Neff Adjust-A-Box Wrench

[Private Lugnutz]

Well, I did a search first, because I think that’s always the right thing to do before posting (gives credit to those who came before us with finds, and, it preserves continuity of discussions and concentrates information rather than further proliferates it in multiple threads, which makes it hard to find…). But the only other Adjust-A-Box wrench I could find on GJ was way back in 2011 in a General Discussion board thread, linked here.

Rather than revive a thread up there that few down here are going to see, I’m starting another one instead.

This was a first for me when I picked it up at the flea market this morning. Never heard of it, never saw one before.

If the function isn’t obvious from the photos, it has a static jaw and a floating jaw, just like an adjustable crescent type or pipe wrench, but in this case, each jaw is half of a hex box end, and they are in the same linear plane as each other. The adjusting nut slides the floating jaw in and out to make the size of the hex box end smaller or larger.

Apparently they came in multiple sizes. I’m assuming, like adjustable crescent-type or pipe wrenches, in length of handle and also the range of the adjustable diameter capacity.

It has no OEM markings. Just what you see in the photos.

DATAMP has a good info page on the tool, including a potential mfgr (Hunter Industries), the patent diagram, and a link to the original patent (2,912,891 / Nov 17, 1959) on the USPTO site. Link here.

Anybody else got one? If so, post ‘em up

 

[twertsy]

Curious. I've seen them at fleas before and passed them over as a "gimmick tool." Silly me!

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[woody 73]

Could you tell me anything about Mr. ted Neff is he still alive or did he pass on ?

 

[d42jeep]

Here is mine.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Curious. I've seen them at fleas before and passed them over as a "gimmick tool." Silly me!

Well, I did call it gimmicky when I first reported finding it in the 2018 Garage Sale thread earlier today, and, I think the fact that it really never caught on probably testified to that a little. But, it isn't cheaply made (pretty sure it's alloy steel) and it actually works.

Could you tell me anything about Mr. ted Neff is he still alive or did he pass on ?

No clue, Woody. I didn't do any research beyond the patent yet, and might not look further than that. So many tools, so little time!

Here is mine.

Either the camera in your phone is better than mine, or the quality of light in Northern California is better than the quality of light in NJ, because your markings are clearer than mine!

 

[d42jeep]

iPhone 4. Only the latest and best for me! I found it in October 2016 at an estate sale.
-Don

 

[bill300d]

The phone or the wrench?

 

[d42jeep]

Like most of my phones, the iPhone 4 was a hand-me-down from my daughter. I found the wrench in 10/16 in El Cerrito, CA. The woman doing the estate sale was a high school classmate of my wife. You might think that I would have gotten better prices because of that but no such luck.
-Don

 

[notlob]

Could you tell me anything about Mr. ted Neff is he still alive or did he pass on ?

https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zukyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=zwcGAAAAIBAJ&pg=5539%2C3648472

 

[3baygarage]

That’s a good read. Says he was 80 at the time, and that was almost 22 years ago. I didn’t realize one man was behind so many gadgets. I’ve seen the rubber handled one in the photo. Can’t make out what’s on the far right. There is also the Neff branded double duty ratchet by Proto.

When you get looking at vintage tool patents, you sometimes see the same names pop up. Intelligent engineers, whether the item was a big success or not.

I wonder if that wrench paved the way for the Craftsman Pocket Socket.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

That’s a good read.

Indeed. Thanks, notlob. It's very informative in a number of respects.

For one, DATAMP only cites Hunter, the company that bought out Mr. Neff, as an OEM, apparently unaware that Mr. Neff made and sold the first batch of units from a shop in his home and subcontracted forging, operating as Neff Enterprises.

Secondly, it confirms a sophisticated wild *** hunch I expressed on the 2018 Garage Sale thread when I first reported finding the Adjust-A-Box yesterday morning...

- The thing inside the hack saw frame is a new one on me - an 8-inch ADJUST-A-BOX patented (2,912,891) in 1959. The adjusting nut moves half of a 6-point box end towards the other static end. No branding, but marked MFD. USA, which makes me think Plomb empire, but that's just a swahunch.

I'm not sure this thing is on any Plomb Empire collector's radar, but the Adjust-A-Box is most certainly a Pendleton Tool Industries era tool. Talk about script flip though! How strange is it that this independent inventor subcontracts to the Plomb Empire to make his adjustable wrench, for $250,000, when the Plomb Empire never made their own adjustable wrenches (first Utica, and then the acquired J.P. Danielson did)! Also strange that Pendleton Tool Industries (the newspaper article calls it Proto, but Proto was still a brand, not a company name at the time) didn't buy him out when he went under. Like the rest of industry he shopped the idea to, they didn't think much of the Adjust-A-Box. Or they didn't think enough of it to invest in it, anyway.

EDIT: The article's information does raise questions about markings. How were the earliest Neff Enterprises units marked? And how were the Hunter Industries units marked?

