Moore Drop Forging Company [Under Construction]

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Selected Tools
• Contract Production
• References and Resources
• What's New (Last Updated April 2, 2010)
  Recent changes to this page:

  • 04/02/2011: Added a Moore Drop Forging 6 Inch Stillson Pipe Wrench.
  • 08/15/2010: Added a Moore Drop Forge 5/8x15/16 Spark Plug Wrench.
  • 06/21/2010: Added link to period advertisement.
  • 09/01/2009: Added patent table.
  • 08/31/2009: Moved to separate page, still under construction.
  • 03/18/2009: Added a Moore Drop Forging 9N17014 Open-End Wrench
  • 03/16/2009: Added a Moore Drop Forge Open-End Wrench.
  • 03/07/2009: Added a Moore Drop Forge 40-17017 Spark Plug Wrench.
  • 04/18/2008: Added a Moore Drop Forge 12 Inch Pipe Wrench.

Introduction

Company History

The Moore Drop Forging Company was founded in 1900 by Arthur L. Moore as a merchant drop-forge operator, with an initial location on Birnie Avenue in the Brightwood section of Springfield, Massachusetts. A 1902 report from the Massachusetts Tax Commissioner listed incorporation date as October 15, 1900. A 1903 directory of iron and steel operators, published by the American Iron and Steel Institute, noted the company as a maker of steel forgings for bicycles, automobiles, and machines, with an annual capacity of 500 tons.

1914 Advertisement for Moore Drop Forging Monkey Wrenches. [External Link]

1915 Advertisement for Moore Drop Forging Stillson Wrench. [External Link]

The advertisement at the far left was published on page 24 of the November, 1914 edition of American Exporter. The illustration shows two of the monkey wrenches offered by Moore Drop Forging, one with a steel handle on the left and a wooden handle on the right.

The second advertisement at the left, published in a 1915 edition of American Exporter, shows a Stillson-pattern pipe wrench offered by Moore Drop Forging.

The Sears Contract

In 1938 Moore Drop Forging began supplying tools to Sears Roebuck, possibly initially for the Sears Dunlap brand. The vendor relationship with Sears apparently went well, as by the mid 1940s Moore won a major contract to supply a wide range of tools for the Sears Craftsman brand. Moore became the primary producer of Craftsman open-end, tappet, box-end, and combination wrenches, as well as sockets and drive tools. These tools were marked with the well-known "V" manufacturer's code and formed the backbone of the highly successful modern era of Craftsman tools. (See our article on Craftsman Maker "V" for more information.)

Moore built a large modern factory in Springfield to support its Craftsman contract, and photographs of the factory and operations can be found beginning on page 52 of Springfield, Volume II by Ginger Cruikshank (Arcadia Publishing 2000). Cruikshank's book is a collection of photographs and essays related to Springfield, and includes information on Moore Drop Forging as one of the important businesses in the Springfield area. (The book credits the Danaher Corporation, Moore's later corporate parent, for several of the photographs, so the information on Moore is presumed to be accurate.)

The Formation of Easco

In 1967 Moore Drop Forging was acquired by the Eastern Stainless Steel Corporation, a maker of stainless and specialty steels, and by 1969 the company had been restructured as the Easco Corporation. Easco continued the Moore contract for production of wrenches and socket tools for Sears, and also offered a line of hand tools under the Easco brand.

Patents

Trademarks

The company registered a trademark for their M-Circle logo, with the first use listed as 1908. The M-Circle logo will be found marked on both Moore's own tools and as a forge mark on some of their contract production.

Selected Tools

Moore Drop Forging Stillson-Pattern 6 Inch Pipe Wrench

Fig. 1A. Moore Drop Forging 6 Inch Stillson-Pattern Pipe Wrench, with Insets for Side View and Marking Detail.

Fig. 1A shows a Moore Drop Forging 6 inch Stillson-pattern pipe wrench with a wooden handle, stamped "Stillson's Wrench" with "Made by Moore Drop Forging Co." and "Springfield, Mass. U.S.A." on the shank.

The overall length is 6.0 inches closed and 7.0 inches fully extended. The finish is plain steel.

Moore Drop Forging Stillson-Pattern 12 Inch Pipe Wrench

Fig. 1B. Moore Drop Forging 12 Inch Stillson-Pattern Pipe Wrench, with Insets for Side View and Marking Detail.

Fig. 1B shows a Moore Drop Forging 12 inch Stillson-pattern pipe wrench with a wooden handle. The shank is stamped "Stillson's Wrench" with "Made by Moore Drop Forging Co." and "Springfield, Mass. U.S.A.", followed by the M-Circle logo (see middle inset). The M-Circle logo also appears as a forge mark on the moveable jaw of the wrench.

The overall length is 12.0 inches closed and 13.8 inches fully extended. The finish is plain steel.

Contract Production

Moore Drop Forging "Ford" 5/8x15/16 Spark Plug and Head Bolt Wrench

Fig. 2. Moore Drop Forging "Ford" 5/8x15/16 Spark Plug and Head Bolt Wrench, with Insets for Side View and Marking Detail.

Fig. 2 shows a Moore Drop Forging "Ford" spark plug wrench, with measured openings of 5/8 on the hex box end and 15/16 on the open end. The shank is marked with the "Ford" script name forged into the top, with the M-Circle logo and a "50" code forged into the reverse.

The overall length is 10.0 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

This was a very familiar wrench for Ford Model T owners, as it was intended for servicing head bolts and spark plugs.

Moore Drop Forging 40-17017 11/16x1 Spark Plug and Head Bolt Wrench

Fig. 3. Moore Drop Forging 40-17017 11/16x1 Spark Plug and Head Bolt Wrench, with Insets for Side View and Marking Detail.

Fig. 3 shows a familiar wrench for Ford spark plug and head bolt service, a Moore Drop Forging 40-17017 wrench with an 11/16 hex box end and a 1 inch open end. The wrench is marked with "M" and the model number forged into the reverse shank (see lower inset).

The overall length is 10.1 inches. The finish is plain steel with traces of the original black paint.

Moore Drop Forging "FoMoCo" 9N17014 11/16x1-1/16 Open-End Wrench

Fig. 4. Moore Drop Forging 9N17014 11/16x1-1/16 Open-End Wrench, with Inset for Reverse Detail.

Fig. 4 shows a Ford "FoMoCo" 9N17014 11/16x1-1/16 open-end wrench, made for Ford by Moore Drop Forging. The wrench is marked with the FoMoCo logo and "USA" forged into the shank, with the M-Circle logo and "15" forged into the reverse.

The overall length is 10.5 inches. The finish is plain steel with traces of the original black paint.

Moore Drop Forging 9/16x5/8 Open-End Wrench

Fig. 5. Moore Drop Forging 9/16x5/8 Open-End Wrench.

Fig. 5 shows a 9/16x5/8 open-end wrench made by Moore Drop Forging, marked with the M-Circle logo and "30" forged into the shank.

The overall length is 5.6 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

References and Resources

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

Catalog Coverage

Currently we have no catalogs for Moore Drop Forging.

Patents and Trademarks

Patent and trademark information was obtained from the U.S. Patents and Trademarks Office (USPTO) web site at uspto.gov. Patent documents were obtained from sites offering free downloads, notably freepatentsonline.com.

Feedback

If any readers have additional information on Moore Drop Forging, please let us know via the "Contact Us" link on the home page. Your comments and suggestions are welcome as well.