Monkey Wrenches and the Name

[Roger D. Green]

Monkey Wrenches!
Well I knew once why the Monkey Wrench was called a Monkey Wrench.
Attached are three pictures of some of my tools that I take to shows. As most of you know back in the day, men were men just look at the tools they had to use.
In the first picture you see on the left side Monkey Wrenches, and wooden handle pipe wrenches, in the center there are alligator wrenches and hydrant wrenches, on the right are soldering irons and tapered taps and adjustable dies.
In the second picture you see railroad wrenches, in the center are wooden handle tools and drills, on the right are IH and Ford wrenches, Automobile wrenches, and at the bottom are engineer’s wrenches.
At every show people say that every wrench is a monkey wrench, but they are wrong.
The third picture shows the biggest monkey wrench I have ever see , I added it my collection, what a conversation piece.
Well what do you know on how a Monkey Wrench got its name?

Thanks
Roger

[Rick Strobel]

Charles Moncky invented the monkey wrench around 1858.


But I cheated

RickinMt.

[Dick Hamilton]

Isn't that large red monkey made of wood? It sure looked it and anyhow, it is very impressive, especially if it was for real and this old boy had to use it. Personally I think it is more fun to look at them than use them now days. Maybe 60 years ago it would have been a nice challenge. Dick in the beautiful and warm Finger Lake Region of NY.

[Elden DuRand]

Then..........What is a Stiltson wrench? I've always believed that the monkey wrench and the Stiltson wrench are the same thing.

Maybe it was called a monkey wrench because, with the bigger ones, you had to hang from them to move the big bolts.

Take care - Elden
http://home.cybertron.com/~edurand

[Dick Hamilton]

Isn't a Stiltson wrench a "pipe wrench"? How about an Engineers Wrench? Got one. Great for the steamer. Dick in the Finger Lake Region of NY.

[BobRR]

Isnt the monkey wrench a machinest tool?BobRR

[Mac Leod]

Roger, I am afraid you are mistaken about the "Biggest Monkey Wrench"...It happens that this is not a monkey wrench at all (as commonly called) but instead, it is a "HOBO GITTER"----used to evict hobos...please do not make the mistake of calling that a monkey wrench again...

Mac Leod

[Chuck Parcher (Ks.)]

What My Dad Told Me Was That The Monkey Wrench Was Used For Un-doing And Tightening Nutts And Bolts Etc. You Were Right The Stilson Wrenches Are Pipe Wrenches To Be Used On Pipes I Have Two Stilsons, That Belonged To My Mom's Dad Early Century, And A Few Wood Handed Monkey Wrenches. Could All Be Wrong But That's What I Was Told Anyway.


Chuck

[Roger D. Green]

Hi,
Here is what "About.com" had to say, by Mary Bellis;

Wrenches
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Mary Bellis

A wrench is a tool - the English call it a spanner - that is usually operated by hand, and is made for tightening or loosening bolts, nuts or anything that needs to turn. Solymon Merrick patented the first wrench in 1835.

The physics of a wrench are that the tool works as lever. There are notches at the mouth for gripping. The wrench is pulled at a right angle to the axes of the lever-action and the bolt or nut. Some wrenches have mouths that can be tightened to better fit various objects that need turning.

Monkey Wrench
Charles Moncky invented the monkey wrench around 1858.

Ratchet Wrench
Robert Owen, Jr (1881 - 1956) invented the ratchet wrench. Owen received a patent on September 9, 1913. U. S. Patent number 1,072,980.

Pipe Wrench
On September 13, 1870, a patent was granted to Daniel C. Stillson, a steamboat fireman, for a "wrench". Stillson invented the pipe wrench - sometimes called the Stillson pipe wrench. Stillson, suggested to the heating and piping firm Walworth manufacture a design for a wrench that could be used for screwing pipes together. Previously, serrated blacksmith tongs had been used for that purpose. The owner, James Walworth told Stillson to make a prototype and “either twist off the pipe or break the wrench.” Stillson's prototype twisted the pipe successfully. His design was then patented and Walworth manufactured the wrench. Stillson was paid about $80,000 in royalties during his lifetime.

