On 11/6/2010 10:32 AM, Paul Laughlin wrote:
> I am reasonably sure that the Crescent company, held the original patent
> and for a number of years was the only manufacturer of the "Crescent"
> wrenches in the USA. Hence the name Crescent stuck. The originals also
> had good jaws.
On 11/6/2010 4:30 AM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
> Crescent still exists but is now owned by a much larger company called
> Cooper Industries (really located in Houston, Texas but incorporated in
> Ireland)<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crescent_%28brand%29>
Cooper went through the US hand tool industry, buying up old line manufacturers
of quality tools, then lowering the
costs and cheapening the tools. Crescent was one of them. Sloppy tolerances and
soft jaw faces do indeed make them
likely to damage fasteners - and fingers, when they slip.
I have a now quite old crescent adjustable that is well made of quality
materials and has held up, but for several
decades their stuff that I've seen has been cheap in price and quality. Not the
worst, just mid quality, mass market stuff.
On a whim, I suppose mostly 'cause I can't resist a new gadget design, I bought
a pair of Crescent wrenches of a new
design, with a thumb operated slider on the handle to adjust the jaws. The
handle is considerably thicker, to
accommodate the adjustment mechanism, and the jaws are much thicker than their
usual, as well, probably to match the
handle.
<http://www.cooperhandtools.com/brands/CF_Files/model_detail.cfm?upc=037103211453>
There is quite a bit of opening width play in the movable jaw, although the way
it operates, that's not a problem. So
far, in casual use, they have been pretty good. I mostly use sockets, or fixed
size combo wrenches/spanners, where
sockets won't fit, but there are jobs where an adjustable wrench is a quick and
suitable tool. The 6" wide jaw Diamond
was excellent in a bicycle tool kit and the 15" Diamond is indispensable for
plumbing.
Monkey Wrench Moose
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