"Double" Wrenches

[DWise]

I am 73 years old and as I grew up, I learned of open end, box end, and combination wrenches. I never heard of them being called "double" open end and double box end wrenches until I joined this site. It seems to be redundant to say "double". Am I in the minority and or did I have a poor upbringing?

 

[5ktq]

Double is sort of redundant, probably comes from combo being the predominant type now.

Though I guess you could say box end and get a single ended box end... less ambiguous.

eg

 

[Fedwrench]

i don't know. It might come from having too many styles of wrenches to choose from these days.

I guess what drives me crazy is that many people won't say combination wrench. They'll say something like box/open end wrench or open and boxed end wrench in their ebay listing.

Aside from some special purpose wrenches and service wrenches, i always think of wrenches as having two ends so, i can pass on using double ;lol:

 

[SRSemenza]

I think it has just become a way of being specific in meaning.

Add " double" and any ambiguity is removed.

Seth

 

[Wamsutta]

I change my oil with a Snap-on double box XBM1315A.

Very comfy and meaty wrench.

https://store.snapon.com/Standard-H...e-Standard-10º-Offset-Box-Wrench-P633344.aspx

 

[Gmonkee]

It divides the single end engineer type wrenches from double working end wrenches a mechanic or millwright would seek.

I certianly would be unhappy to find I was sent SOE wrenches and not DOE on a Ebuy.
Sure they would work but I would have to carry twice as many.

Keep using the redundant word please.

 

[OHMS LAW]

I have and use all three styles. Double box end are longer and give leverage in a tight spot. And also they are not the same size on both ends.
On double open ends these are in my case angle wrenches for hydraulic connections.
They all serve different purpose

 

[Dave455]

Living in the U.K. I’d never heard of a ‘box end wrench’ till I was hunting through a Snap On catalogue and found that’s what they called a ring spanner!

Weird terminology - but then I bet that nobody that side of the Atlantic could ask for an ‘Eight Inch King **** Ring Podger’ without sniggering...!

 

[Gmonkee]

Terminology changed over time and languages certianly change the manner of naming stuff.

In spanish the same word says valve, key and wrench. A DOE is a llave espanol and a combo a llave mixta.

Its all really semantics in the end.

 

[CR888]

There are so many wrench designs/options these days its necessary to be able to describe them so people know what there buying/selling. Yeah so with the huge catalogues of wrenches available, correct terminology is needed. Pretty much any wrench pattern you can think of someone has for sale somewhere. Frustrating perhaps for the older gen.

 

[nelstomlinson]

I thought ``double box'' meant solid on one end, ratcheting of the same size on the other. Hadn't thought of the single-ended engineer style wrenches.

 

[WittHay]

Its the ratcheting wrenches that confuses people. There are so many styles that it hard to describe them and they get mixed up with non-ratcheting.

Simpler back in the 80's and 90's. When you asked for a ratcheting wrench, either you got a Craftsman or Snap-on like in the pictures. A box end wrench was like the Snap-on in the last picture

 

[rijndael]

I thought ``double box'' meant solid on one end, ratcheting of the same size on the other.

I believe double box predates ratcheting.

 

[Vvmvbb]

Usually say 'double' to differentiate from 'combination' which is the default.

 

[dscheidt]

my dad used to have a bag of wrenches that were labeled double offset double box end. They would have been made in the seventies. They were this sort: https://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-metric-offset-box-wrench-set-32042.html
which makes the box end about parallel with the beam, just an inch or three away from it. I only ever saw him use one of them, for adjusting the valves on the diesel engine in his Mercedes.

 

[bonneyman]

I change my oil with a Snap-on double box XBM1315A.

Very comfy and meaty wrench.

https://store.snapon.com/Standard-H...e-Standard-10º-Offset-Box-Wrench-P633344.aspx

Yep, me too! Same wrench for the same job.

Here it is next to a Bonney. Which will I use today?

 

[Firebrick43]

I am 73 years old and as I grew up, I learned of open end, box end, and combination wrenches. I never heard of them being called "double" open end and double box end wrenches until I joined this site. It seems to be redundant to say "double". Am I in the minority and or did I have a poor upbringing?

