Tool Talk
Wrench Forum => Wrench Forum => Topic started by: mikeswrenches on January 04, 2013, 09:35:02 PM
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This little wrench with a 1/4 in. S.A.E opening on one end, and a 1/4 in. U.S.S opening on the other, has puzzled me ever since I acquired it in a box lot at a NY auction some years back. The M T Co. apparently felt this was a worthwhile design as it would have cost them a fair amount of money making forging dies with the Patent date on one side and their name forged into the shank of the other side.
Along with not being able to find anything in Datamp or Google patents on the M T Co. patent date, I haven't been able to understand why the ends are tapered. The taper appears to be part of the forging process, rather than an after the fact grinding of the taper. My guess is that is an obstruction wrench of some kind, but what kind of obstruction.
The U.S.S. and S.A.E size marks would indicate manufacture prior to 1930.
Anybody have any ideas??
Mike
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Are both ends angled like in the 4th pic?
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Good question. Yes they are.
Mike
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The logo belongs to Mechanics Tool Co, of Rockford Illinois, the folks who made the Eagle Claw (plier) wrenches....
I have seen that odd wrench before, but I can not find any matching patent on that date....
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Thanks Rusty, At least now I know who made it. That may help me find the patent and the correct date. Like you, I couldn't find anything under that date.
Mike
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You could use it to pull large nails bob w.
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Ya know, I never thought of that. I could drive it under the nail and then smack the other end with a BFH...would probably put the nail into orbit. :)
Mike
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You may not be all that far from the truth.....
The eagle claw pliers were supposedly for carriage bolts, under the heads of a carrage bolt is a square spot, that wrench may have been intended to get under the head and grab that spot to help unscrew it once it was loose.....(just an odd thought)
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You may not be all that far from the truth.....
The eagle claw pliers were supposedly for carriage bolts, under the heads of a carrage bolt is a square spot, that wrench may have been intended to get under the head and grab that spot to help unscrew it once it was loose.....(just an odd thought)
I could have used these more than once! Maybe the next time I need one, I can grind down one of those Sri Lanka or Taiwan wrenches to do the job.
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Blackhawk Wedg-Head
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Enders made similar wrenches marked with patent dates of Jan, 11. 1921 and Oct. 11, 1921.
I could only find the October patent.
http://www.google.com/patents?id=38pYAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false (http://www.google.com/patents?id=38pYAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false)
Like couchspring noted Blackhawk also made the same style. Patent No. 2,687,056 was granted on Aug. 24, 1954. Alloy Artifacts states that they also made some for Snap-On.
http://www.google.com/patents/US2687056?dq=patent:2687056&hl=en (http://www.google.com/patents/US2687056?dq=patent:2687056&hl=en)
Consistently I am researching these types of wrenches for a patent case and would be interested in purchasing any MT Co., Enders, Blackhawk, and other tapered end wrenches for examples.
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Heres a Blackhawk Wedg-head of the pat pend era. EW-1009. Guessing early 50's production. Little peening on opening edges otherwise good shape.
Bus, if its of interest to you its available.
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Interesting thread. My contribution shows a Snap-on wrench of the same "wedge" style. I picked this up somewhere a while back, and have been wondering what its purpose was. It is PN S-1820W if someone has a catelog showing it. Anyone know what these unusual wrenches were used for? It seems many manufacturers made these once upon a time.
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from what i got from the patent abstract is its for tight places, even holding the nut at a minimum engagement. (thinest thickness)
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Hmm, well, learned something, happens sometimes..
Looking at the October patent, that wrench is termed an 'End Wrench'
Looking at related patents, an 'End Wrench' is a specific type of wrench, a wrench with a means for attaching itself to the 'end' of a bolt+nut, or simply, the nut, so you can futz with the end you are screwing in without the second wrench falling off ....
Most of the designs have some kind of clamp, weird that the tapered one is referred to as an 'End Wrench' and doesn't...
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Heres a Blackhawk Wedg-head of the pat pend era. EW-1009. Guessing early 50's production. Little peening on opening edges otherwise good shape.
Bus, if its of interest to you its available.
I am interested. PM me with details. Thanks
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I'm still thinking of all the times I have had to get the nut off an unwilling carriage bolt. This wrench would be just the thing for the job.