Narrow head width combination wrenches? (pics)

[bleomycin]

Hi everyone,

Please forgive me if this has been asked a million times but all of my searching only turned up people looking for the narrowest wrench in the depth dimension (a2 in photo below). I'm looking for the narrowest in the b2 dimension.

So far I haven't been able to find anything that beats my old craftsman wrench which is surprising.

There have been so many times working on various project where if the wrench head was just a few mm narrower it would have fit and worked great. So far i've looked at snap-on, SK, stahlwille, gedore, wright and facom without much luck. I'm open to any quality brand. Thanks for any help!

 

[peteco]

If you can't find anything better, find a set of old Craftsmans and grind off whatever amount needed to make it fit the particular job you are doing. Be careful not to get it hot or you will weaken it. I have a cheap set of combinations from India that is actually pretty strong that I cut, grind, or whatever when I need a wrench to fit in a tight spot. If I come across a set of cheap old Craftsmans they may replace what I have now.

 

[n8n]

A lot of times wrenches that are thinner in the "a2" dimension are larger in the "b2" to make up for it, so it isn't entirely surprising that your Cman wrenches which are fairly thick are somewhat narrow. Probably most American wrenches will be similar; most German ones will be thinner but wider. China Cman will be a *lot* wider

 

[Adam.C]

You didn't search very well
Read this

 

[bleomycin]

You didn't search very well
Read this

Thank you for the replies everyone I appreciate it. Thank you for the link to that table, very useful and I missed it. However, none of the wrenches in that table are narrower than my craftsman

 

[Adam.C]

Not even the long Stahlwile?

 

[bahcoswed]

Stahlwille open box 14

 

[TheRobotCow]

Are you looking for just one specific size or an entire set? I could measure some of my wrenches I have and post the results.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TheRobotCow]

Just measured my 16mm long fd+ wrench and it measured at 32.5mm


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bahcoswed]

17mm Stahlwille openbox 14 long version 235 mm

17mm Stahlwille openbox 13 short version 187mm

17mm Gedore 1B 233mm

 

[bahcoswed]

17mm Wurth Zebra flexhead ratchet wrench 224mm

17mm Facom 467 Ratcheting reversible combo wrench 224mm

17mm Bahco Sweden 220mm

 

[bahcoswed]

17mm Bahco 1952M 220mm

 

[2oolhound]

Looking at bleomycin's diagram in post 1 you can see manufacturers take the B2 measurement with the calliper jaws parallel to the wrench opening. None of the photos of this measurement do this. For these comparisons to be meaningful a measurement should be taken parallel to the jaw opening and again at the widest measurement you can get. A third measurement should be taken parallel to the handle beam as well because most open/box or combo wrenches use a 15' offset of the head from the handle and in the most restrictive circumstances you need to turn the fastener enough so you can flip the wrench and re-grab it to get it out with that wrench.

 

[bleomycin]

bahcoswed,

Thanks so much for taking the time to post pictures! It's looking like the Stahlwille openbox are ~1mm narrower than my craftsman, I grabbed my 17 craftsman and it measures ~35mm measuring at a similar angle to you. It's nice to know that something narrower exists, even if it isn't by much. I'll definitely have to consider those wrenches for any future purchases.

2oolhound,

I went ahead and measured as you suggested, parallel to the jaw opening happens to be the widest measurement on my wrench.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

I keep some lower end wrenches around just so I'll have some to grind down for tight spots. Do what you have to do to get the job done and move on.

 

[Jim C.]

If you can't find anything better, find a set of old Craftsmans and grind off whatever amount needed to make it fit the particular job you are doing. Be careful not to get it hot or you will weaken it. I have a cheap set of combinations from India that is actually pretty strong that I cut, grind, or whatever when I need a wrench to fit in a tight spot. If I come across a set of cheap old Craftsmans they may replace what I have now.

Yikes!! I sort of hope you're not grinding down old Craftsman wrenches with -V- or =V= manufacturer's marks on them. Those are becoming somewhat collectible. Maybe just stick to grinding the stuff from china and india.

Jim C.

 

[abvw]

Flare nut wrench would be slimmer than open end wrenches.

Sent from my Q10 using Tapatalk

 

[GYPSY400]

I keep some lower end wrenches around just so I'll have some to grind down for tight spots. Do what you have to do to get the job done and move on.

Likewise!! ( Canadian Tire Jobmate series) usually when you grind a wrench to fit somewhere you don't need the max torque the wrench can handle.. If you do happen to break it.. Oh well! Only out a couple bucks.. Better off than grinding a name brand and voiding the warranty.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Adam.C]

bahcoswed,

Thanks so much for taking the time to post pictures! It's looking like the Stahlwille openbox are ~1mm narrower than my craftsman, I grabbed my 17 craftsman and it measures ~35mm measuring at a similar angle to you. It's nice to know that something narrower exists, even if it isn't by much. I'll definitely have to consider those wrenches for any

Just be careful you don't turn into a one issue politician. Yes my old craftsman v series wrenches have a nice form, but they are soft wrenches. That narrow open end won't help if it spreads. The box end is sloppy.

Stahlwile are 100x better wrenches than craftsman, harder, stronger, better fitting tools. For the money, the std length Snap On is probably my on-paper* favorite. They are longer than others' std wrenches, have thin ends, and flank drive plus open ends are a significant advantage.

*I own the Snap On's but don't own all the competitors' so I reserve the right to change my mind. Sometimes the feel of a wrench, almost regardless of its performance, is what I gravitate toward.

 

[Tim37]

I looked in to this a while back I needed a 1 1/16 for a common job my Marco wouldnt fit I always had to barrow a cman I went to a pawn shop and compared all the 1 1/16 and craftsman one out plus it was like 3 bucks. BTW I am referring to the old USA raised panel I'm sure the China **** wouldn't come close

 

[Matt Irvine]

If you're interested I can measure some at work tommorow, I have Snap On, Sidchrome and Bahco, and some gedore