HF Doyle adjustable wrenches

[redwrench60]

Anybody try one of these yet? I picked up a 12” model today after snagging Dad an on sale Braun LED worklight he wanted and I must say they did a pretty good job on this unit. It’s not the typical HF garbage slop-master adjustable wrench. This (and the 10” model) have a nice comfy I-beam handle, adjust very smoothly, has excellent grinding/polishing and a nice tight action. The jaws are actually perfectly parallel and square. It even opens wider than the average 12”er at 1-11/16 confirmed per spec. All for about $14 with 20% off coupon. I’ll have to see how it holds up.

 

[Ton ton]

The opening is the same as my Blue point adjustable wrench 12". What is the width of the jaws? Thanks for sharing, I like adjustable wrenches.

 

[SeisMec]

The opening is the same as my Blue point adjustable wrench 12". What is the width of the jaws? Thanks for sharing, I like adjustable wrenches.

Doyle grind marks on the surface that the movable jaw rides on are quite visible.

How does your Blue point compare? Just curious.

 

[X1 Mike]

...........The jaws are actually perfectly parallel and square...…...

I was always told that the tips should tough slightly before the back so they would become square when the backlash is taken out of the screw by applying torque.

 

[sberry]

Those look good. Its the basic generic model from Asia and they are really solid.

 

[redwrench60]

I was always told that the tips should tough slightly before the back so they would become square when the backlash is taken out of the screw by applying torque.

That’s only when the wrench is so sloppy and loose the jaws move out of parallel under torque. If they make them tight and precise to begin with it’s unnecessary.

This one is surprisingly tight and smooth for a HF adjustable.

 

[X1 Mike]

That’s only when the wrench is so sloppy and loose the jaws move out of parallel under torque. If they make them tight and precise to begin with it’s unnecessary.

This one is surprisingly tight and smooth for a HF adjustable.

I'm not talking a huge amount of out of parallel and I'd like to see a screw on an adjustable wrench without backlash.

I wasn't judging them I was just mentioning what I was told.

 

[redwrench60]

I'm not talking a huge amount of out of parallel and I'd like to see a screw on an adjustable wrench without backlash.

I wasn't judging them I was just mentioning what I was told.

Yeah, they have to have a small bit of lash to be adjusted but the vast majority of adjustable wrenches are such loose sloppy wet dogs I’m not sure any manufacturer could execute that level of precision into one. An adjustable that even slightly tapered towards the jaw tips would piss me off to no end. It would have to be tightened and loosened for every wrench stroke and the amount of out of parallel would vary depending on fastener size and applied torque.

Much of the hate for adjustables comes from cheap junk ones that many of us grew up on. I use big adjustables a lot at work on large hex pipe plugs/fittings, oil and hydraulic lines/fittings ect. A quality adjustable with tight tolerances is a joy to use but a crappy one makes you hate life and **** up every fitting you touch. This HF unit may have the metallurgy of frozen butter and explode when I really call on it but first impressions are good. They really tried to make a nice tight well fitted tool for a budget price.

 

[Ton ton]

The width of my 12" Blue point adjustable jaws is 7/16".

 

[sberry]

The generic I got from ATD are super good and really my go to for road work. A 12 opens to 1 1/2, 8 is wider too. A guy picked one off my bench the other day, said what a fine wrench it is,,,, it is too.

 

[redwrench60]

I have a 12” Blue Point adjustable and the jaws are 3/8” wide out at the tips. This 12” Doyle measures 7/16” out at the tips but the Doyle opens WAY wider and has a fraction of the sloppiness....

 

[bwringer]

Doyle grind marks on the surface that the movable jaw rides on are quite visible.

How does your Blue point compare? Just curious.

I'm thinking that the texture there maybe sorta kinda helps lock the jaw into place when you're reefing on it...?

And yeah, HF's Doyle stuff is generally quite nice for the dough.

 

[Mr_B]

That just cut marks from the tooling when they surfaced that edge .
Doyle stuff does seem little above average for mid range cost store brand and with a decent coupon it pretty good value .
You find usa made used for small money, will have play with a pair in HF as interesting see how tight they seem .
Is the etched measure pretty accurate

 

[Wamsutta]

Here's the wrench they probably used to reverse engineer from (or tried to)

http://www.toptools.co.jp/english/products/monkey-wrench-hx-series/

TOP Kogyo Company, Ltd.
2190-5 Tsukanome
Sanjo City
Niigata, Japan 955-8678

TEL. +81-256-33-1681 FAX. +81-256-34-7617 E-mail: [email protected]

http://www.toptools.co.jp/english/

 

[ChrisLS8]

I'll stick to my CL wide azz but they do look decent

 

[SeisMec]

I bought the 10" model today. When the jaws are fully closed, the tips touch first and I can run a 0.005" feeler gauge through the bottom. With jaws open to 7/16" on the etched markings there is about 0.025" of play (lash at the adjustment screw).

It opens to 1-7/16", but the etched end at 1-3/8" and 34mm on the opposite side. My eyeball guess (haven't figured an easy way to measure) is that there is about 3/64" side to side slop at the tip of the movable jaw anywhere in the jaw open range of 1/16" to 1-1/4". Between the same range of jaw opening, as near as I can tell, under pressure the tip of the movable jaw rocks back about 0.006" making it very nearly truly parallel with the fix jaw. As soon as you open the jaw further than 1-1/4" the bearing surface at the movable jaw begins to fall off the bearing ledge and parallelism rapidly goes to hell.

