Proto (tools)

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title: "Proto (tools)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["industrial-tool-manufacturers", "tool-manufacturing-companies-of-the-united-states", "stanley-black-&-decker-brands", "manufacturing-companies-based-in-connecticut", "manufacturing-companies-established-in-1907", "1964-mergers-and-acquisitions", "1984-mergers-and-acquisitions"] description: "American tool company" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto_(tools)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American tool company ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

Field	Value
name	Proto
logo	Proto Tools logo.svg
logo_size	200px
trading_name
native_name
native_name_lang
type	Subsidiary
industry	Manufacturing
genre
foundation	Los Angeles, California, United States ()
founder
defunct
location_city	New Britain, Connecticut
location_country	United States
locations
products	Industrial tools
aum
parent	Stanley Black & Decker
homepage	protoindustrial.com
::

| name = Proto | logo = Proto Tools logo.svg | logo_size = 200px | logo_caption = | image = | image_caption = | trading_name = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | romanized = | former type = | type = Subsidiary | traded_as = | industry = Manufacturing | genre = | fate = | predecessor = | successor = | foundation = Los Angeles, California, United States () | founder = | defunct = | location_city = New Britain, Connecticut | location_country = United States | locations = | area_served = | key_people = | products = Industrial tools | production = | services = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | aum = | assets = | equity = | owner = | num_employees = | parent = Stanley Black & Decker | divisions = | subsid = | homepage = protoindustrial.com | footnotes = | intl = | bodystyle =

Proto Tools (formally Stanley Proto) is an American industrial hand tool company. Founded as Plomb, it is presently a division of Stanley Black & Decker. The company is credited with creating the first combination wrench in 1933.

History

Established by Alphonse Plomb, Jacob Weninger, and Charles Williams as the Plomb Tool Company, the company started in 1907 as a small blacksmith shop making chisels in Los Angeles. In 1933, Plomb released what is commonly credited as the first combination wrench.

Plomb acquired a number of companies during the 1940s, including Cragin Tool of Chicago, Illinois in 1940, P&C Tool of Oregon in 1941, Penens Tool of Cleveland, Ohio in 1942, and J.P. Danielson of Jamestown, New York in 1947. Penens Tool would produce tools under the Fleet and Challenger brand names after its acquisition.

In 1946, Plomb was sued by another tool manufacturer—Fayette R. Plumb, Inc., now a brand of Apex Tool Group—for trademark infringement. The company began manufacturing its tools with the Proto name, a portmanteau of "professional" and "tools," in 1948. In 1957, the company began operating as Pendleton Tool Industries.

In 1964, Proto was acquired by Ingersoll-Rand, and in 1984, it was acquired by Stanley and became Stanley Proto Industrial Tools.

Gallery

Image:1933 Plomb Combination Wrench.jpg|A 1933 5/8" Plomb combination wrench. Image:Proto Big Dawg ratchet.jpg|A Proto "Big Dawg" ratchet. Image:Western Forge Proto adjustable wrench.jpg|A Proto adjustable wrench.

References

References

1. "Plomb: A Gallery of Tools". Alloy Artifacts.
2. Stanley Proto. "Company History".
3. "The Proto Empire". Alloy Artifacts.
4. Lamond, Tom. "Fayette R. Plumb Co.". YesteryearsTools.
5. (1948-12-06). "CORPORATIONS: Plumb v. Plomb". [[Time (magazine).
6. "Plomb: A Gallery of Tools". Alloy Artifacts.
7. Thomas, Bob. "Company History".

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