You are absolutely right. I tried and tried and tried to like the pliers wrench. I just can’t get into it. It takes way too long to get a tight adjustment on the knipex (if you’re using it for a variety of fasteners in one setting). You’re also right that you need to see it and have two hands on it to set it. With. Pair of adjustable, you can a pair in each, and adjust each with one hand as youre moving your wrenches to the next fasteners.
I’m an industrial electrician and if I’m going to take a look at a call I always bring a multibit screwdriver, channel locks, and an adjustable wrench. You can fix a lot of stuff with those tools.
I agree 100%. The Knipex is a very well made tool but requires two hands. As a Pipefitter I install brass valves and fittings daily, the good old adjustable wrench is still my go to.
Just like the Knipex Cobras, once you have it set on the fastener, you can just pull on one of the handles and that will provide both the squeezing and rotating forces.
Those Knipex are very good for bending small pieces of metal because of the way they clamp down with such high leverage. Pegboard hooks, thin pieces of strip metal to make brackets, etc. It's a great reason to own them if you do that with any frequency.
I had the belief they were dead also, but watching this vid made me realize a couple things. I always struggle to size the Knipex where I want it, one handed or blind. The adjustable may be a better tool than I give credit. Ty
as an hvac guy myself and all my coworkers use the bahco wrenches. adjustables are pretty invaluable in our trade when you don't have the luxury of always having every single tool you own right beside you
i carry both. I found pliers wrench way quicker and more versatile AFTER a while of practice. however ill always carry an adjustable, they are better in some situations.
I use my adjustable wrenches almost every day, I use my test light and my regular (non ratcheting) screwdrivers almost everyday too. Newer fancier tools make jobs easier but some problems can only be solved by the fundamentals
As a mechanic, we use a special tool to crank rear brake caliper pistons back on. Occasionally it takes a lot of torque on a sticky piston. I use a 15” ratchet on the tool and a 12” Crescent wrench to hold the caliper. The more modern solutions would work, but be far more awkward. These tools will never go away IMO. They sometimes solve weird problems.
I grew up with Bacho adjustable wrenches patented in Sweden by Johan Petter Johansson in 1891 and improved in 1892. In 1888 he took out a patent on an adjustable pipe wrench which gave him the idea to develop the now famous adjustable wrench (spanner). However, the first adjustable spanner had been invented by an Englishman, Joseph Stubs, 50 years earlier. J. P. Johansson patented 120 different inventions during his lifetime. He died in 1943 nearly 90 years old.
Yea I feel ya, I use a 12 inch pair of the normal ones not the wide jaw or whatever in the machine shop to grab weird shaped stuff or real big hex bolts I don't feel like finding a socket for, doesn't always work.
Great video! No tool has bailed me out more than my 10” adjustable wrench. It’s pinch-hit for so many sockets and wrenches on so many occasions when I was otherwise toolless.
My favorite is a NAPA, 24", Paid a LOT for it about 25 years ago. Great for hydraulic fittings on heavy equipment. Nice matt chrome finish, slender tapered handle, and it still looks likr new.
I can't say i have any answers but I do have a few opinions. The rubber handles ....yes I slice them off with a razor knife every chance I get. The directions in which you pull them......hasn't really made much difference to me over the years. But I only use them in limited circumstances and that's bigger stuff that will not suffer if the wrench is not overly tight. 12 years in the oil field and I've picked quite a few up off of lease roads all over South and West Texas as well as new mexico. I literally have a 5 gallon bucket full of them anything from 4 in all the way up to 24. The 24 is real nice it's a Williams and that thing retails for serious dollars new. Most are no name but I run into some crescents and some Crescent knockoffs lol. I also have a 5 gallon bucket full of pipe wrenches of various sizes. Lots of ridged ...steel and aluminum and some no names. Anyhow. I think there's a place for crescent wrenches or crescent type wrenches even now, you just got to be kind of careful with them because they aren't the tightest fitting wrenches out there and if you're working on something that's a little bit delicate you're liable to round It Off. Lol. 2 cents deposited.
I have the thin jaw Bahco version of that snap on, and it's great for espresso machines where the equipment has beautiful chrome that I like to wrap in electrical tape before servicing (image search "E61 espresso"). It's the optimal tool because of the compact handle, adjustable size to account for the thick tape, and thin jaws for the thin fasteners.
