who sells extra thick metric wrenches?

[tommydog35]

I have a set of open ended wrenches (inches) which I inherited from my grandfather. I guess they are about 70 years old. I would say they are about 3 times thicker than standard wrenches. I have found them very useful for undoing stubborn things where I can't use a socket or flare style wrench. I find because they are so thick, the wrench bites on a larger surface area and makes slippage less likely. Does anyone sell anything like this for metric, either new or vintage tools?

 

[oldtools]

Craftsman lobster claw

 

[four.cycle]

Interesting question. Usually people want thinner.

My old Bridgeport "Hy-Power" SAE/Metric open ends have fairly beefy heads.



You might check some older brands and see what they look like. Off the top of my head I'd suggest older Thorsen, maybe? (Their SAE combos are fairly thick.)

 

[tommydog35]

Yes I known we mainly need thinner wrenches, but the thick stuff does come in useful sometimes. As an example, I am currently taking an injector apart and only have 2 flats to work off. The thicker the wrench the better.

 

[T45]

I have a set of open ended wrenches (inches) which I inherited from my grandfather. I guess they are about 70 years old. I would say they are about 3 times thicker than standard wrenches. I have found them very useful for undoing stubborn things where I can't use a socket or flare style wrench. I find because they are so thick, the wrench bites on a larger surface area and makes slippage less likely. Does anyone sell anything like this for metric, either new or vintage tools?

Lets do some math...6,5mm (1/4") thick jaws on a 13mm open end (~1/2") is pretty thick, are you saing your 1/2 wrench is 3x as thick= 3/4 inch thick jaws?

Typically you go from 6mm to maybe 9mm on a flare/open combo in that size, which is +3mm, or 1/8" or 50%.

 

[bwringer]

Pics of Grandpa's wrenches, please. Those sound cool.

I have no idea, but I'm interested in finding out if there's an answer.

The Crapsman "lobster claws" are thick und unwieldy horizontally, but if I understand you correctly, you're looking for wrenches that are thicker vertically.

 

[Skin]

Flare wrenches with a standard open end on the other side are generally quite beefy.

 

[tommydog35]

Lets do some math...6,5mm (1/4") thick jaws on a 13mm open end (~1/2") is pretty thick, are you saing your 1/2 wrench is 3x as thick= 3/4 inch thick jaws?

Typically you go from 6mm to maybe 9mm on a flare/open combo in that size, which is +3mm, or 1/8" or 50%.

they are larger wrenches starting at about 7/8". I would guess they are not for standard fixings, but probably some special application.

 

[tommydog35]

Flare wrenches with a standard open end on the other side are generally quite beefy.

I did think about that, anyone know how the snap-on ones compare?

 

[T45]

...anyone know how the snap-on ones compare?

I just quoted the math on them at the end of post #5.

They stop at 3/4" tho IIRC

 

[WittHay]

Surprisingly a good quality adjustable wrench sometimes works, the jaws are quite wide.

 

[Qualitytools]

Funny you ask as I am in the process of finding thin wrenches, so your title intrigued me. Please post a photo of your Grandpa's Wrenches.

 

[ex-x-fire]

You know somebody should make a long set, they'd be handy to loosen tight jam nuts on tie rods.

 

[rmorse]

You know somebody should make a long set, they'd be handy to loosen tight jam nuts on tie rods.

There's a bunch of the long ones. Snapon makes a nice set and it only costs your firstborn

 

[kctyphoon]

Probably good for hydraulic lines..

 

[rlitman]

Flare wrenches with a standard open end on the other side are generally quite beefy.

This!

I did think about that, anyone know how the snap-on ones compare?

My Snap On combination flare set is in SAE, and not metric, but I would highly recommend this style if you want a beefier open ended wrench. They have around 1/3 more contact area, but the wrench head itself is also beefier, which prevents jaw spreading.

Your other option for something with two flats that wants to round over is a Knipex Plierswrench. These easily grab things that a normal open ended wrench will fail on.

