Use & Abuse of Crescent Wrenches by tubalcain

[torqueman2002]

tubalcain (aka mrpete222) has tested the 'Myth' about which direction a Crescent wrench should be use.

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[bobcatdan]

I use adjustables in which ever direction the head fits the work better. Been using them close to 20 years and never broke one.

 

[justanengineer]

I've never broken one but have observed them opening up when used improperly, its basic physics.

As for MrPete, he's not worth watching IMHO. Yes, everybody has their own hokey ways of doing a task and whatever works simply works, but he's got quite a few and is ~50 years behind the times on most things machine related. I also find it difficult to have respect for him bc of the tubalcain bit having grown up reading and building projects by the real tubalcain - Tom Walshaw.

 

[ssdave]

I don't think it's a matter of breaking them, it's a matter of stretching the split portion of the wrench that holds the moving jaw. If the moving jaw presses into the split area, it doesn't work it loose as badly as if it's pulling out of the split area.

At least academically, the wrench will stay tight longer if you use them that way. I have older wrenches with a circular arrow on the handle reminding you which way to turn the wrench. There was a presumption at one time that people wouldn't use the tools to the breaking point, so usability/durability was more of a point than ultimate strength.

 

[tdkkart]

As for MrPete, he's not worth watching IMHO. Yes, everybody has their own hokey ways of doing a task and whatever works simply works, but he's got quite a few and is ~50 years behind the times on most things machine related.

While he may be "50 years behind the times", the majority of the information that he passes along is basic machining knowledge that is timelsss, information that many of today's button pushing "machinists" could do well to take the time to learn.

I suspect he intends that his target audience be closer to the aspiring hobbyists/home machinists, the guys that are trying to learn the basic methods that most people in the trade use automatically.

Somebody is watching him, 100,000 subscribers and 27.5 million views is territory that many Youtubers only dream about.

 

[isr2kba]

I've never broken one but have observed them opening up when used improperly, its basic physics.

As for MrPete, he's not worth watching IMHO. Yes, everybody has their own hokey ways of doing a task and whatever works simply works, but he's got quite a few and is ~50 years behind the times on most things machine related. I also find it difficult to have respect for him bc of the tubalcain bit having grown up reading and building projects by the real tubalcain - Tom Walshaw.

With this in mind, perhaps we should purge our bookshelves and libraries of any machinery and tool materials older than 30 years in order to remain current with the times.

As for me I hope the guy (and whatever internet handle he picks) continues the knowledge transfer for many years to come.

 

[ibedayank]

I've never broken one but have observed them opening up when used improperly, its basic physics.

As for MrPete, he's not worth watching IMHO. Yes, everybody has their own hokey ways of doing a task and whatever works simply works, but he's got quite a few and is ~50 years behind the times on most things machine related. I also find it difficult to have respect for him bc of the tubalcain bit having grown up reading and building projects by the real tubalcain - Tom Walshaw.

How about instead of talking **** about somebody that is not a member you pull up your big boy pants and make your own Youtube vids aince you know so much.

 

[Burgerkong]

Not a proper test. Get two new identical wrenches from the same manufacturing batch and then test them. The wrenches he 'compared' weren't even the same condition, age or model......

 

[monkeyspanners]

Watched the vid, seems to me the 'correct' way to use them is wrong, surely the moving jaw should have the load applied nearest to the slide for less leverage on the presumed weakest jaw?

Either way i have been using mine whichever way they fit best and often end up swapping from correct to incorrect positioning on the same task. So far I have yet damage an adjustable in my 24 years working.

I would say the older monkey wrench style adjustable is more likely to slip off and smack you in the face if used in one of the two possible directions, maybe this is where the idea started.

 

[Mechanical Noise]

Not really detailed but it confirms what I believe about adjustable wrenches. After all, why would the manufacturers have to make one side weaker, year after year, generation after generation?

 

[tdkkart]

Any situation that's gonna test the limits of an adjustable wrench, is not the place for an adjustable wrench. It'd like using a 3/8" ratchet and cheater bar to take the wheels off your F350. The person behind the wrench needs an education.
I use adjustable wrenches frequently at work, including one of the double ended ones shown in the video, but never in a spot that will be anywhere near the limits of the wrench.

