Who made the best vintage adjustable wrenches?
- Thread starter pendragon1998
- Start date
four.cycle
Well-known member
maybe not the best, but this one is still working just fine:
Winchester 14-inch adjustable pipe wrench stamped with patent date 03-14-22
Winchester 14 inch adjustable pipe wrench patent date 03-14-22 01 by four.cycle, on Flickr
Winchester 14 inch adjustable pipe wrench patent date 03-14-22 02 by four.cycle, on Flickr
Winchester 14-inch adjustable pipe wrench stamped with patent date 03-14-22
Winchester 14 inch adjustable pipe wrench patent date 03-14-22 01 by four.cycle, on Flickr
Winchester 14 inch adjustable pipe wrench patent date 03-14-22 02 by four.cycle, on Flickrdavethorik
Well-known member
I have quite a few adjustables, tend to hang onto extremely nice or oddball makes/sizes. I only have one 4", a Snap-On/Blue Point that was made by Diamond. It's in very nice shape. I think I only have 2 6", a black oxide Wright (WF) and a Crescent late production USA. I have a few 8/10/12, Williams, Master Mechanic USA (Williams), Diamond, Wright WF, Cornwell (JP Danielson), Challenger (JP Danielson), Canton Malleable Iron Co., then matching Jamestown Crescents in 15" and 18".
Been on the lookout for a 24", but they're either too expensive or too beat up so far.
Someone mentioned the Danielson having a broached hanging hole, all my examples do not have this. My dad has a 16" BetRGrip it has a tapered handle like the 24" usually have, non broached hole. Have to check AA.
Been on the lookout for a 24", but they're either too expensive or too beat up so far.
Someone mentioned the Danielson having a broached hanging hole, all my examples do not have this. My dad has a 16" BetRGrip it has a tapered handle like the 24" usually have, non broached hole. Have to check AA.
XJPat
Well-known member
Williams, check out the Tubalcain YouTube videos he just put out on testing them to failure.
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Parabellum
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Diamond, 'nuff said.
Sweet, I have an 18 incher.maybe not the best, but this one is still working just fine:
Winchester 14-inch adjustable pipe wrench stamped with patent date 03-14-22
Dennis Leigh Henry
Well-known member
This is a Craftsman adj from the 1970s .. Someone at the paint shop stole my personal one and the paint shop owner gave me his... Its not the wide clunky modern Cman adjustable... and its been thru hell and looks like its brand new jaw wise .. Still has paint on it from the paint shop..
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I have a mid 50's Swede with the regular 10" handle. I would prefer the shorter 'gator handle.
Of 15 only 3 were to survive the cull. The B&D electric and a nice modern import were the other two. Each the best for a particular task and of the tightest jaw.
Ok, the B&D is a bit sloppy but those thin jaws on bikes is perfect.
Of 15 only 3 were to survive the cull. The B&D electric and a nice modern import were the other two. Each the best for a particular task and of the tightest jaw.
Ok, the B&D is a bit sloppy but those thin jaws on bikes is perfect.
catalytic
Well-known member
There's only one king of adjustables:
Chapman Tiger Lock Wrench -- like a standard adjustable, but clamps down 1/32" like a vise grip on the flats of the bolt head:
I carry one to everything tool-related I do. It's the only adjustable I've ever used that clamps on and won't round over a bolt.
Chapman Tiger Lock Wrench -- like a standard adjustable, but clamps down 1/32" like a vise grip on the flats of the bolt head:
I carry one to everything tool-related I do. It's the only adjustable I've ever used that clamps on and won't round over a bolt.
crguy
Well-known member
I have a 16" P&C that was in my tool bag for many years working as a millwright. It tool all kinds of abuse, cheaters, etc. and still is in good working condition.
four.cycle
Well-known member
Davefr said:
Davefr: apparently they did make a 24"
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Adjustable-...437828?hash=item2a60aae0c4:g:Y~IAAOSwXshWrzsG
four.cycle
Well-known member
I will keep my eye out for one and PM you if I see anything come up.
