The Ancient and Independent Order of Oddfellows (Adjustables, that is...)

Private Lugnutz · Apr 21, 2025

Here are even more photos, naked and chalked, from several different angles, to aid in seeing. The "SUL" marking on the Hacomer is just as faint as the branding, but it's unmistakably the "SUL" marking.

four.cycle · Apr 21, 2025

okay!
no idea how I missed those... I opened up all those links that came up on "wedge" and read through them. :headscrat

to further muddy the waters:
Hacomer presumably comes from:
Hugo Hammesfahr & Co. GmbH, Solingen, Germany / "Hacomer" cutlery, wrench / https://www.lakesidetrader.com/Education/Maker-Mark/Hammesfahr-Cie-Solingen/index.php /

and there's another "Hammesfahr" - also in Solingen:
Gottlieb Hammesfahr & Co. AG Stahlwarenfabrik, Solingen, Germany / est. 1804 (though claims a direct line back to 1684) / https://www.lakesidetrader.com/Educ...Hammesfahr-Solingen-Foche-RZM-M7-67/index.php /

no idea if there's any connection, or if they're one and the same, or.... :dunno:

Beerhippie · Apr 26, 2025

For your viewing pleasure, here's a 12" Adjust-A-Box:

As seen at the Second Hand Antiques tool museum, where it still hangs.

Private Lugnutz · Apr 26, 2025

Beerhippie said:
For your viewing pleasure, here's a 12" Adjust-A-Box:

Dedicated thread if you're interested in seeing more of them and reading more about Mr. Neff, the inventor, who was quite a guy.

Neff Adjust-A-Box Wrench

Well, I did a search first, because I think that’s always the right thing to do before posting (gives credit to those who came before us with finds, and, it preserves continuity of discussions and concentrates information rather than further proliferates it in multiple threads, which makes it...

www.garagejournal.com

Outlawmws · Apr 26, 2025

Beerhippie said:
For your viewing pleasure, here's a 12" Adjust-A-Box:

I use a variant for holding chisels and the like.

four.cycle · Apr 27, 2025

Outlawmws said:
I use a variant for holding chisels and the like.

AHA! An actual practical use for that thing!

d42jeep · Jul 27, 2025

I posted this on its own thread but will add it here because it appears on Lugz’ bucket list at the beginning of the thread. I found it at a Gardnerville NV yard sale yesterday.
-Don

Private Lugnutz · Jul 27, 2025

Nice find! Still on my bucket list.

I've said this before, though not here on this thread: I'm not sure how Kraeuter got away with calling their adjustable alligator-type Elgin-like wrench (made by the OG Bonney) the Victor. It's actually marked "The Victor" and maybe that little definite article ("the") did the trick. Or vice versa. They were contemporaneous to each other. #Note to Self to look into that one day.

four.cycle · Jul 28, 2025

edited for brevity

@d42jeep
@Private Lugnutz
RE: Bonner "Victor" / Kraeuter "The Victor"

Subject:	Re: Will the real Victor please stand up?
Date:	2025-07-28 5:43 pm
From:	AA
To:	four.cycle

I just checked and couldn't find a record of an actual "Victor" trademark for Bonner Mfg. So it's possible that they just claimed it as a trademark and never got around to filing, or maybe filed an application and had it denied.

Victor in its meaning as a winner is widely used and might be considered as a descriptive term and not trademark-able.

AA

On 7/28/25 14:04, four.cycle wrote:

http://alloy-artifacts.org/other-makers.html#ce-bonner

"Fig. 69 shows a Bonner "Victor" 15 inch pipe wrench, marked with "Victor" and "Trade Mark" forged into the shank, and with a "Bonner's Pat. 1902 - 1903" forged into the back side. The sliding jaw is stamped with the patent dates "Pat. Dec. 23, 1902" and "Pat. Aug. 25, 1903" on the side (see middle inset)."

Then we have the Kraeuter "Victor" pliers, which were manufactured contemporaneously with the Bonner "Victor" pipe wrench:

Which begs the question:

Was Kraeuter infringing on Bonner's trademarked "Victor" ?

Or is there some slight difference... like the word "THE" ?

