Old Monkey Wrench

Caryc

Well-known Member
I was installing a water softener filter where I needed to screw a one inch to 3/4" pvc bushing into a big plastic top piece that the filter body screws into. The flats on that plastic reducer were 1 1/2". The only thing I had to use on that 1 1/2" thing was a very large pair of channel locks. I didn't like using them because they were so heavy that I couldn't really judge the amount of torque I was applying to that plastic on plastic stuff since I had to squeeze the handles together while trying to feel the torque.

Anyway, when I got done, the thing leaked a very slow drip. I decided to try the whole thing again since I had another new plastic reducer. But the only thing I had was those very big channel locks. I didn't want to use a BIG pipe wrench either.

Then I remembered seeing an old monkey wrench in an old tool box of my Dad's so I dug it out and cleaned it up and oiled it up and got it working smoothly again. It was a ten inch wrench.

That was just the thing I needed. I could feel how much torque I was putting on that plastic and I got it right because I had no leak after that. Of course I used Teflon tape on the threads.

But thanks to that very old wrench I got the job done. I went on Amazon and saw that Crescent did make a new one for $28. But I like that old one now. Of course they also make a variety or wrenches for very large spans like plumbing.

By the way there were no markings at all on that wrench.

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I have/had one of those but I know I could not put my hands on it right now been a while since I've seen it
 
I have some of those around.
Use them quite a bit.
I got them from my dad who got them from government surplus back in the 50's.
Good to tighten the axle nut on an 8N with a 3 foot pipe on it.
Richard
 

Here's that little wrench's big brother. I picked it up at a yard sale years ago. It's 21" long and must weigh at least 15 pounds. I haven't had the occasion to use it yet.

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Does it say "Ford" on it anywhere ? It looks like one of the wrenches that came in the tool pouch for model T and model A Ford cars
 

I have the same exact wrench at the farm , an invaluable tool that's saved me many times . It came from the local tip almost 40 years ago and has hung up in the shed ready to use ever since . No maker's markings on mine either .
 

The big wrench says "Pexto" on it, made in USA. I thought the little wrench might be a Ford but it says nothing on it anywhere.
 
Good afternoon, Caryc: I have five wrenches similar to your smaller one (none are Ford). I use them occasionally. A few years ago I made a small display with them to show them all off at antique car shows. I made a sign calling them my Complete Tool Kit for my 1945 Dodge pickup.

Dennis M. in W. Tenn.
 
I believe whoever made those wrenches would put anyone's name on them. I have the same two wrenches marked Buhl Sons Co. Buhl was a hardware wholesaler out of Detroit.
If anyone is interested, I have a lot of information/history on the Buhl company.
 
I put teflon pipe dope lightly on top of the tape. Don't have to tighten as
much. Good "stop leak" on a second try, too.
 
(quoted from post at 16:19:15 01/27/21) I put teflon pipe dope lightly on top of the tape. Don't have to tighten as
much. Good "stop leak" on a second try, too.

Thanks, good to know. I didn't know they made any liquid type of Teflon.
 
I have about half a dozen of those small adjustable wrenches. I pick them up at swap meets if they're a dollar or so. They apparently were pretty common several decades ago. Too cold to dig them out tonight, but I remember they have no maker's name but I recall a number 9 somewhere on them. The ones marked "Ford" are more expensive -- $5 on up. They all seem to clean up fairly easily with penetrating oil and a wire-brush machine.
 
Back in the late 50 s when I was in the Air Force it was known as Ford Wrench
as 1 came with every Ford Car in the early times or so I was told . Don t
really know for sure . Maybe some one older than me might know . I am just a
young Pup at 81 .


Azpeapicker
 
(quoted from post at 20:39:41 01/27/21) I've got one of those with the Ford script on it.

I can beat that. I've got a tractor with the Ford script on it. :mrgreen:
 
I've got a Monkey Wrench like that one. I've used it to crimp one end of a piece of round furnace duct.
 

The makers of pvc threaded pipe say to use non-hardening thread sealant made for pvc joints.
No teflon tape.
No joint compound that is made as a lubricant.

But I am guilty of using tape anyways.
Some times it does not leak, sometimes it does.
 
(quoted from post at 08:15:29 01/28/21)
The makers of pvc threaded pipe say to use non-hardening thread sealant made for pvc joints.
No teflon tape.
No joint compound that is made as a lubricant.

But I am guilty of using tape anyways.
Some times it does not leak, sometimes it does.

The installation instructions for this thing said to use teflon tape.
 
Ok sports fans. I grew up in the Houston area and we had Monkey Wrenches too....and Crescent Wrenches....not realizing that Crescent was the
manufacturer, not the type of wrench....adjustable. So what's the origin of the term, surely Monkeys didn't make the wrench............since it is subject
related and not diverging from the original topic......too much.
 
(quoted from post at 10:09:26 02/02/21) Ok sports fans. I grew up in the Houston area and we had Monkey Wrenches too....and Crescent Wrenches....not realizing that Crescent was the
manufacturer, not the type of wrench....adjustable. So what's the origin of the term, surely Monkeys didn't make the wrench............since it is subject
related and not diverging from the original topic......too much.

Good question.
Next time mine is within reach and I remember, I'll look at mine and see if there is a name on it.

Dusty
 

were't these used to tighten the water pump packing nut on model t's... every so often the water pump would drip out the shaft and you had to give the packing nut a small turn.
 
(quoted from post at 10:09:26 02/02/21) Ok sports fans. I grew up in the Houston area and we had Monkey Wrenches too....and Crescent Wrenches....not realizing that Crescent was the
manufacturer, not the type of wrench....adjustable. So what's the origin of the term, surely Monkeys didn't make the wrench............since it is subject
related and not diverging from the original topic......too much.

You've heard the expressions "monkey business" or "monkeying around"? It's probably something that came from there that gave them their name.
 
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Coincidentally I found this while cleaning the shed today . The smaller brother of much the same tool , these were sometimes found in Ferguson tractor tool boxes . The difference is that it's clearly marked Bridgeport USA .
 

The monkey wrench is a type of adjustable wrench, a 19th century American refinement of 18th-century English coach wrenches. It was widely used in the 19th and early 20th century and is most commonly used by plumbers today. It is of interest as an antique among tool collectors and is still occasionally used in maintenance and repair when it happens to be convenient. The term monkey wrench is also sometimes used loosely, usually by non-tradespeople, to refer to the pipe wrench (owing to their broadly similar shapes). A wrench with smooth jaws is not used for turning threaded pipe.

These are also known as a Ford wrench owing to this type of wrench being included in the tool kit supplied with every Ford Model A. They are still used by aircraft technicians, mainly when large but low torque fasteners are involved.
Contents
 
Growing up in the mountains the old hill guys would call either a monkey wrench or a crescent wrench a Philadelphia Speed Wrench.
 

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