I never liked “Crescent wrenches” much and my dad called them metric wrenches. That’s when metric was just coming into the US and almost everything was SAE.
I did hunt down a Crescent wrench about 10 days ago, but it was only to open it the thickness of the tin I wanted to bend and used it in that way.
Yosemite
Thanks sarge. The next time I stop by HF I’ll take a look-see. I stop by there often.
the same mountainbike A few years ago I bought a 25 piece Pittsburg combination wrench set in SAE and metric for $20. They are very good quality. Harbor Freight can be hit or miss. Their early tools were mostly junk but they seem to keep improving. Still the buyer needs to be aware.
I think if you use an adjustable wrench on your car and ruin the fastener then that is your business.
I think professionals owe it to their customers to not damage fasteners because they used a loose fitting tool or over used an impact wrench. If they can use an adjustable and return the car back to the customer in the same or better condition then tip of the hat to them. That is my 2 cents.
Also: Mountain Bike, I cant seem to get how grinding a socket flat helps with a rounded fastener.
I am interested to learn.
Were can I get a very thin 1.25" open end wrench to remove my table saw blade. It has to be about .125" or thinner. I thought about grinding down one but that is a lot of grinding.
adjustable wrenches have their uses, but i seldom, almost never, use them on a car or bicycle.
usually just to back hold something. i have acquired a lot of thin wrenches over the years that work great for bikes.
@nbpt; I made a few of those wrenches for my router table.
I used a 1/8" plate X 2" wide. Paint it black…clamp the nut where you want the jaws…scribe the nut, unclamp it, and grind it out, but leave the line. You can always use a file for a final fit.
I cut mine off and welded a lighter handle to them.
Yosemite
Nbpt, typical sockets and box end wrenches have a slightly beveled and rounded inside edge. The bevel is there to help them go onto the hex better. The rounding I believe comes from the polishing operation, which is typically tumbling in a drum with a “soft” media such as walnut shells or wood beads. That’s a standard polishing process for mass manufacturing of metal parts.
Occasionally I’ve run into a corroded bolt or nut the exposed corners of which were beaten down or rounded off. Sometimes grinding the socket end flat will get deeper into the hex than a polished socket just enough to get a bit of bite on it.
Indeed, TS Mountainbike, as far as grinding off the end of a socket to get maximum bite on a damaged nut, it enables the gripping area of the socket to go down farther over the nut, flush with the metal that the nut is tight against.
Yosemite, I used my crescent wrench for doing the same type of metal bending at least once. That is a good idea how you sign your posts because it makes copying and pasting it easier. I have found that it is possible to successfully get user IDs, alone, to highlight from just behind them, but right before the experience symbol (duct tape image, tool box, etc.). That’s on Windows Vista and using Chrome browser though.
Nbpt100, the very tight grip of the locking crescent wrench prevents rounding of nuts. I have used mine with a breaker bar and still noticed no rounding. I would strongly tend to not use the standard finger-tight type of crescent wrench, however, with or without a breaker bar.
Wesw, I used to have on hand a few of those thin open end wrenches. However, lately, I’ve resorted to using my electrical crimpers to hold thin nuts during back-tightening, without the same amount of tightness attainable, however. Those thin open wrenches are especially good on bicycle pedals. My standard thickness ones just barely get in between the pedal and the crank arm.
I love the concept of a locking crescent wrench. Is it available in metric? Ha! Ha! Ha!
Sgtrock21, 
I like mine a lot, and if I knew where my heaviest duty one was, I’d like to try it on the lug nuts on my car in the driveway, with a fence post as a breaker bar. My brother tried his 4-way lug wrench on them, but I don’t think he knew of the trick of standing on the left lever and pushing down with the legs, while pulling up on the right side lever with the arms. If tried out, that must be done with caution, however, to prevent injury I think.
Thin wrenches are an absolute must for anyone who works on his/her own bikes. Anyone who’s ever disassembled a rear wheel or removed a bottom bracket will testify to that. Like everything else, bikes have a lot of specialized tools that I’ve never found use for anywhere else, including thin open end wrenches, chain wrenches (to remove cassettes), chain breakers, spoke wrenches, headset presses, and… well, I have a small toolbox full.
Bike shops also used to sell 100% PTFE grease in hypodermic dispensers for lubing cables, but, alas, I can no longer find that. That is one thing I used to use often for other applications.
The lack of availability of those hypodermic grease dispensers might at least partly indicate how the practice of bicycle maintenance and repair is fading. A lot of times people buy a bike as a disposable commodity anymore. A few times a week, I still ride the one I picked up off the street some twenty years ago. I was really disappointed when the local repair shop closed. Later another one opened, but it only lasted one season.
Ndemb, you may be right. The major bike shop in Manchester for decades is now selling Honda recreational vehicles, 4X4 ATVs and such.
yeah i found a gary fisher marlin for 40 bucks at a yard sale a few years ago. had a bad rear wheel bear ing in a replacement wheel that some one had put on it. i found a good rear wheel for 12 bucks used and we ve been happy ever since.
i don t ride like i used to, but riding doesn t irritate my sciatica like walking does
I am still riding a 1976 Huffy 5 speed I bought new in 1976. It isn’t a very good bike but I seldom ride more than 5 miles. I have 5 bike shops within 5 miles of my house but I only use them to buy small parts.
The season is too short here in NH. I tried riding in the winter one year with studded tires, and it just wasn’t enjoyable. The sides of the roads were crowded in with snow banks, I couldn’t see around the snow banks, the road sides were full of chunks of snow, and the days were too short.
I had a pair of…’‘pliers’’…that made my mechanics scratch their heads.
one side had a small U saddle. The other side had a long spring loaded pin.
( I keep a drawer of small and micro tools and my techs come to me for the small work )
’‘What the hey is that thing for ?’’
—’’ Watch band pins !’’-----
( no need for a punch and tack hammer )
Our retail parts counter sells Ford logo watches and they send the customers to me for band size adjustment and battery replacement.
Here’s the grease needle i mentioned in another thread. It easily gets grease into sealed bearings, tie rod ends, and ball joints.