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Flat Thunder Channel

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2020
Messages
378
Location
Ohio
Well I spoke too soon! The gentleman on the auction site did accept my offer. I now own a Armstrong 14-906 the big brother. It's a 1" drive ratchet that is 30" long! Super excited to try it out. Now I just need some sockets and it adapters to 3/4" drive.

***While I don't agree with, like it, sponsor it or endorse it, I had to create a Tik Tok account to protect the channel brand. Just to re-iterate I do not watch Tik Tok videos.***

Here is a link to a video showing off the size of the new ratchet. It's on the channels branded Tik Tok page.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdaHoqLp/
 

Flat Thunder Channel

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2020
Messages
378
Location
Ohio
Rummaging through a box of old tools saved from my Grandpa's old garage I found a couple nice adjustable wrenches. I always refer to them as crescent wrenches regardless of the brand.

I found three wrenches branded 'Crestoloy', a 'Diamoloy', and a Proto. Pretty excited to clean these old wrenches up and use them in the shop! I never saw a wrench with the Crestoloy branding. It's a pretty cool piece of American history.
PXL_20220409_142454678.jpg PXL_20220409_142428248.jpg PXL_20220409_140028615.jpg PXL_20220409_140033260.jpg
 

Welder Dave

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 11, 2014
Messages
12,257
Location
Canada
I think Diamoloy may have been a private label sold by Ashdown's hardware. I don't have an old Ashdown's catalogue at my residence to check. My grandfather was the Calgary branch manager for many many years until he retired. As a salesman he got a new car every year during the 30's!
 

emmett518

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2021
Messages
810
Location
USA
View attachment 217118

You guys are more creative than most artists. Very impressive!

Items pictured in the image:
-Wilton hitch receiver vice (awesome unit) plan on doing a video review / bench bracket install someday
-Stir stick used to stir drywall compound and mortar
-Custom offest 1 1/8" combo wrench
-Custom offset 7/19" combo wrench
-A cork used to find TDC / compression stroke
-6mm & 7mm deep well sockets turned down
-7/16" 12 point socket shortened
-Alpha one hinge pin socket (purchased)
-Armstrong 3/8" ratchet (I found this on the road riding my bicycle when i was 12)
-3/8" short extension drilled out for shift cable install on Alpha 1 outdrive
-Maxwell house coffee can wired with a switch and fuse on top, it has a switching relay and a 1157 light bulb inside. It has 4 alligator clips. One set clips on the battery source. The other set is the switched set. When the cables are attached to the source battery and getting power the light inside is illuminated. It lets you know it is getting power. The second set is used to manually energize components for testing. I got tired of draping long runs of wires on cars or whatever I was testing. Plus you would get poor results if one of the leads has a bad connection. This homemade test unit lets you know visually if everything is connected to the source, is safely fused and provides a switch. It sure beats quickly rubbing a stray wire on something, hoping it stayed connected, and does not melt anything.
 

emmett518

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2021
Messages
810
Location
USA
I've seen the small pair of nippers used by people working on stained glass or tile. The tool looks like something found in a bargain bin by the door of a hardware store back in the sixties.
They also have glass pliers for breaking glass along a score line.
 

Birken Vogt

Charter Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2003
Messages
5,305
Location
Grass Valley, Ca
I've had and used all those brands of adjustable wrench but I never thought that much of them. Just old tools rattling around in the tool box.

The best ones I have used by far are Channellock brand, currently made, in Spain (or at least made 10 years ago when I last bought some). They are stronger and have thinner jaws to fit in places but most importantly they have smaller clearances so the movable jaw does not wiggle around as much and stays parallel a lot better.
 

John C.

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 11, 2007
Messages
12,865
Location
Northwest
Occupation
Machinery & Equipment Appraiser
I have an 8,12 and 16 that I carry in the truck all the time. They are for the nuts and bolts that have degraded and a regular wrench is only going to slip over anyway. I have a 24 in the shop tools that I figured that I won't work on things that big anymore.

The other reason to have them is I'm not going to carry three or four different wrenches to the top of a boom for a hose fitting or under, thru or over some mess to then have to do it again and again because I got the wrong tools.
 

Truck Shop

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Messages
16,544
Location
WWW.
How do you get by not owning hammers?

Next you'll be saying you don't own any prybars...

View attachment 256890
Robo Cop----You there Stop what your doing!
Adjustable Wrenches? I thought that is what a wrench/socket set was designed for.
Adjustable wrenches are a great tool--great for rounding off square head pipe plugs and used
as a hammer.
Screwdrivers are screwdrivers-Pry bars are pry bars. Hammers are for smashing your cell phone, PC,
TV, or any other electronic devise.
 
Last edited:

Mike L

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2010
Messages
1,899
Location
Texas
Occupation
Self employed field mechanic
I keep a couple adjustable wrench/hammer/pry bar/shot put on the truck. I like the snap on version with the size readout on the side and the extra wide opening jaws.
 

stinky64

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2017
Messages
860
Location
java center ny
Occupation
big truck wrench/fixer of things
Have never owned any, will never own any.

View attachment 256884
Mexican speed wrenches.:D Had a teacher back in high school automotive shop who was also a supervisor in an aviation shop in a previous life told us a story that has stuck with me to this day,,If he saw any of his mechanics pull one of them turds out to work on anything in his shop he would send them packing, tool box in tow..Have had several "kids" working with me pull one out of their box and said "hey, that's a pretty cool wrench, let me check it out".When I got a hold of it I chucked it out the shop door into the yard and told them to get the right wrench for the job and reitterated the previous story,not always to the approval of the owner..
 

emmett518

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2021
Messages
810
Location
USA
I bought a 42 inch, 1 inch breaker bar to crack the lug nuts on my backhoe. I couldn’t budge them. The 3/4 inch Milwaukee impact wrench took them off like they were greased. I haven’t touched the bar since.
 

Truck Shop

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2015
Messages
16,544
Location
WWW.
Uh fellers--------------there is no place you can use a adjustable wrench on late model trucks, you can
just fit a open/box end in most places. There ain't any extra room for a fat headed adjustable wrench.
 
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