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.
A wrench or spanner is a tool used to provide grip and mechanical advantage in applying torque to turn objects—usually rotary fasteners, such as nuts and bolts—or keep them from turning.
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.
A socket wrench is a type of spanner that uses a closed socket format, rather than a typical open wrench/spanner to turn a fastener, typically in the form of a nut or bolt.
A compression fitting is a fitting used in plumbing and electrical conduit systems to join two tubes or thin-walled pipes together. In instances where two pipes made of dissimilar materials are to be joined, the fittings will be made of one or more compatible materials appropriate for the connection. Compression fittings for attaching tubing (piping) commonly have compression rings, called ferrules or olives, in them, and are sometimes referred to as flareless fittings. There are also flare fittings that do not require ferrules/olives.
The term bicycle tools usually refers to specialty tools only used on bicycles, as opposed to general purpose mechanical tools such as spanners and hex wrenches. Various bicycle tools' have evolved over the years into specialized tools for working on a bicycle. Modern bicycle shops will stock a large number of tools for working on different bicycle parts. This work can be performed by a trained bicycle mechanic, or for simple tasks, by the bicycle owner.
A chuck is a specialized type of clamp used to hold an object with radial symmetry, especially a cylinder. In a drill, a mill and a transmission, a chuck holds the rotating tool; in a lathe, it holds the rotating workpiece.
A pipecutter is a type of tool used by plumbers to cut pipe. Besides producing a clean cut, the tool is often a faster, cleaner, and more convenient way of cutting pipe than using a hacksaw, although this depends on the metal of the pipe.
A vise or vice is a mechanical apparatus used to secure an object to allow work to be performed on it. Vises have two parallel jaws, one fixed and the other movable, threaded in and out by a screw and lever.
A plumber wrench is a form of plier described as a pipe wrench that uses compound leverage to grip and rotate plumbing pipes. Similar to the action of a Vise Grip plier, its jaw opening is adjusted to width by rotating a threaded ring. Its advantage is that it grips with significant force without needing to engage a lock nut like an adjustable tongue-and-groove plier. Like these, it can also be used on nuts, particularly hex shaped, and other flat engagement points. If used carelessly it can dent or break plumbing pipe.
The truss rod is a component of a guitar or other stringed instrument that stabilizes the lengthwise forward curvature of the neck. Usually, it is a steel bar or rod that runs through the inside of the neck, beneath the fingerboard. Some are non-adjustable, but most modern truss rods have a nut at one or both ends that adjusts its tension. The first truss rod patent was applied for by Thaddeus McHugh, an employee of the Gibson company in 1921, though the idea of a "truss rod" appears in patents as early as 1908.
A lug nut or wheel nut is a fastener, specifically a nut, used to secure a wheel on a vehicle. Typically, lug nuts are found on automobiles, trucks (lorries), and other large vehicles using rubber tires.
An impact wrench is a socket wrench power tool designed to deliver high torque output with minimal exertion by the user, by storing energy in a rotating mass, then delivering it suddenly to the output shaft. It was invented by Robert H. Pott of Evansville, Indiana.
A fitting or adapter is used in pipe systems to connect straight sections of pipe or tube, adapt to different sizes or shapes, and for other purposes such as regulating fluid flow. These fittings are used in plumbing to manipulate the conveyance of water, gas, or liquid waste in domestic or commercial environments, within a system of pipes or tubes.
Locking pliers are pliers that can be locked into position, using an "over-center" cam action. Locking pliers are available with many different jaw styles, such as needle-nose pliers, wrenches, clamps and various shapes to fix metal parts for welding. They also come in many sizes.
A nut is a type of fastener with a threaded hole. Nuts are almost always used in conjunction with a mating bolt to fasten multiple parts together. The two partners are kept together by a combination of their threads' friction, a slight stretching of the bolt, and compression of the parts to be held together.
A basin wrench, sometimes called a sink wrench, is a plumbing tool which is used in confined spaces to turn fasteners and pipes that would be difficult or impossible to reach with a plumber wrench or other types of wrenches. For example, the threaded nuts used to secure faucets to sinks are often located in deeply recessed places that can only be accessed with a basin wrench.
Tongue-and-groove pliers are a type of slip-joint pliers. They are also known as:
Bahco is a Swedish brand within the hand tool industry, which is now part of SNA Europe, part of Snap-on. Its roots go back to the industrial revolution in Sweden in the late eighteen hundreds, starting with innovations such as the pipe wrench and the modern adjustable wrench. Since then, the product range has expanded with a total assortment of products that today includes over 7000 hand tools.
A bolt is a form of threaded fastener with an external male thread requiring a matching pre-formed female thread such as a nut. Bolts are very closely related to screws.