Private Lugnutz · Jul 29, 2025

^ I am highly skeptical of the idea of Bonner - or any hand tool manufacturing enterprise, being that deliberately, permanently, and illegally fraudulent. As for his other theory, the word "Victor" has already been trademarked for everything from mousetraps to stoves. That's why trademark certificates include a description of the goods and the class of goods being trademarked, so that they can be issued, used, and protected by multiple companies in different sectors and markets. That it's used on wrenches (Class 23) made by two different companies is entirely the point of my vague curiosity. Perhaps it's ******* somewhere in the financial mess between C.E. Bonner and the Bonner Tool Company, a "reorganization" (expansion/bankruptcy) ca. 1912-1913 that the AA doesn't appear to know about, although I suspect it would be much earlier than that. As I said, something to look into myself one day, but certainly not pressing.

four.cycle · Jul 29, 2025

^ Agreed. But as I mentioned, I figured I'd toss it at him first before descending into that rabbit hole. No use covering the same ground twice.

Private Lugnutz · Jul 29, 2025

Understood. Goes for all topics, all sources. Might as well get it free, quick and easy first, if you can.

four.cycle · Jul 29, 2025

Exactly....
So... while his site states clearly that the unit is "marked with "Victor" and "Trade Mark" forged into the shank" he doesn't cite a trademark date or number, which would be the first thing to look for here, correct?

MisterEd · Aug 13, 2025

Cleveland Wrench, 6" Auto-Grip

four.cycle · Aug 14, 2025

^ quite the find there, @MisterEd

MisterEd · Aug 14, 2025

four.cycle said:
^ quite the find there, @MisterEd

Full credit, as usual, to the SigO. She finds the interesting and odd stuff.

d42jeep · Aug 16, 2025

I was put off by the marked price of this unusual tool but I was able to negotiate it down a bit and brought it home. It will be ”The Prince” of my basement monkey wrench display.

I tried to check comps on eBay and found this broken one missing the adjusting wingnut that could only be a wall hanger.

Here is another intact one currently for sale. I’ll keep an eye on it to see if it sells and for how much.

-Don

Private Lugnutz · Aug 16, 2025

d42jeep said:
It will be ”The Prince” of my basement monkey wrench display.

Nice find, Don. You may recall that I found the infamous and busted "Half-Lowentraut" (not a wrestling move!) version.

@Fred Knox posted one earlier here.

I will note, though, as odd as it may seem, with all the parts and angles and the brace and whatnot, that the basic adjusting mechanism is technically a screw. Granted, with a wingnut actuating it rather than a knurled thumbwheel as on a routine monkey wrench.

Heckuva find, though. And I LOVE the dark finish. :thumbup:

Mintgrun · Aug 16, 2025

Private Lugnutz said:
I LOVE the dark finish.

+1

four.cycle · Aug 16, 2025

@d42jeep -

I've seen those go on ebay for crazy money, but I didn't keep any screenshots.

Shortt / Prince E. Shortt, Floyd, VA / "The Prince" brace wrench / patent 921171 May 11 1909 Prince E. Shortt / https://www.garagejournal.com/forum...justables-that-is.435464/page-9#post-10906257 / https://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?pn=921171&id=6097 /

My memory is failing. I couldn't remember the name of it yesterday when you posted it.

WisJim · Aug 16, 2025

I have thought of "The Prince" and Lowentraut wrenches as braces rather than wrenches (mine are in my brace collection, not my wrench collection), but they certainly are wrenches. I have a couple others that are with the braces in my shop. One is Underwood's patent 179,628 of July 4, 1876. https://www.datamp.org/patents/displayPatent.php?number=179628&typeCode=0 Another is Amidon's patent 193,632, patented on July 31, 1877. https://www.datamp.org/patents/advance.php?pn=193632&id=5792&set=13 And also Backus' 216,776 on June 24, 1879. https://www.datamp.org/patents/advance.php?pn=216776&id=5811&set=17 All interesting wrenches that are part of a brace type of tool.

LesserSon · Sep 14, 2025

I’m at the Blue Ridge Flea market, looking at this adjustable pipe wrench. Never hear of a Duffy Wrench, nor the Bethlehem Wrench Co. Patented, but no date or number.
Seller had never seen one either, and wants $20, with a suspicion that it’s worth much more - “hundreds” on eBay, though he can’t find one on there for comparison. So no purchase.

WisJim · Sep 14, 2025

@LesserSon --I would have bought it in a heartbeat, but I'm a sucker for tools I've never seen before.

