Toolbox 101
Things that tighten (and loosen)
The adjustable wrench
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In my garage, one of the most useful tools is my handy dandy 14" adjustable wrench. The adjustable wrench can be used on many different sizes of nuts and bolts. the top of the tool is called the jaw and it is opened and closed against a fixed jaw by a screw-type wheel just below the movable part of the jaw.
10-14” adjustable wrenches are the standard size in most toolboxes. Those sizes are good for most household and garage work. The adjustable wrench is most properly used for plumbing. Over time and use, the screw wheel fitting can become looser, in turn making the adjustable jaw looser. This is often called “slop.” The problem with a loose adjustable wrench is that is can really bust up your knuckles when it slips.
When using an adjustable wrench, make sure that the majority of the force and pressure are applied to the fixed jaw, not the adjustable jaw. Otherwise, there’s a chance it could snap on you, slip off the bolt, accidently round the edges of the nut, and bang your knuckles in the process. All of these problems can make it much more difficult to loosen or tighten the nut any further.
We can thank Solymon Merrick for patenting the adjustable wrench in 1835. We can also thank Earle Dickson, an employee of the Johnson & Johnson Company, for patenting the Band Aid in 1920 and for making those busted knuckles a little easier to deal with.
~ E.W. Tinker