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My Mother's Wrenches

abstamaria

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My mother passed away in 1991 when she was 82. A few years before she died, she gave me two, large adjustable wrenches, carefully wrapped in waxed brown paper. She said the plumber borrowed money from her and left the wrenches. My mother wasn’t a moneylender, but some times poor folk would come to her for help. She never charged interest or asked for security, but the plumber insisted that she keep the wrenches until he returned. He never did, and my mother worried about him. After several years, she decided to give them to me.

The wrenches are by Dowidat, so I knew then they were good wrenches because the tools that came with the family Mercedes carried that brand. Indeed, they were beautifully made and quite workmanlike in a black finish.

I should note that I do not like to use adjustable wrenches and, as with many here, prefer the correct size wrench. Accordingly, I hardly used my mother’s wrenches all the decades I had them. But I liked seeing them in the tool drawer, because they reminded me of my mother.

Today I was replacing large oil lines on the Dino and found I didn’t have a wrench for the large fittings. Carefully, so they wouldn’t slip, I used my mother’s wrenches. They worked beautifully, and now the job is done. Thank you, mom.
 

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Tree Cutter

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My mother passed away in 1991 when she was 82. A few years before she died, she gave me two, large adjustable wrenches, carefully wrapped in waxed brown paper. She said the plumber borrowed money from her and left the wrenches. My mother wasn’t a moneylender, but some times poor folk would come to her for help. She never charged interest or asked for security, but the plumber insisted that she keep the wrenches until he returned. He never did, and my mother worried about him. After several years, she decided to give them to me.

The wrenches are by Dowidat, so I knew then they were good wrenches because the tools that came with the family Mercedes carried that brand. Indeed, they were beautifully made and quite workmanlike in a black finish.

I should note that I do not like to use adjustable wrenches and, as with many here, prefer the correct size wrench. Accordingly, I hardly used my mother’s wrenches all the decades I had them. But I liked seeing them in the tool drawer, because they reminded me of my mother.

Today I was replacing large oil lines on the Dino and found I didn’t have a wrench for the large fittings. Carefully, so they wouldn’t slip, I used my mother’s wrenches. They worked beautifully, and now the job is done. Thank you, mom.

Cool wrenches :beer:
 
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abstamaria

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A Lifesaver

Mostly, my mother’s wrenches just lie in a tool drawer. But, today, they were the only tool I had that could do the job.
 

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abstamaria

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Thanks, Treecutter. Indeed, a long way to the Philippines.

And thanks, Parabellum; I had missed that instructive thread.

Best,

Andy
 
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abstamaria

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Post Script

From the thread Treecutter pointed out and from the Web, this is what I learned of Dowidat.

Dowidat no longer exists. Three brothers named Dowidat founded the Gedore tool company, still well known today, in 1919. One brother died, and, because of disagreement, one brother left to form the Dowidat tool company in 1949.

Dowidat tools were well regarded and, as I noted, came with new Mercedes Benzes, at least up to the late 1960s. The company later merged with Belzer to form "Belzer-Dowidat" and then in 1988 the merged company was bought by Bahco. The Dowidat name then disappeared. It now exists only on some tools left by mothers with their sons.
 
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north

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Very cool story, on many levels. Thanks for sharing. Brought back some good memories from days gone by.
 

johninct

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You did use the correct tools for the job. Big wrenches are also longer and a lot of times can't fit in a lot of places. Also, a longer wrench can cause someone to over torque things. I too like to use the correct size wrench for the job but sometimes, an adjustable wrench is the correct wrench for the job even though you have the exact fit wrench.
 

fatfillup

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Great looking wrenches. I use adjustables all the time, just not on nuts and bolts. They are perfectly acceptable for fittings with lots of surface area to grab onto and for lower torque applications if you don't have the correct wrench handy. Such as tightening a nut on your grill or bicycle fender.
 
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abstamaria

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Many thanks, all. I am happy you enjoyed that story. And thanks for the assurance that it was the right tool for the job.

Andy
 
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