four.cycle
Well-known member
A question came up in another thread, so I was compelled to see if I could find an answer.
As things turned out, I discovered there were far more companies producing these than I had previously thought.
I'm not going to make any claims about this being "comprehensive" - I have no doubt there are other brands and models out there somewhere, so feel free to post your "dog bones" if you have any.
For the purposes of this discussion, we need to establish the definition of "dog bone wrench":
I think we can all agree that a wrench having two swiveling ends, each end having multiple openings, can be called a "dog bone".
I ran into one manufacturer whose "dog bones" only have two openings at each end, necessitating the manufacture of no fewer than four different sizes of "dog bones" in order to cover the size range desired.
But then we have these odd little things intended for the bicycle industry, which have come to be accepted (and commonly called in the current lexicon) as "dog bones" (although at least one manufacturer called theirs a "dumbell wrench".)
Because we've got that overlap, the reasonable thing to do is include them all, while at the same time excluding those units which simply have overly large heads at each end and appear to be "dog bone shaped", but do not function in the same manner. (e.g., multiple openings at each end.)
(all photos: ebay)
Alphabetically:
Autocraft / Autocraft (presumably China) / SAE sizes 8 openings swivel head no offset
Autocraft (China) dog bone wrench
Black & Decker / Black & Decker / model ? SAE/Metric sizes 8 openings swivel head no offset /
Black & Decker SAE metric dog bone wrench
Bumm, West Germany / small cast dog bone wrench /
Bumm (West Germany) dog bone wrench
As things turned out, I discovered there were far more companies producing these than I had previously thought.
I'm not going to make any claims about this being "comprehensive" - I have no doubt there are other brands and models out there somewhere, so feel free to post your "dog bones" if you have any.
For the purposes of this discussion, we need to establish the definition of "dog bone wrench":
I think we can all agree that a wrench having two swiveling ends, each end having multiple openings, can be called a "dog bone".
I ran into one manufacturer whose "dog bones" only have two openings at each end, necessitating the manufacture of no fewer than four different sizes of "dog bones" in order to cover the size range desired.
But then we have these odd little things intended for the bicycle industry, which have come to be accepted (and commonly called in the current lexicon) as "dog bones" (although at least one manufacturer called theirs a "dumbell wrench".)
Because we've got that overlap, the reasonable thing to do is include them all, while at the same time excluding those units which simply have overly large heads at each end and appear to be "dog bone shaped", but do not function in the same manner. (e.g., multiple openings at each end.)
(all photos: ebay)
Alphabetically:
Autocraft / Autocraft (presumably China) / SAE sizes 8 openings swivel head no offset
Autocraft (China) dog bone wrench
Black & Decker / Black & Decker / model ? SAE/Metric sizes 8 openings swivel head no offset /
Black & Decker SAE metric dog bone wrench
Bumm, West Germany / small cast dog bone wrench /
Bumm (West Germany) dog bone wrench
Last edited:
