Home / Series / Hand Tool Rescue / Aired Order / Season 1 / Episode 50

Antique Mini Wrench [Resurrection]

In this video I reproduce a 3in version of an antique wrench / spanner that was originally patented in 1879 by Charles Billings. These style wrenches were first used mainly on bicycles, but eventually made their way into the glove compartment of very early cars. This style wrench was also commonly made by apprentice machinists as part of a test, since multiple skills are needed to produce it. The wrenches were originally made of "Norway Iron", which is a type of steel that has a slightly higher carbon content than wrought iron. I decided to go with 44W/A36 steel for this recreation, for this reason. The wrench blanks were cut out of 3/8in thick steel and then machined. I thought adding a brass adjuster would make a neat addition as well. I had a lot of fun getting this wrench made, but it was also a tremendous amount of work.

English
  • Originally Aired January 31, 2019
  • Runtime 9 minutes
  • Network YouTube
  • Created August 13, 2020 by
    Administrator admin
  • Modified August 13, 2020 by
    Administrator admin