Eastern Machine Screw Corporation

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Eastern Machine Screw Corporation was a maker of screw machine products and related screw-cutting equipment operating in New Haven, Connecticut.

Company History

The Eastern Machine Screw Corporation was founded in May of 1910 and operated in New Haven, Connecticut as a maker of screw machine products and related screw-cutting equipment. The company's founders included William H. Gates, an inventor with a number of patents for screw-cutting machinery, self-opening die heads, and other industrial equipment.

Fig. 1. 1910 Notice for Eastrern Machine Screw Corp. [External Link]

Fig. 1 shows a notice of the founding of the Eastern Machine Screw Corporation, as published on page 1429 of the June 16, 1910 issue of the The Iron Age.

The company capital was stated as $100,000, and the company planned to build a factory in New Haven, Connecticut for manufacturing screw machine products and machinery.

The notice lists Norris S. Lippitt as president, Joseph E. Hubinger as vice-president, William H. Gates as vice-president and superintendent, Walter S. Garde as Treasurer, and Benjamin P. Greene as secretary. One of the founders, Joseph E. Hubinger, was a principal at the J.C. Hubinger Starch Company and appears to have been a wealthy investor with numerous business interests in the New Haven area.

Further information on William H. Gates can be found in a 1924 obituary published on Page 120g of the January 17, 1924 issue of American Machinist.

The company initially operated as a typical screw machine shop, offering both standard machine screws as well as special products made to customer specifications.

Fig. 2. 1913 Advertisement for Eastern Machine Screw Corporation.

The scan in Fig. 2 shows an advertisement for the Eastern Machine Screw Corporation, as published on page 46 [External Link] of the June 26, 1913 issue of the The Iron Age.

The text notes that the company made a wide range of machine screws, and also offered special screw machine products.

H & G Self-Opening Die Heads

In 1915 the company began offering a self-opening die head based on patent 1,148,510, issued to William H. Gates on August 3, 1915.

By January of 1916 the company was using the text "H & G" in an oval outline as a trademark for its die heads. (The mark was registered as trademark #134,165 in 1920.) We haven't found an official explanation of the "H & G" moniker, but suspect that the "G" was for Gates, the inventor of the die head and other products.

To understand the importance of the self-opening feature, consider the operation of threading a part with a standard die head. When the end of the threaded section was reached, the screw-cutting machine would have to stop and reverse its spindle in order to back out the workpiece from the die. This extra operation consumed time and also resulted in extra wear to the cutting edges of the die.

In contrast, when a self-opening die head reached the end of the threaded section, the screw machine would be programmed to trip the unlocking mechanism on the die head, and the cutting inserts would snap open. This allowed the workpiece to be removed immediately and saved both time and wear on the cutting inserts.

With these obvious advantages, the H & G self-opening die heads went on to become a highly successful product line for the company, and models of the die head were developed to work with all of the popular automatic screw machines of the time.

H & G Socket Wrench Sets

In the early 1920s the company began offering an "H & G" socket wrench set with an unusual design built around male-drive sockets. The earliest reference we've found so far is a notice on page 45 [External Link] of the December 22, 1921 issue of Motor Age, which includes an illustration and brief description of the socket set.

Fig. 3. 1922 Advertisement for H & G Socket Set.

The scan in Fig. 3 shows an advertisement describing and illustrating the H & G socket set under the heading "A Real Tool", as published on page 107 [External Link] of the May 4, 1922 issue of Motor Age.

The illustration shows both the standard set in a wooden box as well as a smaller Ford set in a canvas roll.

The ad lists the company address as 10-20 Barclay Street in New Haven.

The H & G sets were based on patent 1,428,840, issued to William H. Gates on September 12, 1922. The patent describes a "combination socket wrench" consisting of a Tee-handle, an inline ratchet adapter, and interchangeable sockets.

The top of the ad has an enlarged view of one of the sockets, and we should note that these sets were one of the few examples to use sockets with a hexagonal male drive tang. This design had been previously explored by the short-lived Edgar C. Guthard Company with their Billmont "Master Wrench" Sets. (The Billmont tools had 3/4 drive tangs rather than the 5/8 tangs in the present example, so the tools from the two companies were not interoperable.)

