Hi U.H. I have to admit that every time you show some of these "NEW" or unusual tools I can guarantee that I have never seen them before. Thanks to your great video I have learnt more than I ever did at school or college ha ha ha. Cheers mate. N.
Never did the spanner extender trick. Not because i didn't need it or something like that but because whenever i saw someone else do it or got the urge to do it myself i'd get this odd feeling of something really bad about to happen. Been through a few pickles and quite a few times the gut feeling got me through
I just use a metal pipe that fits over the entire wrench. I've also flared the end of the into a oval so it doesn't create a sharp point on the side of the wrench, just whack the end of the pipe with a hammer a couple of times.
Doubling up is how I broke both of my hands. The jaw broke and both of my fists hit the subframe. I fractured my 5th metacarpal in the right hand and the 4th and 5th in my left hand. And no, they weren’t Snap-On wrenches, but it was a $500 set of MAC “Knuckle Savers”, ironically enough. But I’m a glutton for punishment, so I still usually double up wrenches because it’s the fastest way. I’ve not broken another wrench, but it really eats up the jaws on the open ends.
+Ultimate Handyman i cant say i consider geodore a real tool, perhaps they were good years ago but nowdays there are lots of low quality stuff in their lineup
Here's a tip for anyone watching: When ever you can, use your weight to press down on what ever you're trying to tighten or loosen (rather than lifting like in the beginning of the video) . it's much easier.
+Casey Clymore If a nut or bolt is really tight you can't get enough force on it doing it that way as you can only exert as much force as you weigh. If you pull up you can exert more force- unless you are weak of course ;-) Thanks for the comment
+Ultimate Handyman I strongly suggest using a back brace if you have to exert large force by pulling up, especially if it exceeds your body weight. It's very easy to hurt yourself, ESPECIALLY if you are strong. I'm a young man and I've hurt myself doing this before. Better safe than sorry.
@@maxchartier Yes I managed to hit myself in the face pulling a tyre iron up towards me lol. Learned my lesson, always push down when removing lug nuts now :-)
The extender is a fine idea for removing rusted bolts from exhaust manifold flanges and stuck oxygen sensors. What are the make and model for your box wrench extender?
Mr Ultimate Handyman, thank you for pointing out the dangers of using an extra spanner to increase the spanner's leverage ratio to remove a stubborn bolt. 40 Years ago on the construction of Didcot Power station (UK) an old Steel Erector friend was leaning through a hole in the top floor (180ft ) grating level tightening a bolt for a lifting appliance. The jaw on his "podger" spanner broke causing him to fall to the ground level whilst I watched powerless to do anything. Subsequent investigation proved that the spanner jaw had been strained to the point of fracture by the practice mentioned in your video. Thank you for bringing this practice and its possible consequences to public notice.
You are welcome. A friend of mine used this technique once on site, when undoing a nut holding a steam valve in position and exactly the same thing happened, luckily he was on level ground, so did not take much harm. I'm sorry that you had to watch your friend fall to his death, that must have been horrendous! Thanks for the comment
stop buying bottom line tool and get yourself some good one, been working as a technician for about 7 year using the double wrench technique almost every day and never saw a broken wrench, i use snap on but any high end brand will do it...
It depends how tight the bolts are that you are undoing.I watched the jaw of a 27mm combination spanner snapped off when undoing the nut holding a 3" gate valve in a steam line using the two spanner technique. I'm afraid I could not justify buying a set of 22mm-32mm snap on spanners as they would be very expensive.
tools I buy have a life time replacement. no matter how or why you can always get a replacement . so you can sell your toy to somebody who knows nothing about tools. and does that toy your selling have a lifetime warranty or replacement?
I've actually seen someone who used the double spanner technique on a very tight bolt. He slipped and hit the first spanner with his head, creating a big wound on his forehead. I also use that technique sometimes, but it's not the safest way to get these bolts out.
the double spanner technique is most common in auto applications where space is limited and torque is low if your dealing with realy big nuts and high torque get the right tool for the job.
