Flat Wrenches (2025 Update)

Maybe look at DIN 894 single ended spanners as a solution as I've used them many times when users of my tools have buggered the standard punched steel spanners by  over tightening them and I demanded a replacement.

On 10/20/2019 4:54 PM, David Billington wrote:> On 20/10/2019 23:23, Bob La Londe wrote: >> I'm sure most production flat wrenches are punched out of a piece of >> sheet, and deburred. >>

They seem to be cheap enough depending on the source.

Good old tappet wrenches were drop forged alloy steel.

Dull circular saw blades can be annealed, shaped into tools and hardened. Tin can steel makes an adequate one-use heat treating pouch to minimize scaling. I got my stock of dull blades from a carpenter who was cleaning out his truck, and use my wood stove to heat them.

NOT carbide tipped blades, I assume.

IIRC a coupon from a carbide blade also hardened. I did this a long time ago and didn't take notes.. If you have a wood stove it's easy to test a sample. I watch out for free sources of hardenable steel in various useful sizes and shapes.

If you would like to just buy some decent thin spanner wrenches take a look at the ones made for bicycle work. I have a few old (~25 years) Park wrenches and they are pretty good...

If you have access to a Plasma-Cam type machine I suspect they could blow out wrenches pretty quick :)

I always check places like the Habitat for Humanity store before making wrenches.

Dan

Yeah, I ought to go over there and wander around more often. Its not far from my shop. Maybe closer than my favorite nuts and bolts vendor. The problem is I always seem to find something I really don't need and it follows me home. One time I found some new still in package 3/16 threading dies... They are still new in package a year and a half later. In fact the only thing I can think of I have ever used with a 3/16 thread is one particular size of toggle bolts.

They used to let me look through their trash/recycle bin here. Picked up all sorts of odds & ends for basically scrap price or what ever they made up and I agreed to. They got a new manager that took a dislike to me and that was that...