Fairmount Tool & Forging Company [Under Construction]

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Selected Tools
• References and Resources
• What's New (Last Updated June 23, 2008)
  Recent changes to this page:

  • 06/23/2008: Added a Fairmount 25 "Ford" Open-End Wrench.
  • 06/14/2008: Added a Fairmount 26 Open-End Wrench.
  • 05/14/2008: Added a Fairmount AN8505-17 Thin Hydraulic Wrench.
  • 04/14/2008: Added a Fairmount AN8505-19 Thin Hydraulic Wrench.
  • 03/20/2008: Added a Fairmount 207A Single-Open "Spud" Wrench.
  • 03/13/2008: Added a Fairmount "Cleve" S-Shaped Wrench.
  • 03/11/2008: Moved to a separate page.
  • 12/31/2007: Added a Fairmount 730-A Open-End Wrench.
  • 12/15/2007: Added a Fairmount 9723 Offset Box Wrench.
  • 12/03/2007: Added a Fairmount "Cleve" 731 Open-End Wrench.
  • 10/11/2007: Added a Fairmount 629D Thin Open-End Wrench,
  • 11/04/2006: Added a Fairmount 9727 Offset Box Wrench.
  • 10/22/2006: Added a Fairmount Auto Wrench.
  • 10/18/2006: Added a Fairmount 723 Open-End Wrench

Introduction

Company History

Fairmount Tool and Forging was founded in 1917 in Cleveland, Ohio, and became well known as a contract manufacturer for automobile tool kits. The company also specialized in tools for automobile body work.

Currently we have only very limited information for this company. The company is listed in a 1931 "Corporations and Directors" directory, which indicates that Fairmount Tool and Forging was incorporated in 1917, with J. Wentworth Smith as President. A small brochure for their automobile body tools gives the company address as 10611 Quincy Avenue in Cleveland, and offers their new auto body work instruction manual "The Key to Metal Bumping" for $0.25 postpaid. (As an aside, this little book became very popular, and remains in print today!) The brochure shows the use of an inverted diamond logo enclosing the "FTF" company initials.

Based on information printed in the 1953 Third Edition of "The Key To Metal Bumping", by 1953 Fairmount had become a subsidiary of Houdaille Industries, an industrial conglomerate. Fairmount remained as a division of Houdaille until July of 1984, when the company was acquired by the Martin Sprocket and Gear Corporation. The Fairmount operations were renamed as the Martin Tools division, and the line of tools continues in production today under the Martin brand.

Patents

A check for patent records turned up two patents assigned to Fairmount, one for a valve spring lifter and the other for a wrench set holder.

Trademarks

No trademark registrations have been found for Fairmount.

Selected Tools

Fairmount 9 Inch Auto Wrench

Fig. 1. Fairmount 9 Inch Auto Wrench.

Fairmount 723 3/8x7/16 Open-End Wrench

Fig. 2. Fairmount 723 3/8x7/16 Open-End Wrench.

Fairmount 25 "Ford" 1/2x19/32 Open-End Wrench

Fig. 3A. Fairmount 25 "Ford" 1/2x19/32 Open-End Wrench, with Inset for Marking Detail.

Fig. 3A shows a Fairmount 25 1/2x19/32 open-end wrench produced for Ford, stamped on the face with "Made in U.S.A." and the Fairmount logo, and with the Ford script logo as well (see inset). The shank is marked "Fairmount, Cleve." in forged raised letters.

The overall length is 5.4 inches, and the finish is black paint.

Fairmount 26 1/2x11/16 Open-End Wrench

Fig. 3B. Fairmount 26 1/2x11/16 Open-End Wrench.

Fig. 3B shows an open-end wrench in a somewhat unusual size, a Fairmount 26 1/2x11/16 open-end wrench. The face is stamped "Made in U.S.A." with the Fairmount logo, and the shank has "Fairmount U.S.A." in forged raised letters.

The overall length is 6.4 inches, and the finish is black paint.

Fairmount 730-A 5/8x7/8 Open-End Wrench

Fig. 4. Fairmount 730-A 5/8x7/8 Open-End Wrench.

Fig. 4 shows another somewhat unusual size, a Fairmount 730-A 5/8x7/8 open-end wrench. The face is stamped "Made in U.S.A." with the Fairmount logo, and the shank has "Fairmount U.S.A." in forged raised letters.

