Any owner has at home a set of necessary and necessary tools to help him deal with breakdowns, if he suddenly “slammed the faucet with his nose”, the water pipe was “naughty”, or some nut makes a mess in the cozy atmosphere of the home. Such a set always includes an adjustable wrench. It is this tool - compact, easy to use and convenient - that allows you to tighten a nut of absolutely any size without resorting to changing the tool. At the present stage of life, there are many varieties of this device that differ from each other in shape, material and kinematic properties.
The adjustable spanner has a long history - it has a hundred and twenty-five years. The prototype for creating this tool was, no matter how strange it may sound, a human hand. Yes, yes, it was this part of the body that served as the impetus for the creation of the first such weapon in 1888. And only later, according to his prototype, all other wrenches were made - adjustable spanners, plumbing self-locking, adjustable spanners.
The idea of creating this tool came to the mind of J.P. Johansson, a Swiss by birth. Based on the fact that a person uses only his hand, wishing to take an object of any size, he suggested that you can create a tool similar to it, which will be suitable for nuts of all diameters. Thanks to this idea, an adjustable wrench appeared, called the “iron hand”.
Having undergone a huge number of modifications and improvements, this tool has survived to this day, remaining equally indispensable in everyday life and enjoying great respect from all the masters.
This device, as a rule, is made of two types of
steel: carbon steel, not containing such additives as chromium, manganese, vanadium, and alloying (with the addition of chromium, titanium, silicon, nickel, etc.).
“Iron Hands” differ not only in chemical composition, but also in the processing method: it can be mechanical or thermal.
In order to protect the adjustable spanner from corrosion, it is coated with special compounds: chromium, oxide or phosphorus. Modern tools have a huge number of modifications and options that are more convenient than their previous counterparts.
Due to rubberized coatings and plastic inserts, they can be used even at subzero temperatures. However, the most durable are still ordinary metal keys.
The adjustable
wrench consists of three parts: a handle having an I-section, a worm gear and jaws. The fixed sponge on almost all instruments has a ruler that allows you to set the desired “pharynx” value. It should be borne in mind that the length of the handle directly depends on the maximum size of the nut, which can be taken by the key.
The main rule for storing this tool is to clean it from dirt. Such unpretentiousness in care, durability, versatility and ease of use make this device an excellent friend of any plumber, mechanic and ordinary man who considers himself the master of the house.