When is a 48" Stilson only 44" ?

[awemawson]

I bought an admittedly very cheap 48" Stillson wrench on ebay from Toolshed-UK and when it arrived I thought 'Thats a bit short' . Sure enough, with the jaw fully opened to give maximum overall length it measures a bit under 44"

The drop forging of the handle has 48" in the lettering. As a sanity check I opened a Record 18" Stillson and tip to toe it's 18"

So are Chinese Inches downsized the same as Chinese Horsepower and Chinese Killowatts ?

Pardon our interruption...

 

[mtt.tr]

Didn't they include the pipe.

 

[6ply]

I bought an admittedly very cheap 48" Stillson wrench on ebay from Toolshed-UK and when it arrived I thought 'Thats a bit short' . Sure enough, with the jaw fully opened to give maximum overall length it measures a bit under 44"

The drop forging of the handle has 48" in the lettering. As a sanity check I opened a Record 18" Stillson and tip to toe it's 18"

So are Chinese Inches downsized the same as Chinese Horsepower and Chinese Killowatts ?

Pardon our interruption...

I believe they expect you can provide the additional 4"

 

[awemawson]

It’s not going to love you longtime

It only needs to undo four or five big hex's but in all fairness I've been surprised how 'good for the price' some of this Chines tat actually is, but no, it wouldn't stand up to daily use.

 

[mtt.tr]

It only needs to undo four or five big hex's but in all fairness I've been surprised how 'good for the price' some of this Chines tat actually is, but no, it wouldn't stand up to daily use.

Toolstation aluminium stilson are also brilliant for the money.

Not everything is crap, but the crap stuff really is

 

[Agroshield]

This page:

Ridgid Straight Pipe Wrench

HIGHLIGHTS: Ridgid Hand Tools Straight Pipe Wrench Straight Pipe Wrenches have a sturdy, ductile-iron housing and an I-beam handle with a full floating forged hook jaw, featuring self-cleaning threads with replaceable hook and heel jaws. Heavy-duty pipe wrenches comply with federal...

www.gigatools.ph

has a table saying it is a nominal size.

However, it also states they comply with federal specification GGG-W651.

That can be found here:

GGG-W-651 E WRENCH PIPE WRENCH BASIN WRENCH

That implies the length is a minimum with the jaw open (page 3) so gigatools contradicts itself.

On a practical note, the handle length might not be so important as the pipe size it can accommodate - you want every 48"-class item to turn a 5" pipe.

It is quite an interesting document, so thanks for prompting me to go find it.

 

[Munkul]

Plenty people exaggerate about size, i believe

 

[More Amps]

I've heard "other people" exaggerate about size...

 

[julianf]

I bought an admittedly very cheap 48" Stillson wrench on ebay from Toolshed-UK and when it arrived I thought 'Thats a bit short' . Sure enough, with the jaw fully opened to give maximum overall length it measures a bit under 44"

The drop forging of the handle has 48" in the lettering. As a sanity check I opened a Record 18" Stillson and tip to toe it's 18"

So are Chinese Inches downsized the same as Chinese Horsepower and Chinese Killowatts ?

Pardon our interruption...

This kind of blatant mis description irritates me. I mean it's just a lie told, I suspect, entirely knowingly.

Sometimes I feel that not raising the issue makes me culpable to the degradation of society in the same way.

...and then I get over it and go and do something else.

 

[armalites]

This kind of blatant mis description irritates me. I mean it's just a lie told, I suspect, entirely knowingly.

Sometimes I feel that not raising the issue makes me culpable to the degradation of society in the same way.

...and then I get over it and go and do something else.

I have spoken to a couple of companies in the past who have gone and checked their stock and agreed with my findings.

One was during a solar thermal install, the lead plate the pipes through the roof I bought as a specific size to suit my slates, it worked fine but didn't match the quoted dimensions. Spoke to the company that made it and after checking they said all of theirs were wrong too they offered to swap it for an aluminium one which they checked and was fine.

Another time I bought a Sykes Pickavant clutch alignment set, one of the plate bushes had a burr which mean it didn't go on the bar. I just sortit it in the lathe but when I spoke to Sykes the chap rang me back and said every set he checked was the same on the same bush. It's just amazing that I was the first person to ring them.

 

[OJCar]

When is a 48" Stilson only 44" ?

In cold weather?

 

[brightspark]

I've heard "other people" exaggerate about size...

i just say its quality not quantity and how you use it

 

[awemawson]

The seller has removed the item from their eBay store, so my grumble has had an effect.

 

[dobbslc]

culpable to the degradation of society

Quote for the day, I like that!

 

[premmington]

I use Stilsons a lot in the workshop - mostly - Record ones - got one Facom 18" one and a 24" Record leader one (plus loads of smaller ones).

----------

I don't wanna own a 48" set - just in case I gotta actually use them at my age.

 

[julianf]

I have a very banana shaped set (unbranded).
They were not 48", but I may have extended them a little with some scaffold tube....

Notably, I've pulled the same stunt on my (actually smaller) record stilsons, and they do not resemble said fruit.

 

[addjunkie]

I have a very banana shaped set (unbranded).
They were not 48", but I may have extended them a little with some scaffold tube....

Notably, I've pulled the same stunt on my (actually smaller) record stilsons, and they do not resemble said fruit.

Isnt that what short scaffold tubes were designed for…..Cheap Stillsons are hopeless as a big valve key with a scaffold tube extensions.

 

[GRW]

It's cos you bought them with 10% off

 

[Porkypine]

They should describe them as "nominal 48ins"...
I'm another scaff tube extension merchant too, I've used some fairly long bits on occasion

 

[awemawson]

Well I had to use a 10 foot scaffold pole to torque up the four 1" UNC bolts that retain each of the 'slew pots' on my JCB3CX with an 1-1/2" socket. They need to be done up to 980 Newton Metres which is blooming tight ! (But then the slew pots each push the rack back and forth with 14 tons of force)