wood handle wrench...

[Dabears]

again.... not one marking.....?

[Papaw]

Looks like a common Girard. Look on the head. Rub with a scouring pad and warm soapy water, or a stainless steel  pad.

[Dabears]

nothing.  nothing but metal....

[wvtools]

I am with Papaw on this one.  The adjusting nut looks like a Girard (made in Girard, PA) to me.

[Dabears]

Yep-  a little gusto and voila-  Girard Wrench   M.FG.   GIRARD PA USA!

10in...

Thanks!!!

[oldtools]

Why do they hammer on the head??  what's the purpose? or are they using the head as a hammer?  TOOL Abuse!!

[lbgradwell]

...or are they using the head as a hammer?

Yes. And it was marketed as a "feature" (so not "abuse")!

[mikeswrenches]

Rusty made a good point in previous post about this same thing, and that was that since it was hard to get this type of wrench tight on a nut, that guys would get them about where they needed to be and then hammer them on the nut.  Thus insuring a nice tight fit.

Mike

[johnsironsanctuary]

Half of the fun in monkey wrench collecting is finding one that does not have the hammer head all beaten over.

[oldtools]

...or are they using the head as a hammer?

Yes. And it was marketed as a "feature" (so not "abuse")!

That explains a lot!!

[keykeeper]

Half of the fun in monkey wrench collecting is finding one that does not have the hammer head all beaten over.

...Or that nice split in the part of the lower jaw that wraps around the main part of beam/handle!! Did anyone else see that?? This wrench has lived a hard life, for sure. hard to tell if it is split in the picture of this one, though, but I find them split there all the time.


I found a NICE looking IHC adjustable monkey in a bucket at an "antique store" a while back, good price.....until I picked it up and found the same kind of split down the seam along that lower jaw. I was heartbroken....I just shook my head, dropped it back in the bucket, and walked away.

[Branson]

Is that a split, or a casting mark?

[rusty]

Split. Look at the second photo, you can see it up from the bottom, all the way through.
Very common, sadly, they are very weak there, and there is an enormous stress across the back if the jaw is twisted....

I have lost count of how many I have picked up at the flea and put back down....

[Billman49]

Ref the hammer head - one of the main users were small time farmers - and the one piece of kit they all had was a plough (plow) - it was probably the only mechanical thing they owned, maybe an old Ford as well which doubled as tractor when needed, but most ploughing was done with a horse. Ploughs were bolted together, and if a large stone was hit could be put out of adjustment. The farmers then needed to loosen the nut, knock the part back into line, and retighten. Most iron ploughs were supplied with a combined spanner/hammer, which fitted into a slot or rack on the plough, and was easily lost. An 'all purpose' adjustable spanner was often used when the original was lost or mislaid, and an integral hammer was a 'must'....

[Branson]

Ref the hammer head - one of the main users were small time farmers - and the one piece of kit they all had was a plough (plow) -

These were also issued in more than one size in the US Army.  They're listed as "screw wrenches."   I knew a fellow who had one that had the US stamped into the head -- I think it was about 6 inches long (been a looong time since I looked at it).  All of the ones I have are hammer headed, and most show they were used as hammers.