Strike A Blow Against Stuck Fasteners
By Benjamen Johnson
It’s so very temping to beat normal wrenches with a hammer when a nut or bolt sticks, but doing so is potentially dangerous and can damage the wrench. A striking wrench is designed to take this kind of abuse. Stanley Proto offers a few different options for striking wrenches, including this twelve point offset striking wrench.
The short offset handle allows you to use this wrench in tight quarters. Heavy, box walls and a large striking surface transmit more torque to the fastener, while the box end is designed to stay on the fastener when you strike the wrench. Finished with a black oxide coating to resist corrosion, these wrenches look like they mean business.
Because you strike these tools with a hammer, standard safety precautions apply: use safety glasses, and don’t use a wrench if it shows sign of damage. For better performance, it also helps to use a lubricant or penetrating oil on the fastener.
You can get these wrenches in standard sizes ranging from 1-1/16″ through 3-1/8″ and metric sizes ranging from 32 mm to 80mm — but they don’t come cheap. Depending on the size, you might drop anywhere from a Grant to a few Benjamins for just one wrench.
Striking Wrenches [Stanley Proto]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon
March 31st, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Slugging wrenches were in common use in power plants. Ones that I’ve seen bore the names of companies like Williams and Armstrong as well as Proto. I recall them in 6 and 12 point patterns - and castellated versions as well. Hydrualic actuated nut runners have replaced some of these for actual torquing - but a slugging wrench can break a stubborn nut free of its stud.
Probably not much use around the house or car - but an interesting post nonetheless.
March 31st, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Snap-on makes some also. Handy for heavy equipment
March 31st, 2008 at 2:43 pm
The original impact wrench!
We’ve been using these on the bridge we’re currently building. There are lots of heavy structural steel connections and not always room for the impact gun or a 4 foot torque wrench.
March 31st, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I thought that’s what Harbor Freight wrenches were good for.
April 1st, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I’ve been breaking nuts loose by hitting the wrench with a hammer for as long as I can remember. I never broke one. If I did break a wrench, Sears will give me a new one. Even if they didn’t replace them I can buy several wrenches for what one of these costs.
I was interested in buying some until I saw the prices.
April 2nd, 2008 at 7:54 am
Re BadBob Says:
I think that what you say points to the big difference between what you can do at home versus what a company has to do to comply with laws and regulations like OSHA, risk management etc. If your struck craftsman wrench fails and a piece flies off causing some injury at home - you are not cited for using a non-compliant tool or improper use of a tool resulting in a change in your OSHA incidence rate. In industry - the cost of that risk is real - and regular and pervasive non-compliance can result in big fines and/or felony charges. Even modest contractors - especially working as subs for larger firms - need to have compliance plans for the health and safety of their employees, the public and everone associated with their work. We carry insurance and post bonds to deal with contingencies.
April 4th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Armstrong Tools makes these too www.armstrongtools.com
April 4th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
[…] Strike A Blow Against Stuck Fasteners What do you do when you can’t break a stubborn fastener loose? You beat the tar out of the other end of your wrench, of course. Stanley Proto made these striking wrenches so you can wail on your favorite tools with a large hammer, without any shame. […]
April 5th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Grainger has the best prices on these - much better than the links provided up above.
April 9th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
I’d bet greggs has better prices, but they don’t have prices in their catalogue or online so you’d have to ask. They have amazing prices.
http://www.greggdistributors.ca/