Tool Talk

What's-It Forum => What's-It Forum => Topic started by: Advan on June 10, 2014, 06:41:41 PM

Title: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: Advan on June 10, 2014, 06:41:41 PM
I found this wrench in Grandad's old tool chest.  There isn't much question as to what it is (obviously lol), but has anyone seen anything like it before?  I sure haven't.  It seems to be in remarkable shape, with only the 1/2" end showing any signs of use.     Thanks for taking a look guys!     

(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p126/Pancor/80F73107-6AE1-4BAB-B600-F5D638F84419.jpg)

(http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p126/Pancor/3FF91341-2A3E-4041-8DC5-FBE8D0BA35D7.jpg)
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: HeelSpur on June 10, 2014, 07:34:37 PM
(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-du5g5OB7t6M/Ub8odaPskjI/AAAAAAAAOPQ/M3IEL_k9rLw/s640/Terry+1939.jpg)
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: skipskip on June 10, 2014, 08:08:15 PM
RCAF = Royal Canadian Air force

note the whitworth sizes


sarah?? I dunno

Skip
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: rusty on June 21, 2014, 07:40:21 PM
SARAH - Search And Rescue And Homing Equipment ...
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: bear_man on June 21, 2014, 11:55:11 PM
Hmm.  That says to me that the Brits would/could call ANY open-end wrench a "spanner."  Looks like yer standard DOE to me.  I'd learned when young that a "spanner" has an open arc (on one end of a straight handle) with a "hook" at one end of the arc to snag one of the ears on, say, a fire hose fitting.  No "tight/smooth fit" required, like is needed on battery cable nuts.
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: Papaw on June 22, 2014, 12:02:49 AM
We would call that a spanner, but Europeans use spanner for wrenches. Crescent types are called "shifting spanners".
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: Billman49 on June 22, 2014, 05:15:57 AM
We have open ended, ring and combination spanners - as well as adjustable spanners (also called monkey wrenches) - pipe spanners are often called by maker's names, e.g. Stilson or Footprint (c.f. Hoover for a vacuum cleaner)...

Mind you, you call the boot of a car the trunk, and the bonnet the hood - and you have gear shifts instead of gear levers...

And mis-spell theatre, metre, colour, flavour and lots of other words... see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences#-our.2C_-or
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: Papaw on June 22, 2014, 07:02:10 AM
Quote
And mis-spell theatre, metre, colour, flavour and lots of other words.

Ah, the different English we use!
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: Branson on June 22, 2014, 07:47:58 AM
Can't come up with a list of them, but a number of spelling differences come early in American English (plow vs plough is one, jail vs gaol is another) and were deliberately done, just to be different from the English.
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: Chillylulu on June 22, 2014, 01:23:27 PM
Can't come up with a list of them, but a number of spelling differences come early in American English (plow vs plough is one, jail vs gaol is another) and were deliberately done, just to be different from the English.
We showed them!
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: turnnut on June 22, 2014, 08:08:42 PM
yes, I agree that we/they have strange words.

back in my younger days, I had a 1953 MG-TD and the manual drove me nuts.

their use of the word earth took a while to sink in that they were referring to what
we call GROUND.  as in electrical wire ground.

they were right, as they built that car.
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: Papaw on June 22, 2014, 08:47:49 PM
And it was POSITIVE to earth, not negative!!!! :huh:
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: rusty on June 22, 2014, 09:16:58 PM
Are you positive?
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: Papaw on June 22, 2014, 09:56:49 PM
Several Triumph and BSA motorcycles and a couple of MGAs- Yes I'm positive, and the battery on the MGA was under the floorboard in the back seat area.

All wiring by LUCAS- The Prince of Darkness!
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: Branson on June 23, 2014, 07:32:03 AM
Yeah, positive ground.  I remember back in the day that you were supposed to check the battery terminals for positive and negative before putting on jumper cables, since some vehicles used positive ground, and a mistake was a bad idea.
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: Chillylulu on June 23, 2014, 10:30:28 AM
Are you positive?
At my age, it kind of depends on a lot of things.  J/K.

