I was born and raised in Jamestown, NY and got my first set of tools (all Crescent) 70 years ago yesterday (My 13th Birthday) including adjustables, sockets, pliers, one of those hammer-screwdriver contraptions and a Tool box. Still use them all the time!
As I've said before, many younger coworkers (late teens into their 20s) hang out at my little shop and we have a lot of fun working on our various projects together. However, since I'm in my 50s and started working on stuff with good ol s.a.e. fasteners as soon as I could hold a wrench, I've come up with an "initiation ritual" for my shop. Any newcomer has to bring me my "metric Crescent wrench". It all started when the first "kid" hanging around the shop was getting on my nerves (because I'm old n didn't have time to share my experience, or so I thought) so I told him to find it so I could fix his car. He obviously couldn't. After he brought me a few different wrenches, he started thinking. I could tell by the look on his face when he realized what was going on. We both started laughing at the same time. He still hangs out at my shop and we've put all the other youngsters through the same test. The ones that laugh about it still come around and the ones that get mad don't. I love having the "kids" around. We have a lot of fun, work on old AND newer vehicles and learn from each other. All because of a simple tool. They also keep me feeling young!
Mike Brown Irwin sells a metric adjustable wrench. Instead of a screw adjust, it has a pull down latch mechanism that has set points for each nut size. They also sell an SAE version. I use to also send students in search of the metric crescent wrench also.
The Den of Tools Thanks!! You made my day by including us in a video . We have been watching your channel for a while so it was fun for us to be included in a video.
I have a 1915 Jamestown,NY crescent wrench. It was a rusty mess until I soaked it in evaporust. It's nice to know that most of them are still made in the USA
I say 'Crescent Wrench' too for everything, just like I call all tissues 'Kleenex.' Sometimes brands are just that good that they become synonymous with the item themselves 😁👍
I too grew up in Jamestown. Went to Washington Jr High then on to Bemus Point. My step dad was a maintenance electrician at Cresent for years. Still have a bunch of tools from there. Great town, great company. Was a sad time when they moved operations to the Carolinas for cheaper labor. Than lasted until they moved to China.
My dad always bough cheap adjustable wrenches growing up because he always lost them. I remember buying my first real USA made crescent wrench and I was blown away by the difference in quality and ergonomics. I still have it and won't let anyone use it.
Hey Red. I think you mispoke on the turning of the 'Crescent' wrench, or C-wrench as we call it. You want to turn toward the adjuster. The reason isn't much that one side takes more force than the other. It is that you want the little adjuster piece to remain in compression. The solid, long side, is strongest in tension. Comparing which side takes more 'force' is a rabbit hole. The wrench will be strongest, if the small adjusted part isn't in tension. It's that simple. Under compression it has two flats to butt against the frame.
He very definitely misspoke. I did a triple-take on that. The arrow is pointing "down" towards the adjustable side. No one who uses these ever turns them "backwards." Just common sense. In over 50 years of using these I never even noticed the arrow!
I never noticed the arrow, either. It points toward the movable side on my Diamond. Your analysis is correct, I think. Turning it the way most people do naturally forces the movable jaw against the base of the fixed jaw. It also puts more leverage on the nut at the fixed jaw. Those who argue for turning it the other way are just wrong. Of course if you have a sufficiently large size of a quality brand of adjustable wrench, you aren’t likely to break the wrench. If you can’t get the bolt loose, get a sturdy six-point socket and a breaker bar.
The day of the takeoff for the flight for the spirt of St. Louis, my grandfather was one of the few that fueled the plane! Pretty cool history on that plane!
That's cool. I grew up with my grandpa and he admired Lindbergh. He told me about his flight a few times long before I'd ever seen the inside of a school. Lindbergh, Henry Ford, Rocky Marciano, and Will Rogers were just a few that he spoke about a lot. It's a shame kids today won't hear much about them.
The screwdriver/hammer combo?? Well, I can only quote what my Dad told me so long ago: It's better to have it, and not need it, than need it, and not have it!
my dad talks about how the whole street shook when they still were still made and forged in jamestown from the huge hammers pumping the wrenches out. i have been to the factory in meadville pa and saw them being forged, its pretty cool.
It's like we always say "I've got a runny nose give me a KLEENEX" or "Let's get a COKE" or let me borrow your "SKILSAW" The Crescent Wrench fits right in there. Great video Red~!!!
Dude! This is awesome! I'm working on a deep dive into turn-of-the-century hardware stores, mail order companies, and budget shotguns. It's fascinating. The same company that published Rudolph The Red Nosed Reinder also sold a Browning takedown shotgun. There are so many rabbit holes to go down between Keen Kutter, Montgomery Ward, Sears, Crescent Firearms, Hopkins & Allen, Stevens, etc. I'd love to referrence some of your information if I end up using it.
