Pipe wrench
Encyclopedia
Wrench
A wrench or spanner is a tool used to provide grip and mechanical advantage in applying torque to turn objects—usually rotary fasteners, such as nuts and bolts—or keep them from turning....
used for turning soft iron pipes
Pipe (material)
A pipe is a tubular section or hollow cylinder, usually but not necessarily of circular cross-section, used mainly to convey substances which can flow — liquids and gases , slurries, powders, masses of small solids...
and fittings with a rounded surface. The design of the adjustable jaw allows it to rock in the frame, such that any forward pressure on the handle tends to pull the jaws tighter together. Teeth angled in the direction of turn dig into the soft pipe. They are not intended for use on hardened steel hex nuts or other fittings because they would ruin the head; however, if a hex nut is soft enough that it becomes rounded beyond use with standard wrenches, a pipe wrench is sometimes used to break the bolt or nut free. Pipe wrenches are usually sold in the following sizes (by length of handle): 10, 14, 18, 24, 36, and 48 inches, although smaller and larger sizes are available as well. They are usually made of either steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
or aluminium
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
. Teeth, and jaw kits (which also contain adjustment rings and springs) can be bought to repair broken wrenches, as this is cheaper than buying a new wrench.
History
The first pipe or stillson wrench was created by Daniel C. Stillson while working as a mechanic at the Walworth Company. On October 12, 1869, U.S. patent #95,744 was issued to Stillson.
In Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
, Canada there is some controversy over the true creator of the wrench. In the island folklore, the wrench was developed by Owen "Iney" McCluskey
(or McCloskey),
although no proof has ever been presented that would suggest that McCluskey and Stillson ever met.
On 17 August 1888 the Swedish inventor Johan Petter Johansson
Johan Petter Johansson
Johan Petter Johansson , sometimes known as JP, was a Swedish inventor and industrialist. He invented a modern adjustable spanner . He obtained over 100 patents in total....
took his first patent on the adjustable pipe wrench. The Swedish Patent Office issued the patent (SE 5636) again in 1894. The idea emerged after he established his company Enköpings Mekaniska Verkstad. Back then there was no standard on nut dimensions so each time a trades man was out on a job, he needed a trolley to take a whole set of fixed pipe wrenches with him. Johan Petter Johansson invented a tool that could grip different nuts dimensions. As a consequence, the adjustable pipe wrench was developed.
Pipe wrench in different languages
In countries such as AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the previously common term "Stillson's" or "set of Stillson's" is being progressively replaced in everyday speech by the colloquial term monkey wrench
Monkey wrench
The monkey wrench is an adjustable wrench, a later American development of eighteenth century English coach wrenches. It was popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries but is now used only for heavier tasks, having been mostly replaced by the lighter and sleeker shifting adjustable or...
es. This usage is not technically correct, as the term "monkey wrench" refers to a now uncommon type of adjustable wrench that was designed for use with nuts rather than with round pipes.
In South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, the terms "bobbejaan spanner" and "baboon spanner" are commonly used, especially for large pipe wrenches. "Bobbejaan" is the Afrikaans term for a baboon
Baboon
Baboons are African and Arabian Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. There are five species, which are some of the largest non-hominoid members of the primate order; only the mandrill and the drill are larger...
.
In the UK these wrenches are often described by their size, i.e. 18" wrenches are known as "18s", or by the general name of "Stillies/stills".