 

[rsanter]

Snap on....they are the open end line wrenches

Bob

 

[potato]

thin long wrenches are tappet wrenches.
thick long wrenches are engineers wrenches.

 

[mikegt4]

Go to any tractor show flea market and you will find all the thick wrenches that you will ever need (not metric though). Of course they are now "collector" items so not cheap.

 

[Dave455]

Tommydog35 - I know what you mean! I too have some of my grandfathers old tools (mostly U.S. made) and if you really have to use an open ended wrench they are much gentler on the fastener!

Yes, the Snap On flare but wrenches do have thicker open ends (great, well thought out tool) but they are still not as thick as my Grandfathers old Bonney or Armstrong wrenches!

Some manufacturers make their longer wrenches a little thicker, but again, nothing in the same league as the old ones.

Those pre war Bonney open ended wrenches were among my Grandfathers favourite tools and he always seemed to be using them for everything from cycle repairs to machine adjustment. There doesn't seem to be a comparable tool today.

Grandfathers Bonney wrenches were Whitworth by the way, probably getting rare today!

 

[tkdone]

Look at blackhawk they are pretty thick,ebay is where I bought them,usa made

 

[tommydog35]

Tommydog35 - I know what you mean! I too have some of my grandfathers old tools (mostly U.S. made) and if you really have to use an open ended wrench they are much gentler on the fastener!

Yes, the Snap On flare but wrenches do have thicker open ends (great, well thought out tool) but they are still not as thick as my Grandfathers old Bonney or Armstrong wrenches!

Some manufacturers make their longer wrenches a little thicker, but again, nothing in the same league as the old ones.

Those pre war Bonney open ended wrenches were among my Grandfathers favourite tools and he always seemed to be using them for everything from cycle repairs to machine adjustment. There doesn't seem to be a comparable tool today.

Grandfathers Bonney wrenches were Whitworth by the way, probably getting rare today!

Good post, I think you can read my mind! I love the old Bonney stuff, just a shame most of my stuff is now metric.

 

[tommydog35]

After some research, I think the thickest stuff about seems to be slogging wrenches. I think one of those would be useful with some extension pipe.

 

[Gmonkee]

Old metric is difficult. I have some but from before the times men bought sets over buying what they use only.

Lower end brands will tend to be thicker among current production and not all are junk.

I have and use wide hipped metric DOE of -regular- thickness daily. I have a shitload of old DOE from 1890 to 1950ish in various standards.
Those don't see any use really. Old carbon steel wrenches in USS and numbers sizes kinda lost usefulness.

Bonney made a set for the USAF IN 6 to 32mm with the NSN number 5120-01-115-1148 that are in the surplus market currently that run a little thicker while still being modern.
Those may be your best bet.

I have a set in front of me right now.

 

[retDAC]

These are thick:

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-12-p...lerId=Sears&prdNo=45&blockNo=45&blockType=G45

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-7-pi...lerId=Sears&prdNo=27&blockNo=27&blockType=G27

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-cm-w...lerId=Sears&prdNo=12&blockNo=12&blockType=G12

And you can get singles.

 

[Showkey]

Some of the newer Gear Wrench stuff are thicker............they got many write ups here for being too thick and some thought they were defects or rejects because they so thick.

 

[byoungblood]

Anti-slip open end designs seem to be the prefered method of accomplishing what you want these days. If something is stuck, not marring the fastener probably isn't practical or possible to get it loose.

 

[tommydog35]

Anti-slip open end designs seem to be the prefered method of accomplishing what you want these days. If something is stuck, not marring the fastener probably isn't practical or possible to get it loose.

So who do you think makes the best anti slip? I have heard good things about the proto ones.

 

[2ndGearRubber]

So who do you think makes the best anti slip? I have heard good things about the proto ones.

I'd say Wright. Better than snap-on, in my experience.



Wright too, makes their wrenches a bit thicker than standard. This, plus the wright grip teeth, may meet OPs requirements.