What, no comment about Bahco's current ownership? You must never have done much electrical work-SOP for knockouts is to punch them out with a screwdriver and a hammer. For that matter you can actually get striking screwdrivers that are designed for such tasks. Strictly speaking, Apex was a separately incorporated joint venture of Cooper and Danaher. Most of the hand tools subsidiaries of both companies were moved into the joint venture. Danaher hung onto Matco, Fluke, and Tektronix as I recall.
I live in Jamestown, and my grandfather's friend's worked at Crescent and he at Proto tool. The two tool companies would compete in design and quality. Sadly, all that is left of these companies here are the buildings.
I have an adjustable wrench I inherited that my Dad called a "knuckle buster". The jaws are parallel like a Crescent wrench but are perpendicular to the handle. It has a spiral adjuster just like the Crescent wrench. It is prone to slipping off the nut or bolt head.
I catch myself saying vice grips which is a brand of adjustable pliers too. Learned about the arrow on adjustable wrench today. Makes sense. Thank you.
“Crestoloy” was one of their early trademarks. I have the Crestoloy diagonal cutters 542-7, which I bought used in the early 1960s. They will cut piano wire easily. An old tool worth keeping and using.
The direction also applies to pipe pliers also the teeth only grip in one direction like Knipex cobra Pliers are also direction also known as water pump pliers @TheDenOfTools
I bought two adjustable wrenches back in early 70s 12" Diamond brand and a 10" Crescent I still have them in my tool box haven't Used them since I had my 20" huffy and Schwinn stingray great old memories
Back in the 80s and 90s both my best friend and my brother-in-law worked at a foundry in Queens, NY that produced tools for Crescent and Cooper. One of the things they also made was Halligan tools for rescue work. As an EMT at the time, I may or may not have had several of these that failed final inspection and somehow got lost in the rework department. I may even still have a short 18" bar in my tools somewhere. The 36" bar disappeared from a construction site right about the time I fired one guy. Imagine that.
A 2020 episode of Forged in Fire had a final that had the contestants fabricate a Halligan. Still the only F in F featuring a non-blade tool as its final challenge.
With the greatest respect to The Bear, I liked the idea of the combo screwdriver/hammer. A lot of the time when old slotted screws need to be removed they are solidly embedded so besides the normal swearing that is part of working with slotted screws there is the extra swearing required for them being corrosion welded in place. Being able to immediately get more torque by twisting the handle would be nice to help remove the screw. I also see it as a potential kitchen drawer tool where multi function is a benefit. Two down sides I see: 1. Using the right size slotted screw driver makes working with slotted screws slightly more tolerable. This tool only has one size 2. It doesn't work with phillips head screws at all. Maybe the idea could be improved by adding it to a 6 in 1 screwdriver design? Of course, no manufacturer would even consider the idea unless it is Bear approved, so maybe the idea is dead in the water already?
Yea Jamestown. I'm fromm there. Lots of quality mfg came from there and there are still some good products coming out of the small little town in western NY. I had even heard that the early years of Kodak, before it was called Kodak started there. I guess the powers that be would not give funding & it ended up in Rochester.
Just a theory, but I've notices a few things.. In the phase out of Kobalt and with the emergence of "online" brands like Tekton and Capri, I think Taiwanese foundries who do a lot of work with Apex have been budding off new brands. I think this group of foundries is forging tools under the following brands: Gearwrench, Cresant, Milwaukee (hand tools only), Tekton, Capri, Carlyle, and previously Kobalt. Styles are different, but heattreating, metalury, and in the case of Gearwrench and Tekton it appears they're using the same gears and pawl in their ratchets. This is speculative and unadvertized, but doing a little meta-analsys on youtube, watching a few breakdowns and a lot of tests, I'm coming to this with over 50% certainty. This is a really good foundry if you're looking for mid-tier high value, as it appears most of their tools have little to no difference in their basic specification. That said, some of those brands do carry a small premium and it's not likely you would get much extra for your money, but remain good choices in the segment,
Crescent's Slide Hammer Nail Puller is a fantastic tool that i recommend to everyone. Honestly, it could use some improvements, but there is no improved version offered by anyone else. Literally, nobody makes a comparable tool, at least that I've found. I would have expected that Irwin would have made an improved version by now, but nobody else has touched the idea. for those that are unfamiliar with the tool, it's worth looking up here on the youtubes. Slide Hammer Nail Puller. You'll have never realized how much you need one. But you do. You need one.
fun fact, in some parts of the UK a 'crescent wrench' is a type of plumbers tool. also what most Americans call a crescent wrench we call an 'adjustable spanner' or a 'justea'.
I am from Netherlands, Europe. Here it is a "Bahco" In my younger years I traded used quality tools I bought on government auctions (ex army) I remember having some cresent wrenches. Those were tosed to the cheap tool box because of the stamped letters. Looked cheap to me and European buyers. Like wise happened with Craftsman wrenches. USA made did tell us anything (only Snap On ww knew). The buyers went for: Gedore, Hazet, Stahlwille, Knipex, Wera and Bahco. A Heuer vise went also very fast.