Private Lugnutz · Sep 14, 2025

LesserSon said:
Duffey Wrench,

US Patent: 1,000,724 - Pipe Wrench

US patent 1,000,724 Pipe Wrench was issued to William H. Duffey of South Bethlehem, PA. It was granted on 08/15/1911. Screw adjustment for size, with cam action for the final grip. The opening is pretty much in line with the handle, which should facilitate gripping pi

www.datamp.org

Like @WisJim, I, too, would've had to peel one Andrew Jackson off the wad for that thing. But I respect your selectiveness and frugality. It's funny how subjectively we practice that, or not. We all have our funny bones and I know I have left behind all kinds of things others would buy automatically.

Thanks for posting, LS. I had never seen or heard of it, either.

four.cycle · Sep 14, 2025

I wouldn't go so far as to estimate its value at "hundreds", but it is most definitely worth more than twenty bucks in the collector market, considering condition and scarcity.
This is the first mention of it here on this site. Was not in my list... so.... rather odd.
Go back and see if he still has it!

LesserSon · Sep 14, 2025

Thanks for the patent search and the feedback and encouragement. If it was more in line with my collecting interets (like, if I could tell it was forged by Bonney), $20 would not have been too much - I would have bought it anyway for $5, maybe $10. But the thing puts a lot of strain on one rivet (“H”) and doesn’t really offer more utility than a solid frame offset pipe wrench.

One interesting thing - I saw nothing like part “K” on it.

Private Lugnutz · Sep 16, 2025

LesserSon said:
...if I could tell it was forged by Bonney...

A little B-Shield marking certainly would've been icing on the cake!

The patent was not assigned by Duffey and I cannot find any other references to the Bethlehem Wrench Company. I am surmising, for now, that it was his company and that it was a one-man operation attempting to make a go of it on his own, and failing, as we have seen countless times. He would've had to find a forge and machine shop. Bonney is possible and maybe even likely given the proximity. (And we have some precedence with the BSPCo ratchets.) Based on all the timing, the Duffey was probably conceptualized and designed before or as Bonney was making the move from Philly to Allentown in 1909, but they were up and running there for a couple years when the wrenches were made, apparently in 1911, after the patent was granted.

I couldn't find any references to the Duffey, William H. Duffey or the company in trade mags on Google Books. Just the patent, the DATAMP entry, and a mention in Cope.

LesserSon said:
One interesting thing - I saw nothing like part “K” on it.

Probably another good example of eventual production diverging from original design.

If I am understanding the wrench, it seems fairly similar to any wrench that uses a cam. Duffey's combines it with a routine and standard screw adjust, with the cam doing the final gripping, but most cam type wrenches disengage on their own. For whatever reason, and one that might be more obvious in the presence of the wrench itself in action, he thought it needed that K (and k) piece (and L recess) to disengage the jaw from the pipe. I am postulating that he (or someone in the process of subbing out its manufacture) may have discovered it was superfluous.

3baygarage · Nov 9, 2025

Funny, I hadn’t seen LS’s post, but I have a Duffy Wrench! However, I’ll have to look for it.

I came here to post this big guy.

15” long quick adjust.
No markings of any kind.

The lever locks the jaw at desired width. I didn’t measure jaw opening yet as it gets hung up on a ding on an edge of the bar. Just realized that’s why it was jamming. Keep it above the ding and it’s fine.

Here I thought it was something with the tolerances or the lever. Either way, this monster is the wrench that slipped off the armrest and put a window in my water cup. :lol:

MAD · Jan 5, 2026

Here is a Plattina #2 self-adjusting pipe wrench I picked up with a lot of used tools around 18 years ago. Back then, I was able to look up the German company that made it which I remember was still in existence but no longer made hand tools at that time. I didn't keep that info and haven't attempted to research this one since then. I came upon it again hanging on a nail in my garage under some other pipe wrenches the other day and figured I would post it up with the Oddfellows.

It works pretty well, gripping pipe without slipping (as evidenced by the slight bend in the handle). I actually used it on an air compressor project back when I first got it. I didn't have another pipe wrench nearby and grabbed the Plattina. It worked well enough that I used it through the project rather than stopping to search out a more conventional tool.

Looking on ebay, there are also Plattina self adjusting wrenches in an open-end style. Some look fairly old, with others appearing to be more recent.

Private Lugnutz · Jan 5, 2026

MAD said:
Here is a Plattina #2 self-adjusting pipe wrench

Cool first time entry. Thanks for posting.

MAD said:
I didn't keep that info and haven't attempted to research this one since then.

A quickie Google Books search reveals multiple trade mag ads, including a couple that provide a couple initial production calendar framing points for your self-adjuster..