My opinion is poor upbringing.

Hey, you gave it as an option

 

[unslow1]

Usually say 'double' to differentiate from 'combination' which is the default.

Same in this area. When you ask for a double box you don't want someone to hand you a combination wrench. I usually only use them for suspension work. They tend to be longer and beefier. I really haven't heard any terms around this area to describe a double box end with one end ratcheting. Maybe they are still too new and uncommon for me to be familiar for a name for those.

 

[WittHay]

my dad used to have a bag of wrenches that were labeled double offset double box end. They would have been made in the seventies. They were this sort: https://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-metric-offset-box-wrench-set-32042.html
which makes the box end about parallel with the beam, just an inch or three away from it. I only ever saw him use one of them, for adjusting the valves on the diesel engine in his Mercedes.

I think wrenches you are describing are called deep box end. I have never heard of anybody using the term double box end wrench except for describing ratcheting wrenches

 

[unslow1]

I think wrenches you are describing are called deep box end. I have never heard of anybody using the term double box end wrench except in Garage Journal. Just thought it was some made up Ebay or import Chinese/English way of describing something

Here they are called off-set double box end. A type of obstruction wrench. It's interesting learning what things are called in different parts of the world. I have worked on things with British, Mexican and Russian friends.

What do you call an S- shaped double box end? Crescent/half moon shaped one? Those are all called obstruction wrenches here.

https://www.ebay.com/bhp/half-moon-wrench

https://www.harborfreight.com/5-piece-metric-s-type-wrench-set-99699.html


https://www.google.com/search?q=typ...0IbeAhVBm-AKHcNMDckQ_AUIDigB&biw=1587&bih=737

 

[Sco Deac]

The 1974 Craftsman catalog uses the terms open end, box end, and combination. As an aside, plugging these prices into an inflation calculator is a fun distraction. The 14 piece combination wrench set (3/8 to 1-3/8) was $33.53. In today’s dollars that’s $171.49. Today, SK has a 15 piece set (1/4 to 1) for $185.97.

http://www.vintagemachinery.org/pubs/222/17449.pdf

 

[WittHay]

Here they are called off-set double box end. A type of obstruction wrench. It's interesting learning what things are called in different parts of the world. I have worked on things with British, Mexican and Russian friends.

What do you call an S- shaped double box end? Crescent/half moon shaped one? Those are all called obstruction wrenches here.

https://www.ebay.com/bhp/half-moon-wrench

https://www.harborfreight.com/5-piece-metric-s-type-wrench-set-99699.html

https://www.google.com/search?q=typ...0IbeAhVBm-AKHcNMDckQ_AUIDigB&biw=1587&bih=737

The S- shaped wrenches are called starter wrenches. We never add double to anything except when describing ratcheting wrenches. Same in both end wrenches are called open, angle, flare nut, flex head, half moon. Short box end wrenches are referred to as dwarf wrenches and smaller wrenches are called midget say under 3/8"

http://www.collectingsnapon.com/index.php?page=wrenches/XS Dwarf Boxockets series

 

[unslow1]

I had heard the term starter wrench but didn't know what it referred to. Here the short wrenches are called stubbies or stubby. Some of the terms here have changed over the years. When a guy asks for dykes most young guys start laughing. They call them side or diagonal cut pliers. I work on a lot of really old cars (pre-WWI) so I had to learn what a lot of older terms meant.

 

[jeepinerdeep]

What the beef? Double Box End is anatomically correct.

 

[Gmonkee]

Its all about what is common. Wherever yoou are and what you do.

If only one type/style of wrench is known all are just wrench. Add another style and you need to distinguish which or risk getting the wrong one.

I am collecting all manner of antique and will see single and double end simple types of wrenches. At work we use only simple types, him usually combos and me DOE.

At my house I use L socket wrenches, ratcheting open end combos, Riley patent Simplex ratcheting open ends and regular DOE.
Because I can. I cannot imagine some of you guys helping me in the shop. It would take longer to teach which wrench is which than just do it alone.

I know of the multitude of modern ratcheting wrenches but after seeing they require replacement far more often than older styles stayed with the older stuff.

