JP started his company, Enköpings Mekaniska Verkstad, in Sweden in 1887. He always had a set of pipe wrenches to hand in his workshop. Each wrench fitted a particular size of pipe, but this meant having to carry around a variety of sizes. This is where his idea of an adjustable pipe wrench sprung to mind. He designed it so that its jaws could be easily adjusted to fit all pipes, irrespective of size. The pipe wrench is now known and sold worldwide. There are different designs which provide the same results, such as the adjustable pin spanner. Usually, a pin spanner contains a hole so it can be attached to lanyards or other tools. Others sometimes have an additional hole, which can be used for flat-sided fasteners. If you’re placing so much weight on the tool means it is not unlikely that the tool could slip violently or the fastener could suddenly give way. Its small size makes the magneto spanner an ideal addition to any toolbox. They can also be called ignition spanners and are used when fixing and servicing magnetos. This tool tends to have a screwdriver attached. When buying this tool, you only get one size per spanner. However, you get access to two types as mentioned previously, which is why they can be considered a good value for money. Combination spanner sets enable you to have several of these spanners in various sizes.

This tool has a looped head to grip the fastener on all sides, meaning it’s less likely to slip off when used. Ring spanners are double-headed and can turn a fastener in wider arcs so it takes less time to loosen and tighten. When looking for the right pin spanner, two different sizes are usually given, and these are the distance between the central points of both pins and the diameter of the pins. The diameter tends to be between 2.9mm-10mm, and the distance between the pins is usually between 10mm-230mm. Similar to pipe wrenches, JP realised that nuts and bolts, too, required different sizes of tool to tighten and loosen them. His idea of an adjustable spanner came to light and would bring him worldwide fame in years to come. However, he was not the original inventor of the adjustable spanner. The first one was created by Joseph Stubs, 50 years earlier. JP improved the original tool design by giving it only one moveable jaw and it was sold and loved all over the world ever since. Adjustable spanners typically feature a standard layout open-ended head design, but with an additional function that allows for manual opening or closing of the spanner’s jaw via a rotating cylinder driven by a screw. The familiar ‘monkey wrench’ design is essentially a type of adjustable spanner, although many tools can be found in this range that are considerably smaller and lighter than a typical heavy-duty plumbing wrench. Another popular type of adjustable spanner has a base and jaws that form four sides of a hexagon, and is therefore particularly suited for hexagonal nuts ("hex nuts") and hexagonal headed ("hex head") cap screws and bolts.

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For those working with electrical equipment, insulated variations are available. For example, the Bahco 21mm Insulated Open Ended Spanner can be safely used with up to 1000 volts and is double insulated. Alternatively, if you require spanners of multiple sizes, then consider an open-end spanner set. Heamar offer several Torx spanners, including the Stahlwille E20 & E24 Double Ended Torx Spanner, which is suitable for heavy use and is manufactured using chrome alloy steel. Monkey wrenches are another type of adjustable spanner with a long history; the origin of the name is not entirely clear, but Geesin reports that it originated in Britain with a fancied resemblance of the wrench's jaws to that of a monkey's face, and that the many convoluted folk etymologies that later developed were baseless. [3] Before the Bahco/Johansson/Crescent type became widespread in the United States, during the industrial era of the 1860s to the 1910s, various monkey wrench types were the dominant form of adjustable wrench there.

An adjustable spanner (UK and most other English-speaking countries), shifting spanner (Australia and New Zealand) [1] or adjustable wrench (US and Canada) is any of various styles of spanner (wrench) with a movable jaw, allowing it to be used with different sizes of fastener head ( nut, bolt, etc.) rather than just one fastener size, as with a conventional fixed spanner. [2] This spanner usually has two profiles, which are found at either end, and these can be different. Most often, they have a hexagonal shape because this is the most common shape for fasteners. Think about the area you’re working in, and any potential hazards it may pose to you or to other people in the vicinity while completing the task. This can include: When doing DIY, the tools you use depend on the task at hand, and each tool has its own variations to suit your requirements. For example, whilst spanners are used to loosen and tighten fasteners, there are different types of spanners so you can find the shape and size you need. As a general rule, the larger the head size, the longer the spanner. Turn the screw mechanism on the tool to open or close the spanner (i.e. to alter the width gap between its jaws) to the required setting.Most spanners of this kind are designed for hexagonally shaped nuts and bolts. The box spanner is a small metal tube with holes drilled at a perpendicular angle into the metal. The Tommy bar, also known as the T-bar, can then be inserted through the holes so the spanner can be turned. You need a Tommy bar to use the box spanner, as it enables you to turn the spanner like a tap.

In between uses, store them away securely in an appropriate container or tool box to have the best chance of keeping the tools dry and free from excessive grease, grime or rust Has crescent wrench become a generic trademark?". genericides.org. 12 January 2020 . Retrieved April 29, 2021.Adjustable wrenches ought to be calibrated for width settings on a regular basis, and certainly before starting a new job (even if the fasteners you’re dealing with are the same size as the last time you used the spanner) Keep adjustable spanners and wrenches clean Slogging spanners, such as the Bahco 100mm Slogging Spanner, tighten a nut after they are initially tightened manually. The fastener’s elasticity is established using index markers, and this works out the torque required. Lance Day; Ian McNeil (11 September 2002). Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology. Routledge. pp.206–. ISBN 978-1-134-65019-4. There are a great many different sizes of adjustable spanner available on today’s market. Wrenches are usually sized first and foremost by the diameter of fastener they can accommodate, with a secondary measurement given referring to the length of the tool’s handle (longer handles generally allow for higher torque).

Be sure to mop up any excess cleaning fluids or oils, as these can also cause hands or spanner jaws to slip while the tool is subsequently in use Do not use extension bars or tubes indiscriminately Try to choose sizes that reduce the amount of play between the jaws and the fastener as much as possible. This will minimise the risk of slipping on the bolt or nut, and potentially damaging either it, the spanner, or yourselfThere are many forms of adjustable spanners; many of them are screw-adjusted, whereas others use levers, and some early ones used wedges.