Are you sure it is positive to earth, or just positive ground? Is there a difference?  I mean, I can see using a frame aspositive lead, but the electricity will still flow from negative terminal to the positive one I would think.  I dont see how you can ground to earth on a motorcycle with a closed dc circuit.

Am I just missing the meaning of earth vs ground?

Larry
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: nick on June 23, 2014, 12:17:37 PM
most of the older International Harvester tractors had Positive ground  C,M,MTA
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: turnnut on June 23, 2014, 02:40:55 PM
you stand on the earth !
you stand on the ground !

my 1941 Farmall A has positive ground.  I bought a 6-volt positive ground
alternator to install in place of the generator. (another project)

back in my younger days, some of my automobiles had positive (+) ground,
I belive my early Fords were such. 1940-1941's
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: turnnut on June 23, 2014, 02:46:24 PM
I just happen to think that my 1949's & 1950's Fords also were still (+) ground.
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: oldtools on June 23, 2014, 04:41:50 PM
Yupp!  Positive earth!! Many words were different!; Spanner, bonnet, Boot, Bulkhead, Damper, dynamo, fascia, kerb, megger, petrol, scuttle, swarf, trafficator, wing (fender)...  etc..  When you work on foreign cars, you need to learn the terms...
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: Chillylulu on June 23, 2014, 06:22:47 PM
Thanks Guys

Chilly

BTW -Why is most modern stuff negative grounded? Is there any difference?

Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: john k on June 23, 2014, 10:00:29 PM
How about the term, Strangler Valve.  On this side we called it the choke.   What I find amusing is when we had stagecoaches, the luggage was put in the boot.   But when we started with automobiles, a trunk was strapped on the back and it just became the trunk.  Winter coats have hoods, but at one time a hood was a folding top for a delivery wagon.   Since vehicles are often referred to as her,  the British used the term bonnet for engine covering, while we stayed with the somewhat male, hood.   A common people separated by a common language. 
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: Billman49 on June 24, 2014, 03:31:31 AM
Am I just missing the meaning of earth vs ground? Larry

In the UK we tend to use the term earth for the yellow/green wire in a mains (AC) cable - that's connected to the earth pin of a plug, and the wire in the socket goes back to the consumer unit (fuse box), and from there to a spike stuck in the ground/soil/earth...

In theory the -ve (in the UK blue) wire is at 0 volts, and thus at earth/ground potential, and in many systems the neutral wire is grounded to earth before it enters the building..

On a vehicle the chassis/frame/body is considered the earth - as these are mainly DC systems it doesn't matter whether the earth is +ve or -ve, as long as all components e.g. battery/generator are connected the same way around... It may have some slight effect on corrosion at jointing surfaces. When vehicles went from generator to alternator, and from 6v to 12v systems most manufacturers changed from +ve earth to -ve earth..
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: oldtools on June 24, 2014, 11:31:52 PM
Thanks Guys

Chilly

BTW -Why is most modern stuff negative grounded? Is there any difference?

+positive earth encourages galvanic corrosion of the surrounding bodywork - whereas with negative earth is much-easier-to-replace electrical contacts that corrode.
Old copper wires weren't coated & would stiffen & corrode, but now all copper wires are coated so not a problem...
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: EVILDR235 on June 25, 2014, 01:34:41 AM
Sparking plugs.
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: Batz on June 25, 2014, 03:45:42 AM
A lemon.

Ever owned one?
Title: Re: Old RCAF Wrench - Terry's Spanners
Post by: rusty on June 25, 2014, 04:51:55 PM
Another thing to ponder, the very early cars used dry cell batteries to run the ignition, the zinc case is positive, so you would want your car positive grounded so the battery wouldn't short out ...

Rechargeable lead/acid batteries don't have an exposed conductor, so this became totally unimportant..