Author Topic: Funny spanners. (Read 3044 times)

sprogs · « **on:** 25 October, 2020, 04:21:57 pm »

I used to have a pair of spanners that had pivoting heads and between the two fitted just about any size. The heads had an oblique hexagon shape and a tongue that locked the nut in.
Anyone know what they are called and where to get them ?

citoyen · « **Reply #1 on:** 25 October, 2020, 04:25:26 pm »

Mole grips?

Greenbank · « **Reply #2 on:** 25 October, 2020, 04:32:15 pm »

Pump pliers?

frankly frankie · « **Reply #3 on:** 25 October, 2020, 04:33:38 pm »

Is a pair of spanners a bit like a pair of trousers?

Search Amazon for 'magic wrench' (and then scroll down to check 'similar items').

I've seen them with fully-closed heads as well (not open like these)

Polar Bear · « **Reply #4 on:** 25 October, 2020, 04:33:42 pm »

Mine just say "MULTI WRENCH" on them.

andytheflyer · « **Reply #5 on:** 25 October, 2020, 04:56:35 pm »

Universal wrench.

https://www.google.com/search?q=universal+wrench&rlz=1C1CHBD_en-GBGB746GB746&sxsrf=ALeKk004JSuoBgLpRf9Fe0OSDscKB72B1w:1603644943335&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=c1evJGPJBS-7lM%252CGWFJN65f1oopgM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kTHcNyiSvBrDi6ito3zr5FjQeu50A&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjrtsX5mtDsAhVcQRUIHYgIDCYQ9QF6BAgGEFY#imgrc=c1evJGPJBS-7lM

hatler · « **Reply #6 on:** 25 October, 2020, 04:59:05 pm »

A bodge because you don't have the right tool. I'd get the right tool.

Using a bodgetastic tool generally results in more expense than having the right tool in the first place, 'cos you often wreck the workpiece and the tool.

Asterix, the former Gaul. · « **Reply #7 on:** 25 October, 2020, 05:05:29 pm »

Cromna spanners

?

mrcharly-YHT · « **Reply #8 on:** 25 October, 2020, 05:06:20 pm »

I've used these spanners.

Unlike other 'universal' spanners, they don't slip and knacker the nut. They will only fit on fairly large nuts - 12mm and up.

If you really given them welly, the spanners break (BTDTGTTS).

For some uses, they are superior to using an 'adjustable' spanner (which will distort, open its jaws and round off the nut).

Polar Bear · « **Reply #9 on:** 25 October, 2020, 06:00:13 pm »

I might be wrong but I believe that this is what sprogs means.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #10 on:** 25 October, 2020, 06:47:16 pm »

Quote from: Polar Bear on 25 October, 2020, 06:00:13 pm

I might be wrong but I believe that this is what sprogs means.

There used to be a couple o' they floating around Fort Larrington, molished of the finest Chinesium. They didn't last long.

Edit to add picturey goodness:

aidan.f · « **Reply #11 on:** 25 October, 2020, 07:21:33 pm »

All made of cheesecake. As halter sed...get a decent set of spanners!
https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/milwaukee-spanner-15pc-metric-combination-set-non-maxbite-MIL4932471342?type=shopping

Polar Bear · « **Reply #12 on:** 25 October, 2020, 07:27:27 pm »

Mine seems to have lasted a number of decades with occasional use. It gets an outing from time to time as that second spanner that you need to hold a nut to stop it turning whilst you unwind the machine screw / bolt to which it is attached.

Not a premium tool but it does have it's uses.

hatler · « **Reply #13 on:** 25 October, 2020, 07:44:03 pm »

Quote from: aidan.f on 25 October, 2020, 07:21:33 pm

All made of cheesecake. As halter sed...get a decent set of spanners!
https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/milwaukee-spanner-15pc-metric-combination-set-non-maxbite-MIL4932471342?type=shopping

Or even Wera Joker.

hatler · « **Reply #14 on:** 25 October, 2020, 07:44:59 pm »

Quote from: aidan.f on 25 October, 2020, 07:21:33 pm

All made of cheesecake. As halter sed...get a decent set of spanners!
https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/milwaukee-spanner-15pc-metric-combination-set-non-maxbite-MIL4932471342?type=shopping

And that pic above shows just how cheesy they are.

Brucey · « **Reply #15 on:** 26 October, 2020, 07:14:06 pm »

MattH · « **Reply #16 on:** 26 October, 2020, 08:41:15 pm »

Bahco S4RM3T Reversible Ratchet Spanner Set is my favourite at the moment. Three spanners do 8mm->19mm, ratcheting, as each one has four sizes (two on each end, flip it over to get the other size). Very, very useful - especially when manipulating things in tight spaces where you can't get a socket in. Not what the OP was after, but still a very lovely set.

orienteer · « **Reply #17 on:** 26 October, 2020, 08:59:56 pm »

I have something similar, a single spanner with four sizes at each end, using sprung concentric sockets.

Cost about £11 from Aldi, seems they totally sold out.

Useful to take to the museum I work at, instead of a large, heavy socket set as well as a toolbox I can barely lift.