Other than the chrome and red this wrench looks identical to the Bacho, which is owned by snap on. For me, Bacho crescent wrenches are a must in refrigeration. They make a crescent pipe wrench combo that is the bee knees. Also check out klien this are good as well.
Like you said snap-on owns Bahco. That is a Bahco wrench. Snap-On just puts their name on it and makes the handle red. I guess they chrome it too, since most of the Bahco ones I seen or a dark gunmetal gray finished that's not chromed I think they called industrial finish
That old crescent is cool, love Youngstown NY stamp and all. I have an old Bahco that says “AB Stockholm” on it, I actually found it on the street where I used to live. My newer Bahco just say made in Sweden. I mainly use adjustable wrenches for holding nuts while I losen or tighten with something else, socket, Allen key, wrench or whatever. To me they are too crude to use for tightening, the potential for rounding nuts bother me. Also I hate that you sometimes have to readjust after you have had it off the bolt for a second. All this being said I would give the up, even though they are so so, they are still the handiest things - go figure…
I have the big mouth 12 in snap on and I love it. Technically these are called open end adjustable wrenches. When used in the proper situations the open end adjustable can be the most valuable tool in the box.
Nice wrench i have irega they made chanelock and one 180 mm gedore pliers wrench.For me adjustable wrench are most useful for plumbing.Greatings from Bulgaria
I think the reason for going in the "right" direction is due to where the force from the bolt is being applied to the wrench. When tightening in the "right" way, you are putting the bottom jaw in a bind, and it is being supported at the shoulder where it contacts the handle. Furthermore, when tightening in the "wrong" direction, the moving jaw is forced away from the wrench instead of towards it. The location of contact of the top jaw is also evident. Tightening in the "wrong" direction puts the force in the top jaw further towards the tip of the jaw, where it is weaker and could slip more versus tightening in the "right" direction, which puts the force closer to the base of the top jaw. Look at the earliest designs of adjustable wrenches that were not offset at an angle, and translated all the force into the worm gear mechanism. Ultimately you are trying to lessen the stress on that mechanism and many wrenches are misused from people putting cheater pipes on the handle. They're not really suited for high torque situations due to the number of contact points on the hex.
I recently found the actual Crescent Jamestown NY wrench same size as yours in an old warehouse laying on some old water lines. Probably been there for years but really cool to find
The channellock one are made by Irega, I have multiple ones. The plastic handles are exactly the same. I have ones with reversible jaws for working on pipes. And recently I bought one with slim jaws. The quality and finish is very good. They use a little spring inside the barrel to reduce the play. Irega makes only adjustable wrenches in Zaldibar, Spain. But I like your collection. And when I work on delicate parts I use the knipex pliers wrench with a soft jaw.
It's indeed about the moving jaw part. The specific way the nut and jaws interact will make the nut want to go down in the pocket on the moving side which is what you want because of the play. There's another point to it too, and the reason these all have the slight angle just like regular wrenches: because of the slight angle, a part of the force you're putting on the handle pushes the fastener further down in the pocket, which as I pointed out before is more important with a Crescent because of the slop. Using them the wrong direction is how we've wound up with nicknames for them like "knucklebusters" when they slip off.
Obsolete? No, but reduced to the bottom of the drawer. Haha. I did just purchase a pair a short time ago... a set of Channellock Xtra Slim Jaws... 4" and 6". Very handy for tight locations... like bench casters and jointer blade knife bolts! Made in Spain I believe.
Interesting video, thanks. I believe you are right about the Cresent direction. It mostly matters under higher torque. But its more about the angle of the handle than the jaws. Even a typical open ended wrench has a "handle angle". Pulling the wrench in the "correct" direction is pulling the handle towards the work piece. Under torque, pulling in the "less than correct" direction is pulling away from the work, perhaps causing the wrench to slip towards the outer edges of the jaws where the contact is less secure. This is from my experience working with Cresent wrenchs while repairing my bicycles back on the early '70's... many rounded corners on nuts and bolts.
On automotive stuff, I never use my crescent wrenches. But on non-auto stuff, I use the heck out of them. Use them responsibly and they don't beat up most bolt heads.
