Coes Wrenches

[crguy]

7 thousand wrenches instead of 7 thousand beers worked out better for him I'm sure

It may have. I just wish he'd concentrated on the odd wrenches rather than the most common one. I could have cleaned up.

 

[AntiqueBen]

It may have. I just wish he'd concentrated on the odd wrenches rather than the most common one. I could have cleaned up.

I've seen people list a baby Coes that was anywhere from 4"-6". Does this count as a baby Coes? This one is stamped A.G. Coes with the odd stamp symbol patented in 1871.

 

[crguy]

I've seen people list a baby Coes that was anywhere from 4"-6". Does this count as a baby Coes? This one is stamped A.G. Coes with the odd stamp symbol patented in 1871.

Nope, that's not a baby. They are 4 3/4" with small variations.

 

[Beerhippie]

7 thousand wrenches instead of 7 thousand beers worked out better for him I'm sure

Well, he's still dead either way.

What kind of foundation did that house/shop have to support all those heavy monkey wrenches? How many monkey wrenches in how small a space before you get a black hole?

 

[Old tool guy]

Looking for a date range for my new Coes. No other marks are visible.
.

.

 

[Beerhippie]

Add seventeen years to the most recent patent date. It's at least that old, but no older than the date.

 

[d42jeep]

Here is a Coes wrench I found on Thursday.

It looks better now. I’m not sure what to make of the star stamps
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

curious... my guess would be something like a leatherworker's stamp maybe?

 

[crguy]

curious... my guess would be something like a leatherworker's stamp maybe?

????

 

[Old tool guy]

????

I think he is referring to the star stamps on the wrench in #87.

 

[3baygarage]

A little 4-3/4” Coes. Not the prettiest example but it exists as they say. Works too!

Does anyone know the year range that this size was available?

L. Coes & Co.
PATD
MAR.23, 1869

Maxed out at 5/8”

Looks similar to the one posted upthread.

 

[d42jeep]

I found this one back in April.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

A little 4-3/4” Coes. Not the prettiest example...

There's no such thing as an ugly "Baby" (Coes, that is).

Does anyone know the year range that this size was available?

Herb Page probably does!

From the references to the Davistown Museum site article on Coes...
Page, Herb (Mr. Oldwrench). (Summer 2002). "Reach for the wrench: The evolution of baby Coes wrenches." The Fine Tool Journal. 52(1). pg. 15-17. X.

In Cope, there's an unattributed catalog cut dated 1877 showing an L. Coes & Co. price list (p. 101) in which the smallest wrench is listed as 6", an unattributed catalog cut dated 1880 showing an L. Coes & Co. price list (p. 102) indicating a 4" length, and a rather confusing catalog cut attributed to Frasse & Co dated 1889 labeled "A.G. and L. Coe's Patent Screw Wrenches" at the top of a page showing the illustration of an A.G. Coes & Co. stamped wrench and an illustration of an L. Coes & Co. stamped wrench with a price list indicating a 4" length. The pages on the earlier (L. & A.G. Coes) and reunited (Coes Wrench Co.) eras do not show Babies. I don't know if we can read that as intentional or not.

Do you remember seeing a Baby "Knife-Handle"? I don't, and none of the catalogs after 1900 show one. But that doesn't mean anything. I would reach for the Herb Page article if you can find it.

 

[3baygarage]

Thanks Lugz. I'd be neat to see the article. I see archive.org has an 1891 hardware catalog excerpt of Coes. Lists a 4" knife handle, just like you described. Says it opens 1/2". Hmmm.
Error(s)?
Different wrench?
Is reasonable usage meant for 1/2" capacity?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I see archive.org has an 1891 hardware catalog excerpt of Coes. Lists a 4" knife handle

I see it. I don't remember seeing that before or I would've just linked it. Thanks for letting me know. (Tangentially, a good reminder to myself to always search IA, not just ITCL, because everything on ITCL is on IA, but not vice versa.) I think you have a pretty good answer without seeking out the Herb Page article. Looks like they made a 4-incher from at least 1877 (from the Cope reference) through at least 1891 (from IA). There are none included in the 1906 catalog. Smallest is 6".

How long have you had it? And where did you find it? Coes monkey wrenches grow on trees here and I only bring one home if there's something a little interesting or uncommon about it, but I would sorely love to run into a Baby in the wild one day.

Says it opens 1/2". Hmmm.
Error(s)?
Different wrench?

It definitely is a different wrench. Your wrench has the 1859 patent marking and the early handle. There was an intermediate design, before they went full "Knife-Handle" (i.e., "Perfect Handle"), with two steel tongues. Maybe something about the early 4-incher and the later 4-incher affected the capacity.

