is it real or a toy?

[bigdaddie47]

found in a box of misc, Looks to thin to be a real monkey wrench.
"MADE BY FRANK MOSSBERG CO  ATTLEBORO  MASS  USA"

[wvtools]

It is real.   The pattern is called a bicycle wrench.

[Wrenchmensch]

WV about said it all.  There are hundreds of these, all made by different companies, out there waiting to be collected.  I think every Tool Talk member should add a picture of one of his/her bicycle wrenches, whether it is an adjustable, a flat wrench, a tire valve wrench, a spoke wrench, or one most of us have never seen before!

I am starting with a Girard Bicycle Wrench.

[scottg]

 Just for Bird (pulling one out of my back pocket) hheeheheehheheeheehehe
Here is one I wanted a real handle for.
This is called bocote wood.   A So. American super hard wood.
  Its so heavy it sinks in water no matter how dry it is. 


  yours Scott

[Papaw]

Another super job by Scottg!

[Branson]

Gorgeous, as usual.

Have you ever worked with "mountain mahogany?"  Hard as bone.  Sinks like a stone in water.   It's about the color and appearance of manzanita heart wood.

[scottg]

"mountain mahogany?"  Hard as bone.  Sinks like a stone in water.   It's about the color and appearance of manzanita heart wood.

Nope, never had any at all. It doesn't grow around here and nobody ever sent me any. Is it the same as mountain laurel? I never had any that either, but I heard of it.  :-)

Manzanita does grow here though. Lots of it. Some within 100 yards of me, right now.
That stuff I know well. Leaf to root.

We have a couple other rock hard woods.
First is Mock Orange. This grows perfect arrows. Locals made arrows from them for a few thousand years. Straight as a string and just the right size.  The center is hollow though. A tiny opening straight though. So the natives often sat and packed the tiny hollow with black sand for extra weight/impact.
Presumably, they threw the gold that often accompanies the black sand, away?

  The butt of this bush is an outstanding hard wood. Its not big either, but its as hard as sw desert ironwood anyday.  A deep creamy brown color.

  Then, we have our own local ironwood. It just a blase' creamish color.  It's a bush really, not big at all. But what there is,  is very very hard stock. My friend Leon made an arrow (mock orange of course) and used the ironwood as a tip. He got a little exuberant and shot said arrow at a telephone pole.
  It stuck, straight and true.
The arrow held until he started wrenching on it, but the ironwood tip would not come loose with his bare hands whatever he did.
  yours Scott

[Branson]

Mountain mahogany is cerocarpus ledifolius Nuttall, scientifically.  The heart wood runs 67 lb per cubic foot.  A small, twisted shrub, a friend's grandfather harvested some and made small tools from it, like a mortise gauge.  He gave me a small piece, which I used to close the throat of a try plane back in the '80s.  It just looks polished now, no particular signs of wear. 

Grows some places from Oregon to Baja, but especially on the eastern side of the Sierras in southern California.

[Wrenchmensch]

Pennsylvania Dogwood (Cornus florida) is also very hard.  It was used to make wagon wheel hubs, mallets, shaft and wheel bearings.

[Stoney]

Pennsylvania Dogwood (Cornus florida) is also very hard.  It was used to make wagon wheel hubs, mallets, shaft and wheel bearings.

Cornus florida Flowering dogwood and  Diospyros virginiana Persimmon were both used to make weaving loom shuttles that reach in excess of 100 miles an hour and come to a complete stop from box to box (a little over 6 feet) on a 1896 model loom.  It does this 88 times a min.  We used the bottom 2 feet of Flowering dogwood to make wooden gluts (wooden splitting wedges with steel slam rings).  We also used small (4 inch diameter at the big end)  Persimmon as pry poles and larger (6 inch diameter at the small end) 20 feet long to make mule powered stump pullers that would develop about 10 tons of twist for every 1000 pounds of force.  Stout stuff.

[Papaw]

You can three of mine in this photo.

Wrenches on Trade by Noel C. Hankamer, on Flickr

[jimwrench]

 One of my favorite bicycle wrenchs is this little Buffalo Specialties nipple wrench. Has a little different look than most bicycle wrenchs.

[Papaw]

Cute little bugger!

[Branson]

Way cute!  Instant qualification for Bob's 4 inch wrench club.  Looks really useful, too.  How hard are they to find?

[Wrenchmensch]

Is that used to adjust spoke tension?