Jack Johnson
The world's first African American heavyweight champion patented a wrench (U.S.patent#1,413,121) on April the 18th, 1922.

Ratchetless Wrench
The idea for a "ratchetless" wrench came about because of an invention by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) engineer John Vranish.

or here is the address http://inventors.about.com/library/i...s/blwrench.htm
There is lots of info on this site.

Thanks

[Jesse Zilafro]

I didn't think a monkey wrench ever had wood handles, and were only about ten to twelve inches long. About the frist one I remember came in the tool box of a new Ford tractor that my Dad got in about 1946. Jesse Z.

[Dick Welty]

Jesse,

The wooden handeles were similar to earley screw drivers in that they were wood on both sides with iron or steel as the backbone.

I imagine that they were more comfortable to use in cold weather but they were susceptable to cracking or breaking.

I found a small one at a garage sale and thought it was a good conversation piece for my book shelf. It was there for about a year before my wife consigned it to where ever she puts things that she thinks I have forgotten about.

She never gets rid of my treasures but she does forget just where she puts them. They usually turn up sooner of later in a box of miscelanious in the garage.

I love my wife and my junk (Priceless Treasures). Dick

[Carl Wheeler]

The one that looks like a Cresent Wrench with the curved handle, I was told by my grandfather, it was called a Ford wrench. One just like it and a wooden handled "spanner" live in my tool box today. I also still use them. Carl

[sparkplug54]

Now that we are on that kinda subject where did the phrase "The Real McCoy" come from? Dan Sheldon

[Phillip Hutchinson]

G'Day.Out here we just call them a shifter or stillsons ( pipe wrench)the shifter is more commonly called a NUT F........ coz thats what they do.we also have;
ring spanner= /ringer/ringy
set spanner=open endder
ring set =open end ringer
And they are all magic though,coz when they slip and rip off a big hunk of bark off ya knuckles they can fly,and then there called you stupid #%#(@&^$%#&$(#*#@%#^%$#&#*#@$^@^^%#&$*#@&@^%@%#&$* $ SPANNER
Phillip

[scottde57]

I thought "The Real McCoy" was Walter Brennan.

[EDWARD COLE]

Roger & all. I also have a fair collection of tools ,wrenches & . other things .they do attract a lot of attention I have them on board such as your.When I figure out how I will post there pictures . ED

[AndyG]

Originally Posted by DanSheldon

Now that we are on that kinda subject where did the phrase "The Real McCoy" come from? Dan Sheldon

Eijah McCoy invented an improved oiler for use on locomotives. There were various copies of his invention but the best was "The Real McCoy"

[Delta Dirt]

Dan Sheldon--

Re: your inquiry "where did the real McCoys come from"

I happen to be a "real McCoy" by the name of Sheldon---don't see too many of us around, just thought I would pass on some of by background by you and see if we happened to come from the same set of dogs (uh, McCoy's).

My great, great grandfather was Joel Sheldon from the Reading---Ludlow Vermont area. My great grandfather Lawson settled in Nehawka (Cass County) Nebraska in 1857 or so (after having been out to California for the Gold Rush and returning to Vermont)---then started back out to California. My grandfather George Lawson purchased farmland here in Mississippi in 1902 and moved his family down here in 1909 from Nebraska. My dad grew up here in the Mississippi Delta and I will have been here for 63 years in a couple of weeks. My aka is Anson Sheldon, Jr.-----Delta Dirt is my "handle" and real estate logo----I am a farmland real estate broker and appraiser.

If you see any connection----I would like to hear from you. You can e-mail me at: dltadirt@tecinfo.net

Reckon that's a slight detour off of the subject of monkey wrenches---but I have "monkeyed around" with a lot of wrenches at one time or another---couldn't help from checking on the Sheldon name.

Delta Dirt
Avon, Ms 38723
662 335-5213