Adjustable Wrenches

[fatfillup]

I use adjustables every day, mainly on hose and quick coupler fittings and plumbing fitting. Rarely on a nut or bolt and never on a small fastener that may be very tight or stuck. There are times when you must or should use the proper tool but in 33 years of playing with pressure washers, I can't think of many times an adjustable has caused me a problem. They save time and as they say, time is money.

I have a pair of Mac's I have had for close to 20 years and work flawlessly. I have a plomb/proto dual marked (1948 I think) that is sweet as can be, 16 or 18 inches.

Have had some China's that were good and some were junk.

Like Diamond, Proto, Williams and several other US brands.

I also sell a lot of adjustables to a variety of mechanics, some of which have awesome tool collections. I normally have at about 100 on the display rack, mostly US made.

 

[crewchief888]

I probably use them for bending things more than anything else. Import 24" can impart a lot of torque to a steel bar or whatever.

me too...


i keep a 15" adjustable in my service truck, for "just in case"

 

[timbitca]

I don't really use them a lot, except when I really need to round off a bolt, but I can't help but picking them up at yard sales when I find cool ones. Should take a pic sometime.

 

[Pipe_guy]

I use them pretty often. Mostly for pipe plugs and valve handle nuts. When you get a work order for a job that's up 15 flights of stairs the last thing you want to be doing Is packing a bunch of wrenches. I never use them on anything that requires any sort of torque though.


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[L.Cheapo]

Whenever I use my welder. One tool to connect the gas line, change wire spools, and connect the regulator? Yes, please.

 

[sberry]

I can take a number 10 sheet metal screw out in a few seconds with a 12 inch Crecent. I do hundreds of bolts without rounding them off.

 

[MikeF2316]

I try to not use them on nuts and bolts ever, even though I have a half a dozen. Like others, I use them often for bending (and straitening) metal.

 

[Al Borland]

They are a great "General Purpose" tool, especially when I have to climb 50' up and don't know what size or even if I will need a wrench. So, adjustable goes in the toolbelt with the 4 way HD screwdriver, etc., until I need something better.

 

[gdocktor3]

I know this is cliche, but I've done wonders with an adjustable, 11-1 screwdriver and channellocks. I have had at least these 3 items in each of my vehicles since I was 16. I remember being stuck way out in a field on my great uncles farm when I was 10 years old with my father and our old 1988 F150 wouldn't start. I don't know what was wrong, but always remember my dad had an old shirt behind the seat with an adjustable, pliers, a flat and Phillips screwdriver wrapped up in it with a roll of duct tape slid around the shirt to hold everything together. Six years later that truck was handed down to me as my first vehicle. This story leads to "The Farners Rule" I had learned about. I made a thread on it once, but basically I was told GM trucks were able to be repaired anywhere with basic hand tools and then driven home to be repaired correctly.

 

[Cope]

I used to have an 8" Williams with a lock. The adjusting knob had a hex shaft running through it, and when you slid the hex one way, it locked the wrench.

 

[jeeper46]

I've said it here before, but when I was in the plant working as a Pipefitter I never went ANYWHERE in the plant without an 8" adjustable and a pair of channellocks in my back pocket. When something critical has sprung a bad leak, you don't have time to run back to your box, or fiddle around finding the right size wrench. These two tools saved the day more than once, for sure.