Around here (before it was not PC) they were referred to as Mexican socket sets.

 

HEARD THAT ALL MY LIFE !!!! a 3 lb. hammer we called a beater in the welders world.

 

I have heard of that one before. We knew them as a crescent wrench then later in life I realized that was a brand name.

 

This is what I always called a monkey wrench....


The wrench Jeff posted the video of would be called a crescent wrench. I never used the term adjustable wrench.

And is it OK to still call these dykes or are they dikes??? Either way they are pronounced the same and most people look at you funny now a days if you ask to borrow a pair of dykes.

 

OK so I just realized that now. Never thought about it. Kind of like Kleenex, aren't they really facial tissues? "Could you hand me a facial tissue?" Nope that don't work....Of course I just cover one nostril with my finger and blow, switch nostril's and repeat.

 

I carry a GENUINE, MADE IN THE USA Crescent brand 6" crescent wrench in my left pocket all the time. In the handle, it has a small curved arrow showing the proper direction of rotation. It's the same way with the 10" Crescent wrench I have under the front seat. Never know when you're gonna need one in an extreme pinch.

 

I absolutly love this place! I learn somthing every single day. For novices like myself, who did not grow up around a shop this is a wonderfull place, not only for learning about working on the trucks we all love, but learning about seemingly silly things like a split- ring washer. Im always very humbeled by all the stuff I learn here, A sincere thanks to all. I hope there isn't an extra charge for being a little dumb. LOL

 

Did you make the arrows or did they come from the factory that way? Because I think that video is a crock of $%^&* -- the pressure on the "weak jaw" is the same whichever way you use it.

The "adjustable wrench" seems to be the one thing the Chinese cannot make worth a darn... they are just sloppy as all get out. I buy any USA brand I see at garage sales.

 

Are those left handed or right handed wrenches with the arrows on them?

 

F1- No, I didn't make them, the arrows are cast into the metal.
Joe-What do you mean by "left or right-handed"? It's got an arrow on one side, then you flip it over and there's the opposite arrow on the other side.

 

I'd like to see a pic of those. I have Crescent, Ridgid, and Proto adjustables in all sizes and none of them are marked.

If you put the wrench on loosely (too wide a spacing) and turn gently, you'll see that no matter which way you have the wrench, the force is always pushing the moving jaw outward.

 

I can vouch that adjustable wrenches at one time did have an arrow cast into them - I've seen it. (none of my inheirited ones do, but I think some of my dads and granddads both do, the ones we used in my college auto class all did - and yes it is cast in not stamped on).

Now when I first saw the arrow and asked my dad why - he said the same thing about too much pressure on the weaker (mobile) jaw as the argument and video here.

As a math major (oooh now I've blow it and showed ya all my inner geek), I set to analyzing the heck out of it in physics class. (Us math geeks have to take real physics, not physics for the liberal arts)

I would argue based on my research that it's all about leverage - the closer to the fulcrum you can get the pressure points the less wear (which means the video is bad in that he shows the bolt head clear out at the end of the wrench not cinched in close where it should be.

Flipping the wrench over moves the fulcrum an insignificant amount (the distance across the sides of the bolt/nut head), but leverage is compounded quickly. example: your very front teeth and very back teeth have 1,000 times difference in crush power because the back are that much closer to the fulcrum.

It's a "good idea" to use it similar to demonstrated BUT all the way seated at the base is way more important in the long run.

I use them either way depending on how the heck I can squeeze the wrench into the bloody small space I am trying to use them, but when possible I always use the right wrench or socket instead.

 

I carried a Proto til the pin holding the thumbscrew in fell out. I got the two Crescents as a Christmas ('09) gift shortly thereafter. On one side it says 6IN. Crescent(R) U.S.A. with an arrow pointed downward, then on the other side it says The Original Since 1907 with an arrow pointed upward. The packaging they came in said "Produced September 2009 in USA" Dad has an older Crescent brand 6IN. he's carried for 20 years, and it does not have the arrow markings. Must be a more recent addition I reckon.

I couldn't agree more that the movable jaw is stressed either way, and that tightly seating the hex in the jaws in most important.

 

What I don't get about the arrow is, what do you do when you're removing a nut/bolt? That is likely to be more torque if the bolt/nut is rusty. Considering how many times people hit the end of the wrench with a hammer, or use the wrench as a hammer, I don't think using it in either direction is going to hurt it.

My dad always called Crescents "the round-off tool". Unless you want to carry just one tool like Millenium, you are much better off using an appropriately sized box wrench.

 

I thought they were off set so if you were working in a tight space you could flip it over to catch a flat