I'm not sure if this is the most precision (hate to use that adjective) adjustable wrench I've ever used. It's certainly the most precision one I've ever owned.

 

[kctyphoon]

I’d have to assume the textured grip is there on purpose. Nice looking adjustable..

 

[Oil leak]

I am sort of surprised that they are made in China. Most of the Doyle products have been made in Taiwan with the Quinn wrenches made in China. They look alright but I'll keep my channel lock and proto ones.

 

[redwrench60]

Yeah time will tell how this one holds up. It caught my attention because it isn’t the normal drop forged horse manure HF adjustable with a 1/4” of slop in it. Gotta give credit where it’s due.

My favorites are Protos but I’ve got armloads of USA Crescents, Western Forge Craftsman’s, USA Williams, Klein’s and S•K’s that have proven themselves strong and reliable over the years. If this thing holds up it could be a real contender the way it’s priced.

 

[bpjr]

Any idea how Doyle compares to Hart? I was in wallymart yesterday looking at the Hart adjustables and they looked pretty good. Prices are about the same as HF.

 

[SeisMec]

I'm glad to see adjustable wrench fans on Garage journal.

They've hardly ever been my first choice, but there have been plenty of instances where they were my only choice.

Frequently referred to as nut f#@%*rs, I think in most cases buggered-up nuts have more to do with operator error, than the sloppy tolerances of a lot of adjustable wrenches.

 

[lardy1]

I keep my adjustable wrenches in the same drawer as my ratcheting wrenches. I open it once in awhile to remind myself what's in there.

 

[eschoendorff]

I prefer the Irega rebranded Channellocks.

 

[Cgw1984]

I prefer the Irega rebranded Channellocks.

Why not channellock then?

 

[sberry]

Lot of skill involved in adjustable use, same for Channellock's and Vise Grips. Number 9 side cutters too.

 

[thool]

I get nervous now when adjustable wrenches like these have their business ends encased in plastic. Lesson learned from buying the Pittsburgh Pro black anodized 3-piece set that had so much slop that I had to conclude that they used the term "adjustable" to mean that after you finally crank it in, it decides to adjust randomly.

Pure garbage that are going into my "I don't care if I lose it" toolbox in my shed.

 

[SeisMec]

Lot of skill involved in adjustable use, same for Channellock's and Vise Grips. Number 9 side cutters too.

Should I take that as a sarcastic dig at my 'operator error' comment?

Potential operator errors - roughly in order of stupidity.

1. Failure to fully snug up the jaws as the final step prior to attempting to break a nut/bolt loose or to doing the final tightening.
2. Applying turning force to the fixed jaw side of the wrench when busting nuts/bolts loose or when doing final tightening. (See below if you think this point is mistaken.)
3. Not standing the wrench on the jaw tips for nut/bolt heads that are smaller than or equal to the thickness of the jaws at their tips.

Why turning force should be applied to the non-fixed jaw side of the handle:
In almost every (if not every single) case, when force is applied the greatest jaw spread is at the tips. The slop in the cam action of the jaws is less when you apply force on the movable jaw side of the handle.

 

[redwrench60]

Lot of skill involved in adjustable use, same for Channellock's and Vise Grips. Number 9 side cutters too.

A lot of people don’t seem to know when the right time to use these tools is. Others use them for everything. Sheltered office life I suppose.

 

[sberry]

Not sarcastic at all, not at anyone, just a matter of fact.

 

[Motorman55]

I once used my large adjustable wrench while working in a commercial repair garage because I didn't have two of the same size open end wrenches to loosen a fitting.

I got a "Really? an adjustable wrench?" quip with a look of disapproval from the shop Forman followed by something like "its time you buy bigger wrenches, two of each size if need be."

Adjustable wrenches were frowned upon in this shop.

 

[Fcvapor05]

That’s only when the wrench is so sloppy and loose the jaws move out of parallel under torque. If they make them tight and precise to begin with it’s unnecessary.

This one is surprisingly tight and smooth for a HF adjustable.

There's a reason why a quality adjustable wrench is difficult to pull off parallel with the handle but relatively easy to slide off parallel to the bolt.... it's because the jaws are tapered. It has nothing to do with 'sloppy' tolerances.

 

[Wanna Ride]

More importantly, does it make a good hammer?



Settle down haters... it’s just a joke.

 

[Ton ton]

Adjustable wrenches are so handy when you need to fix something on the tractor and you are @ the far end of the farm. I understand that they are not supposed to be your primary tools but they are sure handy in the right application.

 

[SeisMec]

More importantly, does it make a good hammer?

Sometimes a better hammer than a wrench.

 

[Sgtboz]

Whats the chance that 30 years from now anyone will be talking about the merits of a 30 year old hf adjustable wrench? Or will they be be hearkening back to the days when china produced quality tools?

 

[redwrench60]

Whats the chance that 30 years from now anyone will be talking about the merits of a 30 year old hf adjustable wrench? Or will they be be hearkening back to the days when china produced quality tools?

Not likely. But what if this thing proves to be a real quality piece for the money? I like my USA made tools but good USA made adjustables are getting harder to find. I’m willing to give credit if it’s due.

 

[sberry]

Whats the chance that 30 years from now anyone will be talking about the merits of a 30 year old hf adjustable wrench? Or will they be be hearkening back to the days when china produced quality tools?

That's the argument comes up, not really about the quality of the tool. There are now 10-12$tools that work as well as Proto cost north of 30$.
Got to put the disclaimer in here, didn't claim it was better or anything else but that it works as good.