@@denoftools They're (crescent rolls not wrenches lol!) awesome for holiday dinners to sop up the extra gravy (is there such a thing?!?), but just as good fresh out of the oven. DAMN those light, flakey, ADDICTIVE pastries!!!!
Sad they have moved a lot to China. I recently inherited a real crescent tools Corp adjustable wrench from my grandfather. Man there is something to us tools that just feels good in the hand that thing was very high quality. Was made in Jamestown ny. I think his wrench was a crestoloy because he was in the military
ive been doing stage-hand/roadie work for 35 years & every roadie worth his salt carries a "C-wrench" on a carabiner... or as weve always called em, the "Idiot-wrench" (haha) thanx for the video bear, & god bless
I'd use that screwdriver/hammer combo...i'm always using my screwdriver handles to tap stuff when I'm under the car then end up going to grab a separate hammer after a while
The tools don't taste as good when wrapped around ballpark franks and baked in a hot oven? I'm really stuck on food now. Especially food I don't eat any more.
my dad worked for both plumb and crescent tool at one time or another. at plumb he was able to get seconds as an employee. the name had to be ground off and the employees initials stamped as well as a special stamp from the office. lunch boxes were checked by guards at shift change. anything else got melted down and redone. quality was job one. jeeze to bad that it still aint so.
15:37 Ahhhh! Reminds me of the ultimate tool lifetime warranty, the old made in the US Sears Craftsman stuff. Even back in the 90's and early 2000's tools broke and you just took em' to the nearest Sears and they would give you a new replacement no questions asked. The good old days. Try doing that with Snap-On or Mac tools. Even back then.
Craftsman was never the equal to Snap On for a professional. Who had time in their workday to go to Sears to exchange a broken ratchet, etc? And 'try that with Snap On...' is comical. Don't have to, stupid. That's the why behind buying from a tool truck. No trip to Sears and no wasted income.
@@RichardBonecito And never super overprized like Snap-On. And back in the day, Sears actually honored their lifetime guarantee. Snap On, not so much. Snap on tools, I think they are only to impress the fellow mechanics in the shop. But who gives a crap. Tools are tools if they do the same job.
Sorry, have to correct you. I'm a Boilermaker and that's a hammer not an adjustable wrench. Seriously though, in Australia they are just known as "shifters".
I have one of there 172 PC sets and after 2 years DIY I have not broke anything yet, the cases are moronic but looking for a smaller set for the truck. I think the quality is as good as Craftsman I know that's not saying much.
Here in Godzone (New Zealand) we tend to call them adjustable spanners. Wrench is not used so much unless it's the bigger stuff ie pipe wrench. My only real issue with adjustable's, is do you choose the metric or imperial one😏
I bought a complete set of metric sockets and wrenches when Menards still carried them. Wish they still did. I still can special order sets from my local ACE and odds and ends from NAPA (under APEX).
Have u tried the shady rays shades? U mention wallets glasses and pens in this video I’d why I ask. I haven’t but was curious after seeing an add. Supposed to replace them for u if they get lost broke stolen whatever. Turns out fine prints mentions something like there’s a fee maybe and only like 2-3 times maybe ? Idk but I think most are 40-60ish. Some look pretty cool.
Just an FYI from what I've seen a lit of places use old stock photos and I have not actually seen a newly manufactured American made adjustable wrenches. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've not seen any and as far as I know Western forge was the last American manufacturer of Adjustable wrenches.
Xcelite was the brand favored by TV-radiomen for light-duty work. Nut drivers with color-coded handles are more convenient for bench work than sockets. I have a few Xcelite pieces.
Great to know alot of their lineup is still us made stuff. Guess I should look into more of it. Anyone have experience with apex warranty?? I havent had any issues with any of my gearwrench stuff yet so I have no idea how much of a hassle it is.
I have that screwdriver/hammer I dont rember where i got it but i have had it for about 25yrs. and I have beat the crap out of it, but it still looks new.
The crescent wrench that came with the model T was different from the normal one. it was a sliding jaw that traveled up the handle of the wrench. I always called it a Ford wrench seperate from a crescent wrench. some called them monkey wrenches I believe.
I have what appears to be a Clyburn wrench in the shed. My plumbing adjustables are all Bahco the black steel ones have nice thin jaws, the shiny ones are too thick and blunt. But to be honest all adjustables are a pain. The phone wallet is possibly the stupidest idea known to man, just lose it in a strange town, after midnight with a low gas tank , what are you going to do ?
I think a hammer screwdriver combo is a fantastic idea. Id totally put it woth my tools i bring to the junkyard, keeps things light, looks more stout than my little machinists hammer. Its adorable and light but id love something with more power, only thing that sucks is its a flathead and not a philips, cause i use a hammer to hammer on a flathead usually and carrying 2 flatheads makes this kind of redundant cause i use a big thick flathead for this which is what that tool wiuld be
