Old wrench question.

[CTyankee]

Picked up some old wrenches today. The bottom one is a Bonney, the next one I believe is a J.H. Williams & Co. and the third I do not know.

The Williams reads 1/2 and 7/16 and the Bonney is a 9/16/ and 1/2. The Williams really measures about 13/16 and 5/8. WTF? Can anyone explain this? Also is there any way to ID the brand of the other one? Thanks.

 

[Engineer61]

Very old wrenches (WWI era) are sized by the bolt size, not the nut size. So your wrench fits 1/2" and 7/16" bolts, add another 3/16 for the size of the nut.

 

[Gmonkee]

The Williams is a pre '29 USS standard wrench.

The mystery 3rd wrench appears to be early Moore Drop Forge or Fairmount. There were a lot of companies that made unmarked contract wrenches for others. As the years wore on the strong aquired the weak and there were fewer but bigger companies.

That could have been loose stock at a hardware store or included in a car kit, nearly impossible to trace now. I have a few dozen of them myself.

 

[woody 73]

Any way to turn the wrenches over so I can get a better look for any ID marks.

 

[2oolhound]

The Williams sounds like it's whitworth size. Here's a 7/16 and 1/2 comparison of Whitworth vs SAE:

 

[CTyankee]

Thanks for all the info...Interesting stuff I wasn't aware of. Got a road trip planned for today, but I'll post up more detailed pics of the markings on all the wrenches later today. I believe one of the other ones is marked Fairmount.