Adjustables are generally used as a last resort. So ideally only if you do not have the correct size spanner/wrench for the task. However in saying that for some scenarios where very large size ranges are required to be carried adjustables do have a place. As an industrial electrician I own the Bahco versions of these Snap Ons in the video. I also own the Knipex plier wrenches. I find the plier wrenches generally open to a larger capacity for a similar sized toolbox/tool bag space footprint despite the wide opening Jaws of the Bahcos. Working on 4 core 95mm steel wire armour cable glands I often need insanely large opening capacity this is easier to obtain with the Knipex pliers wrench. I don’t think any adjustable Bahco/Snap On spanner will go that big. The ratcheting function of the knipex on a panel full of glands is absolutely priceless. I really think the Knipex is a revolutionary tool. I like how they lock into the size selected and actually grip tighter onto the work the more torque you apply - so it can’t slip off. When glanding off three phase motor wiring in tight locations again I think the Knipex is superior. Set the size and ratchet away with comfort and grip. The conventional adjustable Bahco/Snap On wide jaw variety are still good tools and serve well as a back up and are my go to brand for a tool of that type.
just bought the 2 piece wide mouth set in the eva foam on promo in green for 215. stoked they seem great. got them for hydraulic lines. i have the regular 4 piece flank drive set too. gonna keep the wide mouths on my truck for hydraulic lines on machines.
I really like the black oxide finish Channelock crescent style adjustable wrenches made in Spain. Recently used my 18" with a 5ft cheater pipe to straighten a 1" thick steel tab on a stump grinder that was bent when a 1" pin sheared due to wear. It worked great and I'm not sure what I would have done without it. They're just plain handy to have around sometimes. The knipex pliers wrenches are also great and I use those regularly in my shop and at work. The code blue channelocks are pretty fly. Have a few in my shop and a 10" at work. The thin jaw ones are really nice for air and hydraulic fittings or anything with thin jam nuts where normal wrenches don't fit.
I always had a dislike for adjustable wrenches, but I still have them. I regularly use my locking adjustable wrench, which is its own beast. That being said, generally, I use a socket or wrench, if I can. That being said, for EDC and not wanting to dig tools out, I more frequently use my knipex pliers wrenches, and have for the last handful of years. I use the XS model the most and the action, like yours - with the adjustable wrench, is second nature. I personally have no issue sizing the XS model (with no button, easily slides based on arm position and pressure). This is kind of hard to explain, but this is what I do: First, grab the plier by both arms, put the nut in back of the jaws - loosely. Then I make sure the top jaw is flat against the nut (jiggle may be necessary). Then, I lift the arm from the center with my index finger, and adjust the bottom jaw between my index and thumb. It isn't exact, but at this point, if you hit the nut with the bottom jaw you can release the arm down, and it will clamp fine when you put force on the top arm. This takes time, and regular usage to get used to it. I guess the question is, if you are comfortable with the adjustable wrench, is it worth getting used to a new tool? Probably not. But I did, specifically because I wasn't comfortable with the adjustable wrench. And that's why we each love different tools. They fit our needs and we pick the one that does that job best, for us.
I love my old Stanley crescent wrench. I don't care if other people stop using them, I will keep mine around. I grinded down a old cheap no brand crescent wrench and I use it for bicycle pedals. I have 3 bikes and they have 2 different sizes and I figured I would try it and it worked for years. I have used it on friends bikes and one guys pedal came off and I was riding my bike, and I always have a few tools and a tube on me. I was able to tighten his pedal on and he said his pedal wrench is about half the size of my small crescent wrench. That's another reason why I love the pedal, crescent wrench I made. It's also my wheel nut removal tool. I highly doubt crescent wrenches will ever go away.
Snap-on adjustable spanners , brought to you by .....Bahco 😅 I have the same big spanner with the wide opening, exactly the same except anodised and black handle . Made by Bahco , around 50-55 € .
I think the standard adjustable wrench is much easier to use than the knipex. I have a couple knipex and I wanted to love them, but ultimately I just don't see what the hype is all about. I'll take a standard adjustable wrench any day. If you use an adjustable wrench and strip a fastener or break the tool, then you are clearly applying more force than the tool was designed for. They are a utility wrench. They aren't made to torque lug nuts on a 747. I also bought a couple of the stubby channel lock adjustable wrenches and cut the handle grips off. Those are one of my go-to tools. I keep one hanging in the shop and have a pair in my emergency tool kit.
There's also just something special about vintage craftsman wrenches def before the sears fiasco. Those damn things were tough as nails. The ones today shouldn't even share the name craftsman
First of all love your content and videos, very informative and educational. I was wondering if you are a tool collector / reviewer, or do you actually use your tools for work? All your gear and tools looks untouched / unused or the most part. Anyway, either way keep up the good work.
