Heres a Blacksmith made wrench ( I'm guessing I wasn't there) made probably from a rasp. Why did he make a (S) wrench instead of a straight open end wrench ? Did Blacksmiths get style points ? Maybe made for a specific job requiring the offset ?

I am guessing just to show off that they could put a bend in the metal the hard way.
Jim

Probably because , at one point in time, that was the prodominint style of wrench, so he made the kind of wrench that people were using....

There was probably a bit of style involved tho, it would have been simpler to make 2 engineers type wrenches with straight handles than one S shaped wrench, but not terribly so, with a forge it is not all that hard to bend an S shape in something...

The hard part is making the openings, which would have required a fair amount of tedious filing to get them to the precice size. The real secret of blacksmithing wasn't the forge and hammer, it was the file, with a good file you can make anything ; P

Curved wrenches made from soft steels and wrought iron resist distortion better than wrenches with straight handles. The torsional forces are optimally distributed through a curved handle.  Romans engineers knew this, and transferred the knowledge to German werkzeugscmidts (blacksmiths) who worked in their legions. The knowledge was brought to America in the 18th century by German blacksmiths who settled in Eastern PA after the Revolution.

Quote from: Wrenchmensch on August 13, 2011, 02:38:43 PM
Curved wrenches made from soft steels and wrought iron resist distortion better than wrenches with straight handles. The torsional forces are optimally distributed through a curved handle.  Romans engineers knew this, and transferred the knowledge to German werkzeugscmidts (blacksmiths) who worked in their legions. The knowledge was brought to America in the 18th century by German blacksmiths who settled in Eastern PA after the Revolution.

Thanks a lot.  This is very interesting information.
Tom H.