An adjustable spanner, shifting spanner or adjustable wrench is any of various styles of spanner (wrench) with a movable jaw, allowing it to be used with different sizes of fastener head rather than just one fastener size, as with a conventional fixed spanner.
Cooper Industries was an American worldwide electrical products manufacturer headquartered in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1833, the company had seven operating divisions including Bussmann electrical and electronic fuses; Crouse-Hinds and CEAG explosion-proof electrical equipment; Halo and Metalux lighting fixtures; and Kyle and McGraw-Edison power systems products.
A monkey wrench is a type of smooth-jawed adjustable wrench, a 19th century American refinement of 18th-century English coach wrenches. It was widely used in the 19th and early 20th century. It is of interest as an antique among tool collectors and is still occasionally used in practice.
Craftsman is a line of tools, lawn and garden equipment, and work wear. Originally a house brand established by Sears, the brand is now owned by Stanley Black & Decker.
The Ridge Tool Company is an American manufacturing company that makes and distributes tools under the Ridgid brand name. The company was founded in 1923 in North Ridgeville, Ohio. In 1943, it relocated to its current location in Elyria, Ohio, and in 1966, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Emerson Electric.
SK Hand Tools was an American tool company located in Sycamore, Illinois but sold out to Hangzhou GreatStar Industrial, a Chinese tool company. Major products of the once fully-USA-manufacturing company include sockets and drive tools, wrenches, air tools, and other mechanics' tools. The company has a tool line of over 3,500 items including wrenches, ratchets, screwdrivers, tool boxes and air tools. It has manufacturing facilities in China, Taiwan, Colorado Springs, Colorado and Sycamore, Illinois. Outlets for their products include independent tool-truck dealers, auto parts stores, and major internet vendors such as Sears and Amazon.com.
Klein Tools, Inc. is an American company based in Lincolnshire, IL that manufactures hand tools. The company is known for its popularity with workers in the electrical and telecommunications industries. Lineman's pliers in the past were often called "Kleins," an example of a genericized trademark.
Husky is a line of hand tools, pneumatic tools, and tool storage products. Though founded in 1924, it is now best known as the house brand of The Home Depot, where it is exclusively sold. Its hand tools are manufactured for Home Depot by Western Forge, Apex Tool Group, and Iron Bridge Tools. Its slogan is "The toughest name in tools." Home Depot also carries a higher end line of tools marked Husky Pro.
Apex Tool Group is an American supplier of hand tools and power tools. It was formed as a joint venture of Cooper Industries and Danaher by the merger of Cooper Tools and Danaher's Tools and Components segment. In October 2012, Danaher and Cooper sold Apex to Bain Capital for about $1.6 billion. Apex is headquartered in Sparks, Maryland, and has over 20 factories globally including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany, China, and South America.
Channellock is an American company that produces hand tools. It is best known for its pliers—the company manufactures more than 75 types and sizes of pliers—particularly its eponymous style of tongue-and-groove, slip-joint pliers. Its pliers have distinctive sky-blue handle grips; the company has been using the same trademarked shade of blue since 1956.
Proto Tools is an American industrial hand tool company. Founded as Plomb, it is presently a division of Stanley Black & Decker. The company is credited with creating the first combination wrench in 1933.
Xcelite is a brand of hand tools geared towards the electronics service industry. It is currently owned by Apex Tool Group and markets screwdrivers, nut drivers, pliers, and various specialized electronics tools.
Armstrong Tools was an American industrial hand tool manufacturer. In its final years, it existed as a brand of Apex Tool Group, LLC and manufactured the majority of its tools in the United States, focusing mostly on aerospace, government, and military users.
Blackhawk is an American brand of hand tools. It is currently a sub-brand of the Proto division of the Stanley Black & Decker.
Upstate New York has been the setting for inventions and businesses of international significance. The abundance of water power and the advent of canal and rail transportation provided nineteenth century upstate New York entrepreneurs with the means to power factories and send their products to market. In the twentieth century, hydroelectric power and the New York State Thruway served the same roles. In April 2021, GlobalFoundries, a company specializing in the semiconductor industry, moved its headquarters from Silicon Valley, California to its most advanced semiconductor-chip manufacturing facility in Saratoga County, New York near a section of the Adirondack Northway, in Malta, New York.
Allen is a brand of hand tools, most widely recognized for its wrenches, known generically as "Allen wrenches". As a brand, it is owned by Apex Tool Group.
Easco Hand Tools was an American manufacturer of hand tools. It is best known for being the main supplier of mechanic's tools for the Craftsman brand. Its tools were also sold under the Allen and KD Tools brands after its acquisition by Danaher Corporation. The brand name was gradually phased out by Danaher.
Snap-on Industrial Brands, historically J.H. Williams Tool Group, is a division of American hand tool manufacturer Snap-on that makes and distributes tools to industrial markets. In addition to the Williams brand from which it originated, the group includes Bahco and CDI Torque Products.
Plumb is a brand of hand tools owned by Apex Tool Group. The brand is known for its hammers and hatchets.
Schoellkopf, Hutton & Pomeroy was an American investment bank. After the sale of its security business to Dominick & Dominick in 1960, it became a manufacturing company, was renamed the Crescent Niagara Corporation, and was sold to Cooper Industries in 1968.