Some time after the introduction of the set, the company offered a speeder (or brace) handle to round out the set.

Fig. 4. 1922 Advertisement for H & G Socket Set.

The scan in Fig. 4 shows another advertisement illustrating the H & G socket set, as published on page 241 [External Link] of the May, 1922 issue of the Automobile Trade Journal.

The ad lists the company address as 11-12 Barclay Street in New Haven. Note that the numbers in this address are different from those in the previous ad — the company was likely using the street address numbers as a way of tracking which publications were generating responses to its ads.

Note that the ad states "Made by a New Process" near the top, although the text does not offer further explanation. But from other published material by the company we know that this refers to the Allen Process invented by Allen Manufacturing.

The Allen Process was an early example of cold forming by which a socket is formed by forcing metal under great pressure to flow around a mandrel. Interestingly, Allen Manufacturing also began offering socket sets with cold-formed sockets around the same time that the H & G sets were offered.

(Cold-forming is the dominant process for making sockets today and more information can be found in the index under "Cold-Formed Sockets".)

Apart from the use of sockets with a hexagonal male drive tang, another unusual feature of the H & G sets was the use of a split tapered pin to secure the sockets in the drive tools. Each drive tool had a 5/8 hexagonal opening with a split pin in the base, and each of the driven elements had a 5/8 hexagonal tang with an axial hole to receive the split pin.

We searched for references to the H & G socket set in trade publications and found numerous notices and ads in 1922, but only a few references in 1923 and nothing further in later years. This suggests that demand for the product fell off quickly after an initial flurry of interest, which should come as a no surprise for readers familiar with the history of socket tools.

By the early 1920s the automotive service industry had already standardized on 1/2 inch square drive machined and broached sockets. The leading producers of these socket tools at the time were Blackhawk Manufacturing, Walden-Worcester, and the Snap-On Wrench Company, and new competitors were entering the market regularly. The sockets from any of these companies were fully operational with drive tools from the other companies, so that buyers were not locked in to a particular supplier.

With the widespread adoption of 1/2 square drive socket tools, it was difficult for quirky and non-standard designs like the H & G set to gain traction in the marketplace.

Further Discussion

This section will discuss some aspects of the H & G set apart from its unorthodox choice of 5/8 male hex drive, and then offer a possible explanation for the unusual drive choice.

What were the strengths and weaknesses of the H & G socket set?

The first observation is that from a construction standpoint, the set is very well built, with carefully machined and finished pieces. All of the components of the set (except for the box-end handle) were amenable to production by automatic screw machines, which is not surprising given the nature of the company's business.

From a design standpoint though, some of the choices made for the set suggest that the designers were more familiar with a machine shop than with an automobile service garage.

For example, a sliding Tee handle can be used with one hand if the Tee head is kept short, so that the pulling force is near the plane of the bolt head. But in this set the Tee head is elongated, so that if the head is at the end of the handle for maximum torque, a second hand must be used to keep the head positioned over the bolt. And this offset between the pulling plane and the action plane only becomes worse if the inline ratchet adapter is inserted into the tool chain.

Another problem is that the 1/2 inch diameter for the cross-bar is too small for hard service; best practices at that time called for 9/16 or 5/8 inch diameter bars.

In fairness though, H & G wasn't the only one to make this mistake. Blackhawk started with a laughably inadequate 7/16 inch bar in 1919, then went to 1/2 and then to 9/16. Snap-on went through 1/2 and 9/16 before arriving at 5/8 inch.

The ratchet in the set has some problems as well, beginning with the inline ratchet adapter design that requires two hands for operation. In addition, the ratchet mechanism is very coarse and stiff to operate, with only 8 teeth on the gear and significant back-drag. The choice of the ratchet design may have been based more on its suitability for screw machine production than its usability as a service tool.

In comparison, the Walden No. 516 1/2-Drive Ratchet has a flat design that keeps the socket close to the plane of the pull, and it has a 16-tooth gear for finer action, and lower back-drag as well. Most socket sets of that day provided some kind of a flat ratchet, so this configuration had the greatest customer familiarity and acceptance.

