1955-1960 Inch-lb. Torque Wrench, Manufactured for US Military Aviation Units.

[usmc grunt]

Vintage late 1950's-early 1960 Inch-Pound Torque Wrench, 3/8 Drive, Model ST 750A. Manufactured by Skyway Precision Tool Company, San Gabriel, CA., USA. Skyway Precision Tool Company was incorporated on 10 May 1955 in CA. The torque capacity is 100.0-inch pounds to 750.0-inch pounds.

This torque wrench was manufactured for the US Air Force and US Army (Aviation) under contracts issued in the late 1950's to early 1960's.
There are 2 military Federal Stock Numbers engraved on the wrench, one for the US Air Force and one for the US Army.

The FSN for the US Air Force is 5120-595-9073 USAF.
The FSN for the US Army is 5120-270-3120 US ARMY.
FSN 5120-595-9073 (USAF) was cancelled on 1 January 1960 with the status listed as “Item is cancelled as Duplicate”.
While FSN 5120-270-3120 (US Army) appears on Model ST 750A-1, FSN 5120-595-9073 (USAF) does not. This indicates that the Model ST 750A, bearing both FSN’s, was manufactured prior to January 1960.
I obtained this wrench as a SSGT assigned to Marine Wing Support Squadron 173, 1st Marine Air Wing, Camp Foster, Okinawa, when our unit disbanded in the winter of 1986.  The following information is engraved on this torque wrench:
 

SKYWAY PRECISION TOOL COMPANY

SAN GABRIEL, CA. MODEL ST 750A

STOCK # 5120-595-9073 USAF

STOCK # 5120-270-3120 US ARMY

Question: Does anyone collect vintage aviation / aircraft tools? Can anyone tell me the value of this Vietnam era torque wrench?

[mohawkALSE]

Gotta love vintage Aviation tools.

[phantomfixer]

This is my experiance with military issue torque wrenches...the value is in the wrench itself, unless WWII, torque wrenches, and most other military issue tools retain the value of the tool only...not a big collector market for them

 

having said that, I am the oddball that has a small collection of torque wrenches, one being from the 1607th prop shop here at DAFB(1950s-60s).. 1 inch drive and 3 feet long 

[RustyCanteen]

Nice piece. I concur that often tools are most valuable as what they are first and foremost (a functional item) and not so much the military angle (usually). Now that said being in inch pounds, that is an interesting one. I have only infrequently needed to use an inch pound torque wrench, and usually at values well below those!..but I'm not working on aircraft either! 

A nice conversation piece.

RC