"Crescent" wrench complaint

hman

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I keep running into the same problem with adjustable wrenches (commonly called "Crescent" wrenches, after the company that popularized them). All too frequently, I'll be trying to tighten or loosen a nut or fitting in an awkward spot, adjust the wrench with the nut/fitting deep inside the jaws, and then be unable to slip the wrench off. It seems as if the jaws are canted toward each other at the outer end. If the jaws fit the nut when it's deep inside, they're too narrow at the open end.

Is it just the way these wrenches are made nowadays? I've had it happen with several different brands and sizes of wrenches. Grump, grump, grump! Wouldn't be anywhere near as bad if it weren't for the fact it always seems to happen in the most awkward positions.

PS - When I close the jaws all the way, they appear to be parallel.

Comments? Advice? Suggestions for brands whose jaws are "well behaved"?
 
That is how they work.

Can be a pain but one often cannot get it real tight with the thumb screw but the jaw shape allows it to grip tighter as the wrench slides.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337Z using Tapatalk
 
I have some older ones, and they don't behave like that. The ones purchased recently are, of course, Chinese and exhibit exactly what U say. It's deliberate, they built them to do that !
 
I like the Knipex, Hazet and Geodore line of hand tools. I have some older Crescent wrenches, which are also very good.
Channelock also makes a decent line of USA made small hand tools. Older USA Craftsman is another good choice.
PS: I also lube the moving parts of these tools with SuperLube.
 
I like Bahco (Swedish), very smooth and tightly toleranced with jaws that stay parallel - they even have an Irish vernier on the side so you can pick the right (metric) spanner - no use for Colonials still using inches, i suppose...

Dave H. (the other one)
 
You get what you pay for. When I have a nut or bolt that I know is going to be tight I use a socket or non adjustable end wrench / box wrench combo. Next summer walk some flee markets and look for the older quality wrenches. I also buy them at auctions. :)
 
My crescent wrenches range in size from 2" up to 15"

I would argue that the video in post #3 has it backwards. The weakest jaw is the movable jaw. Rotating the wrench as he shows puts pressure from the point of the nut at the outside of the movable jaw where the leverage creates the most stress on the jaw, the worm. mechanism. Rotating in the opposite direction put the pressure point on the movable jaw much closer to the body of the wrench with less stress.

The original Crescent wrench , introduced in 1907 had the jaws angled off from the handle at 22.5º. Back then, most nuts were square and the offset permitted rotating a nut with a minimum of 45º swing by reversing the direction of the wrench. Modern wrenches vary in the offset but seem to center around 15º which would allow rotating a hex nut with a minimum swing of 30º by reversing the direction of the wrench. Wrenches with offswet angle heads appear back in the mid 19th century patents.

With that piece of circumstantial evidence, I would expect the the wrenches are meant to be used in either direction.
 
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