 

[kelpaso1]

How about instead of talking **** about somebody that is not a member you pull up your big boy pants and make your own Youtube vids aince you know so much.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

I'd consider the wrench as failed when the jaws spread open. At that point it is no longer functioning for the intended job. It would have been nice to see a torque meter or force gauge used.
BTW: I use adjustable wrenches sparingly and in the correct direction whenever possible.

 

[rick carpenter]

It wasn't ever the moveable jaw per se that is the weak point, the thin walls of the channel along the slide area or the tunnel under the fixed jaw are the weak points. He proved that without realizing it, though I always assumed the channel walls would just spread rather than break.

 

[sleepy127]

I like his videos but in this one I think all he proved was that he could destroy a couple of perfectly functional wrenches. I only use my adjustable wrenches when too lazy to go and get the right size combo lol but I do try and use it in the appropriate direction when needed.

So a little story, about a year ago I am with my unit out in the field and I am the Truckmaster (Senior truckdriver in the unit, manages all equipment and drivers and assigns missions). We get a call stating we have a vehicle broke down and with a flat tire. If you know anything about Military vehicles you will know that they should have any tools necessary to change a tire available in the truck somewhere (usually a side box). For some reason this one didn't even though someone had to bless off on it before it left the motorpool but thats another story. Anyways I get there and all they have is a crescent to remove a particular bolt that holds the airline for the CTIS (central tire inflation system). They have rounded it off trying to remove it. The wrench was a good made in US crescent, still in good shape but they were using it the wrong way. All I had to do was use it the right way and was able to take the bolt off.

I know, long story but the point is the adjustable seems to have better contact and less flex if used in the right direction and less chance to slip (at least in all of my experiences).

 

[Wakefield]

The Myth lives just fine!
Amazing the bite the Williams took out of that square section
Total abuse of the tools far beyond their intended capacity
When I was a kid I used to take off the 15/16" nuts that held on Craftsman Mower blades to the crankshaft studs of their Tecumseh engines,far and away more torque than such a small tool (8" Japanese made adjustable) should be asked to handle-look how big the Wright or Williams 15/16" combination wrenches are-and the box end is the proper one

 

[Wakefield]

I like his videos but in this one I think all he proved was that he could destroy a couple of perfectly functional wrenches. I only use my adjustable wrenches when too lazy to go and get the right size combo lol but I do try and use it in the appropriate direction when needed.

So a little story, about a year ago I am with my unit out in the field and I am the Truckmaster (Senior truckdriver in the unit, manages all equipment and drivers and assigns missions). We get a call stating we have a vehicle broke down and with a flat tire. If you know anything about Military vehicles you will know that they should have any tools necessary to change a tire available in the truck somewhere (usually a side box). For some reason this one didn't even though someone had to bless off on it before it left the motorpool but thats another story. Anyways I get there and all they have is a crescent to remove a particular bolt that holds the airline for the CTIS (central tire inflation system). They have rounded it off trying to remove it. The wrench was a good made in US crescent, still in good shape but they were using it the wrong way. All I had to do was use it the right way and was able to take the bolt off.

I know, long story but the point is the adjustable seems to have better contact and less flex if used in the right direction and less chance to slip (at least in all of my experiences).

Using it the right way puts the proper down force on the movable jaw tending to make it stick in place against the wrench frame

 

[OutsideMachinist]

Anyone that uses an open end even rarely already knows there are plenty of times where you must flip the wrench over to get a proper fit on the flats. Thats one of the things that ***** about using adjustable wrenches, you cant always turn them the proper way. Often you can't actually.

 

[PBCampbell]

Really, who cares? Was it worth making nasty comments over? A tool that borders on gimmick nowadays. I doubt there is a significant percentage of people who really need to use an adjustable daily, let alone have a need to use them to their extreme. I'm sure there was a time when they had their place due to the expense of proper wrenches mostly, but that hasn't been the case for decades. I apologize for the rant, but the incivility that resulted seemed undeserved.

 

[T45]

Not really detailed but it confirms what I believe about adjustable wrenches. After all, why would the manufacturers have to make one side weaker, year after year, generation after generation?