In summary, the design choices made for the H & G set limited its usability when compared with similar socket sets from around the same time, such as the Walden No. 8 1/2-Drive Socket Set.

If the H & G set had been popular enough to warrant a second generation, could these usability problems have been corrected?

We think the answer is definitely yes, and a good starting point would have been to make the sliding Tee head as short as possible. With this change, the set would have had an offset handle with its pulling force near the plane of the nut to be turned, allowing easy one-hand operation.

Other simple changes could have included adding a 5/8-hex to 1/2-square adapter, so that 1/2-drive sockets could be used to extend the range of the set, and possibly adding a short extension.

A more radical change would have been to replace the clunky inline ratchet adapter with a flat ratchet, something along the lines of a Mossberg No. 350 Ratchet with the drive gear changed to a 5/8 hexagonal opening. This is a reversible ratchet with a 20-tooth drive gear, and it provides a reasonably fine action and relatively low back-drag. With this change, the H & G set would have had the functionality expected of socket sets at that time. (And we suspect that the Frank Mossberg Company would have been happy to provide customized No. 350 ratchets at an attractive price.)

Why did the H & G set end up using the unusual 5/8 male hex drive?

Our starting point here is to note that only two other companies are known to have made socket sets using 5/8 male hex drive, the Emil Schwarz Company of Chicago and Spezial Werkzeugfabrik Feuerbach (SWF) of Germany.

Furthermore, the sets from Emil Schwarz and SWF are so similar that they almost have to represent a succession: both were called the "All-in-One" set and had the same distinctive swivel-headed ratchet design.

Based on our research, Emil Schwarz was the first to make 5/8 male hex drive sockets, which were used for its "All-in-One" socket set. We found definitive evidence that the set was developed during the spring and summer of 1921, with an "ALL-IN-ONE" trademark being filed in April of 1921.

The Emil Schwarz Company mysteriously disappeared after 1921, and after a gap of several years the "All-in-One" set reappeared around 1924 as a product of SWF.

Where does Eastern Machine Screw fit in all of this? The H & G set was first announced in December of 1921, around the time that the Emil Schwarz Company was disappearing, and the sockets in the H & G set match the ones in the "All-in-One" set in number and sizes. The sockets also have a very similar appearance, as can be seen by comparing the H & G Sockets with the Emil Schwarz Sockets.

There are some differences of course — the H & G set uses a different method of securing the sockets to the drive tools, and the sockets are cold-formed instead of broached. But the similarities are enough to suggest that Eastern Machine Screw must have been inspired and influenced by the Emil Schwarz sets.

One obvious way that Eastern Machine Screw could have learned about the sockets is if it had acted as a contract manufacturer for the Schwarz company. In our article on the Emil Schwarz Company we explore the possibility that the company might have used outside production for the sockets, with the conclusion that it seems plausible. Emil Schwarz was a small start-up with limited production, and Eastern Machine Screw was a major screw machine operator, so the needs and capabilities would have been a good fit.

If Eastern Machine Screw was supplying contract production for the sockets, then when Emil Schwarz discontinued its operation, Eastern would have been in a good position to continue production for its own socket set product. The tooling and experience were already there, and Eastern had some ideas on improving the sockets with the Allen Process, and on reducing the costs by removing the need for a friction ball on every socket.

From these considerations, we think it's plausible that Eastern Machine Screw could have provided production for the sockets in the Emil Schwarz sets, and then later decided to continue production for its own sets. To be clear though, no direct evidence of this connection has been found.

Later Operations

Based on references to the Eastern Machine Screw Corporation in the trade press, the company continued as a maker of die heads at least into the 1960s.

Patents

Trademarks

References and Resources

Photographs and observations of particular tools are based on items in the Alloy Artifacts Collection.

Catalog Resources

Currently our only catalog resource for Eastern Machine Screw is a 6-page fold-out flyer.

Selected Tools

The H & G self-opening die heads were important and innovative products for the machine tool industry, but automatic die heads are somewhat outside of the scope of Alloy Artifacts.

