I close out this series of posts about monkey wrenches in the Tison Tool Barn with some wrenches of indeterminate origin. First is this 12 inch wrench with a metal handle. The metal handle suggests that the wrench was manufactured after the beginning of the 20th century. The word "INTERMEDIATE" is stamped on the bar. The letter "S" is stamped in two different places. Finally, the name "C. SWANBUM" is stamped on the bar. I have found a similar monkey wrench marked with "INTERMEDIATE" offered on eBay. The listing did not mention any other markings. I have concluded that the letters "S" and the name "C. SWANBUM" are owner's marks. Curiously, the Tison Tool Barn also holds a pipe wrench with an owner's mark of "S. E. SWANBUM." I do not know what connection there might be between the two names. The next monkey wrench has some owner's marks, but nothing to indicate the manufacturer. It is 18 inches long, and has a knife-style handle. There are two sets of marks on the fixed jaw, "R.M.F." and "452", formed of dots punched into the metal. A star consisting of 4 scratched lines is on the bar. The marks on the above wrench, "R.M.F." to the left, "452" in the center, and the star on the right. Photos by Donald Albury. Next from the Tison Tool Barn is this twisted handle, or ACME, monkey wrench. It is 5 inches long, and has no discernible markings. The ACME monkey wrench is distinguished by a rod which is doubled over so that the moving jaw slides over parallel segments of the rod,with one threaded to take the adjustment nut. The lower section of the parallel rods may be twisted. The U.S. patent for this wrench, 273,171, was issued to Fred Seymour in 1883. At least four different companies manufactured versions of this wrench ranging from 4 to 21 inches long, but production stopped by 1915. This wrench has been badly abused. The final monkey wrench from the Tison Tool Barn is this 21 inch long wrench, the largest monkey wrench in the collection. It has a badly fitted wooden handle. I have not found any readable marks on it. This is no where near the largest monkey wrench made. Coes sold at least two six-foot long monkey wrenches to bridge builders. This completes my coverage of monkey wrenches held in the Tison Tool Barn. Next up: pipe wrenches. Sources:
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AuthorI have been a volunteer at the Matheson History Museum. Feeling an affinity with old hand tools (some of which I remember from my youth), I have tried to learn more about the history of the tools in the Tison Tool Barn, and how they were used. All text and photographs by Donald Albury in this blog are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. All illustrations taken from Wikimedia Commons are either in the public domain, or have been released under a Creative Commons license.
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