Walton Tap Extractors

The Walton Company of West Hartford, Connecticut, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2008. The company – which manufactures tools for the automotive, plumbing and mechanical industries – has been in its current 14,000-square-foot facility on New Park Avenue since 1948. On June 10, 1902, John Kinvall of Worchester, Massachusetts was granted a patent for a "new and useful improvement in a device removing broken taps." Over the next several years, the patent changed hands a few times. In March 1908, the patent, machinery, inventory and goodwill were sold to Ward S. Jacobs of Hartford, CT. "Walton" was the maiden name of Albina Walton Jacobs, grandmother to Ward. On June 1, 1936, Kenneth W. Weeks, Sr., his wife Helen and his sister Beatrice Woodward purchased the business from the Jacobs family.

In 1948, Robert A. Trask, Helen’s brother-in-law, was elected Vice President. In the early 1950s, Kenneth W. Weeks, Jr. joined The Walton Company as Advertising and Purchasing Manager. Upon the death of Kenneth Sr. in 1966, his son Kenneth Jr. was elected President and Helen Weeks was elected Chairman of the Board. During the early 1980s, with the anticipation of the retirement of Robert Trask, Kenneth W. Weeks III (Skip) was hired as Factory Manager. Skip was elected to the position of Vice President when Robert Trask retired, and subsequently to President when Kenneth Jr. retired in 1997.

The present line of Walton Tap Extractors, based on the original 1902 design, includes one in every tap size, both inch and metric. These tools – which facilitate the removal of broken taps without damaging the threads – have received the Innovation Award from Professional Tool & Equipment News, a national trade journal that serves the tool and equipment market.