I would have sworn I saw a 24" adjustable listed just the other day way cheap, but apparently it wasn't a Diamond or it would have come up searching the "sold" listings.
I would have sworn I saw a 24" adjustable listed just the other day way cheap, but apparently it wasn't a Diamond or it would have come up searching the "sold" listings.
thehorse13
Well-known member
I remember being told by my father to only use an adjustable wrench if you have no other option. It was sacrilege in my father's shop to use anything other than the proper sized wrench or socket.
I can clearly remember the day when I had to use his diamond adjustable wrench, which resulted in the green cover becoming soaked in oil. I took a razor blade to it and removed the cover. Needless to say, this caused quite an extensive rant and rightly so.
Today that same wrench lives in my toolbox. The quality is second to none even without the green cover. My vote goes to Diamond.
I can clearly remember the day when I had to use his diamond adjustable wrench, which resulted in the green cover becoming soaked in oil. I took a razor blade to it and removed the cover. Needless to say, this caused quite an extensive rant and rightly so.
Today that same wrench lives in my toolbox. The quality is second to none even without the green cover. My vote goes to Diamond.
I have no idea! Nothing written on it... it was in my grandfather toolbox when he died 20 years ago...
Martin
Masimec's home shop
Dennis Leigh Henry
Well-known member
***
That's how I am now.. I rarely use the adjustable..
Back when I was going through vocational machine shop in high school, they didn't have a full set of combo wrenches or sockets, if we needed anything that serious we had to borrow from the auto shop next door. So we had multiple machine specific wrenches (e.g. South Bend Lathe tool post wrench), and multiple adjustable wrenches. I was so use to them from that class, when I started to buy tools, the pictures below are from the set (with the exception of the newer 18 and 24 inch versions) I purchased in the late 1970s from Sears in Downtown South Bend.. The 4" thru 12" are all Crescent, and the 15" is Craftsman. When I went to Indiana State University and worked in their metals and machine shops Adjustable Wrenches were also the norm there for “shop use”, but we did have the regular compliment of combo and sockets in a locked cabinet.. So, reading between the lines a bit, the adjustable wrench training I had must have been a machine shop thing….
The close ups of the Crescent 10” is the version that was swiped (and replaced) multiple times by the painters in the paint shop I worked in thru high school.. re story above about the Craftsman adjustable..
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four.cycle
Well-known member
Makattak81
Well-known member
Diamond Calk adjustable wrenches are my favorites, might be biased though I grew up near Duluth.
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i have several in various tool boxes on the farm, all major brands of various sizes and ages. The one I keep in the shop says "Snap-on" and "Bluepoint". It is nothing like any other I have, be it Cresent, Proto, Diamond or whatever. It is far and away the best in regards to holding a setting and not spreading.
Not chrome and the forging is totally different, I don't know who made it. It's pretty old, it's been around the farm many years.
Here's a couple photos:
Not chrome and the forging is totally different, I don't know who made it. It's pretty old, it's been around the farm many years.
Here's a couple photos:
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shumphrey1989
Active member
I like my Diamond and Proto ones, but always reach for a combination wrench before even thinking about using an adjustable one. Have had to deal with too many people's rounded off nuts/bolts in my day.
d42jeep
Well-known member
A few Vintage adjustable wrenches from Saturday's flea.
8" Barcalo, 1945 dated 8" Danielson, 1952 dated 6" Vlchek, 8" Blue Grass
Good choices but this Barcalo made by Danielson has to be right up there. I would guess that it was made in 1952 after Danielson was owned by Plomb/Proto. It really covers a lot of bases!
-Don
Attachments
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Diamond. Diamond was Snap-on's adjustable source from the mid-1920's through the 1960's, at least.
I think the Diamond brand is nice and Williams, but I am partial to Utica.
