Western Forge adjustable wrenches

[AngryBeaver]

With western forge closing last year, it’s made me wonder who all they were the OEM for. I heard rumors that SK was still using WF tooling to make adjustables and with them just being sold to China it makes me wonder with a lot of government and union construction jobs only purchasing American tools, who is going to step up and start producing American made adjustables in the future? There currently isn’t one American made adjustable wrench left….

what other brands did WF make adjustable wrenches for?

Allen (rip)
Blackhawk
Bluepoint
Cementex
Craftsman (rip)
Epsteins (HJE)
Husky
Ideal
Jensen tool
Kal-tools
KD tools (rip)
Kipper tool
Masterforce (menards)
Matco tools
Mac tools
Martin tools
Napa
Proto
Reed
Ridgid
Sk (rip)
Western forge
Wilde MFG
Williams
Wright

 

[Bubba Fett]

I think they made adjustable wrenches for pretty much every American brand. It's a real shame that WF closed down. I hope Ideal kept the tooling in the SK deal, and can keep producing them.

 

[plinker]

I think about the only ones they didnt make (in recent history, '90's & up) was Crescent, Klein (was US made TOP clone, recently Irega) and some Snap-on's like the one in the link. https://www.ebay.com/itm/294257405210?epid=1523325713&hash=item44831bad1a:g:kc4AAOSwlo1g4Nlk

 

[paulsomlo]

You missed Epsteins.

 

[DeeKay]

I had no idea they made any besides Proto and those craftsman ones, just my opinion but I find the handle is too thin to be comfortable when I'm really reefin on something.

 

[AngryBeaver]

I think about the only ones they didnt make (in recent history, '90's & up) was Crescent, Klein (was US made TOP clone, recently Irega) and some Snap-on's like the one in the link. https://www.ebay.com/itm/294257405210?epid=1523325713&hash=item44831bad1a:g:kc4AAOSwlo1g4Nlk

I know Armstrong were made by crescent, not sure if WF ever made an armstrong after the Cooper slaughter of the crescent brand.

ive wondered for years who made the snap on USA ones. i read something about diamond possibly making them. But they went of business in 1994 and I bought that set of green ones in 1998 or 1999 and the chrome ones are dated 1999 and 2000. That style wasn’t around very long as snap on bought bahco in 1999 or 2000 And all their wrenches were made by bahco, except their blue point line which was WF, then Irega, then tawai. The USA made snap ons are superior to any adjustable ever made IMO. Snap on Sweden made adjustables were ok and better than the current day made Spain ones. The steel is soft and the chrome chips easily. You can tell the head profile very easily between the USA made snap ons and the bahco made ones ( orange)

 

[AngryBeaver]

I had no idea they made any besides Proto and those craftsman ones, just my opinion but I find the handle is too thin to be comfortable when I'm really reefin on something.

The handle on a 15” crescent and 15” wf is identical thickness. The 8-12” sizes the crescent later generations were much thicker. But the western forge older generations were thicker than the older crescents. When you are really reefing on something, an adjustable isn’t really the tool for the job….

You missed Epsteins.

while Epstein’s sold wf blank branded adjustables, that were more than likely overstock from the closing of WF, Ive never seen a Epstein logo’d adjustable. I’ve only seen the HJE logo on some WF screwdrivers and pliers. This was supposed to be about adjustable wrenches only, not all western forge tools. If you can post I pic of one, I’ll gladly add it to the list.

 

[dscheidt]

The handle on a 15” crescent and 15” wf is identical thickness. The 8-12” sizes the crescent later generations were much thicker. But the western forge older generations were thicker than the older crescents. When you are really reefing on something, an adjustable isn’t really the tool for the job….


while Epstein’s sold wf blank branded adjustables, that were more than likely overstock from the closing of WF, Ive never seen a Epstein logo’d adjustable. I’ve only seen the HJE logo on some WF screwdrivers and pliers. This was supposed to be about adjustable wrenches only, not all western forge tools. If you can post I pic of one, I’ll gladly add it to the list.

that's a 10 and a 12". Everything but the mold ids on the end are stamped (engraved?), so they were probably made as blanks and stamped later. (That implies that they did it a bunch.)

 

[AngryBeaver]

that's a 10 and a 12". Everything but the mold ids on the end are stamped (engraved?), so they were probably made as blanks and stamped later. (That implies that they did it a bunch.)

I stand corrected. The stamping looks like similar font to proto and more than likely were stamped before the cobalt coating. Now I’m on the hunt for one.

 

[redwrench60]

I will miss readily available WF adjustables. They are excellent quality tight well machined tools. Proto and Craftsman were the two common ones to find around here.

 

[Ton ton]

I don't really miss them that much. I like Western Forge as much as the next guy. You can get Klein tool brand spud nut adjustable wrenches at the local industrial supply. USA made.

 

[redwrench60]

Yeah I got a few Klein spuds and use them pretty often on the equipment I work on but with Crescent being long gone WF made adjustables were the last excellent quality USA made ones out there.

 

[Steve_P]

WF was fine, I have a bunch; but the one or two Irega I have are much nicer. And the Knipex plier wrench has almost replaced an adjustable for me.

 

[Sgtboz]

With western forge closing last year, it’s made me wonder who all they were the OEM for. I heard rumors that SK was still using WF tooling to make adjustables and with them just being sold to China it makes me wonder with a lot of government and union construction jobs only purchasing American tools, who is going to step up and start producing American made adjustables in the future? There currently isn’t one American made adjustable wrench left….

what other brands did WF make adjustable wrenches for?

Allen (rip)
Blackhawk
Bluepoint
Cementex
Craftsman (rip)
Epsteins (HJE)
Husky
Ideal
Jensen tool
Kal-tools
KD tools (rip)
Kipper tool
Masterforce (menards)
Matco tools
Mac tools
Martin tools
Napa
Proto
Reed
Ridgid
Sk (rip)
Western forge
Wilde MFG
Williams
Wright

I really like the Reed 18"er.

 

[qqzj]

I have both USA-made Craftsman (made by WF?) and China Craftsman. They are about the same quality. Nothing special at all.

 

[Ricky Joe]

Add Granco to the list.

 

[four.cycle]

^ any possibility they might have been supplying Thorsen/Giller at some point as well? (purely speculative on my part.)