The overall length is 8.7 inches, and the finish is black paint. This wrench was found with some of its protective cosmoline coating still on the faces, suggesting that it received little or no use.

Fairmount "Cleve" 731 3/4x13/16 Open-End Wrench

Fig. 5. Fairmount "Cleve" 731 3/4x13/16 Open-End Wrench.

Fig. 5 shows a Fairmount 731 3/4x13/16 open-end wrench, stamped "Made in U.S.A." on the face, and with "Fairmount Cleve." forged into the shank.

The overall length is 8.6 inches, and the finish is cadmium plating.

Fairmount "Cleve" 1/2x9/16 S-Shaped Open-End Wrench

Fig. 6. Fairmount "Cleve" 1/2x9/16 S-Shaped Open-End Wrench.

Fig. 6 shows a Fairmount 1/2x9/16 S-shaped open-end wrench, marked with "Fairmount Cleve." forged into the shank.

The overall length is 7.1 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

Fairmount 629D 5/8x3/4 Check-Nut Wrench

Fig. 7. Fairmount 629D 5/8x3/4 Check-Nut Wrench.

Fig. 7 shows a Fairmount 629D 5/8x3/4 check-nut wrench, stamped "Made in U.S.A." on the face.

The overall length is 6.9 inches, and the finish is black paint.

Fairmount 207A 1-5/32 Single-Open "Spud" Wrench

Fig. 8. Fairmount 207A 1-5/32 Single-Open Spud Wrench, with Inset for Marking Detail.

Fig. 8 shows a Fairmount 207A 1-5/32 single-open "spud" wrench, stamped "Made in U.S.A." on the shank.

The overall length is 16.1 inches, and the finish is plain steel, with pitting due to rust.

Fairmount 9723 3/8x7/16 Offset Box-End Wrench

Fig. 9. Fairmount 9723 3/8x7/16 Offset Box-End Wrench, with Insets for Side View and Reverse Detail.

Fig. 9 shows a rare Fairmount 9723 3/8x7/16 offset box-end wrench, marked "U.S.A." with "Fairalloy" and the model number on the reverse. (Note that the lower inset has been rotated for ease of viewing.)

The overall length is 4.7 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

Fairmount 9727 Special 5/8x3/4 Offset Box-End Wrench

Fig. 10. Fairmount 9727 Special 5/8x3/4 Offset Box-End Wrench, with Insets for Side View and Detail.

Fig. 10 shows a rare Fairmount 9727 "Special" 5/8x3/4 offset box-end wrench, marked "U.S.A." with "Fairalloy" and "9727 Spec" on the reverse. (Note that the lower inset has been rotated for ease of viewing.)

The overall length is 6.3 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

The "Spec" marking probably indicates a special-order item, as the 9727 model number would normally indicate 9/16x5/8 openings, according to the Industry-Standard Wrench Sizes.

Fairmount AN8505-17 1-5/16x1-3/8 Thin Hydraulic Wrench

Fig. 11. Fairmount AN8505-17 1-5/16x1-3/8 Thin Hydraulic Wrench, with Inset for Reverse Detail.

Fig. 11 shows a rare Fairmount AN8505-17 1-5/16x1-3/8 thin hydraulic wrench, stamped with the Fairmount logo and "Made in U.S.A." on the shank.

The overall length is 8.9 inches, and the finish is plain steel.

The AN series model number indicates that this wrench was likely made for a military contract, but currently we don't have any information on the specific application.

Fairmount AN8505-19 1-7/16x1-1/2 Thin Hydraulic Wrench

Fig. 12. Fairmount AN8505-19 1-7/16x1-1/2 Thin Hydraulic Wrench, with Inset for Reverse Detail.

Fig. 12 shows a rare Fairmount AN8505-19 1-7/16x1-1/2 thin hydraulic wrench, marked with "Fairmount U.S.A." forged into the front, with the AN series model number forged into the reverse.

The overall length is 9.3 inches, and the finish is plain steel with some of the original black paint.

The AN series model number indicates that this wrench was likely made for a military contract, but currently we don't have any information on the specific application.

References and Resources

Photographs and observations of particular tools are based on items in my personal collection.

Catalog Coverage

Currently we do not have any Fairmount catalogs.

Patents and Trademarks

Patent 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 about Fairmount, please let us know via the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of any page. Your comments and suggestions are welcome as well.