Plumbers and car mechanics alike are familiar with the monkey wrench, a heavy-duty tool with perpendicular jaws that can loosen or secure even the most stubborn of fittings. Monkey wrenches are so ...

The biggest problem for monkey wrenches and other types of clamping tools was that their jaws were usually smooth. That worked for fasteners like nuts, since one flat surface could sit flush with ...

Those thin walls, combined with the slightly brittle nature of chrome vanadium, can crack if used with an impact wrench. Jaw design can influence the strength of open-end wrenches. “Every so ...