I’m not a big fan of adjustable wrenches, but I do like SnapOn ones. I’ve got the 6in with the 1/2 jaw, standard 6in, and standard 12in. A couple coworkers got the new big one you got there in green. I don’t use them unless I just need a quick wrench or something that isn’t torqued down real tight, but SnapOn are the only ones I’ll use now. As far as the direction, I’ve always been told that it was because if you force it the other way, the jaw moves. It causes the wrench not to bite as hard and cause slipping or strip the nut. Always made sense to me because it does feel tighter that way.
I’m an Audi tech and when doing alignments a lot of the time the inner and outer tie rod ends are slightly seized. The first tool I go to after even a Snap On flank drive slips is a Chanellock branded adjustable wrench. There has only ever been one time it wouldn’t work and nothing else would either. The inner and outer tie rod ends had to be replaced.
Fwiw open end combination wrenches should be used in one direction too. There is a right/wrong way to use an open end. One way promotes slipping off the fastener, one way doesn't. But nobody really pays attention to this rule.
My EDC always was adjustable wrench, an 11 in 1 and a leatherman with a very sharp knife blade. I can almost fix anything. But recently I dumped the adjustable wrench for a small Knipex plier wrench as an experiment. I will try it for a while to see how I feel. I’m one who believes in the ability to solve problems rather than the tool itself.
Not a tool I use often but when I need them for a odd job usually it's all I got. Last time I used my Cresent was on a waterpump driven fan. I put it on the the fastener with a cheater pipe and smacked it with a hammer until it broke free then spun it by hand the rest of the way off. It saved me from having to buy a water pump tool.
I live right near Jamestown NY. And I have all kinds of old crescent made tools. Seconds and everything. Wish our area still had cool businesses like that. All we have left is zippo\case, ka-bar\cutco and Ontario knives. But what I wanted to add was I have some old Williams adjustables and they are made slightly different. The section that slide inside is squared off on the top. So it's supposed to give added strength to not break the jaws under load. And also was supposed to keep the jaws tighter. Less slop in movement so they wouldn't strip things as easy. The ones I have are super old and worn out so they are pretty loose. But it's an interesting idea I guess. Williams used to be made in buffalo which is near me too. Used to be a bunch of tool makers up there. Barcalo, mckaig-hatch, keystone... Sad sad sad what's happened to our country and our Industries.
I honestly never knew they were going out of favor. I keep at least two in every truck bag, house box and plumbing bag. My only issue I ever had was when sending out a apprentice in search of the metric version. Them suckers are about as rare as hens teeth. That new Snap On is nice. Thanks for another great video brother.
I dont see any lobtex adjustables, highly recommend picking up a few. I am a traveling technician, I keep one on me and 2 in the packout. They are lightweight, thin, and the widest jaw adjustable for the package size.
Should check out the vintage Snail Brand F-type adjustable wrenches. I like the reversible jaw wide mouth Bahco adjustables. I'm on the hunt 4 a nice used big 24" Bahco.
I have a Stanley one that I use a lot. If I’m zipping off a lot of bolts that have nuts as the fastener and there’s different sizes, it’s easier to grab an adjustable so I can just thumb it to the right size instead of bringing all the different open end wrenches. I never really break things loose with it. I have a lot of them but that Stanley has almost no play in the mouth. What you adjust it too it’s that size and doesn’t walk open when the impact is shaking it.
It's been probably 8-10 years since I willingly used an adjustable wrench, and I couldn't be happier about it. The only time I've used them is working around acidic solutions that I don't want my Pliers Wrenches around. I am a complete convert to the Church of the Pliers Wrench. However, I do have to agree with you that the adjustment isn't as thoughtless. I'm waiting for them to update the line so they are self adjusting like the mini 100 size. It's going to hurt my wallet paying for a all the sizes again, but I'll do it for sure.
Best hammer I ever had was an adjustible made my Taparia. I prefer it over any Snap-On, Cresent, Irwin or other brand. Taparia has very good tools. Second best hammer was my little baby 8 inch adjustible. It was made in Roxborough, Mass and was about 100+ years old. That thing was remarkable. Sadly, some scalper took it and passed it off as trash. Both hammers, Taparia and the Roxborough Mass adjustible wrenches were so smooth and had zero play, it was joyful to use them. ZERO play. Rock solid tools
Mexican socket sets are indispensable for a service tech. Throw one in your pocket, walk 200 yards from your rig and be able to fix the problem without going back. Love my Knipex Pliers wrench but the angle of the dangle doesn't always suit what your working on and a traditional adjustable is what you need. Rastall spud wrench is top of line and includes a hammer ( we all use adjustables as hammers anyways might as well have it built in). I like the basic Matcos otherwise, nice and tight, solid adjustables.