I wore out ratcheting wrenches and the more trick, the more it hurt to replace them. I have yet to wear out a simple wrench.

It would be interesting to compile a list of styles and types of wrenches that each would require a distinct description. Just modern ratcheting wrenches has six types I know of.

 

[derosa]

Honestly I didn't ever realize combination wrenches were combination wrenches till I came here. Combination wrenches were all that circulated around my parent's house so if I was asked to get a wrench, it was what was meant. Later when I added a line of gearwrench and worked on bikes there were only wrenches and ratcheting wrenches. Most of what I read on here referred to double box or double open end when that's what they have. I still only ever refer to a combination as a wrench, the word combination in my head still seems redundant as that's just what a wrench is. Course I only have one double box and no double opens in the whole house while I have over a 100 wrenches.

 

[Gmonkee]

Exactly. Pandora's box is open and now informed you cannot rely on old experiences alone.

There are literally dozens of styles of them to be had out there.

Go back in history via the old tools and dozens more pop up. Always a better mousetrap to be invented.

 

[DWise]

Thanks for all the differing opinions, You are teaching an old dog new tricks, although I'm getting to old to do many tricks. I really liked the "Pandora's Tool Box" idea.

 

[PartsGuy]

Yep, me too! Same wrench for the same job.

Here it is next to a Bonney. Which will I use today?

I have had the SO S9615A (9/16 and 15mm double box) version of that wrench for many years... but it really messes with my OCD. I keep my SAE and metric wrenches in separate drawers, so I just tossed this one in with my "engine related" tools. Yes, I have issues!

 

[Tonyuk]

Before looking to actually buy a set i always knew them as aviation spanners.

 

[ScottsGT]

I had made it through 54 years of life without a set of double box end wrenches until someone posted a clearance priced set of SAE and Metric Craftsman's here on GJ. Well and that price I just couldn't refuse.
A week later I was changing the brakes on the wife's Honda Pilot. Removing the rear caliper I realized that using the offset of my new wrenches was really the only way to access the bolts unless I pulled off the shocks as well.
Glad I finally bought a set!

 

[jfleisher]

So what’s this called?

 

[ScottsGT]

So what’s this called?

***********!

 

[pstemari]

Doubled-end thumb detector!

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

 

[Sco Deac]

So what’s this called?

That’s a metric/SAE combination adjustable.

 

[bonneyman]

I have had the SO S9615A (9/16 and 15mm double box) version of that wrench for many years... but it really messes with my OCD. I keep my SAE and metric wrenches in separate drawers, so I just tossed this one in with my "engine related" tools. Yes, I have issues!

My dad taught me to be able to decipher different wrench sizes by looking at at them - but I'm not ashamed to admit I CANNOT visually tell the difference between 9/16th and 15mm.

That's my issue....and I'm sticking to it!

 

[coljar]

All I know is, I've never liked "double boxes" even though I've got a lot of them, mostly inherited from my dad and grandfather. Give me a combination any day.

 

[bts]

I had never heard the term box spanner until the net came along.
Too me (and most people I know) it`s a ring spanner.
Dose not matter if its the ring end of a combination, double ringey offset or flat,
it looks more like a ring than a box.

 

[toolmutt]

All I know is, I've never liked "double boxes" even though I've got a lot of them, mostly inherited from my dad and grandfather. Give me a combination any day.

I'm just the opposite. A double box end wrench is usually what I grab first.

 

[2oolhound]

I change my oil with a Snap-on double box XBM1315A.

Very comfy and meaty wrench.

https://store.snapon.com/Standard-H...e-Standard-10º-Offset-Box-Wrench-P633344.aspx

Yep, me too! Same wrench for the same job.

Here it is next to a Bonney. Which will I use today?

Yeah but... but... Snap-on themselves doesn't call it a "double" anywhere. They call it a "13–15 mm 12-Point Metric Flank Drive® Standard 10º Offset Box Wrench" or a "XBM1315A".

It would be interesting to compile a list of actual manufacturer's naming conventions. A picture of the wrench with a list of manufacturer's names ie:

If GJ forms a world wide USER"S wrench naming consortium I'd vote for some of the British names.

Flat DBE = ring spanner
Offset DBE = cranked ring spanner