 

[byoungblood]

I have WrightGrip metric wrenches. They are very nice and the anti-slip design does its job well.

 

[Engine]

So who do you think makes the best anti slip? I have heard good things about the proto ones.

RealToolReviews did a test a couple years ago that showed that the WrightGrip held tighter than even the mighty Snap-On in an objective test: Snap-on VS Wright Tool (Flank Drive Plus VS WrightGRIP) Link

 

[tommydog35]

RealToolReviews did a test a couple years ago that showed that the WrightGrip held tighter than even the mighty Snap-On in an objective test: Snap-on VS Wright Tool (Flank Drive Plus VS WrightGRIP) Link

Thanks for the link, but I don't think these gripping wrenches are ideal as they do leave marks. Also I can't see them working very well if you have just 2 flats to wrench on. What do you think?

 

[retDAC]

So who do you think makes the best anti slip? I have heard good things about the proto ones.

What is your idea of 'best'?

As far as I can tell, here is the lineup:

Snap-on, SK X-Frame, Wright, Carlyle:
All have teeth and mar the fastener but grip the tightest compared to non-toothed designs. SO seems to have the biggest teeth if that matters though theoretically SK should grip the best as it has four flats:

Astro Pneumatic may be coming out with some new wrenches with teeth.
Wright Grip 2.0 is supposed to debut this fall. I have no idea how that will differ from the current design.

Williams:
Recesses which create small 'shelves' or 'pads' having corners that sometimes bite /mar, though less so than the first four.

Proto/Dewalt, Gearwrench: Rounded recesses and no corners so no bite/marring.

Wera Joker wrenches have some very small teeth on an insert, but most members don't count them for these discussions.

 

[M6erfan]

What is your idea of 'best'?

As far as I can tell, here is the lineup:

Snap-on, SK, Wright, Carlyle:
All have teeth and mar the fastener but grip the tightest compared to non-toothed designs. SO seems to have the biggest teeth if that matters though theoretically SK should grip the best as it has four flats:

Astro Pneumatic may be coming out with some new wrenches with teeth.
Wright Grip 2.0 is supposed to debut this fall. I have no idea how that will differ from the current design.

Williams:
Recesses which create small 'shelves' or 'pads' having corners that sometimes bite /mar, though less so than the first four.

Proto/Dewalt, Gearwrench: Rounded recesses and no corners so no bite/marring.

Wera Joker wrenches have some very small teeth on an insert, but most members don't count them for these discussions.

Only the SK X frames have gripping teeth on the open end. SK's standard (non-ratcheting) combos do not have teeth on the open ends...

Also, ProTo & Dwalt do have gripping teeth on their ASD (Anti Slip Design) combos, the Dewalts look more aggressive though...

 

[retDAC]

Only the SK X frames have gripping teeth on the open end. SK's standard (non-ratcheting) combos do not have teeth on the open ends...

Also, ProTo does have gripping teeth on their ASD (Anti Slip Design) combos...

I added "X-Frame".

I actually own some Proto and Dewalt wrenches with ASD which don't have any teeth. Would you please provide clear pix to show to what you refer?

 

[M6erfan]

I actually own some Proto and Dewalt wrenches with ASD which don't have any teeth. Would you please provide clear pix to show to what you refer?

Try Google, it works great. Lots of images...

Edit: Google'd "proto asd", 0.57 seconds 260,000 results

 

[potato]

teeth?

 

[retDAC]

Try Google, it works great. Lots of images...

Edit: Google'd "proto asd", 0.57 seconds 260,000 results

Many images yes, but please show me one of an true ASD wrench with actual teeth.

 

[M6erfan]

Here's pics of the Dewalt & Proto ASD...





Teeth, notch, whatever...Not smooth...

 

[M6erfan]

Many images yes, but please show me one of an true ASD wrench with actual teeth.

See above, from Google...sheesh. The images are from a GJ thread back in May.