 

[3baygarage]

Recent eBay purchase I stumbled across. I try to avoid monkey wrenches, too many already. When I saw it though, I thought "Hey, I don't think I have one that small!".

 

[RTM]

Hey, I don't think I have one that small!".

Perfect reason to buy a tool. No shame there.

 

[d42jeep]

I found this metal handle Coes at a Fairfield estate sale yesterday. I’m not sure where it will end up. I’m running out of space.
-Don

 

[Old tool guy]

Using these two as an example, it’s interesting to see the differences in the angle of the threads.

 

[AntiqueBen]

Yes, if it's unusual. I just found a FOAK for me. The marking is worn, but these all steel handle beauties were patented (689,692), explicitly for the all steel handle, on December 24, 1901. It's a 6-incher.

I ran across this post about your baby Coes & thought I'd chime in. Basically because I recently acquired a baby Coes (pics below). I haven't received it yet, but the gentleman I bought it from says it measures 5 1/8" OAL. It's also stamped COES in all caps on the opposite side of the patent date. Is this an odd overall length for a baby Coes?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Is this an odd overall length for a baby Coes?

There are definitely smaller examples. 3Bay and I were discussing them upthread, posts #93 - 96, with external references, if you want to go through them.

 

[crguy]

I ran across this post about your baby Coes & thought I'd chime in. Basically because I recently acquired a baby Coes (pics below). I haven't received it yet, but the gentleman I bought it from says it measures 5 1/8" OAL. It's also stamped COES in all caps on the opposite side of the patent date. Is this an odd overall length for a baby Coes?

What I've always heard referred to as a Baby Coes is the ones with wood handles that are about 4 3/4", not ones like yours.

 

[AntiqueBen]

What I've always heard referred to as a Baby Coes is the ones with wood handles that are about 4 3/4", not ones like yours.

I know the early wooden handle examples are 4 3/4" or 4 5/8". I've read that anything that was around 5" or less falls into the baby Coes category. Mine has the same 15/16" opening as the older wooden handle ones. Do we know if the December 24, 1901 patent (steel handle) wrench included the "less than 6" option?

 

[AntiqueBen]

Here's two 6" Coes I pulled out to oil today.

 

[AntiqueBen]

I noticed the stamp on the round handled 6" Coes that it says pat'd Dec 25, 1871. I guess it was mis-stamped because the patent was on December 26th, not the 25th.

 

[leg17]

Using these two as an example, it’s interesting to see the differences in the angle of the threads.

One is intended for the Australian/South American market.

 

[AntiqueBen]

I used to think my 6" might be a baby Coes, but a real baby next to it puts it into perspective.

 

[crguy]

I used to think my 6" might be a baby Coes, but a real baby next to it puts it into perspective.

They are small:

 

[AntiqueBen]

They are small:

Now that is an Awesome pic
I have the 28" & 3ft Coes Key wrench, but I'm still looking for the 4fter.

 

[Steven 33]

Got a small handful left to clean and sort but found this interesting Mark on the first one I started cleaning. Looks like it says property of NY railroad or R.R. hard to tell. There's also an M marking on it

 

[Steven 33]

Got a small handful left to clean and sort but found this interesting Mark on the first one I started cleaning. Looks like it says property of NY railroad or R.R. hard to tell. There's also an M marking on it

Or likely the same markings as this one

 

[crguy]

Got a small handful left to clean and sort but found this interesting Mark on the first one I started cleaning. Looks like it says property of NY railroad or R.R. hard to tell. There's also an M marking on it

Lots of the big heavy wrenches were purchased by railroads. Not unusual to see one marked RR.

 

[d42jeep]

I found this Coes at yesterday’s estate sale. Unfortunately it may have spent more time being used as a hammer than a wrench. I cleaned it up and lubed the threads.
As found.
A little cleaner.

Moved to the basement to be added to the others.
-Don

 

[nguyenvanthanh021194@]

 

[nguyenvanthanh021194@]

Tôi là một người đam mê đến từ Việt Nam tôi sở hữu một số chúng nhưng đây là chiếc bằng đồng beryl đầu tiên tôi sở hữu nó khá là lạ

 

[Old tool guy]

Nice wrench. Can you translate your second post?

 

[Old tool guy]

I found this metal handle Coes at a Fairfield estate sale yesterday. -Don

Don … what is this frankenstein tool in your picture, post #98.
.

 

[nguyenvanthanh021194@]

Nice wrench. Can you translate your second post?

I apologize for the inconvenience. I'm from Vietnam and I also own these types of wrenches; this is a brass one I recently bought. This material is quite unusual for this type, so I'm wondering if anyone has seen them before and if there are other sizes available.

 

[Old tool guy]

Does it have a manufacturers stamp?

 

[nguyenvanthanh021194@]