From the video, they don't. The myth is sort of 1/2 true. Using the wrench the 'wrong way' leads to catastrophic failure in 2/2 attempts. Using it the 'right' way didn't lead to any catastrophic failures. What was of note was that the failure points were at odds with the 'logic' of the myth...so the myth is empirically still valid in a way but the explanation is wrong...using a wrench the wrong way will lead the stationary jaw or the throat of the wrench to fail......and that counterintuitive result was the whole point of the vid. He calls the myth busted because it is correct only by co-incidence, not by explanation.

 

[speed bump]

Really, who cares? Was it worth making nasty comments over? A tool that borders on gimmick nowadays. I doubt there is a significant percentage of people who really need to use an adjustable daily, let alone have a need to use them to their extreme. I'm sure there was a time when they had their place due to the expense of proper wrenches mostly, but that hasn't been the case for decades. I apologize for the rant, but the incivility that resulted seemed undeserved.

Not sure what kind of work you do but adjustable wrenches are common place in most trades. The reason is while the wrenches might be cheaper the tradesman doesn't have extra capacity to carry them. A 6 and 12" adjustable will cover everything from 1/4-1-1/4" for a couple of pounds rather 10s of pounds that a wrench set weighs. Also adjustables are better than an open end wrench for pipe fittings due to widers jaws and they also work well for tweaking things.

As far as breaking them: when down time costs $10k an hour my experience is your boss will happily replace your broken tools if it means fixing it faster.

 

[anndel]

I use adjustables in which ever direction the head fits the work better. Been using them close to 20 years and never broke one.

Same here, I've been using hem for 40 plus years and never broken one....yet. I like to use them in the incorrect position because they feel better and gives me more leverage.

 

[Karl_B]

I'd say all of that was just a video of failures. The first was using wrenches too small to properly grip that bar. The second was failing to recognize that the wrench spreading is a failure to do the job, but in this case, because they were all too small. He also failed to recognize that the "rule" about the proper way to use an adjustable wrench is all about high torque situations. Once that fastener is moving, you should use any way you need to do get it on the faster. I especially liked the pipe causing the last wrench to break and he didn't recognize that, either.

This rule for using an adjustable wrench is not about preventing catastrophic failure, it's about keeping the wrench securely on the work. The premise and set up for this "test" were both flawed.

 

[crackit]

I especially liked the pipe causing the last wrench to break and he didn't recognize that, either.

Yes, I also thought the pipe should have been placed farther down the handle. It looks like he concentrated the force at the weakest part of the wrench.

 

[djb25]

I also find it difficult to have respect for him bc of the tubalcain bit having grown up reading and building projects by the real tubalcain - Tom Walshaw.

The "real" Tubalcain was a metalworker in the book of Genesis.

 

[DekeT]

This destructive test would have been better with 2 new identical wrenches. There is no accounting for the previous damage, misuse, or weakening of the wrenches he did use. Too many variables in play here for any real usefulness. He even states many times how "unscientific" the test is and should have just stopped there. He even calls his own results "arguable" citing how a laboratory experiment would have proceeded. I may have missed it but is it a presumption which side of the jaw should break if torqued in the "wrong" direction?

 

[Wakefield]

I think the wrenches are actually quite strong if not used on a fastener so large as to require the jaws to be opened up almost or all of the way. They might even grip a bit more snugly than a fixed open end wrench if rocked on the fastener while you try to cinch the adjustment as tight as possible.They are clumsy and bulkier than fixed measure wrenches.

 

[Mechanical Noise]

From the video, they don't. The myth is sort of 1/2 true. Using the wrench the 'wrong way' leads to catastrophic failure in 2/2 attempts. Using it the 'right' way didn't lead to any catastrophic failures. What was of note was that the failure points were at odds with the 'logic' of the myth...so the myth is empirically still valid in a way but the explanation is wrong...using a wrench the wrong way will lead the stationary jaw or the throat of the wrench to fail......and that counterintuitive result was the whole point of the vid. He calls the myth busted because it is correct only by co-incidence, not by explanation.

My thought is that the adjustable wrench design has been tweaked enough over the years that it works about as well in either direction. The next two wrenches might fail differently. Or they might fail differently at a smaller opening. I have always figured that working an adjustable hard at it's largest openings is just asking for trouble.

