Found an antique pipe wrench and cleaned it up

[dwasifar]

I got this pipe wrench at a garage sale for $2:





It was in pretty sad shape rust-wise, so I took it apart, gave it a soak in Evapo-Rust, a pass across the wire wheel, sharpened the teeth a little, repainted the handle, and reassembled it. Looks pretty good now. The threads are damaged from use, and it's a little bent (as you can see) so it doesn't adjust down all the way right now. I think I can reshape the threads so it will though.

Imprint says F. E. Wells and Son, Greenfield MA. Google says F. E. Wells was absorbed by another company in 1917, and the name discontinued, so I guess this wrench is at least 105 years old.

I plan to use it.

 

[mervyn]

Good job cleaning it up

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Pretty nice. I don’t believe I have ever seen a wood handle on a pipe wrench before.

 

[The Cobbler]

nice job on the resto!

 

[dwasifar]

nice job on the resto!

Thanks. It's a very light resto; just removing the rust and sharpening the teeth, really. It's a little too banged up, pitted, and bent to make a display piece out of, so I just wanted to return it to serviceable condition, which I think it will be in spite of one missing (broken-off) spring.

I have a gas pipe project to do this week and am looking forward to trying it out.

 

[nadogail]

I will bet that wrench could tell some stories. Good Find.

 

[Jacobs976]

Nice find. Usually the handle is missing or damaged on them. Actually have one in my office tucked between two of my tool boxes I never got around to making a handle for.

 

[Bubba Fett]

Nice work. It's good to restore old tools to usable condition. It isn't right to let them rust away, IMO.

 

[qqzj]

Can I send my rusty tools to you?

 

[Shiftless]

Next time, take a “before” picture to remind yourself of how much work you did to achieve that beautiful result. There are lots of threads on GJ to explore if you are into that sort of thing.

If anybody has any seized up rusty old vises let me know.

 

[dwasifar]

Can I send my rusty tools to you?

Sure.

I don't promise to send them back, though.

 

[four.cycle]

a little information on Wells here:
Wells / F.E. Wells & Son Co., Greenfield, MA / taps & dies / patent 1048921 Dec 31 1912 Frederic E. Wells / acquired by Greenfield Tap & Die 1912 / http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgindex/detail.aspx?id=877 / http://industrialhistory.org/f-e-wells-son-company/ / http://americancenturies.mass.edu/c...id=18426&img=0&level=advanced&transcription=1 /

 

[bubinga]

Pretty nice. I don’t believe I have ever seen a wood handle on a pipe wrench before.

Oh Yeah, Pretty common IIRC.
Nice job OP.

 

[dwasifar]

Just out of curiosity, I went looking to see if I could find what this wrench cost when new. I couldn't find anything about this specific model, but I did find a 1918 Sears catalog with prices for similar wrenches:



I think the Stillson is closer, so $1.40 in 1918 dollars, or about $28.50 in today's money.

 

[dwasifar]

I will bet that wrench could tell some stories. Good Find.

Yeah. Let's guess it was made in 1910. The majority of American homes were still lit by gaslight at that time, so chances are good that this wrench was used to run plumbing for that. Or maybe gray iron water pipes. Who knows how many hands it's been through? The man I bought it from looked like he was about 85, so maybe it belonged to his father.

I always like to think of the history. Imagine if you walked up to the man who had just made that wrench in 1910 or whenever and told him, "That tool you just finished making is going to be put back into use in the year 2022, by an old man who hasn't been born yet, and won't be for over half a century."

Thinking about it, though, maybe that would not be so unbelievable to someone of that age, when tools and other products were normally made to last, rather than break or wear out so you have to keep buying new ones.

It might be fun to buy a new 14" pipe wrench from a reputable brand and compare their performance, but it wouldn't be a completely fair usability comparison unless I were to drill out the rivet and replace that broken spring.

 

[bubinga]

Yeah. Let's guess it was made in 1910. The majority of American homes were still lit by gaslight at that time, so chances are good that this wrench was used to run plumbing for that. Or maybe gray iron water pipes. Who knows how many hands it's been through? The man I bought it from looked like he was about 85, so maybe it belonged to his father.

I always like to think of the history. Imagine if you walked up to the man who had just made that wrench in 1910 or whenever and told him, "That tool you just finished making is going to be put back into use in the year 2022, by an old man who hasn't been born yet, and won't be for over half a century."

Thinking about it, though, maybe that would not be so unbelievable to someone of that age, when tools and other products were normally made to last, rather than break or wear out so you have to keep buying new ones.

It might be fun to buy a new 14" pipe wrench from a reputable brand and compare their performance, but it wouldn't be a completely fair usability comparison unless I were to drill out the rivet and replace that broken spring.

I wonder if you could put the toothed part of the top jaw in a press to carefully straighten it?

 

[dwasifar]

I wonder if you could put the toothed part of the top jaw in a press to carefully straighten it?

I don't have a press strong enough to straighten out that bend. And the slight bend does not affect usability, as it turns out. I used it briefly today to assemble an outdoor gas shutoff and it worked just fine.

 

[dwasifar]

Well, I used the antique to install a few gas pipes today:



This is a connection to an outdoor gas hookup for a grill. You can see the place it used to go through, on the right. Had to jog it left because the deck it used to be on isn't there anymore.

Anyway, the antique wrench worked fine, although it is pretty heavy compared to a modern wrench. And it picked up a new scar in the process:



So now I guess that makes it officially my wrench.

 

[bubinga]

Clean Job!

 

[Gummi Bear]

That turned out fantastic.

I have a wood handled pipe wrench that looks similar, I've had it since I was a little boy. It's maybe 8-9" long overall, and I still use it from time to time (usually when installing sink hardware). I think my grandpa gave it to me to play with. I am inspired to do a cleaning like you did on yours.

 

[bonneyman]

A little late to this party but good job!

And scars ain't so bad - they just mean that you've gotten out and lived life! lol

 

[dwasifar]

A little late to this party but good job!

Clean Job!

That turned out fantastic.

Not sure whether you guys mean the wrench or the pipes, but thanks either way.

 

[bubinga]

bubinga said:

Clean Job!
Me, Pipes this time.

 

[dwasifar]

I changed my mind about keeping this wrench in service. It did work fine, but it's a worn wrench and it behaves that way - lots of side to side play makes it annoying to keep the jaws lined up, mainly. So I hit that new scrape with the wire wheel to make it blend in with all the older damage, and it'll just be a display piece. Bought a new Ridgid to use for actual work instead.

But! I do have other pipe wrenches in active use, and one of them is a Dunlap made in Germany, of the same Stillson design. So I figured what the heck and I've got that one soaking in Evapo-Rust right now, and I'll post pictures when it's all spiffed up.