The Armstrong Bros. Tool Company began in 1890 as a maker of bicycle parts and service tools, founded in Chicago, Illinois by four brothers. Their first manufacturing operations were conducted literally from a backyard wooden shed, and the brothers also operated a retail store for their bicycle parts.

In 1895 Armstrong introduced what would become their first major product, a tool holder for lathe cutting bits. Developed from their own manufacturing operations, the Armstrong tool holder was a forged handle that accepted small interchangeable cutting bits, thereby replacing the individually forged cutting tools previously required. This dramatically reduced the time and expense involved in making lathe cutting tools, and it's fair to say that these tool holders revolutionized the industry.

[1915 Ad for Armstrong Wrenches]

Fig. 0A. 1915 Advertisement for Armstrong Wrenches.

With the success of the tool holder, in 1900 Armstrong built their first real factory at 617 Austin Avenue in Chicago. This was replaced a few years later in 1905 by a 100,000 square foot brick factory at 317 North Francisco Avenue, a site they would occupy for many years.

Up until 1909 Armstrong concentrated primarily on tool holders and related products, but in 1909 they started producing a line of drop-forged wrenches. This line of tools continued to expand over the years.

The advertisement in Fig. 0A was published on page 52 of the April, 1915 issue of Mill Supplies. The illustration shows a number of the company's drop-forged wrenches, incuding tool-post, textile, and S-shaped designs, as well as a range of standard double-open wrenches.

By 1918 Armstrong had become one of the "Big Nine" of the forging industry: nine companies who together accounted for nearly all of the drop-forged wrench production. These companies jointly signed a Conservation Agreement to reduce manpower and materials, as requested by the War Industries Board.

"Aero" Tappet Wrenches and Alloy Steel

By 1920 Armstrong was offering three sizes of "Aero" tappet wrenches made of chrome-nickel steel, an early example of alloy steel usage for tools.

Fig. 0B. 1920 Notice for Armstrong B-20 Catalog.

The notice in Fig. 0B, published on page 748 of the November, 1920 issue of Railway Mechanical Engineer, announces Armstrong catalog B-20 and notes the inclusion of "Aero" tappets among the new products.

By 1927 Armstrong was offering the Armstrong-Vanadium line of alloy steel open-end and tappet wrenches, and around the same time began a highly successful collaboration with Blackhawk Manufacturing for the Blackhawk-Armstrong line of wrenches. The arrangement with Blackhawk was somewhat unusual in that Armstrong provided contract manufacturing, but also received name recognition from the joint company marking.

In 1948 the company moved from the Francisco Avenue site to 5200 West Armstrong Avenue, where they remain today. A second manufacturing facility in Fayetteville, Arkansas was added in 1974.

Later Developments

In 1994 Armstrong was acquired by the Danaher Group, a conglomerate with other tool company holdings including Allen, K-D, Matco, and Moore Drop Forging. Armstrong operates now as the Industrial Hand Tools division of Danaher.

Patents

Armstrong was a highly innovative organization from its beginning, and received (or licensed) many patents over the years. Their early catalogs even include a list of patent dates in the front, a thoughtful addition that would have been more useful if the patent numbers had been included as well.