I have a 10", 8", and a 6". Love them all!
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I have a 10", 8", and a 6". Love them all!
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d42jeep
Well-known member
Utica are nice but this Snap-on/Blue Point is attractive.
-Don
-Don
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Skooch
Active member
As a Plomb collector I'd say it's a heavy weight battle Diamond vs. Plomb/Proto ... but here's my list:
Diamond
Plomb/Proto
Utica
Crescent
My question concerns the flipside markings of Diamonaloy / Plombaloy / Crestaloy ... who was the engine and who was the caboose on the 'aloy' train?
r_olson_06
Well-known member
Very good question.
As you may know Plomb didn't make their own adjustables.
The started out with Utica and switched to JP Danielson during the Plomballoy days.
Alloy artifacts has what they claim to be the only example of a Diamond contract production for Plomb.
Being so close to Duluth. Diamond is a house hold name up here. Flea vendors with have litterly hundreds of diamond adjustables and pliers.
Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrench 3061
Heavymetal
Well-known member
Those Penncraft are soooo sweet! I only have a Penncraft 1/2 ratchet,its great because the drive is 1/2 but the head is only as big as a 3/8 drive. I need to search for a Penncraft adjustable.
Skooch
Active member
I wondered if anyone would mention JP Danielson, but did you answer the question? As you know, Plomb acquired JP Danielson after contracting with them for a bit ... so is Diamond the engine then?
d42jeep
Well-known member
According to Alloy Artifacts, Crescent introduced Crestoloy in 1931 and Diamond introduced Diamalloy in 1931, so I guess that it was pretty much a tie.
-Don
-Don
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Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Plomb was very late to the "-aloy" compositional branding craze, and it didn't last very long, either, due to the lawsuits. But they weren't the only latecomers. Fairmount, Billings, and Bonney didn't introduce Fairalloy, Vitalloy and Bonaloy, respectively, until the late 1930's, just before the war. On the other hand, they used their monikers on a wider variety of tools than Diamond or Crescent.
Here is the issue in a nutshell:
The earliest example of a J.P. Danielson made wrench in the AA collection is date-coded December 1946. AA uses that to presume, erroneously, that Plomb must have been buying wrenches from J.P. Danielson under contract, because they didn't acquire them until 1947. Therein lies the source of their mistaken analysis. Plomb acquired J.P. Danielson in October 1946, not in 1947.
If you have a Plomb tool made by J.P. Danielson with a date code earlier than October 1946, when they were acquired, I'd like to see it, please. If you're repeating what you read on AA, I think they're wrong, I have explained to them that they're wrong, and why they're wrong, and I have challenged them to produce a tool earlier than October 1946, and they have not done so. Unfortunately, they also haven't corrected their website, because they have a bad habit of not accepting critiques.
Here is the issue in a nutshell:
The earliest example of a J.P. Danielson made wrench in the AA collection is date-coded December 1946. AA uses that to presume, erroneously, that Plomb must have been buying wrenches from J.P. Danielson under contract, because they didn't acquire them until 1947. Therein lies the source of their mistaken analysis. Plomb acquired J.P. Danielson in October 1946, not in 1947.
Downwindtracker 2
Well-known member
Odd, no one has mentioned Bahco.
A trick with adjustables, pick one up and shake it like a castanet, the quality is in how little rattle you get.
A trick with adjustables, pick one up and shake it like a castanet, the quality is in how little rattle you get.
WNYflyer
Well-known member
I have a few older Xcelite's from most likely the 60's and 70's and they are probably the tightest and smoothest adjustables I've run across. I don't know who made them for Xcelite. Since Xcelite seems to be geared to electricians perhaps the smoothness and tightness is simply from the lack of heavy use.
r_olson_06
Well-known member
As always thank you for the insight. I guess don't trust everything you read on the internet.
Looking for the following Plomb Pebbles Wrench 3061