I use the "two wrenches" trick at work almost daily. I hook the second wrench onto the first "flipped over" from what you show in the video, it makes the combination a little more stable, and straight.
You had it with the slugging wrench. Torque just whips stuff out. Impact is the way to fly. That is why pneumatic impact guns kick so much ass. Hammer action!
No, the slogging spanner is used with a hammer- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RqgRMkJNVSA.html They are difficult to find in sizes less than about 24mm though.
FoodOnCrack That would be the best option, but when working on water/steam pipes you often can't get a socket on as you are restricted by the body of the valve etc.
I'm on board with that idea. And the longer the breaker bar, the better; you won't have to grunt as loudly or use as much energy to get the job done. Of course, you won't have a cool bar story to explain how you lost an eye trying to remove a bolt with the ole double-wrench trick.
Plenty of times a breaker bar and an impact socket won't fit. Using an extender or double wrenching a disc brake maxi can be done in 10-15 minutes, if you want to use a breaker bar or impact, your pulling the tires and just made it a 25 minute job.
To loosen my Toyota's serpentine belt, there isn't enough clear space to fit a socket - only room for a regular spanner/wrench. So they have their uses.
I think most professionals spanner /wrench people know it's not ideal to double up for extra leverage, but when you in the situation of just getting on with the job it happens, I'm as guilty as anyone. Good quality spanners can break , snap on, facom or brittol etc. fatigue can appear in any metal, alloy of any quality.
Does it work the other way around? Sometimes it is not possible to use the ring part of the spanner on a nut and you have to use the open end. Would this extender fit over the ring end?
I once put a 6 foot long pipe onto the end of a wrench, then stood on the pipe. The leverage was so great that it broke the head of the bolt clear off the bolt itself, twisting it right off. My whole idea was to try to remove the bolt but now I was stick with a bolt that now had NO head on it whatsoever. That shows you that sometimes rusty bolts won't come out no matter how much torque you apply. Now I apply anti-seize to all bolt treads to they don't rust solid like that.
Yes, I have been in similar situations myself. If the bolt is in a blind hole it can be very difficult and time consuming to sort out! If possible now I tend to reach for the gas axe and burn the head off the bolt or the nut off and remove it that way. Thanks for the comment
You are welcome Kev. The guy I work with is as strong as an ox. He is the only person I know to snap the jaws on a 12 inch Bahco adjustable spanner as well LOL
The bolt could be threaded directly into a big chunk of steel, sometime the nut is welded, other time the nut is just in a stupid place where you can not turn it for whatever reason. But for this test, it do not matter, turning the bolt instead of the nut make it harder, which is actually the point of this video: hard to turn whatever.
This is what I've been looking for. When you are involved with large bolts at high torque that double spanner is fun until You punch yourself in the face because two wrenches aren't actually made to mate up and make a longer wrench. Sure it works pretty flawless on a 3/4 inch nut but triple that size put a bunch of torque on it and leave it out in the elements for five years and see how well you trust that double spanner technique there's a place for the double spanner trick but this tool would be nice gonna have to talk to the boss about it
+Ashley Lewis Sorry for the late reply, RU-vid comments has been playing up! I bought it from ebay, fave.co/1ODwyLJ That's not the seller I bought it from though, you'll have to search for a seller in your country ;-)
We usually used a length of 2 inch pipe, and pour some "F**ks" into the stubborn ones. I mainly worked with heavy industrial stuff, and the 36 inch stillys were known as the persuader, finally the gas spanner which will shift both metric and imperial.
No, I think they are too small. I often use the Bergen aviation spanners on site, they are a couple of inches longer than a traditional spanner and give you that extra leverage. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ci7gpPICkUs.html Thanks for the comment
Yes it's true that you can break an anvil if you try hard enough. it does NOT change the fact that quality wrenches are more likely to bend before they break. If you buy crap then that's what your working with boys and girls.