At least as early as 1913 in Die Woche...

Die Woche

books.google.com

EDIT:
And at least as late as 1980 in Popular Science...

Popular Science

Popular Science gives our readers the information and tools to improve their technology and their world. The core belief that Popular Science and our readers share: The future is going to be better, and science and technology are the driving forces that will help make it better.

books.google.com

(That was the SPEEDNUT lookalike.)

MAD · Jan 5, 2026

Private Lugnutz said:
Cool first time entry. Thanks for posting.

A quickie Google Books search reveals multiple trade mag ads, including a couple that provide a couple initial production calendar framing points for your self-adjuster..

At least as early as 1913 in Die Woche...

Die Woche

books.google.com

And at least as late as 1980 in Popular Science...

Popular Science

Popular Science gives our readers the information and tools to improve their technology and their world. The core belief that Popular Science and our readers share: The future is going to be better, and science and technology are the driving forces that will help make it better.

books.google.com

Cool, thanks! I found another early (brief) mention of the pipe wrench in an article about 1912 International Gas Exposition in Amsterdam, published in the the Journal of Gas Lighting, Water Supply, Etc July-September 1912. page 809
https://www.google.com/books/editio...tina+pipe+wrench&pg=PA809&printsec=frontcover

DetailSeeker · Jan 5, 2026

MAD said:
Looking on ebay, there are also Plattina self adjusting wrenches in an open-end style. Some look fairly old, with others appearing to be more recent.

Oh, the INSTANT-GRIP/Cochran style!

And even has the little arrows pointing which way you should turn the handle. There's something on those in this post and several following ones.

I was also briefly excited to think I'd found a mention of the company/wrench in an 1864 Scientific American (looking up the 1912 spelling that you found), but it looks from context as if "platina" was also a term used for platinum. Which will make further digging something that will take more time than doing on my lunch hour.

Leviton · Jan 8, 2026

I bought this guy for a dollar. The markings are:

Cromna - Made In Sweden

Pat. No. 124144

No. S-2 13-19mm 5/16''-7/16"

I've seen these Cromna "S" series wrenches marked as Made In Sweden and Made in Denmark and Made in England. Looks like they came out in the late 40's.

I've been puzzled by the size markings on this wrench. I can't figure out how the metric markings of 13-19mm would be equivalent to the inch markings of 5/16"-7/16"?

RTM · Jan 8, 2026

Leviton said:
I can't figure out how the metric markings of 13-19mm would be equivalent to the inch markings of 5/16"-7/16"?

Whitworth type measurements of the bolt thread size vs the head size maybe?

four.cycle · Jan 8, 2026

Platte / Plattina Werke Ed. Platte Son GmbH & Co., KG, Langenhaus 40-42, Wuppertal 42369 Germany / "Plattina" wrench /

Leviton · Jan 9, 2026

RTM said:
Whitworth type measurements of the bolt thread size vs the head size maybe?

Thanks RTM! That didn't work...

However, it DID lead me to something that is pretty close...

British Standard Bolt Dia vs AcrossFlats.jpg

Thanks!

RTM · Jan 9, 2026

Leviton said:
However, it DID lead me to something that is pretty close...

Glad to help. Wasn’t sure which all standards used bolt diameter, glad you were able to decipher.

Oregon rock crusher · Jan 9, 2026

This odd pipe wrench definitely has an interesting adjustment method. It was made by Becklin Wrench Co. out of Seattle Washington. The idea was to make adjustments a one hand affair by thumbing the lever engaging the threads. I find it is kind of awkward to use and clearly this idea never caught on with other manufacturers. Ed.

Outlawmws · Jan 9, 2026

Seems to be using the quick release mechanism from vise designs but that isn't a great tooth design for the purpose, it need a buttress thread...

Oregon rock crusher · Jan 9, 2026

I picked up this Richards Wizard adjustable ratcheting wrench a while back at a swap meet. It was the only thing of value in a quart size coffee can half filled with oil and water but I could see the top of the handle sticking out so I bought the can for a five. I recently pulled it out of the "tools requiring attention" pile for a couple of pics. It is not in great condition and currently froze up but I think I will work it over this winter and get it working again. A few pics. Ed.

The Ancient and Independent Order of Oddfellows (Adjustables, that is...)

Well-known member

Attachments

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Attachments

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Attachments

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Well-known member

Attachments

Well-known member

Well-known member

Attachments