Catastrophic failure brings up another point. Catastrophic failure could potentially lead to injuries. If it really made much difference the wrench is pulled, I'd think the corporate lawyers would make sure the pull arrow would stay on.

 

[woody 73]

Interesting post and very interesting post replies.

An old trick that my Father taught me (and I am sure thousands of other Fathers passed on) was to take a long piece of string of somewhat heavy duty, but not rope and tie it to your crescent wrench or pipe wrench of 6" design and then tie it to your old gas meter making sure the string was long enough to reach the gas shut off valve.

In case of a gas leak you would not panic looking for a tool in order to shut off the gas...So you see they are still used by many people to this very day!

 

[NUTTSGT]

Not a proper test. Get two new identical wrenches from the same manufacturing batch and then test them. The wrenches he 'compared' weren't even the same condition, age or model......

I'd agree. I believe the only thing that he proved was, when you abuse tools, they break.

 

[Yesmar]

i always thought it wasn't about breaking the wrench but getting a good grip on the nut or bolt. when you pull the wrench the correct way the adjustable portion of the wrench tightens on the fastener. when you do it the opposite way it has more of a possibility to open slightly and slipping, stripping ect.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Not sure what kind of work you do but adjustable wrenches are common place in most trades. The reason is while the wrenches might be cheaper the tradesman doesn't have extra capacity to carry them. A 6 and 12" adjustable will cover everything from 1/4-1-1/4" for a couple of pounds rather 10s of pounds that a wrench set weighs. Also adjustables are better than an open end wrench for pipe fittings due to widers jaws and they also work well for tweaking things.

As far as breaking them: when down time costs $10k an hour my experience is your boss will happily replace your broken tools if it means fixing it faster.

When I am working in my shop, I always prefer to use an appropriately sized wrench, as they are always within arms reach.

When I am away from the shop, the adjustable wrench is my best friend. Through the decades, I don't remember breaking more than 1 or 2 adjustable wrenches, even using them whichever way fits best.

 

[rick carpenter]

Really, who cares? Was it worth making nasty comments over? A tool that borders on gimmick nowadays. I doubt there is a significant percentage of people who really need to use an adjustable daily, let alone have a need to use them to their extreme. I'm sure there was a time when they had their place due to the expense of proper wrenches mostly, but that hasn't been the case for decades. I apologize for the rant, but the incivility that resulted seemed undeserved.

When I've taken 5 minutes to wedge myself between someone's wall and toilet to replace it and I don't know what size replacement nuts have been used, I'll give you a polite call so you can come hand me the right size wrench.

 

[justanengineer]

While he may be "50 years behind the times", the majority of the information that he passes along is basic machining knowledge that is timelsss, information that many of today's button pushing "machinists" could do well to take the time to learn.

I suspect he intends that his target audience be closer to the aspiring hobbyists/home machinists, the guys that are trying to learn the basic methods that most people in the trade use automatically.

Somebody is watching him, 100,000 subscribers and 27.5 million views is territory that many Youtubers only dream about.

I agree that much of what he teaches is very basic and I don't have issue with that aspect of it, knowledge is helpful regardless of age. My issue is simply that he's not knowledgeable of most things even remotely modern. Many including Lyle himself believe he's an expert when he's not even an overly talented hobbyist compared to many in the model-engineering hobby/clubs. VFDs and basic machine controls have been largely the same and in common use for 30 years but its new technology to him. The same applies for many things like carbide, read through his site and listen closely to his videos and it becomes painfully apparent quickly.

Richard Rawlings gets enough views that Chrysler has him as a spokesperson now. Some might but I don't see him as a vehicle expert.

The "real" Tubalcain was a metalworker in the book of Genesis.

I don't get caught up nor care about anyone's screenname, I simply don't care for folks who've attempted to take credit for others' work as the latest Tubalcain did.

 

[Farmall450]

 

[djb25]

I don't get caught up nor care about anyone's screenname, I simply don't care for folks who've attempted to take credit for others' work as the latest Tubalcain did.

Tom Walshaw has been dead for 20 years. And he was British.

The people who claimed Mr. Pete was trying to take credit for someone else's work just didn't know the origin of the name.