 

[woody 73]

Notlob way cool thank you very much!

 

[tool_scrounge]

My dad had a large one at home in his tool box for many years. I recently ran into a smaller one at a garage sale. If I can remember where I put them I will post pictures.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

My dad had a large one at home in his tool box for many years. I recently ran into a smaller one at a garage sale. If I can remember where I put them I will post pictures.

Cool. I am hoping it's not an 8-incher. Don and I both have 8-inchers. It would be good to get the specs on the others. How many were there? What sizes? And what was min and max AF diameter range on the box ends on each size?

 

[d42jeep]

The one in the old thread you linked was 10”.
-Don

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks for the reminder, Don. I'll contact that guy and ask him to take some measurements. And I'll do the same later (I'm about to hit the road) - unless you do it first.

 

[Corndoggeh]

Theres an 8", 10", and 12". I have the 12" and a NOS 8". Bought them because I though they were cool looking. I've used both a few times getting large bolts that were slightly recesssed and in a corner.

I think ive used these more than actual adjustable wrenches.

 

[marke1200]

Very interesting tool and history. I'd like to learn more about Neff Enterprises. Being a Vogel Double Duty fan, I assumed that Neff took the reins, distributing the Double Duties when Vogel went under... but perhaps they were selling simultaneously..

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I measured the range on my 8-incher. The minimum capacity (floating jaw closed fully against the fixed jaw) is 1/4". The maximum capacity, the way I am defining it anyway, (with the floating jaw opened to the outer edge of the oval frame) is 1/2". The floating jaw will obviously go further than that, but I don't think it's meant to be used on nuts bigger than that. That limits the depth of the bite, for one thing, it also gets awful wobbly past that point, but I don't know, just interested in seeing the differences between the models.

Also took a pic of mine completely disassembled, in case anyone who doesn't have one was wondering.

Theres an 8", 10", and 12". I have the 12" and a NOS 8".

Corny,
Do me a favor and measure the minimum and maximum capacity on the 12" model.

 

[bonneyman]

I picked one up recently.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

So far the 8-inchers seem the most common!

 

[Gmonkee]

Mr. Neff seemed to fixate on adjustable wrenches for a while including a version of the Eiffel pliers wrench. And it appears he found some commercial success.

My own efforts for a better to perfectly usable multiple size open end so far have zero improvements over anything created before 1930.
All I have done is make it metric instead of standard.

 

[tool_scrounge]

My dad had a large one at home in his tool box for many years. I recently ran into a smaller one at a garage sale. If I can remember where I put them I will post pictures.

Well I am a little late to post this, but I have a 8" and 12" Adjust-a-Box wrenches, as shown in the photos below. I also had a Craftsman similar adjustable box wrench (patent 4967613) that I included for reference.

10" Craftsman Adjustable box wrench adjustment range, flat to flat: 0.33" - 1.08"
12" Adjust-a-box adjustment range, flat to flat: 0.32" - 1.40"
8" Adjust-a-box adjustment range, flat to flat: 0.27" - 1.03"

 

[four.cycle]

thank you, tool_scrounge.

would it be possible for you to take a close look at that Craftsman unit and see if there are any forging codes on the unit? Like maybe one or two letters or characters?

==

see also

https://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general-archive/neff-adjust-box-wrench-75851/
skip down to post #9

Midwest / Midwest Tool & Cutlery, 1210 Progress St., Sturgis, MI 49091 / "The Claw" patent 4967613 / https://midwestsnips.com/ /

That's the first time I've seen "Clinch Lock" used. Unfortunately the author of that post doesn't make it clear who the manufacturer of the "Clinch Lock" version was (unless I missed something.)

==

when it rains it pours:

Ever seen one of these? Odd adjustable wrench...

This very odd wrench is the only physical reminder I have of a 30 year long friend. Its surreal in many ways. I have pictures and memories of him but nothing of his but this. Well this and a hodgepodge box of scattered tools everyone else picked over and the remainder made it way to me with a...

www.garagejournal.com

==

I think I may be confused at this point.
Were there three different brand names of this device?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

when it rains it pours:

I'm assuming tool_scrounge saw my post in that thread and followed the link here. Glad he did, because it does confirm my conjecture that the Craftsman was not first. Not even close. That 4967613 patent was granted in 1990.

 

[d42jeep]

I sold my Craftsman one recently with a bunch of other Craftsman stuff.
-Don

 

[four.cycle]

RE: post #24 (my post above)

I got my wires crossed last night between Neff and Midwest and "Adjust-A-Box" and "Pocket Socket" and "The Claw".
See this post in the other thread.

Sorry, the editing limit here prevents me from fixing any of these posts. Again, a good reason why it should be done away with.

Sorry about the confusion - too many irons in the fire at the same time here.