However, the H & G "Universal Wrench" socket sets are well within our area of interest, and the section below provides an example of this set.

Socket Sets

H & G 5/8-Hex Drive "Universal Wrench" Socket Set

Fig. 5. H & G 5/8-Hex Drive "Universal Wrench" Socket Set, 1925.

Fig. 5 shows an H & G 5/8-hex drive "Universal Wrench" socket set in its original box, consisting of a sliding Tee-handle, an extension, a box-end handle, a ratchet adapter, a universal, 10 hexagonal sockets from 7/16 to 1 inch, and two screwdriver sockets.

The set is identified as an "H & G Universal Wrench Set" by a decal at the upper left corner of the inside lid, which can be seen as a close-up in Fig. 6 below.

The set is designed with 5/8 male hexagonal drive tangs for the sockets and driven tools, with a matching 5/8 female hexagonal opening in the drive tools.

The socket sizes are 7/16, 1/2, 9/16, 5/8, 11/16, 3/4, 13/16, 7/8, 15/16, and 1 inch. The sockets are unmarked except for the size.

None of the tools in the set are marked except for the box-end handle, which has "H & G" forged into the shank.

Fig. 6. Close-up of Decal from H & G Universal Wrench Set, 1925.

Fig. 6 shows a close-up of the decal on the inside lid of the H & G set. The text shows "Universal Wrench Set" and "Patented" at the top, with "H & G Trade Mark" across the center, followed by "Manufactured by" and "Eastern Machine Screw Corporation", with "New Haven, Conn. U.S.A." at the bottom.

The "Patented" text refers to patent 1,428,840, issued to William H. Gates on September 12, 1922.

A similar decal was also affixed to the top of the box, but only a few traces remain due to wear.

Our set was acquired with its original inspection sticker affixed to the inside of the lid, which identified the set as serial number 14,351 with a production (or inspection) date of October 8, 1925.

The wooden box measures 11.9 inches long by 7.4 inches deep by 2.8 inches high.

H & G Sliding Tee Handle from Universal Wrench Set

The following figures will provide greater detail for the components of the set.

Fig. 7. Sliding Tee Handle from H & G Universal Wrench Set, with Inset for Construction Detail, 1925.

Fig. 7 shows the (unmarked) sliding Tee handle from the H & G set, consisting of a 1/2 inch diameter cross-bar with a sliding head secured by a thumbscrew.

The inset shows a close-up of the 5/8 hexagonal drive head. Note the split friction pin in the center of the opening to secure a socket or drive tool.

The overall length is 8.9 inches, and the length of the Tee head is 3.3 inches. The finish is plain steel.

The use of a thumbscrew to lock the head of a sliding Tee handle is somewhat unusual, as more typically the head would be fitted with a spring-loaded ball to provide friction. An earlier example of sliding head with a thumbscrew can be seen on the Walden-Worcester 1/2-Drive Sliding Tee Handle.

The relatively long shaft of the Tee head places the opening of the drive head approximately 2.5 inches below the cross-bar, and with a socket inserted the opening is approximately 4 inches below the cross-bar. This significant lateral offset means that the tool is more suitable for use as a Tee handle, with the head in the center, rather than as an offset handle, with the head at the end of the bar.

If used as an offset handle, a force at the end of the bar would tend to tip the socket off the nut, effectively meaning that two hands would be required for operation, with one hand keeping the head centered over the nut.

In contrast, standard sliding Tee handles were designed to minimize the lateral offset between the bar and the nut, so that the tool could be used with one hand.

H & G 6 Inch Extension from Universal Wrench Set

Fig. 8. 6 Inch Extension from H & G Universal Wrench Set, with Inset for Construction Detail, 1925.

Fig. 8 shows the (unmarked) 6 inch extension from the H & G set, consisting of a 5/8 hexagonal shaft with a drive head attached.

The inset shows a close-up of the 5/8 hexagonal drive head, with its split friction pin visible in the center of the opening.

The overall length is 6.0 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

H & G 5/8 Box-End Handle from Universal Wrench Set

Fig. 9. 5/8 Box-End Handle from H & G Universal Wrench Set, with Inset for Side View, 1925.

