Coes Monkey Wrench....

[OldCarGuy]

I found this baby buried in a box of junk that came along with my last acquisition. I always though that Monkey Wrenches were kind of cool. Years ago no mechanic would be without one before 1950. But I don't see very many people using them today. I remember that my dad had several similar to this one with the inserted wooden grips in the handle. One of the best applications for one is tightening the water pump packing gland on antique cars. An plan on keeping it if not for that reason only.

I found a witness of lettering on the side of the head. A slight polish of the surface made the lettering stand out a bit more. But still couldn’t make out more than there where four lines of letters. And could only make out the first two of them in each line.

I then set the wrench on my optical comparator. Using the surface illuminator and a 10:1 lense. I could make out 3/4 of the letters. Google is your friend, and retrieved the rest.... This is what’s on the wrench.

COES
WRENCH CO
WORCESTER
MASS USA ​

BTW, you cannot say I don’t find use for my optical comparator...

 

[fatfillup]

Use my optical comparator all the time!

Is that at your home or work?

Oh, thanks alot, now I want one

BTW, which were you showing off, the wrench or comparator?

Edit: upon further scanning of your picture, it looks like that comparator is in a machine shop. Is that a pretty common tool for machinists to use. Makes perfect sense now. Kinda blows my attempt at humor though.

 

[Jononon]

Do you know how old it is ? I'll fish out mine later, still a useful tool for occasional jobs that don't merit spending a fortune on large spanners.

it looks like that comparator is in a machine shop

You haven't seen OCG's 'shop ?

Enjoy

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Here is mine

and an earlier thread on monkey wrenches.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4698

Charles

 

[OldCarGuy]

That's my Mitutoyo 14” optical comparator. That I purchased at an auction ten years ago. And has to be about 30 years old. Indeed it's in my garage workshop. Along with the rest of my toys. Though it doesn't get much use. It is a fantastic way to get accurate measurements. Particularly determining angles.

If you look closely at the picture below. You'll see an image of a special 3/8” bolt. That I was checking the thread that I made on my lathe


Sometimes known as a shadow graph. It uses a set of mirrors and magnifying lenses to blow up the silhouette of an object. The normal operation passes a light over an object. That puts a magnified image of the object on the screen. I have the optional surface illumination adapters. That will blow up an image found on the surface of an object as well.

 

[lbgradwell]

When I was in Newfoundland last year, one of my uncles asked if I wanted some pipe-threading tools that had been my grandfather's. There was an old Erie Tool Works pipe vise, manual threaders by Reed & Toledo with dies for both, and other assorted items.

In among this lot was an old monkey wrench. It was rusty as an anchor, but I decided that it was going to be salvaged!

After much soaking, scrubbing and oiling I determined it was an old H.D. Smith "Perfect Handle" tool... Smooth as silk now!

I learned Pop had owned them from just after WWII when he bought them from an American buddy of his who was stationed in St. John's during the war.

Pop passed away in December 1994 and I just love having these types of items to remember him by...

 

[fatfillup]

That's my Mitutoyo 14” optical comparator. That I purchased at an auction ten years ago. And has to be about 30 years old. Indeed it's in my garage workshop. Along with the rest of my toys. Though it doesn't get much use. It is a fantastic way to get accurate measurements. Particularly determining angles.

If you look closely at the picture below. You'll see an image of a special 3/8” bolt. That I was checking the thread that I made on my lathe


Sometimes known as a shadow graph. It uses a set of mirrors and magnifying lenses to blow up the silhouette of an object. The normal operation passes a light over an object. That puts a magnified image of the object on the screen. I have the optional surface illumination adapters. That will blow up an image found on the surface of an object as well.

Thanks for the pic and info. You are probably tired of hearing it but,,,,,,,

Awesome shop!!!!

 

[alex71]

Every time I see a link to OldCarGuy's shop thread I can't help but click on it and read through all 16 pages. I think I've read it 20 times by now... Awesome stuff.

 

[CAT_serviceman927]

Well I thought that wrench looked familiar. Today when I got home, I went and checked out some of my older wrenches. Here is what I found:

It reads:
COES WRENCH CO WORCESTER MASS USA

There is also something on the other side but I can't make out what it is:

MFD UNDER (then maybe some numbers) PAT STEEL

Too bad I don't have one of those optical comparators.