 

[MarkH]

It is interesting to read the history of one of the most cussed tools we had on the farm. Concept was interesting. Execution was good quality for the most part. Sales people overhyped them. They were a limited use tool but as an uncle told me they were sold as a replacement for all of our wrenches. He bought about 25+ of them to do that in the early 60's. I had asked him why we had so many of them. They quickly gravitated to tool boxes on the machines to place them where they would not need to be used much. Even years later when I got involved with the business you would see one go flying across the yard with someone shouting about a piece of useless junk. Basically the wrong tool for the job.

As we get around to restoring some old machines we still find some of them in the machine's toolboxes. In our case very rusted. Most of them I see at auctions are still in great shape. People figured out they were a specialized tool and put them away and then more or less forgot about them.

I think these tools were one of the reasons I wanted to have good industrial tools in the shops and service units. Did not like the frustration of the wrong tool for the job. Did not follow my uncle who was trying to be cheap and use the adjust a box to replace all of the wrenches we had. Faced the fact we would have to spend money on better less gimmicky tools to make money.

 

[just passing through.]

It's funny how you grow up with odd tools and think they are perfectly normal. My dad bought a long chrome version like the Neff Adjust-A-Box around 1970. Growing up I used it regularly to remove our mower blade, and it was ideal -- long enough for leverage/control and distance from the sharp edge of the blade, with four contact sides it was less likely to slip than the Crescent style I use today. Never remember using it for anything else. I thought of it today and went looking on ebay, and that search brought me here.

What I'd appreciate this Forum's help on is this. I want to buy one for nostalgia. I distinctly remember it being chrome, like the Neff or Hunter. It seemed longer than 12 inches but that may be remembering how large it seemed to me as a kid. But what doesn't make sense is remembering it as having either the Sears or Craftsman brand on the handle. It's been at least 40 years since I saw it and I get that I may have misremembered. But if I decide to buy one for nostalgia, should I buy a Neff and accept that Sears never made the early Adjust A Box in chrome? Or look a little longer for the one I remember?

Thanks in advance!

 

[3baygarage]

Hi. The earlier Craftsman ones were chrome. It could well have been Craftsman.

 

[just passing through.]

Well I am a little late to post this, but I have a 8" and 12" Adjust-a-Box wrenches, as shown in the photos below. I also had a Craftsman similar adjustable box wrench (patent 4967613) that I included for reference.

10" Craftsman Adjustable box wrench adjustment range, flat to flat: 0.33" - 1.08"
12" Adjust-a-box adjustment range, flat to flat: 0.32" - 1.40"
8" Adjust-a-box adjustment range, flat to flat: 0.27" - 1.03"

Sorry for any possible confusion with a previous comment I posted as a reply to another poster, which I can't seem to find to edit. Long story short, I'd like to find a tool like I remember that was like the Neff but possibly longer than 12 inches, with the knurled adjusting nut/ring in chrome, unlike your Craftsman. Do you know if Sears or Craftsman made a Neff Adjust-A-Box style all in chrome and could it have been longer than 12 inches? Thanks in advance!

 

[just passing through.]

Hi. The earlier Craftsman ones were chrome. It could well have been Craftsman.

Wow! That is some fast response time! I read back up the thread and saw the early Craftsman with the black anodized adjuster, do you know if some had chrome adjusters like the Neff? I'd assume so since Sears was pretty quick to try new designs. I guess I'll watch Ebay a little longer to see if one pops up like I remember. Thanks again.

In a totally unrelated point, I want to give something back by sharing an idea. I had an old Sargent plane from the early 40's that was my grandfather's, but with two sons and a daughter, I didn't know who to give it to. So I bought two matching planes, and split up the parts so that each they could have a complete plane with parts that came from their great-great grandfather. It's a little wrong to split up the originals, but seems like a good solution for some of us.

 

[torontotools]

Hope its Ok to pick up on old threads as I am a newbie starting today from Toronto. So glad to be able to join in , as over the last year the Garage Journal has many times been the best or only source of info on old tools that I have researched. Great quality stuff in this site! So today I discovered this 10" Adjust a Box in a toolbox I got from auction. Looks barely used. This is the only site that had the Neff history of the tool. Hope my photos work out. Will see when I hit the Post button!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Hope its Ok to pick up on old threads

Better thank okay. It's preferred!

Welcome, and nice find.

 

[Ricky Joe]

My father built houses. I especially remember using these to snug the sill plate anchors. I’m sure they have 1001 uses, but that is my most used example.

 

[four.cycle]

Neff Enterprises 8 inch Adjust-A-Box (patent 2912891)

Like the "Shelton Socketool", Ted Neff promoted his product through print ads:


1964 Popular Mechanics Neff Enterprises Adjust-A-Box ad Nov 1964 pp 233

1964 Popular Mechanics Neff Enterprises Adjust-A-Box ad pp 222

* Note the address change within just a few months.