Hey Doc, great video as usual. And I'm with you, adjustable wrenches are awesome. I use them primarily when I've only got a couple nuts or bolts to bust loose. Or if there's a handful of different sizes. Anyhow that Snap-On wrench is BA man! People are insane.. lol. Take care man. Until next time.
When I used to work as a HD equipment diesel mechanic, I wouldn't work with a person who used a crescent wrench. Just something about it...... I hated them. Maybe I had used crappy ones before. Rounded nuts. Lots of slipping off of fasteners.I changed my mind with the knipex because the harder you pull, the tighter it clamps on the fastener. I have one of those on me all the time.
Ya rarely use Cresent wrenchs mostly if I don't have to right size or not trying to bring a lot but I also don't really use open ended wrenchs either unless I have to
I think these are great to use no things that don't require a ton of torque Its such a handy tool. Easy and fast to adjust to size. I've watched some videos on them and the good quality ones like the old USA craftsman ones will break before they slip
Check out Walmart's HART Adjustable Wrench. It's quite sleek. Extra wide opening jaws too. Cheapo brand. But I have used a couple hart hand tools professionally for years now as a transmission mechanic. The hart rachet is extremely similar in build and assembly as my snap-ons. Worth a look. You really can't go wrong with a tool that's 15 percent the price of a snap on and performance is similar.
The Iregas - which make the Channel Locks are the smothest I have found. For the wide mouths, I have an Ares which is wonderful, very smooth, no wobble. I Love the Knipex Pliers Wrench, but you are right that using them blind is problematic. The 6004 Wera Jokers are too limited in their ranges IMHO. A good quality adjustable wrench is not my first choice, but is invaluable for a mobile kit
The new crescent wrench is an irega design, which has been a similar design for 40 years that I know of. They were in Spain long before BAhCO moved its production to Spain
I'm not an adjustable wrench guy, and was glad to get my Knipex plier wrenches. But I wonder if it's because I only used junky ones. Hmmmmm. Maybe I'm missing out on something here.
I handed my Knipex Pliers Wrench to someone, and he had no idea how to use it. I then handed him one of these adjustable wrenches and he was working. They might have better alternatives, but I’m not sure everyone knows about them yet.
The only time I use adjustable wrenches is when I'm doing doing work with air fittings on heavy duty diesel and can't be bothered to grab 3-4 different wrench sizes
I got a 12 inch snap on adjustable wrench at the machine shop, its not a wide jaw but i use it all the time for wierd shapped fasteners like square stuff or big ass hex bolts that i dont feel like finding the right socket for and it works for what i use it for, oh and i use it when using easy outs to grab the square end. Id like to get a new 8 and 12 inch wide mouth here soon, and the 12 at the shop has the directional arrows too. Edit got the 8 and 12 wide mouth today they are nice
I've always been a Bahco adjustable wrench loyalist, but I recently got a couple of Facom ones with round comfort grip handles just like their ratchets because they were on sale, and I must admit, they do look good and are comfortable. Adjustable wrenches definitely have their uses, especially for holding the back part of a nut and bolt while you're turning the front part with a fixed jaw wrench or a socket.
@@kpttrips more like Irazola(or is that Irega? 🤔) in Spain which also makes screwdrivers and pliers for most SNA brands, including Bahco and as an OEM. still a part of SNA though. 😉 now the really interesting question is _who_ makes the series 80 ratchets sold under the Bahco brand like the 6950? 😏
I don’t think it’s obsolete at all. The two piece moving handle and be hard to manipulate in tight areas and won’t stay on when you slack your grip. The jaws on the pliers wrench are large and round- I really like my Bahco 6 inch because the jaws are like a beak and I can squeeze in and pinch a bolt where the pliers wrench can’t get to
The adjustable wrenches made in Spain( not sure about the snap on) the channel lock, the wright tool and I'm sure others are made by Igera. I have my Armstrong 12 and 6", the wright 10 and 8" and just bought a snap on 12" for $30
Not much for adjustable wrenches myself as they tend to slip and strip bolts over time. They make the directional to prevent you from stripping the worm gear out of them
