dog bone wrenches

[rickpaulos]

I just picked up a nice cast stainless steel dog bone wrench that is labeled with the metric range of sizes.

I've seen several dog bone wrenches and this is the first I've ever seen with the units. Most have no markings or just the maker name or initial.

I'm wondering if anyone made a whitworth dog bone wrench?

 

[Dave455]

I'm wondering if anyone made a wittworth dog bone wrench?

Yes definitely. Cycle threads used Whitworth sized bolt heads, so these were quite common in the bicycle world.

Probably got a couple in the drawer with the bicycle tools.

Never used one!

 

[rickpaulos]

Dave, So what do they call dog bone wrenches in England?

I see USA "box end wrenches" are called "ring spanners" in the UK.

I work on many old English bikes like Raleighs, Dawes, Robin Hood, Jack Tayler, Hecules, Phillips. I have a couple dog bone wrenches but never used them on anything. Most seem cast of fragile metal that won't take any abuse like forged vanadium steel tools.

 

[m6z]

Interesting. I've never seen anything quite like that.

 

[rickpaulos]

I found my older dog bone wrench. I recall i got with a bicycle (in the seat bag). Labeled Bantel Made In England. I'm not sure what sizes it has. It's been used a bit and some of the sizes are gouged combined with generally poor casting and no machining so getting exact measurements doesn't work. Bantel seems to have been a bicycle accessory/tool brand name. But bikes had metric, sae and whitworth nuts and bolts and often a mix of those on the same bike.

 

[Meursault74]

Friends of mine had these skate keys back in the day when we were kid for skateboard maintenance. I never had one. I had a socket set and a proper wrench. That being said, I always wanted one of those skate keys then.

 

[Dave455]

Dave, So what do they call dog bone wrenches in England?

I see USA "box end wrenches" are called "ring spanners" in the UK.

I work on many old English bikes like Raleighs, Dawes, Robin Hood, Jack Tayler, Hecules, Phillips. I have a couple dog bone wrenches but never used them on anything. Most seem cast of fragile metal that won't take any abuse like forged vanadium steel tools.

They were always called “dumbbell spanners” here.

Don’t think I’ve ever seen them used outside the bicycle world. And when I say used, I primarily mean carried! Think I only saw one being used once!

Here’s one with some Whitworth sizes. Whitworth one end and metric the other I think.

Metric included, partly to cater for the occasional foreign bicycle, but also because after four sizes, you’ve pretty much allowed for anything that’s going to be found on a bicycle!

No, they’re not the strongest material, but having a box end, and a short handle, they were good enough for removing a wheel if you had a puncture. I have an older one somewhere, came with an old Triumph my Grandfather had, that seems to be better material, and chrome plated.

 

[rickpaulos]

Ack, they are multiplying. The "how many do you need" rule is in effect: N+1.


I measured all 3. The one labeled 6-15mm all measure about .1 mm over. The other 2 have different measurements from each other and from the metric version. Hard to tell what sizes they intended for these.

Bantel made in England
measured decimal inch	notes
0.273	square end
0.33	hex end
0.348
0.389
0.42
0.453
0.49
0.534
0.595
0.619
Stainless metric 6mm-15mm
nominal mm	measured decimal inch	notes	measured inch to mm calculated
6	0.244	hex end	6.1976
7	0.283	hex end	7.1882
8	0.321		8.1534
9	0.359		9.1186
10	0.398		10.1092
11	0.439		11.1506
12	0.476		12.0904
13	0.515		13.081
14	0.556		14.1224
15	0.598		15.1892
Victor chrome
measured decimal inch	note
0.258	hex end
0.372
0.443
0.454	hex end
0.509
0.543
0.558
0.595
0.641
0.692

 

[bonneyman]

I'd use my dogbones more if I could get the dogs to stop burying them in the dirt.

 

[ConductorChris]

Found this in a recent auction buy tool box. Made in Germany

 

[paulsomlo]

If you get pissed off and throw it across the shop, will the dog bring it back to you?

 

[Bubba Fett]

I have one, that I found in a junk-tique shop. I've never used it, and probably never will, but it's neat.

 

[four.cycle]

NOT part of my bicycle wrench collection. Most of the ones I've seen felt like they were made out of cheese.

 

[Schurkey]

cast stainless steel

Seems unlikely.

Most of the ones I've seen felt like they were made out of cheese.

Seems VERY likely.

Fookin' junk. I had one when I was ten years old, and even then I knew it was a piece of ****.

 

[uart]

Those things were absolutely ubiquitous when I was a kid. We rode old British style 3 speed bikes, and everything was hex nuts on them (nothing allen key or torx like modern bikes). Most really basic tool kits came with one of those wrenches (often in combination with patches and tire levers), and yeah they were usually cast out of some quite dubious soft metal.

I can still remember occasionally using one to get a wheel off or to tighten a cotter pin, they weren't great but still could be useful for a road side repair. At home though we'd never use them as almost any other tool, even a cheap "shifter" (aussie for adjustable wrench), would do a better job.

Looking on ebay I can still see cheap bicycle repair kits similar to what I remember as a kid. Like this one:

 

[four.cycle]

The better bicycle tool sets contain an actual wrench:

 

[rust in the eye]

NOT part of my bicycle wrench collection. Most of the ones I've seen felt like they were made out of cheese.

Or tofu as mine appears made from.
Mine covers 6-15mm and the entire wrench is under 4" long. I wanna see this thing loosen an M8 or M10 bolt that was tightened by a twelve year old girl.
The only way this "wrench" could be more worthless would be if it were Whitworth sized.

 

[neophyte]

I’m fairly certain a lot of single piece dogbone wrenches were die cast from either a zinc or aluminum alloy.
INCA Injecta of Switzerland used to make the wrenches, as well as various cheap kitchen gadgets, and die casting was what they specialized in.