Adjustable spanner
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Adjustable spanner
There are many forms of the adjustable spanner or wrench or shifting spanner, from the taper locking spanners which needed a hammer to set the moveable jaw to the size of the nut, to the modern screw adjusted spanner.
Even digital spanners have been made which use sheets or feelers to set the size, some types uses a serrated edge to lock the moveable jaw to size.
There is also a class of adjustable that automatically adjusts to the nut size.
The adjustable spanner was invented by Edwin Beard Budding (1795-1846), who also invented the lawnmower.
A later form of adjustable was invented in Sweden by Johan Petter Johansson in 1892.
The original version of the tool was called a monkey wrench. A similar tool is the pipe wrench.
External links
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/budding_edwin_beard.shtml
- More information on adjustable spanners (http://www.adjustable.archivist.info)simple:Adjustable spanner