Thread: Wrenches

Originally Posted by meleii

I have a Hamburg foundry adjustable exactly like your wescott, the only difference is the eye on the handle has the square key for oxygen/acetylene bottles. I carry it every day on the job. It was made around the 50's.

90% of my work tools are no newer than 40 years old too. The spud wrenches I carry depend on job. I always have my Bethlehem Steel heavy nut 3/4 and 7/8 that my uncle gave me for finishing my apprenticeship. And on a tin can I have a set of american bridge common nut. As for around the house I only use Williams, proto, or Klein hand tools. All American made. I don't allow anyone in my house to buy any foreign hand tools.

I've had 3/4 and 7/8 hard Bethlehem wrenches but they went the way of the Chiricahua . The twenty years I did ironwork I had American Bridge hard and soft spuds. None better. The Bethlehem spuds had that rough seam on both sides and the taper was too thin for connecting. The rough seam would tend to hang up in connection points. The taper was good for towers though. The Bridge Co wrenches had a perfect taper for making iron and you could stand on them with confidence. I've heard the harder Bethlehem wrenches might break.

Finally sold my ironwork tools on the bay a year or so ago. No point in keeping tools I'd never use again. Hard to part with them though, they were such a part of my life, hung many a piece of iron with those wrenches. OTOH, better I spent the $ than some joker who ended up with an 'estate sale'.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I've had 3/4 and 7/8 hard Bethlehem wrenches but they went the way of the Chiricahua . The twenty years I did ironwork I had American Bridge hard and soft spuds. None better. The Bethlehem spuds had that rough seam on both sides and the taper was too thin for connecting. The rough seam would tend to hang up in connection points. The taper was good for towers though. The Bridge Co wrenches had a perfect taper for making iron and you could stand on them with confidence. I've heard the harder Bethlehem wrenches might break.

Finally sold my ironwork tools on the bay a year or so ago. No point in keeping tools I'd never use again. Hard to part with them though, they were such a part of my life, hung many a piece of iron with those wrenches. OTOH, better I spent the $ than some joker who ended up with an 'estate sale'.

I don't do too much connecting since I tore the tendons in my ankle.. But the high seam on the BS spuds work great when your bolting up. Fortunately around here they are quite easy to come across. I only live about 30 minutes from the former location of the foundry. I also worked on the old BS building when we built the casino there. I was kind of cool using their spuds to work on that job.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Snap-On is art. Beyond tools. I don't have a lot of them but every now and again, when I need a wrench I make it a Snap-On. Ebay is a good source for high end tools. The USA Craftsman, vintage S&K, Proto, are all good. Vintage J.H. Williams too.

All the above is true however American consumer products "Craftsman" isn't what they used to be...everyone is going for the gimic tools. I splurged and bought a set of Armstrong box open end for $100 about thirty years go and even Armstrong isn't making a tool even close to my set now.

Originally Posted by Gotdzel

It's not about the warranty. It's about the quality of the tool, and with Snap-On hand tools you will probably NEVER even need to use the warranty. Imagine that? Buying something that you will never need to buy again... or turn in for warranty... sounds like a small group of the population that is shaving with straight razors!! Ok, I'll get off my now.

I've seen just as many Snap-on wrenches break as any other wrench. Of course, this is in the oil industry, I'll admit that they do see abuse, (wrench snipes, double wrenching nuts, etc.), but my point here is that every brand of tool will eventually break out here, so I prefer to save money on the initial cost of them. Even with the abuse, the warranty has never been questioned, with any brand.

I have always bought Craftsman wrenches and have 2 rollaway boxes full.

A couple of years ago, I bought a set of Kobalt open end & boxed wrenches for my son, on sale at Lowe’s, for around twenty some dollars. They are very nice well-made and finished wrenches, heavily chromed for easy clean up, thin and comfortable in the hand.

I liked them so much, the next time they were on sale I bought him another set and yet another for myself. It never hurts to have more than one of the same size when you are working on a large project and looking for a wrench in a hurry. I have ratchet type wrenches as well, but most ratchet heads are flat to the handle and I find offset wrenches are easier to work with. While in theory the ratchet wrenches are a neat idea, but I reach for an old style offset boxed end wrench, lately the Kobalt’s. After almost 50 years of wrenching I have never broken a wrench, so warranty isn’t such a big deal to me.
Check out the Kobalt line, they usually go on sale around Father’s day and Christmas.

Kobalts tools look great,The tool boxes they make are fantastic.

Originally Posted by Euclid440

Kobalt open end & boxed wrenches .

(Cough cough) Chinese ( cough!)

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Kobalts tools look great,The tool boxes they make are fantastic.

ROFL! Wait... Are you serious??

Originally Posted by Gotdzel

ROFL! Wait... Are you serious??

Yes>>>>>>>>>>>

Originally Posted by meleii

I don't do too much connecting since I tore the tendons in my ankle.. But the high seam on the BS spuds work great when your bolting up. Fortunately around here they are quite easy to come across. I only live about 30 minutes from the former location of the foundry. I also worked on the old BS building when we built the casino there. I was kind of cool using their spuds to work on that job.

In the '70s I was working for Bridge Co in Mountain Iron, MN. Bethlehem was doing their last steel erection job in Keewatin, MN IIRC. Anyway, they got out of erecting at that time and I never did get to work for them. Here are a couple more pix of the tools I sold on the bay back a couple of years ago.