Craftsman 12" adjustable wrench.

[Nasutushenri]

Recently I bought a Craftsman 12 " adjustable wrench in a local charity shop. Paid € 3.40.
Very rusty and completely stuck. But the brand name Craftsman is rarely seen here.
After taken apart, cleaning and oiling, it's OK again.
The wrench is exactly the same as the one on the AA site; yearcode 1941.
Probably not rare in the US, but it is here.

Regards
Henri

[Northwoods]

Glad you could get it unstuck and cleaned up.  You saved it from the skip. 
Unstuck, cleaned up, and saved from the trash heap--
We all need that treatment now and again.

[lptools]

Nice find, and good job bringing it back to life!!!

[Bill Houghton]

I wonder how it found its way over there?

[Nasutushenri]

I wonder how it found its way over there?

Perhaps it was used in the American army or it came with the Marshall Plan. Who knows.

The chrome plating has almost disappeared, but everything, even the jaws, is undamaged.
It is top quality. Only the spring on the shaft of the knurl was missing. Set up a new one.

Regards
Henri

[Northwoods]

I wonder how it found its way over there?

WWII?

[gibsontool]

Nice find.

[Nasutushenri]

I wonder how it found its way over there?

WWII?

After WWII.

[d42jeep]

Sears was being supplied by Danielson at that time although the Craftsman branded adjustable jaws were a different shape than Danielson’s. The Dunlap adjustables were a close match to the Danielsons.
-Don

[john k]

The wartime tools I have seen are plain steel, no finish.  How thick are the jaws?   You did a good job.

[Nasutushenri]

John, the jaws of my Craftsman wrench are 7/16" thick at the top.

[d42jeep]

Henri’s 1941 wrench is marked Vanadium which is normal up until the WW2 metal restrictions started in 1942. The use of Vanadium and Chrome plating would have ended then. The 1942 Craftsman catalog shows Chrome plating on the Craftsman adjustable but catalog images are notoriously unreliable and it is unknown exactly when the catalog was printed. Wartime Danielson wrenches from 1943 on are not marked Vanadium or Chrome plated.
-Don

[Bill Houghton]

I'm always entertained by the box wrench in the hanging hole at the end of the handle - unavoidably (based on the wrench length and resulting handle dimensions) some random size.  Extra expense to broach and temper it, and it's hard for me to imagine those wrench ends ever got much use.

[d42jeep]

After the transition of Plomb to Proto, the former Danielson factory now owned by Plomb determined that the broached hanging holes were history. I think Diamond’s broached holes ended with the end of WW2 or shortly thereafter.
-Don

[Nasutushenri]

Thanks for the explanation about my Craftsman adjustable wrench.
Meanwhile I have noticed that the American adjustable wrenches
have right-handed threaded screws, unlike European ones. Is that correct ?

Regards
Henri