thorsen, S-K made special sockets to fit spark plugs, making the brand a favorite of auto mechanics. During the 1930s, the company also made scores of offset, box-end wrenches, their sizes stamped into polished sections on their handles, and it secured numerous patents on ratchet devices for its socket sets. Ratchets, of course, were not the only way to tighten or loosen a vintage S-K socket. A 6-inch-long, cadmium-plated, Allen-wrench-like tool known as an Ell was also used. Either end of the Ell—usually the short end—could be inserted in the fitted end of the socket so that the socket's working end, its diameter measured in fractions of inches, could be secured around a corresponding nut or machine part. Another non-ratchet way to turn a socket was a device known as a Sliding Tee Handle, which allowed users to get close to their work, gripping the tee with their fist. Alternatively, S-K's cadmium-plated 18-Inch Speeder resembled the brace that would be attached to drill bits, giving the user more torque. By the late 1930s, in response, no doubt, to competition from Craftsman, S-K tools began to get shinier, replacing their "Chrome Alloy" labels for ones that read "S-K Chrome." But the company also manufactured wrenches for Fulton, the low-budget tool brand sold at Sears, as well as sockets for Craftsman itself.