Asterix, the former Gaul. · « **Reply #18 on:** 27 October, 2020, 08:36:22 am »

There's nothing funny about adjustable spanners, they are the future:

The paper presents the development of a novel automated engagement intelligent spanner that is capable of autonomously changing its jaws’ size according to the diameters of the bolt’s/nut’s heads. It is a complete innovative system that involves the utilization of the vision system and fuzzy logic to make decisions about the diameter of head of bolt/nut. Image processing techniques has been implemented to extract the features of the bolts/nut, such as borders, non-borders area, outer diameter, and inner diameter of the head of the bolt/nut. It can be generally divided into three different stages, namely image pre-processing, image processing, and image post-processing. In image pre-processing stage, the image is prepared by applying some operations, such as acquiring streaming video, image cropping, gray-scale transformation, and background separation. Many filters and functions are applied in the image processing stage to efficiently get a clear border for the bolt/nut. In image post-processing, the necessary calculations are applied to get the diameter of the desired bolt, which involves the use of Hough Transformer and fitting circles searching process. The fuzzy logic-based decision-making algorithm is applied to the images resulting from the post-processing stage in order to do a final decision on the diameter of the bolt/nut and approximate it to the nearest standards diameter. Three bolts sizes are used in the experiments, namely M4, M4 with dust; M5; and M6 which are tested with 80 samples (20 for each). The results show the capability of image processing and fuzzy logic algorithms in making the right decisions on the diameter of bolts/nuts with 99% successful rate.

This is the goto work:

The Adjustable Spanner: History, Origins and Development to 1970 by Geesin A gripping read..

Geesin wasn't just some nut. Among other things he composed 'Atom Heart Mother' for Pink Floyd.

robgul · « **Reply #19 on:** 27 October, 2020, 09:55:35 am »

... and for those interested in motorised spanners http://service.blackanddecker.co.uk/BD/GB/en-GB/Product/ProductDetail?id=7129

Whilst on the face of it the thing seems like a bit of a joke - someone gave me one and it does work (with an adjustable you ALWAYS turn the adjuster the wrong way first time

)

Press the button and the jaws cruise up to the nut flats and do actually hold them pretty firmly - it's useful where you have restricted access to things - like under a sink etc.

Brucey · « **Reply #20 on:** 27 October, 2020, 10:34:23 am »

the main problem in the real world with any 'funny spanners' is often that whatever you are working on will have been designed with tool access as a low priority. And there are very often fasteners with fairly inaccessible heads that need full torque, so you need a real deal tool, not something that is 'clever' but only works some of the time.

So what this usually means is that it doesn't matter how many 'clever' tools you have, you will also need to have a set of the slimmest and most elegantly designed spanners (eg combination type) too.

Clever tools can save a lot of time in some cases, but this has to be balanced against the aggro they cause when they don't work; at best it means you have to scurry off and dig out the tools that will fit; at worst it means that you break something.

FWIW I will happily use an adjustable spanner for all kinds of things; it can save a lot of time. But the moment I feel it isn't going to do the job I will reach for a tool that will. I would like to think that my chances of damaging stuff these days when using an adjustable spanner are slight, but I guess I only got that way by dint of (sometimes bitter) experience....

cheers

mrcharly-YHT · « **Reply #21 on:** 27 October, 2020, 11:37:50 am »

One big plus for these 'funny' spanners is that they work on nuts have have been rounded off.

pcolbeck · « **Reply #22 on:** 27 October, 2020, 01:43:24 pm »

Quote from: robgul on 27 October, 2020, 09:55:35 am

Whilst on the face of it the thing seems like a bit of a joke - someone gave me one and it does work (with an adjustable you ALWAYS turn the adjuster the wrong way first time )

US adjustables have the opposite thread on the thumb adjuster to UK ones. So if you are using a mix you will definitely always be getting it wrong.

pcolbeck · « **Reply #23 on:** 27 October, 2020, 01:45:41 pm »

Quote from: asterix on 27 October, 2020, 08:36:22 am

There's nothing funny about adjustable spanners, they are the future:

The paper presents the development of a novel automated engagement intelligent spanner that is capable of autonomously changing its jaws’ size according to the diameters of the bolt’s/nut’s heads. It is a complete innovative system that involves the utilization of the vision system and fuzzy logic to make decisions about the diameter of head of bolt/nut. Image processing techniques has been implemented to extract the features of the bolts/nut, such as borders, non-borders area, outer diameter, and inner diameter of the head of the bolt/nut. It can be generally divided into three different stages, namely image pre-processing, image processing, and image post-processing. In image pre-processing stage, the image is prepared by applying some operations, such as acquiring streaming video, image cropping, gray-scale transformation, and background separation. Many filters and functions are applied in the image processing stage to efficiently get a clear border for the bolt/nut. In image post-processing, the necessary calculations are applied to get the diameter of the desired bolt, which involves the use of Hough Transformer and fitting circles searching process. The fuzzy logic-based decision-making algorithm is applied to the images resulting from the post-processing stage in order to do a final decision on the diameter of the bolt/nut and approximate it to the nearest standards diameter. Three bolts sizes are used in the experiments, namely M4, M4 with dust; M5; and M6 which are tested with 80 samples (20 for each). The results show the capability of image processing and fuzzy logic algorithms in making the right decisions on the diameter of bolts/nuts with 99% successful rate.

This is the goto work:

The Adjustable Spanner: History, Origins and Development to 1970 by Geesin A gripping read..

Geesin wasn't just some nut. Among other things he composed 'Atom Heart Mother' for Pink Floyd.

I have that book. My wife thinks I am sad. Mind you I don't understand her obsession with cushions and candles, each to their own.

sprogs · « **Reply #24 on:** 29 October, 2020, 05:24:54 pm »

Thanks everyone.
The main reason I'm asking is that I want something for my bike toolkit that isn't too bulky or heavy. They're never going to have to fight for a living.
The comment about rounded nuts, (fnuurr fnurr !) is very interesting though.
Liz