Who makes a great adjustable wrench ?

[Downwindtracker 2]

Around here, Lobster brand were common 50 years ago. Back then there were better brands. Procraft I think was also imported ?, Japanese, and it was better quality.

 

[GrantCee]

do you have the lobster w-zero (UM36XGB) as well? if so, is there anything else you don't like about it besides how it doesn't close all the way?

Honestly, I'm not a fan of the polished chrome flats. For whatever reason, I prefer adjustables to have a phosphate finish (maybe because all of my old Protos do?) It's a superb wrench, but doesn't really "ring my chimes" if you know what I mean. The TOP wrenches just seem more...businesslike?

Also, the TOP wrenches have better finish in the non-operational areas, like the recesses in the handle. The TOP wrenches are very smooth, while the Lobster wrenches are rough, as-cast. TOP just has a general attention to detail that the Lobster doesn't, even if the latter is technically a better wrench.

This may sound odd, but the TOP seems very Japanese (fanatic attention to every detail), where the Lobster seems more American (what isn't important to the actual operation gets less attention).

what about the feel of the handle or of the adjustment screw?

About the same.

i think TOP looks cooler, but Lobster design i suppose is a little more advanced. i'm thinking of ordering a lobster and maybe a bent, thin-jawed TOP.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B07W7VVTDW/
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B001D31RL4/

I think that's a rational idea. I have the straight (HT-200S) thin jaw TOP wrench, and it's a surprisingly useful tool. I even use it as a caliper to check bolt head sizes! The handle is a little more square in profile than the Hyper Monkey or the Lobtex, but it's very smooth and doesn't bother me. Of all the adjustables I've owned, it's the one I like to pick up and fiddle with.

 

[mbunimog]

Here is my favorite 6 inch

 

[Canyon56]

I prefer Knipex Plier Wrenches over any standard adjustable wrench.

 

[richfinn]

I like my old Bahco adjustable too, it's one of the things they do really well.

 

[mbunimog]

The 6 inch Bacho was given to me 62 years ago so this has some sentimental value to me

 

[bwringer]

The 6 inch Bacho was given to me 62 years ago so this has some sentimental value to me

Nice!

Was that tire iron tip on the other end factory, or something someone ground into the tip long ago?


It really seems like manufacturers are missing an opportunity to do something useful with the other end of the adjustable, you know?





Unrelated, but I had to reluctantly enter the Lair of the Walmart-ians this weekend. The horror, the horror...

Anyhoo, the "Hart" brand adjustables seem shockingly nice, and are (gasp) made in Taiwan and not China.

https://www.harttools.com/products/hand-tools/pliers-and-wrenches/10-pro-adjustable-wrench

Weird looking and overstyled, I guess, but that's a matter of taste. But they really did seem like very nice quality, as we've come to expect from Taiwan. And dirt cheap. Interesting angle to the jaws.

 

[cad70]

I recently bought the 6" and 8" SK from SK direct with a promotion. VERY smooth and tight.

CD

 

[The Fall]

I never thought too much about this topic. Probably because Western Forge and Proto seemed to do the job pretty well.

 

[mowkep]

I keep the small Knipex plier wrench in my bicycle tool bag. Very invaluable too.

I've used a 12" Crescent at work for the last 30+ years. The jaws have deformed a little but anything that has tightened 5/8-11 and 3/4-10 nuts and tapped holes would too. The 8" Crescent I don't use as much. I'll grab the 10" Craftsman before that one.

I bought 8" wideazz Channellocks because of recommendations on here. Not at all impressed. The edge of the jaws has raised up with little use.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Old school Crescent

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Interesting timing on this thread. My blue dipped Klein wrenches have been serving me daily for 35 years. This morning I noticed my 6" is AWOL from my tool pouch. Can't get those good ones anymore.

Any "reversible" adjustable that has teeth on one side of the moving jaw so it can be used as a pipe wrench is a joke. All they'll do is slip and chew up any pipe fitting you try to use it on.

Tommy

 

[pizza]

following up on this, i shared some thoughts on the Lobtex GB series and the TOP hyper monkey here:

Tools of Japan

You were right about the cost!

www.garagejournal.com

 

[Outahere]

16 wrenches get tested at Project Farm

 

[dnschmidt]

TOPTUL makes really nice ones but with the invention of the Pliers Wrench an adjustable wrench seems like an artifact of history to me in the current age.