Fig. 9 shows the 5/8 box-end handle from the H & G set, marked with "H & G" forged into the shank.

The inset shows a side view of the handle, which has a bend to provide hand clearance.

The overall length is 7.5 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

Although not visible in the photo, a spring-loaded ball (or pin) projects into the opening to help secure an inserted tool.

This handle is the only tool in the set marked with the "H & G" name.

H & G Ratchet Adapter from Universal Wrench Set

Fig. 10. Ratchet Adapter from H & G Universal Wrench Set, with Insets for Bottom and Top View, 1925.

Fig. 10 shows the (unmarked) 5/8-hex drive ratchet adapter from the H & G set.

The left inset shows a bottom view of the ratchet adapter, illustrating the 5/8 hexagonal drive tang and the shift lever. Note that the drive tang has an axial hole to receive the split pin from a drive tool.

The right inset shows a top view with the hexagonal drive opening. Note the split friction pin in the center of the opening to secure an inserted tool.

The ratchet adapter has a diameter of 1.7 inches and a height of 2.5 inches. The finish is plain steel.

We were not able to disassemble the ratchet adapter for inspection, but could infer the design by observing that the shift lever moves up and down when ratcheting. This action would be expected if the shift lever is part of a spring-loaded pawl with the tip slanted on one side, so that it can lift up and ride over the teeth in one direction. The ratchet direction can be then be changed by lifting and rotating the lever 180 degrees to the opposite slot.

We observed that the ratchet adapter has a very coarse action with only six teeth on the drive gear.

In typical use, the ratchet adapter would be attached to the sliding Tee head and a socket inserted in the ratchet. Since the Tee head in this set already has a substantial lateral offset, adding the ratchet adapter would exacerbate the offset problem, placing the opening of the socket 6 inches below the cross-bar. This means that two hands would be required for operation, with one hand holding the Tee head in place above the nut. (This is a problem with ratchet adapters in general, not just with this specific tool.)

In contrast, a flat ratchet like the Walden No. 516 1/2-Drive Ratchet allows the socket to remain close to the plane of the ratchet, so that the tool can be used with one hand.

H & G Universal from Universal Wrench Set

Fig. 11. Universal from H & G Universal Wrench Set, 1925.

Fig. 11 shows the (unmarked) 5/8-hex drive universal from the H & G set.

The overall length is 3.6 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

Although not shown in the photograph, the 5/8 hexagonal drive tang at the left has an axial hole to accept a split friction pin, and the 5/8 drive socket at the right has a split pin in the center. (These construction details can be seen on other components in the set.)

H & G Hexagonal Sockets from Universal Wrench Set

Fig. 12. Hexagonal Sockets from H & G Universal Wrench Set, with Inset for Top View, 1925.

Fig. 12 shows the three largest 5/8-hex drive sockets from the H & G set.

The sizes are, from the left, 7/8, 15/16, and 1 inch. The sockets are stamped with the fractional sizes, but have no other markings.

The inset provides a top view to show the interior of the sockets. Note that the tapered bottom shows marks from the initial drilling operation.

Although not clearly visible in the photograph, the 5/8 hexagonal drive tangs have an axial hole to receive the split pin of a drive tool.

Note the absence of chips or debris on the bottom of the opening. The "Allen Process" used to make these sockets required drilling an initial hole to insert a hexagonal mandrel, after which the socket and mandrel were forced through a die so that the metal walls flowed around the mandrel, leaving no excess on the bottom.

H & G Screwdriver Sockets from Universal Wrench Set

Fig. 13. Screwdriver Sockets from H & G Universal Wrench Set, with Inset for Top View, 1925.

Fig. 13 shows the two (unmarked) 5/8-hex drive screwdriver sockets from the H & G set. Note that the blades of the screwdrivers are inserted in a slot and secured by a screw.

The width of the blades was measured at 0.59 inches on the left and 0.43 inches on the right.

The inset provides a top view of the screwdrivers.

Although not clearly visible in the photograph, the 5/8 hexagonal drive tangs have an axial hole to receive the split pin of a drive tool.