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Well, the top of the frame (the fixed jaw) protrudes an eighth or quarter inch back from the spine on many of these wrenches (see the Coes, Winchester, Lamson examples). And with the others where the back of the fixed and moveable jaws extend an equal distance, that too would serve as a hammer...

....and here's the Diamond Edge closeup.

Some money wrenches of the "classic" pattern (OK to call it this?), of which the Coes seems to be archetype. From left to right: S.I.S (brand unknown to me), Winchester 1002, Lamson, Coes, and Diamond Edge. The SIS is a 10 inch, the Diamond Edge is 6 inches, the others are 8 inches.

Lugz, here's another Ridge Tool 6-incher in the RIDGID design instead of Stillson. The moveable jaw says "B-2-4," so perhaps it was from one of those 6- and 14-inch combo wartime toolkits you mentioned up-thread. And in the matter of mysterious stampings, on the RIDGID side there's a circle and...

Got one also, marked as Gam but no other branding on it. As JAYoung and bonneyman note (posts #10 & 16), the wee little one is good for eyeglass hinge screws, assuming those have not been all chewed by various pointed instruments beforehand. The plating tends to flake at the business end of the...

That thing looked so decrepit that I understood the reason for the low price — I mean, just look at the before photo. It's such a mess you can't read the make or model number for all the rust and crud. If somebody knew the CL line in detail — which would not be me — you might make a pretty...

Good idea — never tried it for that purpose.

Good solution!

Thank you. It did clean up better than I thought it would at first. The blue plastic protected much of the handles, and the rusty parts under the cracks in plastic came off easily enough with the wire wheel. The caked-on drywall mud (I think it was) probably stayed damp and/or acidic enough...

This was $1 at the local ReStore, and clerk at the register looked like she thought they were overcharging me at that. Still, I'm delighted to restore a 442 to good working order. Hate to think how it got the way it looked in the "before" pic. Unfortunately, the blue handles had to come off as...

A while ago I decided to gather a set of 1/4" sockets from 1/8" to 1/2" by 32nds — and the mission rule was to not buy any new ones. So one fine day I went to the local ReStore and pawed through the bins of sockets selling for 25 cents each. (The bins collectively looked like that drawer.) I...

Great find! (When I read the thread's title, I wondered, "How's he demolishing a house using a vise??") Good luck restoring it!

Good find! And good luck cleaning it up. If you're careful you can usually unscrew the tail nut and slide off the wood handle without damage. It may take a little twisting to loosen the wood from the sleeve at the upper end. Easy does it. The wrench appears in pretty nice shape apart from rust...

And here's a couple of mine. An 8-inch Cochran and an 11-inch Bemis & Call combo of monkey (nut) wrench and pipe wrench. The Cochran has a clever cage for the adjustment nut. I'd never seen this design before finding this example. It's clever, yes, but that feature must have added to...

Jeep: When I was making an initial cleaning of my March 1945 10-inch (post #256), I thought it had black paint originally. I'm glad to see your example (above) which shows what mine probably looked like when less worn. And yes, the black paint appears to weather badly; clearly with the postwar...

@Lugz & jeep — Thank you both. One can make a lot of guesses as to what it means, but — Edit: Forgot to mention. I do want to get the rust off the wrench, so I think that tattered remnant of the decal will be lost before I'm done.

At a local ReStore I picked up a 10-inch March 1945 wrench with a curious marking on one side of the body. Just above the remains of the original RIDGID decal there's a stamped-in mark of a numeral two followed by a period: "2.". This may be related to the manufacture — or it could simply be an...

Good point — I'll follow your recommendation with the second wrench. I was kind surprised by how shiny the one came out. Scoutcrafter's a great guy, but the appearance he works toward isn't mine at all.

Can anyone advise regarding the age of these two PEXTO 18-inch pipe wrenches? They are a local ReStore buy; one has gone through the Evapo and then been wire-wheeled. The other is as-found. I've looked through the archived Peck, Stow, and Wilcox catalogues, and at AA, hoping that the logo...

d42jeep — Oh, to go back and buy a handful of those springs at 25 to 50 cents a pop... But even if I had a time machine, the store wouldn't accept my silver-less coins or my "Federal Reserve Notes," whatever the denomination. Rats. But I did try the wrench on a locking nut at the pivot of a...