I use craftsmen wrenches and hit them with a first with a rubber mallet, then a regular hammer, last resort is a mini-sledge. Works every time. If wrench were to break just walk in to Sears & get a new one for free. Hasn't happened yet.
that extender thing looks clunky as frig.... and why run off to the tool chest to get that out when you have the next size wrench right beside you nine out of ten times ?? Oh and put the second wrench the other way on the first one instead, it works better ;)
must have been 1 shitty wrench if he broke it like that because that part of the wrench is allmost just as strong as the handle. That is why on quality wrenches the jaw is made a bit thicker then the handle. So with a good quality wrench you wont ever break it like that. Only thing i have maneged was to bend a wrench just slightly because you put pressure on it in a diffrent direction then it was intended for.
If I remember rightly it was a Gedore, which are a decent make. The guy that broke it was 20 stone and was one of the strongest people I know, sadly he passed away a few weeks back. He broke quite a few pairs of Bacho 8 inch adjustable spanners as well.
I don't care what it's made from, forged or not. Just looking at it, looks like Cheap Forged steel. Watch how much it flexes on the very first tug he gives it. I've never seen a good wrench or pipe flex like that, let alone break. You should never break any wrench on any kinda bolt, unless it's a cheap wrench. The bolt head would strip or snap before a good wrench breaks.
Nick Schneider I think you are missing the point. People use the two spanner trick to loosen really tight bolts. I was stood behind someone once when he was using the two spanner trick to undo the bolts on a stud holding a steam valve in position. His spanners were good quality (Gedore), he snapped half of the open ended part of the spanner clean off ;-)
I understand what you are saying, I didn't misunderstand anything. I think you might have misunderstood me though...if your friend was using that extension instead, it would have snapped long before that wrench had. Sometimes tools break, but a good wrench will out torque that extension any day of the week.
actually you are missing the point. the wrench is being used incorrectly when doubled because of the added leverage and thus rotational force being applied only to the jaw which is not designed to handle that. look at how the wrenches interact at the connection point. we're not anywhere discussing wrench to fastener interaction, which will also become subject to failing when overloading the wrench with extensions or cheater bars. even snapon will fail when abused.
actually you are missing the point. the wrench is being used incorrectly when doubled because of the added leverage and thus rotational force being applied only to the jaw which is not designed to handle that. look at how the wrenches interact at the connection point. we're not anywhere discussing wrench to fastener interaction, which will also become subject to failing when overloading the wrench with extensions or cheater bars. even snapon will fail when abused.
actually you are missing the point. the wrench is being used incorrectly when doubled because of the added leverage and thus rotational force being applied only to the jaw which is not designed to handle that. look at how the wrenches interact at the connection point. we're not anywhere discussing wrench to fastener interaction, which will also become subject to failing when overloading the wrench with extensions or cheater bars. even snapon will fail when abused.
Yes, it was not a cheap spanner, I think it was a Gedore. My mate was undoing some bolts on a steam valve that had not been removed for several years using the two spanner trick and it snapped the jaw off. He is incredibly strong ;-)
+Chris Watson I use a breaker bar too, but not on valves on water/steam pipes as you can't get a socket on. The only thing that will fit is a spanner/wrench.
could do, if the garage had power, but sadly its away from the house. I use Halfords tools (I'm over in England) as everything has a lifetime warranty with a no quibble exchange policy, so if something did break, I don't have to worry, I just drive to the shop and get a swap.
+Chris Watson I was thinking more of a cordless one. There are quite a lot available now, but even the good ones like Milwaukee 18v struggle with some nuts/bolts. Halfords professional tools are great for the money, I have a set of their ratchet spanners at work. Thanks for the comments ;-)
never have even seen this tool in a store. never had a wrench break the way he us talking about. I work on industrial machinery every day for over 16 years
+Kartyman550 You can get more force by pulling it. If you push you can only exert as much force as you weigh, but by pulling it you can exert more force- unless you are not very strong! Thanks for the comment
